Top Items:
Associated Press:
Senate vote opens door to Alito confirmation — Monday vote ends debate on nominee; final vote Tuesday; approval assured — WASHINGTON - The Senate all but guaranteed Samuel Alito's confirmation as the nation's 110th Supreme Court justice Monday, shutting down a last-minute attempt …
Discussion:
Publius Rendezvous
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Daily Kos:
Lieberman, Chafee To Hand Political Gifts To Their Opponents — Senators Joe Lieberman and Lincoln Chafee are poised to hand their political rivals great gifts today. They will be energizing the opposition to their continued presence in the Senate. — CNN's Ed Henry reports …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Loaded Mouth, The Sideshow, conrad.senate.gov, TalkLeft, Democrat Taylor Marsh … and The American Mind
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.
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 …
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 …
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.
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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.
Debra Burlingame / Opinion Journal:
Our Right to Security — Al Qaeda, not the FBI, is the greater threat to America. — One of the most excruciating images of the September 11 attacks is the sight of a man who was trapped in one of the World Trade Center towers. Stripped of his suit jacket and tie and hanging on to what appears …
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Philip Bobbitt / New York Times:
Why We Listen — IN the debate over whether the National Security Agency's eavesdropping violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, we must not lose sight of the fact that the world we entered on 9/11 will require rewriting that statute and other laws.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, TigerHawk, The Heretik, The Right Coast, Austin Bay Blog, Prometheus 6, Hyscience and Transterrestrial Musings
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 …
Discussion:
In the Bullpen, Sigmund, Carl and Alfred, Betsy's Page, The Democratic Daily Blog and Below The Beltway
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Shankar Vedantam / Washington Post:
Study Ties Political Leanings to Hidden Biases — Put a group of people together at a party and observe how they behave. Differently than when they are alone? Differently than when they are with family? What if they're in a stadium instead of at a party? What if they're all men?
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David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:
In Alito, G.O.P. Reaps Harvest Planted in '82 — Last February, as rumors swirled about the failing health of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, a team of conservative grass-roots organizers, public relations specialists and legal strategists met to prepare a battle plan to ensure any vacancies were filled by like-minded jurists.
Discussion:
Booman Tribune, firedoglake, Balkinization, The Heretik, News From Underground, Preemptive Karma and Daily Kos
Drudge Report:
DEAN UNDER FIRE FROM PARTY DEMS; NEARLY ALL CASH SPENT — Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill are privately bristling over Howard Dean's management of the Democratic National Committee and have made those sentiments clear after new fundraising numbers showed he has spent nearly all the committee's cash …
Wonkette:
Letter From the Editors: Politics Makes Strange Blogfellows — Quick! Guess which one used to be lawyer! (Photo © Nikola Tamindzic/AMBREL.net) — You know what we're sick of? Bylines. That's why as of today there won't be any more little gray words at the ends of posts on Wonkette.
Judd / Think Progress:
Matthews: Bush's Warrantless Domestic Surveillance Is "A Winner Politically" — Today on the Chris Matthews show, Matthews asserted that the President warrantless domestic spying program was "a winner politically": … Three of the most recent polls on the issue paint an completely different picture:
Chris Wallace / Fox News:
Transcript: Dem Chairman Howard Dean on 'FNS' — The following is a partial transcript of the Jan. 29, 2006 episode of "FOX News Sunday": — CHRIS WALLACE, HOST: With President Bush set to give his state of the union speech Tuesday, we begin with the chairman of the Democratic National Committee …
Discussion:
UNCoRRELATED, Gateway Pundit, The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta, The Strata-Sphere and Decision '08
Michael Kinsley / Slate:
Kick Me, I'm a Democrat — The game politicians play. — It seems to be time once again to play Kick the Democrats. Everyone can play, including Democrats. The rules are simple. When Republicans lose elections, it is because they didn't get enough votes.
Rob Stein / Washington Post:
Health Workers' Choice Debated — More than a dozen states are considering new laws to protect health workers who do not want to provide care that conflicts with their personal beliefs, a surge of legislation that reflects the intensifying tension between asserting individual religious values and defending patients' rights.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, Unclaimed Territory, The Carpetbagger Report, Andrew Sullivan, Street Prophets and Simianbrain
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, Crooks and Liars, firedoglake and Brainster's Blog
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.
Steven R. Weisman / New York Times:
Rice Admits U.S. Underestimated Hamas Strength — LONDON, Jan. 29 — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledged Sunday that the United States had failed to understand the depth of hostility among Palestinians toward their longtime leaders. The hostility led to an election victory …
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.
