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ALBERTO GONZALES, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL — SPECTER: It's 9:30. The Judiciary Committee will now proceed with our hearing on the administration's program administered by the National Security Agency on surveillance. — We welcome the attorney general of the United States here today, who will be testifying.
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U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Holds a Hearing on Wartime Executive Power and the National Security Agency's Surveillance Authority — The transcript picks up with the testimony of Senator Herb Kohl. Return to Part I. — Senator Kohl? — KOHL: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Discussion:
Decision '08, The Volokh Conspiracy, This Modern World, The Huffington Post and Sister Toldjah

Gonzales Defends Legality of Surveillance — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales told a Senate committee today that a controversial surveillance program is "lawful in all respects" and that President Bush launched it under authority from both the Constitution and U.S. law.
Discussion:
Right Wing Nut House, the talking dog, The Heretik, All Things Beautiful and BrothersJudd Blog

ACLU Welcomes Senate Inquiry Into Warrantless NSA Spying Program With Full Page Propaganda — The ACLU are running this full page ad in conjunction with today's Senate hearings over the NSA. … To heck with any evidence! Mr. Romero says that Bush is already guilty …
Discussion:
The RCP Blog, PJ NSA Files, The Carpetbagger Report, Blogs for Bush, Clayton Cramer's BLOG, Washington Post and Althouse

Defense of Eavesdropping Is Met With Skepticism in Senate — WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales told skeptical senators today that the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program is legal, constitutional and vital to national security in a time of terrorism.

In Quizzing a Reticent Gonzales, Senators Encounter a Power Shortage

Spying and Lying: A Winning Issue for Dems... If They Stay Strong

SCOOPED BY MY OWN PARTNER — As John mentioned, this morning Senator Durbin met the new media and, more specifically, "Pajama Line." This occurred because I had the good fortune of accompanying filmmaker Andrew Marcus of Pajamas Media to the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the legality of the NSA intercept program.
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Betcha Durbin Knows About Pajamas Media Now! (And Don't Miss Update V on an AP Schools Story) — Capitol Hill is buzzing with talk of a news conference earlier today in which Powerline's Paul Mirengoff was pushing some hard questions at Sen. Teddy Kennedy, D-MA, and Sen. Richard Durbin …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin

Hilarious: Pajamaline — First of all Power Line is not part of Pajamas Media as far as I know. (I believe they are part of the Blog News Service of PM) Durbin reacts to Mirengoff's parroting of Karl Rove's talking point. — Video-WMP Video-QT — Atrios:

MCCAIN RELEASES LETTER TO OBAMA — Washington D.C. - Today, Senator McCain sent the following letter to Senator Obama regarding ongoing Congressional efforts towards bipartisan lobbying reform. The following is the text from that letter: — The Honorable Barack Obama — United States Senate
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McCain Blasts — And We Mean Blasts — Obama — An outraged Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) today called Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) insincere and partisan, suggesting the Illinois freshman as much as lied in private dicussions the two had about ethics reform last week.

Iran to publish Holocaust cartoons — IRAN'S largest selling newspaper announced today it was holding a contest on cartoons of the Holocaust in response to the publishing in European papers of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. — "It will be an international cartoon contest about the Holocaust …
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Sunni tribes turn against jihadis — To fight foreign terrorists, US and Iraqi forces are looking to the Sunni Arab resistance. — BAGHDAD - Sheikh Osama al-Jadaan, head of the influential Karabila tribe in Sunni Arab-dominated western Iraq, is more politician than traditional sheikh these days.
Discussion:
In the Bullpen
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Because they can — If I were the kind of blogger who ran contests, I'd have an essay contest today asking people to write in and explain which of the following two stories is the more perfect representation of the Bush Administration's overall approach to the rest of the world.

Holding Fast to a Policy of Tax Cutting — WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 — George W. Bush ran for office as a "compassionate conservative," arguing that Americans did not have to choose between huge tax cuts and a government that would do its part to address social needs like education and health care.
Discussion:
Democratic Veteran
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Reporter hits McClellan on taps: 'You know what happened to Nixon when he broke the law' — RAW STORY — White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan got in a heated row with a White House correspondent at Monday's press briefing over President Bush's warrantless domestic spying program, RAW STORY has learned.
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Helen to Scotty: You know what happened to Nixon when he broke the law.
Discussion:
Suburban Guerrilla

Danish Imams Busted! ** — Imam Ahmad Abu Laban, the leader of the Islamic Society of Denmark toured the Middle-East to "create awareness" about 12 cartoons that were published in Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, on September 30, 2005. — However, the truth is that Imam Ahmad Abu Laban …

New roles take centre stage but old divisions lurk in the wings — Sabre-rattling Europe and emollient US will soon settle down to business as usual — WHEN European and US policymakers, led by Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, and Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary …

Meanwhile Back in Iran — Iran has cut trade with Denmark, attacked their embassies, their clerics have denounced the IAEA resolution, and have told the IAEA to remove their monitoring equipment from their facilities. — It looks like the Iranians are proceeding full speed ahead …
Discussion:
Atlas Shrugs