Top Items:
Washington Post:
Mr. Abramoff's Meetings — HERE ARE SOME things we know about Jack Abramoff and the White House: The disgraced lobbyist raised at least $100,000 for President Bush's reelection campaign. He had long-standing ties to Karl Rove, a key presidential adviser. He had extensive dealings …
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Eric Lipton / New York Times:
White House Declines to Provide Storm Papers — WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 - The Bush administration, citing the confidentiality of executive branch communications, said Tuesday that it did not plan to turn over certain documents about Hurricane Katrina or make senior White House officials available …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, Think Progress, Attytood, Shakespeare's Sister, The Carpetbagger Report, PoliBlog, IntoxiNation-News …, The Heretik, The Left Coaster, scout prime, No More Mister Nice Blog, TAPPED, Bark Bark Woof Woof, The Road To Surfdom, AGITPROP, Linkmeister, Middle Earth Journal, The Huffington Post, Martini Republic, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Oliver Willis
Amy Goldstein / Washington Post:
New Tax Breaks for Medical Expenses — President Bush will propose that Americans be allowed to take tax deductions on more of their out-of pocket medical expenses, as part of an initiative the White House believes will rein in soaring health costs by shifting responsibility toward individuals …
Discussion:
EconLog, MyDD, Think Progress, Marginal Revolution, TAPPED, ACSBlog, Democracy Project, Las Vegas Gleaner, Needlenose, BrothersJudd Blog and Mia Culpa
Guardian:
Galloway may face serious fraud office investigation — George Galloway faces the prospect of a criminal investigation into his activities by the serious fraud office, which has collected evidence relating to the oil-for-food corruption scandal in Iraq. — A four-strong SFO team returned …
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James Clench / The Sun:
My pal the psychopath — Crawling ... George with Saddam Hussein's son, Uday — CELEB Big Brother prat George Galloway is today exposed in his revolting true colours — fawning before Saddam Hussein's murderous son Uday. — An astonishing video shown in part on the Sun TV Bulletin depicts Galloway …
MSNBC:
Bush to visit spy agency, defend surveillance — Sen. McCain, uncertain if president exceeded authority, welcomes hearings … WASHINGTON - President Bush heads to the National Security Agency on Wednesday for another speech defending his controversial spying program …
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Michelle Malkin:
DOWDIFYING BEN FRANKLIN — Take a close look at the protest banner held up by a petulant bunch of Georgetown University kids who disrupted a speech by Attorney General Al Gonzales defending the NSA's terrorist surveillance program yesterday: — Notice anything missing?
Matthew Mosk / Washington Post:
Democrats in Md. Try to Limit Fallout Of Gay Union Case — Parties Try to Curb Ruling's Effect on Chance in Election — Maryland Democrats concerned about the political fallout from last week's court ruling on same-sex marriage are considering a plan to block any final court ruling …
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Jesse J. Holland / Associated Press:Alito Confirmation Seems All but Assured
Discussion:
Dohiyi Mir
David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:On Party Lines, Panel Approves Alito for Court
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LiberalOasis
Harold Meyerson / Washington Post:
Bush the Incompetent — Incompetence is not one of the seven deadly sins, and it's hardly the worst attribute that can be ascribed to George W. Bush. But it is this president's defining attribute. Historians, looking back at the hash that his administration has made of his war in Iraq …
Discussion:
The Sideshow, The Mahablog, Norwegianity, Bark Bark Woof Woof, The Peking Duck and The All Spin Zone
New York Times:
Al Qaeda's Big Boast — IF Osama bin Laden's aim in releasing an audiotape was to gauge his enemies' reaction, he must have been gratified to find that America's leaders and opinion-makers understand him little better than they did on 9/11. The proof is in how his offer of a "long-term truce" was treated.
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Reuters:
Iraqi insurgents unite against al-Qa'ida — BAGHDAD: Iraqi insurgents in the Sunni city of Ramadi have turned against their al-Qa'ida allies after a bomb attack killed 80 people, sparking tit-for-tat assassinations. — Residents yesterday said at least three prominent figures on both sides …
Discussion:
Jihad Watch
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Kevin Drum / The Washington Monthly:
FISA UPDATE....I'm still confused about a number of things, but as near as I can tell here's the state of play on the NSA's domestic spying program: — The administration has acknowledged that the NSA program violated the FISA act. However, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales argues …
Discussion:
The Anonymous Liberal, Hullabaloo, Liberty Street, The Road To Surfdom, PBD, Democrat Taylor Marsh …, Daily Kos, TalkLeft and Eschaton
Kofi A. Annan / Washington Post:
Darfur Descending — When I visited Darfur last May, I felt hopeful. Today I am pessimistic, unless a major new international effort is mustered in the coming weeks. — I visited a village whose people had returned after fleeing from violence and were living in relative safety …
Josh Gerstein / nysun.com:
Democrats Are Worrying Over Clinton in 2008 — Senator Clinton's emergence as the early and perhaps prohibitive favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 is fueling anxiety among Democratic strategists and operatives who are worried she would lose to a Republican in the general election.
Charlie Savage / Boston Globe:
AG's memo raises questions on Patriot Act — Suggests it's not needed for domestic spying — WASHINGTON — A footnote in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales's 42-page legal memo defending President Bush's domestic spying program appears to argue that the administration does not need Congress …
Jane Hamsher / firedoglake:
WaPo Chattiness — They've put the page up at the Washington Post where we'll be chatting tomorrow so you can already stop by and leave any questions you might want to ask the illustrious panel of Jim Brady, Jay Rosen, Glenn Reynolds, Jeff Jarvis and me. They say the moderator …
Brian C. Anderson / Opinion Journal:
Shut Up, They Explained — The left's regulatory war against free speech. — The rise of alternative media—political talk radio in the 1980s, cable news in the '90s, and the blogosphere in the new millennium—has broken the liberal monopoly over news and opinion outlets.
