Top Items:
Wretchard / The Belmont Club:
Interesting times — It's possible to regard the cartoon crisis as either a strategic disaster or boon for the War on Terror. The argument for being a disaster is assertion that in the war against extremists it is necessary to win over the moderates. And even if winning them over is impossible …
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Hugh Hewitt:
A Decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind — The furor over the Danish cartoons is sparking an odd reaction among some commentators in the West who see no contradiction in condemning the idiocy of Joel Stein or the repulsiveness of Tom Toles while urging solidarity with the idiot newspapermen …
Discussion:
Power Line, JunkYardBlog, Argghhh!, bRight & Early, Brainster's Blog, Hit and Run and The Glittering Eye
Sydney Morning Herald:
Anger over caricatures at boiling point — By David Rennie in Brussels and Tim Butcher in Jerusalem — A LEADING Islamic cleric has called for an "international day of anger" over publication of caricatures of the prophet Muhammad and a Danish activist predicted that deadly violence could break out in Europe "at any minute".
Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:
Trial for Ex-Aide to Cheney Is Set for January 2007 — WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 — The trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, in the C.I.A. leak case will start next January, a federal judge said today. — District Judge Reggie B. Walton said jury selection will begin on Jan. 8, 2007.
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Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Documents Reveal New Details of Libby Conversations — Court documents released today provide new details about the testimony that Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff gave to a grand jury investigating his conversations with reporters and administration officials about a CIA operative.
Discussion:
The Strata-Sphere
tomdispatch.com:
Tomgram: De la Vega on Why Rove Will Fall — The President passed through his State of the Union address — ill-digested chunks of so many other speeches he's given ("We're writing a new chapter in the story of self-government — with women lining up to vote in Afghanistan …
Discussion:
NewsHog
Michelle Malkin:
IN THEIR OWN WORDS — ***updated*** — Just in from London... No, you go to hell. — (Hat tip: Allah Pundit) — Previous: — Followers of the religion of peace — The "international day of anger"
Mariam Fam / Associated Press:
Crews Search for Survivors in Red Sea — SAFAGA, Egypt - An Egyptian passenger ferry carrying nearly 1,500 people sank in the Red Sea early Friday during bad weather, and rescue ships and helicopters pulled dozens of survivors and bodies from the water. Egypt's transport minister said 203 survivors have been rescued.
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Los Angeles Times:
Iraq war is costing $100,000 per minute — WASHINGTON — The White House said Thursday that it plans to ask Congress for an additional $70 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, driving the cost of military operations in the two countries to $120 billion this year, the highest ever.
Jim Dwyer / New York Times:
Surveillance Prompts a Suit: Police v. Police — The demonstrators arrived angry, departed furious. The police had herded them into pens. Stopped them from handing out fliers. Threatened them with arrest for standing on public sidewalks. Made notes on which politicians they cheered and which ones they razzed.
Daniel Henninger / Opinion Journal:
Sick of Sausage — Today's voters crave ideology. — The most significant moment in Tuesday evening's State of the Union speech did not occur while President Bush was speaking. It was just before the speech, when TV cameras caught the two new Supreme Court justices, John Roberts and Samuel Alito.
Eric Alterman / The Nation:
Lies About Blowjobs, Bad. Wars? Not So Much. — At a recent conference on the Clinton Administration at Hofstra University, ex-press secretary Jake Siewart made a point that had previously eluded me: It was during the early days of Clinton's presidency that the democratization …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Associated Press:
Lesbian accuses doctor's office of passing anti-gay literature — ORLANDO — A 36-year-old lesbian has filed a state complaint against a doctor and physician's assistant alleging she was given literature condemning homosexuality as "sinful and sexually impure" after a routine appointment.
Saul Hudson / Reuters:
US backs Muslims in cartoon dispute — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States backed Muslims on Friday against European newspapers that printed caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in a move that could help America's battered image in the Islamic world. — Inserting itself into a dispute …
Editor and Publisher:
Gallup: More Than Half of Americans Feel Bush Deliberately Misled Country on Iraq WMD — A new Gallup Poll, conducted in late January, reveals that just 39% of Americans approve of the way President Bush is handling Iraq, with 58% disapproving. — Over half (53%) now say the administration …
Michael Crowley / The New Republic:
Swiss Miss — Moments before Monday's vote on whether to filibuster the nomination of Samuel Alito, John Kerry was speaking to a near-empty Senate chamber. In his typical stentorian fashion, Kerry was arguing for a filibuster of the Supreme Court nominee, an effort the Massachusetts senator …
Gabriel Schoenfeld / Commentary:
Has the New York Times Violated the Espionage Act? — "Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts." Thus ran the headline of a front-page news story whose repercussions have roiled American politics ever since its publication last December 16 in the New York Times.
Discussion:
Blogs for Bush, Daily Pundit, Fausta's Blog, Austin Bay Blog, The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta, Dean's World, Power Line and The RCP Blog
Associated Press:
'Faust' Opera Video Stirs Angry Parents — BENNETT, Colo. - Some parents in this prairie town are angry with an elementary school music teacher for showing pupils a video about the opera "Faust," whose title character sells his soul to the devil in exchange for being young again.
John / AMERICAblog:
Time to support a good Democrat who's running against a bad Democrat — Former Democratic congressman Ciro Rodriguez lost his seat when Delay redistricted Texas. He lost to Democrat-in-name-only Henry Cuellar, a man rumored to be getting ready to switch his party affiliation to Republican.
Tony Batt / Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Tribes gave to Reid after hiring Abramoff — WASHINGTON — Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada began receiving campaign contributions from at least four American Indian tribes only after they hired Jack Abramoff, Republicans charged this week in an effort to tie the Senate Democratic leader to the disgraced lobbyist.
Discussion:
California Conservative, The Strata-Sphere, Say Anything, Ace of Spades HQ, Daily Pundit and Iowa Voice
Washington Post:
Abizaid Credited With Popularizing the Term 'Long War' — With its formal embrace this week of the term "long war," the Bush administration has turned a simple descriptive phrase into an official name for the war on terrorism, and possibly catapulted it into the ranks of such other era names as "Cold War" and "World War."
Michelle Malkin:
THE MUHAMMAD CARTOONS BLOGBURST — Blogger E.L. Core e-mailed me with an excellent idea for a Muhammad Cartoons "Blogburst": … Ok. Let's do it. If you've posted some or all of the forbidden Muhammad cartoons on your blog in support of Denmark and the Jyllands-Posten, send a track back or e-mail me your link.
Pete Yost / Associated Press:
Senate Intelligence Chairman: Bush Can Spy — WASHINGTON - Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts said Friday the Bush administration's domestic spying is within the president's inherent power under the Constitution, and he rejected criticism that Congress was kept in the dark about it.
