Top Items:
William Branigin / Washington Post:
Bush Defends Domestic Spying — Deputy National Intelligence Chief Says Program Allows Better Terrorist Tracking — President Bush and the nation's deputy national intelligence chief today defended the legality of a controversial domestic spying program, describing it as a vital tool …
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John O'Neil / New York Times:
Intelligence Deputy Defends Surveillance Program — Gen. Michael V. Hayden, who led the National Security Agency when it began a program of warrantless wiretaps, vigorously defended the program today, but acknowledged that it depends on a lower standard of evidence than required by courts.
Discussion:
The Washington Monthly, TalkLeft, Washington Post, AMERICAN FUTURE, The Carpetbagger Report and The Heretik
Jennifer Loven / Associated Press:
Bush Calls Surveillance Legal, Necessary — MANHATTAN, Kansas - President Bush pushed back Monday at critics of his once-secret domestic spying effort, saying it should be termed a "terrorist surveillance program" and contending it has the backing of legal experts, key lawmakers and the Supreme Court.
National Review:
The Probable Cause of the NSA Controversy — Imagine for a moment that we are at war. (For many of us, that will not require a very active imagination.) — Our military-theater commanders in western Afghanistan and central Iraq sketch out operations against the enemy.
Rick Hasen / Election Law:
BREAKING SUPREME COURT ELECTION LAW NEWS: SUPREME COURT UNANIMOUSLY REVERSES WISCONSIN CAMPAIGN FINANCE CASE, DENIES CERT IN KEY JUDICIAL ELECTIONS CASE, AND SETS ARGUMENT TIMES IN REMAINING CAMPAIGN FINANCE CASES — WRTL: Lyle Denniston reports on SCOTUSBlog: "The Supreme Court ruled on Monday …
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David Stout / New York Times:Justices Ask Court to Reconsider Campaign Finance Case
Discussion:
ACSBlog
MB Williams / Wampum:
The 2005 Koufax Awards: Most Deserving of Wider Recognition — This is the hardest of the nomination posts to compile, one reason I chose to do it early this year - hopefully you'll all feel sorry enough for me that you'll send much Pinot Noir and pad thai (well, maybe not together …
Discussion:
The Dark Wraith Forums, Dohiyi Mir, Sisyphus Shrugged, Creek Running North and Science And Politics
Associated Press:
Bush tells abortion foes, 'We will prevail' — 33 years after Roe v. Wade ruling, abortion debate continues — SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) — President Bush told abortion opponents Monday that they are pursuing "a noble cause" and making a real difference in the campaign to recruit more Americans to stand on their side.
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Juan-Carlos Rodriguez / Associated Press:Bush Lends Abortion Opponents His Support
Discussion:
Clayton Cramer's BLOG
Beth Duff-Brown / Associated Press:
Polls Predict Conservative Win in Canada — OTTAWA (AP) - Canadians voted Monday in an election that could dramatically change the country's political landscape with most polls predicting victory for Stephen Harper's Conservatives - a result that would likely push Canada to the right and lead to improved ties with the U.S.
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White House:
President Discusses Global War on Terror at Kansas State University — THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for the warm welcome. Thanks for inviting me here to give the Landon Lecture. For those students who are here, I want you to know I can remember what it was like to sit through lectures. (Laughter.)
Anthony Phillips / This Is London:
George sinks to new low — First he shocked TV viewers and his colleagues by pretending to be a cat and lapping milk from Rula Lenska's hand. — Now George Galloway is set to attract further derision after performing a dance routine on Celebrity Big Brother - in a tight-fitting, red leotard.
Discussion:
RightWinged.com, Kesher Talk, Norwegianity, WuzzaDem, Solomonia, Ed Driscoll.com and Silent Running
James Glanz / New York Times:
Iraq Rebuilding Badly Hobbled, U.S. Report Finds — The first official history of the $25 billion American reconstruction effort in Iraq depicts a program hobbled from the outset by gross understaffing, a lack of technical expertise, bureaucratic infighting, secrecy and constantly increasing security costs …
Toni Locy / Associated Press:
Libby Wants to Use Classified Evidence — WASHINGTON - Lawyers for a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday made their first request to use classified evidence at his trial, launching a highly secretive court process that could bog down the case.
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Jane Hamsher / firedoglake:
Ombudsman to the Ombudsman — In addition to live blogging the Washington Post chat on Wednesday (1pm et/10am pt) we've also decided to start a public forum called Open Letter to the Washington Post. It was created by Matt Stoller of MyDD and will be moderated by the lovely and talented Taylor Marsh.
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Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Special Report: Many States Shift Democratic During 2005 — Rhode Island, Delaware most Democratic; Utah, Wyoming most Republican — PRINCETON, NJ — An analysis of Gallup Poll data from 2005 shows that the Democratic Party made gains in party identification among the American public.
Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Canadian Election Live Blog — 6:30 - I'm off to a late start, thanks to a last-moment emergency at work. Now that I'm home, the First Mate has me fixed up with dinner and I'll be eating while blogging. (Excuse typos for a while, IOW.) We're still two hours ahead of poll closings in Canada, and I'm a bit behind on my e-mail.
Discussion:
Flopping Aces
NY Daily News:
'Factory' film on Warhol no work of art, says Reed — Sienna Miller, Hayden Christensen and Guy Pearce just started filming "Factory Girl," in which Miller plays Andy Warhol's drug-addled muse Edie Sedgwick. — But Lou Reed has already formed his opinion of director George Hickenlooper and his cast.
Michelle Malkin:
THE AMAZON.COM REVIEW CESSPOOL — Much has been made of the rabid Left's online swarm that shut down the Washington Post's blog comment section. The comments seemed comparatively tame to me. Maybe I'll copy off Chapter 6 of Unhinged and send it off to the WaPo ombudsman and her editors to help them feel better.
Washington Post:
The Wallet-to-Wallet Chasm — Despite a lackluster showing in 2005 elections for the GOP, the Republican National Committee raked in better than $100 million last year and enjoys its largest cash-on-hand lead over its Democratic counterpart in more than a decade.
Abbas Raza / 3quarksdaily:
MONDAY MUSING: A MORAL DEGENERACY — One of the few vices I have always had an extreme aversion and almost allergic reaction to is gambling in all its multifarious incarnations. So much so, that I have never even learned to play a single card game, because they are all somehow indissolubly …
Sabrina Tavernise / New York Times:
Abduction of U.S. Reporter Underscores Risks in Iraq — BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 22 - The tools of her trade were a notebook, pen, Islamic head covering and Arabic name to pass unnoticed through Iraqi streets. — Together with an interpreter and a driver, Jill Carroll, a 28-year-old American journalist …
austinbay.net:
Oh, Canada/with some thoughts on the Canadian military — Over the weekend wire and blog reports I read said the race between the Conservatives and Liberals had tightened. Apparently voters in the Maritimes are particularly vulnerable to allegations that those "Conservatives out West" are dangerous folks, almost Americans.
Shelby Steele / Opinion Journal:
Hillary's Plantation — Hillary Clinton reveals her fear of Condi Rice. — Of course Hillary Clinton's recent claim that Republicans run the House of Representatives like a "plantation" was old-fashioned political and racial pandering. After all, she uttered this remark at what certainly …
Time:
When George Met Jack — White House aides deny the President knew lobbyist Abramoff, but unpublished photos shown to TIME suggest there's more to the story — As details poured out about the illegal and unseemly activities of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, White House officials sought …
John Hawkins / Right Wing News:
Right-Of-Center Bloggers Select The Most & Least Desired 2008 Republican Nominee (2006 Edition) — Right Wing News emailed more than 230 right-of-center bloggers and asked them to send us a ranked list 1-5 of the candidates that they would most like to take the Republican nomination for President …
