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Insight:
Impeachment hearings: The White House prepares for the worst — The Bush administration is bracing for impeachment hearings in Congress. — "A coalition in Congress is being formed to support impeachment," an administration source said. — Sources said a prelude to the impeachment process …
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Fred Barbash / Washington Post:
Judiciary Committee Recommends Alito to Senate — By a 10-8 party line vote with sometimes bitter partisan debate, the Senate Judiciary Committee today recommended that Samuel A. Alito Jr. be confirmed by the full Senate as associate justice of the Supreme Court.
David Stout / New York Times:
Senate Panel Votes Along Party Lines to Endorse Alito — WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 - The Senate Judiciary Committee voted strictly along party lines today to endorse Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. for a seat on the Supreme Court, sending the nomination to the full Senate, where confirmation is all but certain.
Discussion:
firedoglake
Clifford Krauss / New York Times:
Canadian Voters Oust Incumbent for Conservative — TORONTO, Jan. 23 - Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party defeated the long entrenched Liberal Party in Canadian elections on Monday. A Conservative victory is a striking turn in the country's politics and is likely …
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Kevin Drum / The Washington Monthly:
AMENDING FISA....Here's another point related to General Hayden's admission today that the NSA's domestic spying program isn't some kind of dazzling high tech black op, but merely garden variety wiretapping that was done outside normal FISA channels because NSA couldn't meet the "probable cause" …
Discussion:
dni.gov, The Poor Man Institute, TalkLeft, Democrat Taylor Marsh …, Talking Points Memo, PBD, Decision '08, Eschaton, Pandagon and AMERICAblog
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Editor and Publisher:Defending Spy Program, General Reveals Shaky Grip on 4th Amendment
Discussion:
The Left Coaster, The Carpetbagger Report, The Heretik, War and Piece and The All Spin Zone
Joel Stein / Los Angeles Times:
Warriors and wusses — I DON'T SUPPORT our troops. This is a particularly difficult opinion to have, especially if you are the kind of person who likes to put bumper stickers on his car. Supporting the troops is a position that even Calvin is unwilling to urinate on. — I'm sure I'd like the troops.
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Brian Ross / ABCNEWS:
EXCLUSIVE: Supreme Ethics Problem? — What Was Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia Doing on Day of Supreme Court Swearing-In? — Jan. 23, 2006 — At the historic swearing-in of John Roberts as the 17th chief justice of the United States last September, every member of the Supreme Court, except Antonin Scalia, was in attendance.
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Eric Lipton / New York Times:
White House Was Told Hurricane Posed Danger — WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 - The White House was told in the hours before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans that the city would probably soon be inundated with floodwater, forcing the long-term relocation of hundreds of thousands of people …
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Joby Warrick / Washington Post:
White House Got Early Warning on Katrina — In the 48 hours before Hurricane Katrina hit, the White House received detailed warnings about the storm's likely impact, including eerily prescient predictions of breached levees, massive flooding, and major losses of life and property, documents show.
E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Rove's Early Warning — Perhaps it's an aspect of compassionate conservatism. Or maybe it's just a taunt and a dare. Well in advance of Election Day, Karl Rove, President Bush's top political adviser, has a habit of laying out his party's main themes, talking points and strategies.
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Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
Closed-Door Deal Makes $22 Billion Difference — GOP Negotiators Criticized for Change In Measure on HMOs — House and Senate GOP negotiators, meeting behind closed doors last month to complete a major budget-cutting bill, agreed on a change to Senate-passed Medicare legislation that would save …
Benedict Carey / New York Times:
A Shocker: Partisan Thought Is Unconscious — Liberals and conservatives can become equally bug-eyed and irrational when talking politics, especially when they are on the defensive. — Using M.R.I. scanners, neuroscientists have now tracked what happens in the politically partisan brain …
Jill / Feministe:
33 Years After Roe — Yesterday was the 33rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion nationwide and finally gave women back the basic right to control their own bodies and shape their own destinies. Check out all the good Blogging for Choice that went on yesterday …
Mark Mazzetti / Los Angeles Times:
Pentagon Planning Document Leaves Iraq Out of Equation — A four-year blueprint for the military reflects a view that the war is an anomaly. There's talk of robots and drones, but no force buildup. — WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has long been accused of always planning to fight its last war.
Daniel Holt / Publius Pundit:
CANADIAN ELECTION — The liveblogging will be somewhat quiet, but please continue to post results, updates and opinions in the comments section. [The blogging does in fact pick up below.] — [With Canada's absolutely ridiculous laws, there really won't be much to discuss until a few hours later …
James Taranto / Opinion Journal:
Best of the Web — Adversaries First, Journalists Second — The Valerie Plame kerfuffle has been bad for American journalism, and the indictment of Scooter Libby in matters tangential to the kerfuffle may make things worse. Libby's lawyers "told a federal judge Friday they want to subpoena journalists …
BBC:
Poll finds surprising optimists — Iraqis and Afghans are the among most optimistic people in the world when it comes to their economic future, a new survey for the BBC suggests. — Italians join people in Zimbabwe and DR Congo as the most downcast about their future, according to the poll of 37,500 people in 32 nations.
