Top Items:
New York Times:
Inquiry on Clinton Official Ends With Accusations of Cover-Up — WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 - After the longest independent counsel investigation in history, the prosecutor in the case of former Housing Secretary Henry G. Cisneros is finally closing his operation with a scathing report accusing …
Discussion:
Power Line, Unclaimed Territory, The Carpetbagger Report, NewsBusters.org, The American Street, The Strata-Sphere, Media Blog on National …, The Mahablog, Gateway Pundit, Norwegianity, The LLama Butchers, Bark Bark Woof Woof, THE ASTUTE BLOGGER, Needlenose, Austin Bay Blog and Sister Toldjah
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Dan Eggen / Washington Post:
Congressional Agency Questions Legality of Wiretaps — The Bush administration appears to have violated the National Security Act by limiting its briefings about a warrantless domestic eavesdropping program to congressional leaders, according to a memo from Congress's research arm released yesterday.
David S. Broder / Washington Post:
Gore's Challenge — Former vice president Al Gore has turned himself into a one-man grand jury, ready to indict the Bush administration for any number of crimes against the Constitution. Whether you agree with Gore's conclusions or not, the speech that the 2000 Democratic nominee …
Discussion:
The Blogging of the President, The Moderate Voice, Patridiot Watch, RAGGED THOTS, Eschaton and Suburban Guerrilla
Scott Shane / New York Times:
Report Questions Legality of Briefings on Surveillance — WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 - A legal analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service concludes that the Bush administration's limited briefings for Congress on the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping without warrants are "inconsistent with the law."
James Gordon Meek / NY Daily News:Prober blasts Bill
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, OTB, Mark in Mexico, Generation Why?, The RCP Blog, Decision '08 and Dust my Broom
Lee Keath / Associated Press:
Bin Laden Warns of Attacks, Offers Truce — CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Jazeera on Thursday broadcast portions of an audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden, saying al-Qaida is making preparations for attacks in the United States but offering a possible truce to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Aljazeera:
Bin Laden offers Americans truce — In an audio tape broadcast on Aljazeera, Osama bin Laden has warned that al-Qaida was preparing an attack very soon, but also offered Americans a "long-term truce". — "The new operations of al-Qaida has not happened not because we could not penetrate the security measures.
Discussion:
The Glittering Eye
Associated Press:
Bin Laden Warns of Attacks, Offers Truce — Al-Jazeera aired an audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden on Thursday, saying al-Qaida is making preparations for attacks in the United States but offering a truce to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan. — The voice on the tape said heightened security measures …
Associated Press:
Democratic Senator Endorses Alito — (AP) Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito has the confirmation vote of at least one Senate Democrat but several other Democrats said Wednesday they had lingering questions about the nominee and will vote against him. — Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. …
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David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:Supreme Court Dodges Major Abortion Ruling
Discussion:
Bench Memos …, Lawyers, Guns and Money, damnum absque injuria and Patterico's Pontifications
David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:Democrats Urge Strategic 'No' Votes on Alito
Discussion:
TalkLeft
Howard Mintz / Mercury News:
Feds after Google data — RECORDS SOUGHT IN U.S. QUEST TO REVIVE PORN LAW — The Bush administration on Wednesday asked a federal judge to order Google to turn over a broad range of material from its closely guarded databases. — The move is part of a government effort to revive …
Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
Democrats Unveil Lobbying Curbs — As Party Escalates Reform Push, GOP Calls Scandal Bipartisan — Congressional Democrats yesterday laid out a plan to change what they called a GOP "culture of corruption" in Washington, even as Republicans pointed to ethics lapses on their antagonists' side of the aisle.
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Carl Hulse / New York Times:Democrats Claim a Better Idea on Controlling Lobbying
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report
Elisabeth Rosenthal / New York Times:
When Bad People Are Punished, Men Smile (but Women Don't) — ROME, Jan. 18 - In "Don Juan" Lord Byron wrote, "Sweet is revenge - especially to women." But a study released Wednesday, bolstered by magnetic resonance imaging, suggests that men may be the more natural avengers.
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New York Times:
In 'Design' vs. Darwinism, Darwin Wins Point in Rome — ROME, Jan. 18 - The official Vatican newspaper published an article this week labeling as "correct" the recent decision by a judge in Pennsylvania that intelligent design should not be taught as a scientific alternative to evolution.
Washington Post:
Diplomats Will Be Shifted to Hot Spots — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that she will shift hundreds of Foreign Service positions from Europe and Washington to difficult assignments in the Middle East, Asia and elsewhere as part of a broad restructuring of the diplomatic corps …
New York Times:
U.S. Raid Killed Qaeda Leaders, Pakistanis Say — PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jan. 18 - Two senior members of Al Qaeda and the son-in-law of its No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, were among those killed in the American airstrikes in remote northeastern Pakistan last week, two Pakistani officials said here on Wednesday.
Michelle Malkin:
HALEIGH WANTS TO LIVE — This is Haleigh Poutre: — Last fall, Haleigh was hospitalized after her stepfather allegedly burned her and beat her nearly to death with a baseball bat. Haleigh, in a coma, was kept alive by a feeding tube and ventilator. Doctors said she was "virtually brain dead" …
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William Douglas / Knight Ridder:
White House won't discuss meetings between officials, Abramoff — WASHINGTON - For the second straight day, the White House refused Wednesday to say who among its staffers met with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff or whom the recently convicted felon was representing when he visited the executive mansion.
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Michelle Malkin:
THE GOP LEADERSHIP RACE — I'll be listening in on a blogger conference call with Rep. John Shadegg in just a minute. There are two more calls scheduled later today with Rep. John Boehner and Rep. Blount. The Corner and Hugh Hewitt's blog have been Grand Central Stations for info on the House GOP leadership race.
Associated Press:
Obama Backs Clinton's Criticism of GOP — WASHINGTON — Sen. Barack Obama and other black Democrats are defending Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's description of the House of Representatives as a "plantation." First lady Laura Bush says Clinton's remark was "ridiculous."
Discussion:
The RCP Blog, The Corner on National …, JunkYardBlog, Shot In The Dark, PunditGuy, Decision '08 and Rising Hegemon
ThreatsWatch.Org:
al-Qaeda Commanders al-Magrabi and Habib killed in Damadola — Pakistani and Afghani al-Qaeda commanders killed in airstike along with Masri, the WMD chief — The final results of from the airstrike in the Pakistani border town of Damadola are now known.
Louis Charbonneau / Reuters:
Iran scorns EU trio's draft nuclear resolution — BERLIN (Reuters) - EU powers began circulating a draft resolution on Wednesday for a February 2 meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog asking it to report Iran to the Security Council, but Russia was seeking moves that stopped short of a formal referral.
