Top Items:
New York Times:
Spy Agency Data After Sept. 11 Led F.B.I. to Dead Ends — WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 - In the anxious months after the Sept. 11 attacks, the National Security Agency began sending a steady stream of telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and names to the F.B.I. in search of terrorists.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, TAPPED, The Strata-Sphere, The Carpetbagger Report, QandO, Captain's Quarters, The Heretik, The Left Coaster, Booman Tribune, Defense Tech, Eschaton, Daily Kos, The Blogging of the President, Obsidian Wings, The Washington Monthly, AMERICAN FUTURE, Hit and Run, Taegan Goddard's …, Rising Hegemon, Brilliant at Breakfast, Mathew Gross, TalkLeft, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Think Progress, Pensito Review, Stop The ACLU, Just a Bump in the Beltway and Faithful Progressive
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Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
Two Groups Planning to Sue Over Federal Eavesdropping — WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 - Two leading civil rights groups plan to file lawsuits Tuesday against the Bush administration over its domestic spying program to determine whether the operation was used to monitor 10 defense lawyers, journalists …
Discussion:
AMERICAN FUTURE, Sisyphus Shrugged, TalkLeft, Everything Between, ACLU, Wonkette, The Democratic Daily Blog, Eschaton and War and Piece
PR Newswire:
ACLU Sues to Stop Illegal Spying on Americans, Saying President is Not Above the Law — Prominent Journalists, Nonprofit Groups, Terrorism Experts and Community Advocates Join First Lawsuit to Challenge New NSA Spying Program — NEW YORK, Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ — Saying …
Digby / Hullabaloo:
For The Sake Of The Constitution — Al Gore has become the conscience of the Democratic Party. Following the lead of the new media, and the blogosphere in particular, he just laid out the case as to how the invertebrate Republican congress has sold out its constitutional duty to a president …
Discussion:
Suburban Guerrilla, The American Street, QandO, Registan.net, The Heretik, TBT: The Brutal Truth, newsrack blog and Norwegianity
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Amy Goldstein / Washington Post:
Senate Panel's Vote on Alito Delayed Until Next Week — The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee reached an agreement yesterday evening to wait until next Tuesday to vote on the nomination of Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court.
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Marcia Kramer / wcbstv.com:
Controversial Words At Sharpton's MLK Event — Clinton's Use Of Word 'Plantation' Raises Eyebrows — (CBS) NEW YORK The Martin Luther King Day celebration at Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network is a rite of passage in an election year. And with so many big races this year …
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Deepti Hajela / Associated Press:
Clinton slams Bush at King event, says Congress like `plantation' — NEW YORK — Sounding a little like a preacher, a fired-up Sen. Hillary Clinton lambasted the Bush administration and the Republican-controlled Congress during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event, predicting the presidency …
Jerusalem Post:
Saudi FM opposes Iranian attempts to build nukes — LONDON — Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said he opposed any attempt by Iran to develop nuclear weapons, but alleged the West was partly to blame for Tehran's nuclear program. — In an interview broadcast Monday by the British Broadcasting Corp. …
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Lydia Polgreen / New York Times:
Africa's First Elected Female Head of State Takes Office — MONROVIA, Liberia, Jan. 16 - Standing before the bullet-scarred capitol of this war-torn nation, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Harvard-trained banker and stalwart survivor of Liberia's brutal politics, took the oath today …
Discussion:
ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES
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Anne E. Kornblut / New York Times:
Spotlight on Lobbying Swings to Little-Known Congressman — WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 - Until recently, Representative Bob Ney was little more than an obscure, sometimes eccentric, lawmaker from Ohio. — He had made his biggest public splash in 2003, when he ordered the House cafeteria …
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CNN:
Nagin calls for rebuilding 'chocolate' New Orleans — Black majority city 'the way God wants it to be' — NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) — Mayor Ray Nagin on Monday called for the rebuilding of a "chocolate New Orleans" that maintains the city's black majority, saying, "You can't have New Orleans no other way."
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Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:
Underneath Their Robes — Winnie the Pooh, or so he tells us, is a Bear of Very Little Brain. As he struggles to think his way out of a predicament, you can see him trying to knock the solution out of his fluff-filled head. By contrast, Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Justice …
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Christopher Hitchens / Slate:
It's Curtains for al-Qaida — What happens when Iraqi "insurgents" take on Zarqawi's thugs? — The best news from Iraq this year would certainly be the long New York Times report of Jan. 12 on the murderous strife between local "insurgents" and al-Qaida infiltrators. This was also among the best news from last year.
tcsdaily.com:
Liberals Should Know Better — This is the first of a series of essays written for liberals by a libertarian/conservative. That is, I would like liberals to read it, knowing that you will be inclined to disagree. — Most of my friends are liberals. This series is the conversation I wish that I could have with them.
John Boehner / Opinion Journal:
Keep Politics Kosher — House Republicans need a low-pork diet. — WASHINGTON—The Republican agenda is at risk because of a growing perception that Congress is for sale. The guilty plea of Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham for bribery, the guilty pleas of scam artists Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon …
Discussion:
QandO
Washington Post:
Teens' Bold Blogs Alarm Area Schools — Uninhibited Online Remarks Full of Risks, Officials Warn — No one under 18 would be surprised to hear that teenagers like to post their intimate thoughts and photographs online — they've done it for years. But school administrators have begun to take notice …
Discussion:
The Education Wonks
Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
Speaker Largely Silent Amid Scandal — With his affable demeanor and his open-door policy, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert remains unchallenged in the most powerful post in Congress, even as a growing corruption scandal roils the Republican leadership and more Congress-watchers say the speaker bears …
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …
Robert Novak / Chicago Sun Times:
GOP vote won't be in time for State of the Union — House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert turned down a White House request to elect a permanent successor to Tom DeLay as majority leader in advance of President Bush's State of the Union address on Jan. 31. Republican House members simply …