Top Items:
Washington Post:
Judges on Surveillance Court To Be Briefed on Spy Program — The presiding judge of a secret court that oversees government surveillance in espionage and terrorism cases is arranging a classified briefing for her fellow judges to address their concerns about the legality …
Discussion:
New York Times, Shakespeare's Sister, War and Piece, Power Line, Obsidian Wings, IntoxiNation-News …, Hugh Hewitt, The American Thinker, Amygdala, Balkinization, The Strata-Sphere, Balloon Juice, Confederate Yankee, Think Progress, The Carpetbagger Report, Macsmind, The Left Coaster, The Volokh Conspiracy, Wonkette, The Washington Monthly and Rising Hegemon
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Benjamin Wallace-Wells / Washington Monthly:
Kos Call — For America's number one liberal blogger — politics is like sports: It's all about winning. — I hate Washington," says Markos Moulitsas Zuniga. Many people, of course, say that they hate Washington. Jay Leno says so. So do Rush Limbaugh and Monica Lewinsky.
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Hindrocket / Power Line:
ON THE LEGALITY OF THE NSA ELECTRONIC INTERCEPT PROGRAM — It has been widely suggested that the NSA electronic intercept program that has been carried out by the Bush administration for the last three years is, or may be, illegal. The New York Times and other media outlets have implied …
Discussion:
Dr. Sanity, tapscottscopydesk.blogspot.com, National Review, Hugh Hewitt, Peaktalk, The Anchoress and THE ASTUTE BLOGGER
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Ron Brynaert / Why Are We Back In Iraq?:What Power Line Left Behind
Discussion:
Loaded Mouth, The Carpetbagger Report, In From the Cold, Confederate Yankee and The Mahablog
Charles Hurt / Washington Times:'Warrantless' searches not unprecedented
Discussion:
Let Freedom Ring Throughout …
New York Times:
Senate Backs 6-Month Extension of Patriot Act — WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 - With time running short on Capitol Hill, the Senate breathed new life late Wednesday night into the moribund USA Patriot Act, agreeing to extend it by six months. President Bush said he appreciated the move, but it was unclear if the House would approve it.
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National Review:
The Blow-Up — In a telling moment at a United Nations press conference Wednesday, Secretary-General Kofi Annan lost his temper — hurling insults at a widely respected senior member of the U.N. press corps. Beyond the who-what-when-where-how of this episode, the big question is: Why?
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David B. Caruso / Associated Press:
NYC Transit Union Moves to Return to Work — NEW YORK - Striking bus and subway workers agreed Thursday to "take steps" to go back to work while their union and the transit authority resume negotiations, a mediator said. — The deal with the Transit Workers Union could pave the way for a resumption …
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New York Times:
No Timetable Is Announced on Resumption of Service — After meeting with both sides through the night, state mediators have devised a preliminary framework for a settlement of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority contract dispute that would allow strikers to return to work later today …
Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:
John Gibson goes berserk — on air and off — Anyone familiar with Fox News broadcasts has come to expect a level of professionalism on par with an elementary school food fight, but once in a while, even the FNC gang manages to surprise. — C&L and Newshounds offered terrific coverage …
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Editor and Publisher:
'Impeachment' Talk, Pro and Con, Appears in Media at Last — NEW YORK Suddenly this week, scattered outposts in the media have started mentioning the "I" word, or at least the "IO" phrase: impeach or impeachable offense. — The sudden outbreak of anger or candor has been sparked by the uproar …
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Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:
A Bit of Drama on Senate Floor — Procedural Point Fuels Debate Between Longtime Colleagues — It was quite a bull session between two old bulls. — Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, battered all week for using the defense spending bill to force through a home-state oil drilling provision …
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Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:And the Saga on Arctic Oil Drilling Continues
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report, Manufacturers Blog, Liberty Street, blogs4God and Air America Radio
Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
File the Bin Laden Phone Leak Under 'Urban Myths' — President Bush asserted this week that the news media published a U.S. government leak in 1998 about Osama bin Laden's use of a satellite phone, alerting the al Qaeda leader to government monitoring and prompting him to abandon the device.
Discussion:
Rantingprofs, firedoglake, Comments From Left Field, IntoxiNation-News …, Ezra Klein, Amygdala, AGITPROP, The Left Coaster, Poynter Online, PoliBlog and TAPPED
Kathleen Craig / Wired News:
Passion of the Spaghetti Monster — Bobby Henderson is holed up in the boonies — Corvallis, Oregon — hard at work on his next entry into the fray over just what students should learn about the origin of species. — When the Kansas Board of Education proposed balancing evolution instruction …
Discussion:
The All Spin Zone
Anne E. Kornblut / New York Times:
Lobbyist Nears Terms on Plea Deal — WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 - Jack Abramoff, the Republican lobbyist under indictment for fraud in South Florida, is expected to complete a plea agreement in the Miami criminal case, setting the stage for him to become a crucial witness in a broad federal corruption …
Discussion:
Bull Moose, Off the Kuff, firedoglake, Talking Points Memo, TAPPED, AMERICAblog, yelladog and The Left Coaster
Kevin Drum / The Washington Monthly:
TRIVIALIZING TERROR....Remember Jose Padilla, the "dirty bomber"? Last September, in a major victory for the Bush administration, the 4th Circuit Court ruled that the government could detain Padilla in a military brig indefinitely without charges even though he was a U.S. citizen arrested on U.S. soil.
Discussion:
Pacific Views, Associated Press, The Carpetbagger Report, War and Piece, PBD and TalkLeft
Washington Post:
Report Revises Katrina's Force — Hurricane Center Downgrades Storm to Category 3 Strength — Hurricane Katrina will go down in the history books as the costliest hurricane in U.S. history, but not by a long shot the most powerful. — The National Hurricane Center released a summary report …
