Top Items:
Tom Daschle / Washington Post:
Power We Didn't Grant — In the face of mounting questions about news stories saying that President Bush approved a program to wiretap American citizens without getting warrants, the White House argues that Congress granted it authority for such surveillance in the 2001 legislation authorizing the use of force against al Qaeda.
Discussion:
The Heretik, The Moderate Voice, Donklephant, ACSBlog, The Strata-Sphere, Brilliant at Breakfast, Running Scared, The Blogging of the President, The Carpetbagger Report, The Mahablog, Daily Kos, The American Thinker, The Washington Monthly, Thoughts from Kansas, The Corner on National …, Just a Bump in the Beltway and AMERICAblog
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Radio Blogger:
University of Chicago Professor Cass Sunstein on the NSA intelligence kerfuffle. — HH: Yesterday, you heard me talking with my friend John Eastman, my colleague at Chapman Law School, and Erwin Chemerinsky, my longtime friend, one from the right, one from the left.
Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:Daschle: Democrats Clueless On 9/12, Too
Discussion:
skippy the bush kangaroo, Say Anything, IntoxiNation-News …, Attytood, Washington Post and Eschaton
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:Impeachment Nonsense — 2005 was already the year of the demagogue …
Sinan Salaheddin / Associated Press:
Iraqis March, Say Elections Were Rigged — BAGHDAD, Iraq - Large demonstrations broke out across the country Friday to denounce parliamentary elections that protesters say were rigged in favor of the main religious Shiite coalition. Also, the U.S. military said two soldiers were killed …
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David E. Kaplan / US News:
EXCLUSIVE: Nuclear Monitoring of Muslims Done Without Search Warrants — In search of a terrorist nuclear bomb, the federal government since 9/11 has run a far-reaching, top secret program to monitor radiation levels at over a hundred Muslim sites in the Washington, D.C., area, including mosques …
Discussion:
Think Progress, AMERICAN FUTURE, The RCP Blog, Shakespeare's Sister, Daily Kos, The Volokh Conspiracy and Mathew Gross
Donna Cassata / Associated Press:
Alito Defended Officials From Wiretap Suits — WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito defended the right of government officials to order domestic wiretaps when he worked for the Reagan Justice Department, documents released Friday show. — He advocated a step by step approach …
Karen Travers / ABCNEWS:
Cheney's iPod Takes Top Priority on Extended Flight — Reporters Wait to File Stories as VP's MP3 Player Charges — WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 2005 — After a four-day overseas trip that took him to four countries in the Middle East, Vice President Dick Cheney really wanted to get his iPod charged …
Discussion:
Attytood, Shakespeare's Sister, The Washington Monthly, Environmental Republican and Ace of Spades HQ
Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
The Bush justifications for law-breaking (con't) — My post yesterday requested that Bush defenders explain how there can be any limits at all on his power under the theories of Executive Power which they are advocating to argue that Bush had the right to violate Congressional law.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, protein wisdom, firedoglake, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos, Stop the Bleating! and Eschaton
Associated Press:
Santorum Breaks With Christian-Rights Law Center — PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 22 — Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) withdrew on Thursday his affiliation from the Christian-rights law center that defended a school district's policy requiring the teaching of "intelligent design."
Discussion:
blogs4God
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Michael Powell / Washington Post:Advocates of 'Intelligent Design' Vow to Continue Despite Ruling
Discussion:
The Panda's Thumb, Dispatches from the …, The Y Files, Just a Bump in the Beltway and Balloon Juice
New York Times:
Postponing Debate, Congress Extends Terror Law 5 Weeks — WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 - In a frantic finish before adjourning for the year, Congress extended on Thursday the broad antiterrorism bill known as the USA Patriot Act by five weeks after the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee balked at a longer extension.
Discussion:
Power Line, ProfessorBainbridge.com, The Carpetbagger Report and No More Mister Nice Blog
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John Cole / Balloon Juice:
The Holiday for the Rest of Us — Partially inspired by this, and wholly inspired by Seinfeld, it is time for the First Annual Airing of Grievances at Balloon Juice: — (Thanks to whoever made this screen capture originally) — The Airing of Grievances is the traditional time of the year …
Philip Shenon / New York Times:
On Opinion Page, a Lobby's Hand Is Often Unseen — WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 - Susan Finston of the Institute for Policy Innovation, a conservative research group based in Texas, is just the sort of opinion maker coveted by the drug industry. — In an opinion article in The Financial Times on Oct. 25 …
New York Times:
Mr. Cheney's Imperial Presidency — George W. Bush has quipped several times during his political career that it would be so much easier to govern in a dictatorship. Apparently he never told his vice president that this was a joke. — Virtually from the time he chose himself …
New York Times:
Defending Spy Program, Administration Cites Law — WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 - In its first formal response to Congress on the growing controversy over domestic spying, the Bush administration argued Thursday that the president's authorization of domestic spying was consistent with the 1978 law …
Washington Post:
Mike McCurry's 'Munich' Tour of Duty — Every movie needs buzz. But Steven Spielberg didn't want any old red-carpet, klieg-light buzz for "Munich" — he wanted Washington wonk buzz. — Enter Mike McCurry, the former State Department and White House press secretary who was tapped …
