Top Items:
William Branigin / Washington Post:
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.
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Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
In Quizzing a Reticent Gonzales, Senators Encounter a Power Shortage — In an entire day of testimony about the Bush administration's secret wiretapping program, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales recognized the supremacy of congressional authority in precisely one instance: the power to declare a recess.
Katherine Shrader / Associated Press:
Gonzales Answers Tough Questions on Spying — WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee expressed skepticism Monday about the legality of President Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program and suggested it be reviewed by a special federal court.
Insight:
Rove counting heads on the Senate Judiciary Committee — The White House has been twisting arms to ensure that no Republican member votes against President Bush in the Senate Judiciary Committee's investigation of the administration's unauthorized wiretapping.
Discussion:
Booman Tribune
Carl Bialik / Wall Street Journal:Sometimes in Polling, It's All in the Question
Discussion:
PJ NSA Files
NEWS.com.au:
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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Washington Post:
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 Huffington Post, This Modern World, The Volokh Conspiracy and Sister Toldjah
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Washington Post:
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Holds a Hearing on Wartime Executive Power and the National Security Agency's Surveillance Authority — 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.
Washington Post:
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Holds a Hearing on Wartime Executive Power and the National Security Agency's Surveillance Authority — SPECTER: Thank you very much, Senator Cornyn. — DURBIN: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. — Thank you, Attorney General, for being here.
Arianna Huffington / The Huffington Post:Spying and Lying: A Winning Issue for Dems... If They Stay Strong
Gateway Pundit:
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 …
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mccain.senate.gov:
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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Robin Toner / New York Times:
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.
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rawstory.com:
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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John Amato / Crooks and Liars:Helen to Scotty: You know what happened to Nixon when he broke the law.
Discussion:
Suburban Guerrilla
Gerard Baker / Times of London:
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 …
Discussion:
A Chequer-Board of Nights …
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Polly Toynbee / Guardian:No more fantasy diplomacy: cut a deal with the mullahs
Discussion:
Harry's Place
Mark Tapscott / tapscottscopydesk.blogspot.com:
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 …
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Deacon / Power Line:SCOOPED BY MY OWN PARTNER
Discussion:
Stop The ACLU, Crooks and Liars, Unclaimed Territory, All Things Beautiful and Daily Pundit
Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff / Washington Post:
Tolerance Toward Intolerance — Last week the publication I work for, the German newsweekly Die Zeit, printed one of the controversial caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. It was the right thing to do. — When the cartoons were first published in Denmark in September, nobody in Germany took notice.
MSNBC:
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.
John Fund / Opinion Journal:
Don Young's Way — Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and other Alaskan money pits. — Everyone seems to agree that Congress needs to clean up earmarks, the special pork projects members of Congress secure often without hearings, notice or even disclosure of the direct recipient.
Charlie Munn / The Officers' Club:
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 …
