Top Items:
New York Times:
Prosecutor Will Step Down From Lobbyist Case — WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 — The investigation of Jack Abramoff, the disgraced Republican lobbyist, took a surprising new turn on Thursday when the Justice Department said the chief prosecutor in the inquiry would step down next week because he had been nominated …
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Richard Morin / Washington Post:
Majority Believe White House Should Release Abramoff Records — A strong bipartisan majority of the public believes President Bush should release records of meetings between disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and White House staffers despite administration claims that media requests for details …
Jim VandeHei / Washington Post:Bush Reasserts Presidential Prerogatives
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Just a Bump in the Beltway, PBD, First Draft, The Washington Monthly and TalkLeft
David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:
Kerry Urges Alito Filibuster, but His Reception Is Cool — WASHINGTON, Jan 26 — Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts could not attend the Senate debate on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. on Thursday. He was in Davos, Switzerland, mingling with international business …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, The Carpetbagger Report, Althouse, Outside The Beltway, Captain's Quarters, Bench Memos …, PoliPundit.com, Vodkapundit, Decision '08, Stop The ACLU, California Conservative, Sister Toldjah, kpua.net, Below The Beltway, protein wisdom, Balloon Juice, USS Neverdock and Norwegianity
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New York Times:
New Poll Finds Mixed Support for Wiretaps — President Bush at his news conference Thursday. The latest polls show that public opinion on Mr. Bush's surveillance program is still unresolved. — Americans are willing to tolerate eavesdropping without warrants to fight terrorism …
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Jane Hamsher / firedoglake:
Ethics? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Ethics! — Arianna Huffington's relentless efforts to slog through the tedious hours of pompous beltway bloviating and the ridiculous kabukis played out on Press the Meat from week to week have finally paid off. Tim Russert whips around this morning …
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NY Daily News:
Big fuss over claims about Little Russ — Celebrity blogger Arianna Huffington regularly attacks "Meet the Press" moderator Tim Russert as a Washington insider who gets chummy with the powerful. Usually there's no response. — But now Huffington has really gotten under Russert's skin - to the point of drawing blood.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post
Edward Wyatt / New York Times:
Live on 'Oprah,' a Memoirist Is Kicked Out of the Book Club — The author James Frey being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey Thursday. "I feel that you betrayed millions of readers," she told him. — In an extraordinary reversal of her defense of the author whose memoir she catapulted …
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Joshua Goodman / Associated Press:
Fake Passport Ring With Terror Ties Busted — BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombian has dismantled a false passport ring with links to al-Qaida and Hamas militants, the acting attorney general said Thursday after authorities led dozens of simultaneous raids across five cities in collaboration with U.S. officials.
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Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Reporters' Information Sought — Leak Case Files Could Be Key to Libby Defense, Lawyers Say — Attorneys for Vice President Cheney's former top aide urged a court yesterday to force prosecutors to turn over all the information they obtained from reporters about their confidential conversations …
Discussion:
Libertarian Leanings
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11alive.com:
ACLU Releases Government Photos — The ACLU of Georgia released copies of government files on Wednesday that illustrate the extent to which the FBI, the DeKalb County Division of Homeland Security and other government agencies have gone to compile information on Georgians suspected …
tcsdaily.com:
Stuck on 1968 — Discuss This Story! Bookmark — "Worldviews are more a mental security blanket than a serious effort to understand the world." — Bryan Caplan, The Logic of Collective Belief — Most people who were liberals in 1968 still are. Liberals. In 1968.
New York Times:
In the Mideast, a Giant Step Back — For 20 years Ariel Sharon and other Israeli hard-liners have claimed that they had no negotiating partner interested in or capable of securing peace between Israelis and Palestinians. That always seemed a debatable point, until now.
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Eric Dash / New York Times:
Savings Accounts for Health Costs Attract Wall Street — When it comes to medical benefits, millions of Americans already have a health insurer. Soon, many will also have a debit card and a bank tied to their medical plan. — Banks, credit unions and money management firms …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
Gerard Baker / Times of London:
Prepare yourself for the unthinkable: war against Iran may be a necessity — THE UNIMAGINABLE but ultimately inescapable truth is that we are going to have to get ready for war with Iran. Being of a free-speaking, free-thinking disposition, we generally find in the West that hand-wringing …
Dana Blanton / Fox News:
01/26/06 FOX News Poll: The Threat From Iran — NEW YORK — Americans think Iran is the country that poses the greatest immediate danger to the United States today, taking over the number one spot from North Korea. A FOX News poll released Thursday shows the public is concerned …
Juan Cole / Salon:
How do you like your democracy now, Mr. Bush? — The stunning victory of the militant Muslim fundamentalist Hamas Party in the Palestinian elections underlines the central contradictions in the Bush administration's policies toward the Middle East. Bush pushes for elections …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Israel news and commentary …, Marc Cooper, The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta and GOP Bloggers
Sarah El Deeb / Associated Press:
Hamas Wins Landslide 76 Seats — The Islamic militant Hamas won a landslide victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections, winning 76 seats in the 132-member legislature, election officials said Thursday. The rival Fatah Party, which controlled Palestinian politics for four decades, won 43 seats.
