Top Items:
BBC:
Hamas sweeps to election victory — Islamic militant group Hamas has won a stunning victory in Wednesday's Palestinian parliamentary elections. — According to preliminary results, Hamas won 76 seats to 43 for the ruling Fatah party, giving them a majority in the 132-seat chamber. The turnout was 77%.
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CNN:
Palestinian PM says government will quit after Hamas win — Israeli PM: 'Will not negotiate' with those who won't fight terrorism — RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) — In a stunning development ahead of official election results, Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei said Thursday he and others …
New York Times:Anticipating Hamas Victory, Palestinian Cabinet Resigns
Discussion:
OxBlog, The Heretik, A Blog For All, Associated Press, The Duck of Minerva, TAPPED, Norwegianity, Stygius and The Blogging of the President
Sarah El Deeb / Associated Press:Hamas Victory Stuns Palestinian Pols
Discussion:
Israel news and commentary …
Wretchard / The Belmont Club:Waiting — Two items, the first from a European blog called …
Discussion:
The Corner on National …, Pajamas Media, Austin Bay Blog, MSNBC, Publius Pundit, Kesher Talk, Power Line, BBC and Roger L. Simon
CNN:
Sen. Kerry calls for filibuster of Alito — Unclear if Massachusetts Democrat has votes needed to block nominee — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. John Kerry has decided to support a filibuster to block the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, CNN's Congressional Correspondent Ed Henry reported Thursday.
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CNN:
Kerry will try Alito filibuster — White House confident it has support to bring vote — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. John Kerry will attempt a filibuster to block the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, CNN has learned. — Kerry, in Davos, Switzerland …
Ira Stoll / New York Sun:
Iraq's WMD Secreted in Syria, Sada Says — The man who served as the no. 2 official in Saddam Hussein's air force says Iraq moved weapons of mass destruction into Syria before the war by loading the weapons into civilian aircraft in which the passenger seats were removed.
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Michelle Malkin:
THE CHINA-GOOGLE PROTEST LOGO ALBUM — I'm collecting photoshopped/altered Google logos by bloggers and others in response to the search engine company's decision to kowtow to China. Let a thousand protest icons bloom! — Here was mine: — Murdoc: — Pam at Atlas Shrugs, who's calling on you to divest from Google:
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Jacob Weisberg / Slate:
The Power-Madness of King George — Is Bush turning America into an elective dictatorship? — It's tempting to dismiss the debate about the National Security Agency spying on Americans as a technical conflict about procedural rights. President Bush believes he has the legal authority …
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Washington Post:
President Bush Holds a White House Press Conference — SPEAKER: GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES — BUSH: I thank you all very much. Look forward to answering some of your questions here in a minute. — I'm also looking forward to going up to Capitol Hill next Tuesday to give my State of the Union address.
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Robert J. Samuelson / Washington Post:
The Fix-It Myth — Almost everyone agrees that we ought to "fix the health care system" — a completely meaningless phrase despite its popularity with politicians, pundits and "experts." Indeed, it is popular precisely because it is meaningless. The people who proclaim it rarely tell you the discomforting choices it might involve.
Discussion:
TAPPED, The Next Hurrah, SCSUScholars, MaxSpeak, Below The Beltway, EconLog and Hit and Run
Terence Hunt / Associated Press:
Bush Confident Warrantless Wiretaps Legal — WASHINGTON — President Bush again defended his program of warrantless surveillance Thursday, saying "there's no doubt in my mind it is legal." He suggested that he might resist congressional efforts to change or expressly endorse it.
Discussion:
TAPPED
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Edward Wyatt / New York Times:
Oprah Calls Defense of Author 'a Mistake' — In an extraordinary reversal of her strident defense of the author whose book she catapulted to the top of the best-seller list, Oprah Winfrey said today she believed that the author James Frey "betrayed millions of readers" by making up elements …
neo-neocon:
A mind is a difficult thing to change—Part 6 B (After 9/11: war is interested in you) — You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you. — Leon Trotsky — INTRODUCTION — This segment of the story begins with a shock to the system: 9/11.
Discussion:
AMERICAN DIGEST
Media Blog on National Review Online:
The Left's Revolution Against the Media — I think this post, written by Salon's Peter Daou, captures the essence of a movement that is sweeping the liberal side of the blogosphere. In the past few weeks, liberal blogs have organized campaigns against Chris Matthews, Tim Russert and the the Washington Post …
Digby / Hullabaloo:
Gentleman's Agreement — Maureen Dowd is the Queen Bee of the Kewl Kidz. And she is one of those most responsible for the media's current narrative of American Politics: Republicans are jocks, Democrats are nerds. — Here's Dowd's nasty and dangerous little sideswipe today:
Tracy Jan / Boston Globe:
Schoolboy's bias suit — Argues system is favoring girls — At Milton High School, girls outnumber boys by almost 2 to 1 on the honor roll. In Advanced Placement classes, almost 60 percent of the students are female. — It's not that girls are smarter than boys, said Doug Anglin, a 17-year-old senior at the high school.
