Top Items:
John O'Sullivan / Chicago Sun Times:
Dems off to bad start at Alito hearings — If the Democrats seriously wish to secure the rejection of Judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, then they made a very bad start with Monday's hearings. Only by making Alito deeply unpopular with the American people …
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William Branigin / Washington Post:Alito Seeks to Distance Himself From Previous Abortion Statements
Bob Fertik / Democrats.com:Bush Wired for Alito Remarks
Discussion:
THE BRAD BLOG, The Sideshow, The Mahablog, Unclaimed Territory, AMERICAblog and Daily Kos
Jane Hamsher / firedoglake:It Can Be Done — Much prognostication today about how the Alito hearings will progress.
National Review:
The Abramoff Scandal (R., Beltway) — Republicans are looking for "their" John McCain. The popular Arizona maverick is already a Republican, of course. But the GOP needs a McCain in the "Keating Five" sense. Back in 1990, Senate Democrats roped McCain into the scandal over savings …
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George F. Will / Washington Post:
For the House GOP, A Belated Evolution — Before evolution produced creatures of our perfection, there was a three-ton dinosaur, the stegosaurus, so neurologically sluggish that when its tail was injured, significant time elapsed before news of the trauma meandered up its long spine to its walnut-size brain.
USA Today:
Most consider lobbying scandal a big deal, poll shows — WASHINGTON — Americans are paying close attention to the lobbying scandal in the Capitol and say corruption in government will play a big role in their vote for Congress in November — more important than Social Security, taxes, abortion or immigration.
Washington Post:
In Abramoff Case, Most See Evidence of Wider Problem — Poll Shows Strong Support for Reform of Lobbying Rules — Most Americans believe that corruption in Congress is widespread, and even larger majorities support far-reaching reforms that would effectively end lobbying as it is currently practiced …
Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Russert Resisted Testifying on Leak — Lawyers for NBC News reporter Tim Russert suspected in the spring of 2004 that his testimony could snare Vice President Cheney's top aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, in a lie and Russert resisted testifying at the time about private conversations with Libby …
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Jason Leopold / truthout.org:
Fitzgerald Maintains Focus on Rove — Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is said to have spent the past month preparing evidence he will present to a grand jury alleging that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove knowingly made false statements to FBI and Justice Department investigators …
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute: A Crumb For The Plamaniacs — The WaPo teases us with a near non-story …
Jeffrey Toobin / New Yorker:NAME THAT SOURCE — Why are the courts leaning on journalists?
Discussion:
TalkLeft
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Bush Issues Stark Warning to Democrats on Iraq Debate — WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 - President Bush issued an unusually stark warning to Democrats today about how to conduct the debate on Iraq as midterm elections approach, declaring that Americans know the difference "between honest critics" …
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White House:
President Addresses Veterans of Foreign Wars on the War on Terror — Washington, D.C. — Fact Sheet: Progress and the Work Ahead in Iraq — National Strategy for Victory in Iraq — In Focus: Renewal in Iraq — In Focus: National Security — In Focus: Veterans
Fred Kaplan / Slate:
GI Schmo — How low can Army recruiters go? — Three months ago, I wrote that the war in Iraq was wrecking the U.S. Army, and since then the evidence has only mounted, steeply. Faced with repeated failures to meet its recruitment targets, the Army has had to lower its standards dramatically.
Chris Bowers / MyDD:
Is Alito Lying About Concerned Alumni for Princeton? — Well, yes, he is lying, but I wanted to ask other people the same question. So, during the lunch break, I went down to the press area with Tim Tagaris, armed with only a single question: — "Do you believe Judge Alito is telling …
Michael J. Totten:
Send Me to Iraq — It's time for me to go to Iraq. — I am not going to embed with the military. While it sounds exciting (as well as terrifying), I'm only going to be there a few weeks. War correspondence isn't something a person does for two weeks. — Instead I'm going to the part of Iraq most journalists ignore: the North.
New York Times:
I.R.S. Limited Tax Refunds of Poor, Congress Is Told — Tax refunds sought by hundreds of thousands of poor Americans have been frozen and their returns labeled fraudulent, blocking refunds for years to come, the Internal Revenue Service's taxpayer advocate told Congress today.
Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:
Warner's Triumphant Legacy No Easy Feat — Bipartisan-Minded Governor Broke Tax Vow but Revived Va. — RICHMOND — Mark Robert Warner, the businessman-turned-politician, faced an immense budget gap, a steep learning curve and a legislature happy to see him fail when he was inaugurated as Virginia's 69th governor in 2002.
