Top Items:
Eric Lipton / New York Times:
White House Knew of Levee's Failure on Night of Storm — WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 — In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Bush administration officials said they had been caught by surprise when they were told on Tuesday, Aug. 30, that a levee had broken, allowing floodwaters to engulf New Orleans.
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Walter Pincus / Washington Post:
Ex-CIA Official Faults Use of Data on Iraq — Intelligence 'Misused' to Justify War, He Says — The former CIA official who coordinated U.S. intelligence on the Middle East until last year has accused the Bush administration of "cherry-picking" intelligence on Iraq to justify a decision …
MSNBC:
Abramoff says Bush met, even joked, with him — Statement follows White House claim that president does not know lobbyist — WASHINGTON - Jack Abramoff said in correspondence made public Thursday that President Bush met him "almost a dozen" times, disputing White House claims Bush …
Discussion:
Democrat Taylor Marsh …, The Moderate Voice, The Democratic Daily Blog, Macsmind and AMERICAblog
David Espo / Associated Press:
Agreement Reached on Patriot Act Changes — WASHINGTON - A band of Senate Republican holdouts reached agreement Thursday with the White House on changes in the Patriot Act designed to clear the way for passage of anti-terror legislation stalled in a dispute over civil liberties.
White House:
President Discusses Progress in War on Terror to National Guard — Washington, D.C. — In Focus: National Security — In Focus: Defense — THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for that warm welcome. I'm delighted to be here with the men and women of the National Guard Association of the United States.
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Scott Shields / MyDD:
Smearing Harry Reid — Checking the latest headlines at Yahoo! News a few minutes ago, I was shocked to read that "Reid Aided Abramoff Clients, Records Show." Immediately, I clicked on it to get the story. My first impression was that, unless I wanted to be a complete and total hypocrite …
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Associated Press:
Abramoff Team and Reid's Office Had Frequent Contact, Records Show — Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid wrote at least four letters helpful to Indian tribes represented by Jack Abramoff, and Reid's staff had frequent contact with the disgraced lobbyist's team about legislation.
Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:
Ex-Cheney Aide Testified Leak Was Ordered, Prosecutor Says — WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 — I. Lewis Libby Jr., the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, told a grand jury that he was authorized by his "superiors" to disclose classified information to reporters about Iraq's weapons capability …
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Toni Locy / Associated Press:Libby: White House 'Superiors' OK'd Leaks
Discussion:
TalkLeft, truthout.org, The Huffington Post, Prairie Weather, Donklephant and The Reality-Based Community
Andrew C. Revkin / New York Times:
NASA Aide Who Resigned Over Warming Offers Defense — George C. Deutsch, the young NASA press aide who resigned on Tuesday in the center of a storm over claims that he had tried to keep keep the agency's top climate scientist from speaking publicly about global warming, defended himself today in his first public interviews.
Paul Reynolds / BBC:
Bloggers: an army of irregulars — World Affairs correspondent, BBC News website — For many in the "mainstream media", as bloggers call us, weblogs are at best a nuisance and at worst dangerous. — They are seen as the rantings and ravings either of the unbalanced or the tedious.
Discussion:
Harry's Place
Media Matters for America:
Matalin: "I think these civil rights leaders are nothing more than racists. And they're keeping ... their African-American brothers enslaved" … Apparently referring to some of the speakers at Coretta Scott King's February 7 funeral, Republican political strategist Mary Matalin stated that …
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Porter Goss / New York Times:
Loose Lips Sink Spies — AT the Central Intelligence Agency, we are more than holding our own in the global war on terrorism, but we are at risk of losing a key battle: the battle to protect our classified information. — Judge Laurence Silberman, a chairman of President Bush's commission …
Michelle Malkin:
THE WAR ON THE FREE PRESS — The Cartoon Jihadists are winning... Malaysia: … New: Malaysia bans possession of Prophet cartoons — Yemen: … South Africa (via VOA): … Ukraine: Editor-in-chief of popular Ukrainian newspaper "Today" apologizes before Muslims for publishing cartoons, satirizing Prophet Muhammad
Reza Aslan / Slate:
Depicting Mohammed — Why I'm offended by the Danish cartoons of the prophet. — Not long ago, as I was strolling through the sprawling bazaars of the holy city of Qom in Iran—a city often referred to as "the Vatican of Shiism"—I came across a cramped, catacomblike shop that sold religious trinkets to tourists.
Clive Crook / The Atlantic Online:
Capitalism: The Movie — Why Americans don't value markets enough—and why that matters — C apitalism is not much loved, even in the parts of the world it has served best. If only one country were to dote on free enterprise, America surely ought to be it.
