Top Items:
Michael Kimmelman / New York Times:
A Startling New Lesson in the Power of Imagery — They're callous and feeble cartoons, cooked up as a provocation by a conservative newspaper exploiting the general Muslim prohibition on images of the Prophet Muhammad to score cheap points about freedom of expression. — But drawings are drawings, so a question arises.
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Anne Applebaum / Washington Post:
A Cartoon's Portrait of America — The trouble started in Denmark, a faraway country of which we know little. It revolves around cartoons, an art form we associate with light humor. It has sparked riots in Surabaya, Tehran, Peshawar and rural Somalia, places where there aren't many Americans in the best of times.
Discussion:
Democrat Taylor Marsh …
The Sandmonkey / Rantings of a Sandmonkey:
Boycott Egypt — Freedom For Egyptians reminded me why the cartoons looked so familiar to me: they were actually printed in the Egyptian Newspaper Al Fagr back in October 2005. I repeat, October 2005, during Ramadan, for all the egyptian muslim population to see, and not a single squeak of outrage was present.
Allan Sloan / Washington Post:
Bush's Social Security Sleight of Hand — If you read enough numbers, you never know what you'll find. Take President Bush and private Social Security accounts. — Last year, even though Bush talked endlessly about the supposed joys of private accounts, he never proposed a specific plan …
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David Espo / Associated Press:
Bush Plan Would Trim Survivor Benefits — WASHINGTON - President Bush's budget calls for elimination of a $255 lump-sum death payment that has been part of Social Security for more than 50 years and urges Congress to cut off monthly survivor benefits to 16- and 17-year-old high school dropouts.
The Left Coaster:
Watch the Mighty Wurlitzer Start — President Bush was humiliated at Coretta Scott King's funeral yesterday by Reverend Lowery and the thunderous applause for the Clintons. What the blogosphere has termed The Mighty Wurlitzer just got cranked up in response, for public …
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William Branigin / Washington Post:Thousands Pay Respects to Coretta Scott King
Discussion:
Daily Kos, This Modern World, The American Street, THE NEWS BLOG, Macsmind and The Left Coaster
Susan Jones / CNSNews:
John Bolton Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize — (CNSNews.com) - John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is one of two Americans who have been nominated for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. — Last year, Democrats and a few Republicans refused to confirm Bolton to the U.N. post …
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Dafna Linzer / Washington Post:Strong Leads and Dead Ends in Nuclear Case Against Iran
Discussion:
The Next Hurrah, NewsHog, Agence France Presse, RedState, War and Piece and A Blog For All
Think Progress:
EXCLUSIVE EMAILS: Jack Abramoff Describes Relationship With President Bush — ThinkProgress has obtained emails written by Jack Abramoff in which the fallen lobbyist personally describes his relationship with President Bush. They depict a relationship far more extensive than has been previously reported.
Discussion:
The Road To Surfdom
Matt Stoller / MyDD:
Redstate Racists — I don't throw around the racist word very often, because to me it is a very very serious charge. But there's no other way to say it; this right-wing blogger 'Blanton' at Redstate is racist, and all the commenter freaks nodding in frothing agreement to his screed seem mighty close as well.
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Jim Geraghty / Washington Times:
The growing role of bloggers — Imagine what the mood at President Bush's State of the Union address would have been if the big news before the speech was the Senate's confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Harriet Miers. — It's hard to believe that as recently as late October that was the White House's goal.
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Amir Taheri / Opinion Journal:
Bonfire of the Pieties — Islam prohibits neither images of Muhammad nor jokes about religion. — "The Muslim Fury," one newspaper headline screamed. "The Rage of Islam Sweeps Europe," said another. "The clash of civilizations is coming," warned one commentator.
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Lynn Sweet / Chicago Sun Times:
McCain mocks Obama — WASHINGTON — Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) received a dressing down Monday from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who accused the freshman of using the ethics reform issue for "self-interested partisan posturing." — In a sarcastic letter, McCain accused Obama …
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John In Dc / Open Letter To Chris Matthews:
MSNBC offering conservative voter outreach, for a price — Well, isn't this interesting. — A top MSNBC producer, who worked on Hardball with Chris Matthews, and now works for MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, is off giving paid-only lectures about how to influence conservative voters.
Warren P. Strobel / Knight Ridder:
State Department sees exodus of weapons experts — WASHINGTON - State Department officials appointed by President Bush have sidelined key career weapons experts and replaced them with less experienced political operatives who share the White House and Pentagon's distrust of international negotiations and treaties.
Michelle Malkin:
VIDEO: ALAN DERSHOWITZ GETS IT — European readers Brian A. and Kenneth M. have passed along links to an excellent interview with Alan Dershowitz that aired this week on Danish television. I don't agree with much of what Dershowitz espouses, but on many crucial War on Terror-related issues he is dead-on …
Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:
Democrats Fear Their Battle Against Beset GOP Falls Short — It's like the old movies. Like Dracula rising from the grave. Jason, whom you think is finished, coming alive to strike again — and come back in another popular sequel. — Just a couple of months ago, the media …
San Francisco Chronicle:
MATIER AND ROSS — S.F. supervisors set to debate call for impeachment of Bush, Cheney — In case you're short a hot topic tonight, Bill O'Reilly, take a look at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors — which is working up a resolution calling for the "full investigation …
Jeanne Cummings / Wall Street Journal:
White House Can't Sweep Aside Abramoff — Indicted Aide Safavian Heads to Court, — And Questions Still Swirl About Griles and Rove — WASHINGTON — The scandal surrounding disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff has shaken up Capitol Hill. But it still poses significant problems for the Bush White House.
