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Steven R. Weisman / New York Times:
Powell Speaks Out on Domestic Spy Program — WASHINGTON, Dec. 25 - Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said on Sunday that it would not have been "that hard" for President Bush to obtain warrants for eavesdropping on domestic telephone and Internet activity, but that he saw "nothing wrong" with the decision not to do so.
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Associated Press:
Powell Backs Eavesdropping to Stop Terror — Former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday supported government eavesdropping to prevent terrorism but said a major controversy over presidential powers could have been avoided by obtaining court warrants. — Powell said that when he was …
Robert Novak / Chicago Sun Times:
Control of Senate may hinge on Lott — Trent Lott within the next week plans to decide between seeking a fourth term in the U.S. Senate from Mississippi or retiring from public life. That could determine whether Republicans keep control of the Senate in next year's elections.
Charles Lane / Washington Post:
No Date Is Set for Troop Withdrawal From Iraq — General Says Insurgency Affects Timing; Powell Calls Current Levels Unsustainable — As American troops marked their third Christmas in Iraq since the war began in March 2003, the highest-ranking U.S. military officer said their number …
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Peter Slevin / Washington Post:
Scholar Stands by Post-9/11 Writings On Torture, Domestic Eavesdropping — Former Justice Official Says He Was Interpreting Law, Not Making Policy — John Yoo knows the epithets of the libertarians, the liberals and the lefties. Widely considered the intellectual architect …
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Mark R. Levin / The Corner on National Review Online:YOO AND PRESIDENTIAL POWER
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Think Progress
Thomas Bray / realclearpolitics.com:
And You Think America Is Repressive? — Spying on e-mail and cell phone traffic without a warrant. Searching offices and residences without a court order. Locking citizens away for weeks or months without filing charges. — Sound like your worst nightmare about the supposedly lawless Bush administration?
Tomi Soetjipto / Reuters:
Asia remembers tsunami disaster with prayer, silence — BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) - Mourners from across the world wept, prayed and observed moments of silence along ravaged Indian Ocean coastlines on Monday to remember those killed by one of nature's deadliest disasters.
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PunditGuy
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Associated Press:
Gas Sickens 78 in Russian Store — ST. PETERSBURG, Russia - More than 70 people at a home-supply store were sickened Monday as employees at three other outlets of the chain found gas-filled containers and timers hidden in boxes. Police said they believed a commercial dispute or blackmail attempt was behind the incidents.
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Marta Falconi / Associated Press:
Character Actor Vincent Schiavelli Dies — ROME - Vincent Schiavelli, the droopy-eyed character actor who appeared in scores of movies, including "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Ghost," died Monday at his home in Sicily. He was 57. — He died of lung cancer, said Salvatore Glorioso …
Washington Post:
Bloggers, Money Now Weapons in Information War — U.S. Recruits Advocates to the Front, Pays Iraqi TV Stations for Coverage — BAGHDAD — Retired soldier Bill Roggio was a computer technician living in New Jersey less than two months ago when a Marine officer half a world away made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
Michael Barone / realclearpolitics.com:
The New York Times' Christmas Gift — The New York Times' Christmas gift — sorry, holiday gift — to the nation's political dialogue was its Dec. 16 story reporting that the National Security Agency has been intercepting telephone conversations between terrorism suspects abroad and U.S. citizens …
Edward Rothstein / New York Times:
Seeing Terrorism as Drama With Sequels and Prequels — "There's no peace at the end of this," warns Avner, the morally anguished Mossad assassin, as Steven Spielberg's new film, "Munich," draws to a close. And by "this" he means the targeted killings that Israel is said to have begun …
Mohammed / IRAQ THE MODEL:
Will ten seats solve the crisis? — It's become clear from the active shuttle-like movement of the rival parties and mediators that the intensity of the political crisis began to subside compared to how things looked like a week ago. — In spite of the violence that disturbed Baghdad this morning …
MSNBC:
Transcript for December 25 — MR. TIM RUSSERT: And on this Christmas morning, we have a very special program. We'll talk about the biggest news stories of the year, and perhaps the stories that didn't receive enough attention. And we'll reflect on the ethical and legal challenges confronting the media.
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Angry Bear, The Heretik, mediabistro, NewsBusters.org, The Corner on National … and PSoTD
Blawg Review:
Blawg Review Awards 2005 — Whenever awards are handed out by one's peers, it is often said that it's an honor just to be nominated. Nowhere is that more true, perhaps, than in Blawg Review, where a different host each week recommends the best recent law blog posts for everyone's attention.
Robert Steinback / Miami Herald:
Fear destroys what bin Laden could not — One wonders if Osama bin Laden didn't win after all. He ruined the America that existed on 9/11. But he had help. — If, back in 2001, anyone had told me that four years after bin Laden's attack our president would admit that he broke U.S. law …
Jane Hamsher / firedoglake:
Never Follow an Animal Act — Howard Kurtz: … And in one fell swoop the whole matter of illegal wiretaps is now reduced to a partisan squabble instead of a justifiable concern about government overreach, invasion of privacy and complete disregard for the Constitution.
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Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:Bush Presses Editors on Security
Discussion:
The Sideshow, mediabistro, IntoxiNation-News …, NewsHog, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Betsy's Page, Michelle Malkin, Booman Tribune ~ Boo!, The Belmont Club, The Next Hurrah, Daily Kos, Hit and Run, Donklephant, WTF Is It Now??, TalkLeft, Pam's House Blend, AMERICAN FUTURE and Economist's View
