Top Items:
Michelle Malkin:
KENNEDY UNHINGED: LIVEBLOGGING THE MELTDOWN — ***updated with video link*** — I am watching Sen. Ted Kennedy on C-SPAN unraveling before my eyes. He is screaming. The face is fire-engine red. The fists are waving furiously. Here's my rough transcript of his ongoing diatribe smearing …
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CNN:
Anti-Alito filibuster soundly defeated — Final confirmation of Supreme Court nominee expected Tuesday — WASHINGTON (CNN) — A Democratic filibuster of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito — led by Massachusetts Democratic Sens. John Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy — was defeated 72-25 Monday …
Fred Barbash / Washington Post:
Senate Ends Alito Filibuster Attempt — 75-25 Vote Virtually Assures Nominee's Confirmation — By a 72-25 vote, the Senate cut off a symbolic filibuster attempt today on the Supreme Court nomination of Samuel A. Alito Jr., all but assuring that the federal appeals court judge will be confirmed Tuesday morning by the Senate.
ReddHedd / firedoglake:
Down to the Wire — Armando is reporting at DKos that the Gang of 14 (according to Ed Henry at CNN) will be voting as a block to prevent a filibuster due to their decision that extraordinary circumstances do not exist on this nomination. More information in Armando's DKos diary here.
Discussion:
TalkLeft, Mark in Mexico, The Next Hurrah, Booman Tribune, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Eschaton
Thomas Ferraro / Reuters:
Senate clears way for Alito confirmation — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led Senate on Monday soundly defeated a Democratic bid to block Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito — clearing the way for confirmation of the 55-year-old federal judge, who could move the nation's highest court to the right.
David Stout / New York Times:
Senate Clears the Way for Final Vote on Alito Confirmation — WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 — The nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. for the Supreme Court cleared an all-important procedural hurdle in the Senate this afternoon as liberal Democrats failed to muster enough support to block a vote on his confirmation.
Jane Hamsher / firedoglake:
NARAL Drops the Ball — The announcement this morning that Lincoln Chaffee would vote "no" on Alito but "yes" on cloture was a hollow gesture to NARAL and the pro-choice community he pretends to cultivate. A vote for cloture is a vote for Alito. It's that simple.
Discussion:
Democrat Taylor Marsh …
CNN:
Al Qaeda's No. 2 taunts U.S. in new video — Tape seems to prove al-Zawahiri survived missile attack — (CNN) — Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, appeared in a new video Monday, saying he is alive and well just weeks after a U.S. missile strike targeted him in Pakistan.
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Associated Press:
Zawahiri, in New Videotape, Says He Survived Airstrike — CAIRO, Egypt — Al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri said in a videotape aired Monday that President Bush was a "butcher" and a "failure" because of a deadly U.S. airstrike in Pakistan targeting the bin Laden deputy, and he threatened a new attack on the United States.
Walid Phares / The Counterterrorism Blog:
Zawahiri's message: "your -US- assessment is wrong, we're winning" — The new Zawahiri videotape released by al Jazeera today shows a sophistication in the propaganda war waged by the Jihadists worldwide against the US and its allies. Designed to "crumble" the morale of the American public and …
New York Times:
Exxon Mobil Posts Largest Annual Profit for U.S. Company — HOUSTON, Jan. 30 — Exxon Mobil, the nation's largest energy company, today reported a 27 percent surge in profits for the fourth quarter as elevated fuel prices gave rise to the most lucrative year ever for an American company …
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Alessandra Stanley / New York Times:
A Bomb Detonates, and an Anchorman Tells a Story of the War by Becoming the Story — Bob Woodruff was in Baghdad for ABC reporting the good news that the Bush administration complains is ignored by the news media, and he ended up as a glaring illustration of the bad news.
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MSNBC:
Cartoons bring Muslim wrath on Denmark — Government warns citizens not to visit Saudi Arabia amid protests — COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Denmark warned citizens on Monday not to go to Saudi Arabia and Gaza gunmen said any Danes or Norwegians who came there would face attack …
New York Times:
Lawmakers Urge Bush to Make Abramoff Information Public — WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 — Republican legislators urged President Bush today to make public photographs and information about contacts that he or his top aides had with the lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty to felony charges …
CalgaryGrit:
Wide Open Race — I'm shocked at McKenna's decision to bow out of the Liberal leadership race, but this is certainly great news for the Liberal Party in my opinion. The prospect of a McKenna coronation was extremely unappealing to me for a wide range of reasons: — 1. It would scare off a lot of prospective candidates.
BBC:
EU 'to keep funding Palestinians' — The European Union says it will continue funding the Palestinian Authority so long as its new government is committed to peace with Israel. — EU ministers renewed their call for Hamas to renounce violence and recognise the Jewish state following the militant group's election victory.
Kari Lydersen / Washington Post:
5 States Consider Bans On Protests at Funerals — Proposals Aimed at Anti-Gay Demonstrations — CHICAGO — At least five Midwestern states are considering legislation to ban protests at funerals in response to demonstrations by the Rev. Fred Phelps and members of his Topeka …
Siobhan Gorman / Baltimore Sun:
System error … A program that was supposed to help the National Security Agency pluck out electronic data crucial to the nation's safety is not up and running more than six years and $1.2 billion after it was launched, according to current and former government officials.
John O'Neil / New York Times:
Abbas and Hamas Leader Call for Continuation of Aid — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and a leader of Hamas today both called for a continuation of foreign aid. But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the European Union responded that Hamas must renounce violence and accept Israel's right …
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, Washington Post, PoliBlog, Weapons of Mass Destruction, A Blog For All, The RCP Blog and blogenlust
Ezra Klein:
Katrina Throws Down — Yeah, I guess I deserved that. You know what? Never mind. Katrina Vanden Huevel's slap at me for knocking Tim Kaine's appearance while not looking like Brad Pitt purposefully misses my point. In politics, looks matter. That's why the cover of Katrina's new book features her in a leather miniskirt.
Discussion:
TalkLeft, Hullabaloo, Shakespeare's Sister, The Huffington Post, firedoglake and Brainster's Blog
Albert Yee / philly:
Neighborhood Networks Candidate Forum January 2006 — For those who have never heard of the First Baptist Church, this is what it looks like looking from the west side of 17th St. It's quite a gorgeous church from the outside. I've passed by it many times, but this was my first time inside the great church.
Bruce Kesler / Democracy Project:
Potty-Mouth Politics II — John Kerry and Ted Kennedy's posts grace DailyKos, leading far-left blog and home to repeated slurs and vulgar language, John Dean fulminates like a drunken Blue redneck, Nancy Pelosi channels Haight-Ashbury, and their Hollywood contributors echo their onscreen filth.
Discussion:
PoliPundit.com
Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
Sign Here — Presidential signing statements are more than just executive branch lunacy. — There are two ways President Bush likes to wage war on your civil liberties: He either asks you to surrender your rights directly—as he does when he strengthens and broadens provisions of the Patriot Act.
Fox News:
New Patriot Act Provision Creates Tighter Barrier to Officials at Public Events — WASHINGTON — A new provision tucked into the Patriot Act bill now before Congress would allow authorities to haul demonstrators at any "special event of national significance" away to jail on felony charges …
Discussion:
Opinion Journal, Stop The ACLU, Sister Toldjah, The Volokh Conspiracy, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Mahablog
