Top Items:
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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Kevin Drum / The Washington Monthly:
KOS CALL....In the latest issue of the Washington Monthly, Benjamin Wallace-Wells profiles the blogosphere's favorite liberal, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga of Daily Kos. And whether you love Kos or hate him, I think Ben captures something important in his piece:
Discussion:
Shakespeare's Sister
Daily Kos:
Corrections — Man, this piece has so many factual mistakes I've got to correct them for the record, ASAP. — I spoke to the Democratic Senate caucus at the JFK Center, not the LBJ room of the Capitol. I've never been inside the Capitol. (Update: Ooops, I just remember having a meeting …
Mark / Decision '08:
The Wonderful World of Kos — Lots of buzz (just check out Memeorandum) over this Washington Monthly profile of our ol' buddy Markos Moulitsas Zuniga. Some highlights and lowlights: … Psbbbbtt! Patently false; 3.7 million visitors a week is not really 3.7 million visitors …
Atrios / Eschaton:
Wonk Off — Garance and Kevin, responding tolWaMo profile of Markos discuss the lack of blogospheric wonkery. — I've said this before, but there's just little point in detail-oriented grand policy proposals when Bush and Republicans are in office. Just about everything their side offers …
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?
Discussion:
Reuters, Rantingprofs, Dr. Sanity, Mark in Mexico, Flit, Roger L. Simon and Ed Driscoll.com
Hullabaloo:
Madder Still — Jane reports on Richard Morion pollster for the Washington Post actually had the temerity to write this drivel yesterday in an online chat: … Jane points to this Media Matters report: … I just have to expand on this a little because this is a truly unbelievable example of media bias.
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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 …
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.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Left Coaster, PBD, White House, Los Angeles Times and The Carpetbagger Report
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Matthew Yglesias / yglesias.tpmcafe.com:
Matthew Yglesias — Things Are Great! — Several conservative writers seem concerned recently that the American people don't believe the economy is strong even though, allegedly, it's really super-strong. So they offer the White House advice on how to improve its communications strategy.
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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 …
Discussion:
Sirotablog, Done With Mirrors, MyDD, villagevoice.com, Seeing the Forest, Alarming News and THE NEWS BLOG
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Kevin Drum / The Washington Monthly:
TAKING TERRORISM SERIOUSLY....Part 1 of a multi-zillion word story about the trials and tribulations of the Department of Homeland Security is running in the Washington Post today, and a lot of it is pretty much what you'd expect: a huge new agency trying desperately to deal with turf wars, lack of leadership, and budget issues.
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Think Progress:
VIDEO: Fox Affiliate Airs Ode to White Supremacist Site — Fox affiliate "FOX Carolina" last month ran a one-sided fluff piece exploring StormFront.org, an online hub for white supremacists. — The Anti-Defamation League describes StormFront as a "veritable supermarket of online hate …
Discussion:
Pam's House Blend
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Newsweek:
Where's the Outrage? — Bush's defense of his phone-spying program has disturbing echoes of arguments once used by South Africa's apartheid regime. Why Americans should examine the parallels. — Obed Zilwa / AP — Former South African president P. W. Botha believed his country was under 'total onslaught' from its enemies
Aram Roston / MSNBC:
Chalabi's defeat puts U.S. friends in quandary — Should his backers go with his view that it was a fraudulent election? — Atef Hassan / Reuters file — Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi talks to his aides during a break while campaigning for Iraq's parliamentary elections in the city of Basra on Dec. 13.
Discussion:
War and Piece
Marty Lederman / Balkinization:
"Inherent Authority" to Violate Federal Law? — A thoughtful interlocutor ("T. More") gently inquired, in a comment to a previous post, whether my posts on the NSA matter wouldn't be more effective, more persuasive, if I stopped bolding and emphasizing the adjectives "criminal" and "felonious" …
Neil King Jr / Wall Street Journal:
Wiretap Furor Widens Republican Divide — While Security Camp Claims Justification, — Civil Libertarians See an Intrusion on Rights — WASHINGTON — President Bush's claim that he has a legal right to eavesdrop on some U.S. citizens without court approval has widened an ideological gap within his party.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars
