Top Items:
Arianna Huffington / The Huffington Post:
NBC News PR Department Gets Down and Dirty... Somebody's feeling the heat... How else to explain the widely-off-the-mark responses from NBC's PR department in Lloyd Grove's column to our reporting on Russert's multitude of journalistic ethical conflicts. — Instead of dealing …
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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 …
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
Richard Bradley / huffingtonpost.com:
Arianna, Ed Rollins, and Private Detectives — So NBC is coming after Arianna, throwing out the old accusation that she once hired a private eye to investigate Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth. — Well, maybe NBC knows something I don't—but I doubt it. (Full discloure …
Matt Stoller / MyDD:
NBC, Smears, Arianna, and TV Ethics — Arianna Huffington is getting slimed by the NBC PR department for her blogging on Tim Russert. The gist of her blogging is this. Aside from Russert's stonewalling on Plamegate, he routinely accepts massive speaking fees, which is an obvious conflict of interest.
Discussion:
PSoTD
Atrios / Eschaton:The Media Borg — Stoller writes: … This really is a big issue …
Discussion:
Factesque
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 …
Discussion:
firedoglake, Democrat Taylor Marsh …, Pensito Review, Merlot Democrats, AMERICAblog, IntoxiNation-News … and New York Times
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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 …
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:
Betsy's Page, Althouse, Michelle Malkin, Outside The Beltway, The Heretik, PoliPundit.com, Captain's Quarters, Bench Memos …, Decision '08, Vodkapundit, California Conservative, Stop The ACLU, RightWinged.com, Sister Toldjah, A Chequer-Board of Nights …, kpua.net, Below The Beltway, protein wisdom, Balloon Juice, USS Neverdock, Norwegianity, Enlighten-NewJersey, Iowa Voice and JunkYardBlog
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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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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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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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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.
Michelle Malkin:
DOWD LOVES CLINTON'S "ENDEARING" LIES (VIDEO) — Take an Antacid and watch the clip (.wmv file). — Brad Wilmouth at Newsbusters has the full transcript and more: … So, the "right wing would come down so hard on him and overpunish him," eh, Maureen? Sort of like this: … Oh, wait.
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Brad Wilmouth / NewsBusters.org:NYT's Maureen Dowd: Clinton's Lying "Endearing," While Bush "Lies" In His Bubble
Discussion:
Macsmind
Dglover / Beltway Blogroll:
A Luxurious Junket For Bloggers — Bloggers of all stripes love to bloviate these days about public officials who accepted money or luxurious treatment from corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff in his attempt to curry government favor for his clients. But that doesn't mean bloggers are above accepting pampering by people with an agenda.
Discussion:
The Galloping Beaver, Progressive Gold, Ace of Spades HQ, tapscottscopydesk.blogspot.com, TalkLeft and Ezra Klein
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 …
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, GOP Bloggers and protein wisdom
MB Williams / Wampum:
The Koufax Awards 2005: Best state and local blogs — This is a new category this year, so it was a little challenging to pull together. It is intended to honor blogs with a focus on happenings in a single state or single locality. In the spirit of community building …
Discussion:
Attytood, Facing South, TPRS, philly, Philly Future, folkbum's rambles and rants and Above Average Jane
Jonathan / The Head Heeb:
THE DAY AFTER — [Note: This was originally posted at 3 a.m. EST, and has been updated several times to reflect ongoing developments. The most recent update was posted at 10:45 p.m. EST.] — It looks like all yesterday's analysis and exit polls may have been worthless.
Bloomberg:
Majority in U.S. Say Bush Presidency Is a Failure, Poll Finds — Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) — A majority of Americans said the presidency of George W. Bush has been a failure and that they would be more likely to vote for congressional candidates who oppose him, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll.
