Top Items:
Murray Waas / nationaljournal.com:
Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information — Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been "authorized" by Cheney and other White House "superiors" in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information …
Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Secret Court's Judges Were Warned About NSA Spy Data — Program May Have Led Improperly to Warrants — Twice in the past four years, a top Justice Department lawyer warned the presiding judge of a secret surveillance court that information overheard in President Bush's eavesdropping program …
Discussion:
firedoglake, Macsmind, Decision '08, TAPPED, THE ASTUTE BLOGGER, Hugh Hewitt, PoliBlog, The Hotline's Blogometer, TalkLeft, Democrat Taylor Marsh …, Brilliant at Breakfast, Amygdala, Defense Tech, Think Progress, The Left Coaster, Stygius, The Democratic Daily Blog, A MOCKINGBIRD'S MEDLEY, The Volokh Conspiracy, WTF Is It Now??, The American Street, AMERICAblog, The Washington Monthly, Democratic Veteran, Just a Bump in the Beltway, Charging RINO and Bark Bark Woof Woof
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Opinion Journal:
Abolish FISA — A Congressional power grab, using judges as a cudgel. — Whatever happened to "impeachment"? Only two months ago, that was the word on leading Democratic lips as they assailed President Bush for "illegal" warrantless NSA wiretaps against al Qaeda suspects.
Charles Babington / Washington Post:
White House Agrees to Brief Congress on NSA Surveillance — Responding to congressional pressure from both parties, the White House agreed yesterday to give lawmakers more information about its domestic surveillance program, although the briefings remain highly classified and limited in scope.
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, The Heretik, Big Lizards, The Moderate Voice, The Left Coaster, the talking dog, Stop The ACLU, PoliBlog and Reuters
Associated Press:
Bush: Al Qaeda attack on West Coast thwarted — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush said the U.S.-led global war on terror has "weakened and fractured" al Qaeda and allied groups, outlining as proof new details about the multinational cooperation that foiled purported terrorist plans to fly …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos, California Conservative, The Carpetbagger Report and The Shape of Days
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Smash / The Military Outpost:
WEST COAST TERROR PLOT THWARTED — Since Septemeber 11th, the United States and our coalition partners have disrupted a number of serious al Qaeda terrorist plots, including plots to attack targets inside the United States. — Let me give you an example:
Associated Press:
Ex-FEMA chief: I may tell all about Katrina — Michael Brown asks White House if they want him to stay quiet — WASHINGTON (AP) — Former disaster agency chief Michael Brown is indicating he is ready to reveal his correspondence with President Bush and other officials during Hurricane Katrina unless …
Discussion:
IntoxiNation-News …, The Carpetbagger Report, The Heretik, Talking Points Memo and Shakespeare's Sister
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Petula Dvorak / Washington Post:
Hurricane Victims Demand More Help — Federal Government Not Doing Enough to Aid Rebuilding, Survivors Say — They came to Washington yesterday from temporary housing, from apartments in Houston, hotel rooms in Dallas and spare bedrooms in cousins' homes. — They came to say that the only place they really want to go is home.
Hassan M. Fattah / New York Times:
At Mecca Meeting, Cartoon Outrage Crystallized — BEIRUT, Lebanon, Feb. 8 — As leaders of the world's 57 Muslim nations gathered for a summit meeting in Mecca in December, issues like religious extremism dominated the official agenda. But much of the talk in the hallways was of a wholly different issue …
Discussion:
ShrinkWrapped, Ezra Klein, The Blogging of the President, Daimnation!, Althouse, PoliBlog, Tim Worstall and The Belmont Club
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Jamal Saidi / MSNBC:Bush, Rice told to 'shut up' over cartoon issue
Discussion:
Israel news and commentary …
Jonah Goldberg / Los Angeles Times:
One sorry mess of a party — AND FOR ANOTHER week, the Democrats managed to hold themselves hostage to, well, themselves. — Item 1: Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the wunderkind of the Democratic Party who, we've been told, not only transcends race, partisanship and personal ambition …
Discussion:
Cold Fury
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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.
Bill Theobald / gallatinnewsexaminer.com:
Hastert, Frist said to rig bill for drug firms — Frist denies protection was added in secret — WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert engineered a backroom legislative maneuver to protect pharmaceutical companies from lawsuits, say witnesses to the pre-Christmas power play.
Discussion:
AMERICAblog
Tim Golden / New York Times:
Tough U.S. Steps in Hunger Strike at Camp in Cuba — United States military authorities have taken tougher measures to force-feed detainees engaged in hunger strikes at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, after concluding that some were determined to commit suicide to protest their indefinite confinement, military officials have said.
Associated Press:
Reid Aided Ambramoff Clients, Records Show — Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid wrote at least four letters helpful to Indian tribes represented by Jack Abramoff, and the senator's staff regularly had contact with the disgraced lobbyist's team about legislation affecting other clients.
Austin Bay Blog:
UPDATED: A lesson for Anne Applebaum: Reporting versus Editorial Opinion — Anne Applebaum is confused, so what does a confused American liberal do? Blame American conservatives. Hey, read the DailyKos and you'll conclude Bush is the enemy, not Al Qaeda. — Let me praise her first.
Discussion:
The Reaction, The American Street, Outside The Beltway, Power Line, SayAnything and In From the Cold
Mike Hughlett / Sun-Sentinel:
Craigslist sued over housing ad bias — Online classified site's standards in question — A Chicago fair housing group has sued groundbreaking Web site Craigslist for allegedly publishing discriminatory advertisements, a case that could test the legal liabilities of online ad venues.
David Rennie / Telegraph:
EU commissioner urges European press code on religion — Plans for a European press charter committing the media to "prudence" when reporting on Islam and other religions, were unveiled yesterday. — Franco Frattini, the European Union commissioner for justice, freedom and security …
newsyemen.net:
Security apparatus arrest about 200 of the 23 escapees' relatives and families for investigation — Sana'a, NewsYemen — In the wake of the escape of 23 al-Qaeda prisoners from the prison of the Yemen Political Security Organization, security forces here launched a large-scale arrest campaign …
benningtonbanner.com:
Freed and a Brattleboro Democrat sign up with Tarrant — BRATTLEBORO — A Brattleboro native is crossing party lines to lead Republican candidate Richard Tarrant's campaign for U.S. Senate. — Kate O'Connor, a Democrat from Brattleboro who headed former Gov. Howard Dean's presidential campaign in 2004 …
David S. Broder / Washington Post:
Bucking Bush on Spying — No member of the Senate is more conservative than Sam Brownback of Kansas — a loyal Republican, an ardent opponent of abortion and, not coincidentally, a presidential hopeful for 2008. — As a member of the Judiciary Committee, he has supported President Bush on every one of his court appointments.
Peta Thornycroft / Telegraph:
Mugabe to ask whites back in land grab U-turn — President Robert Mugabe has begun to reverse his "insane" land grab and offer some white farmers the chance to lease back their holdings in Zimbabwe. — With the fastest shrinking economy in the world, Mr Mugabe has had to backtrack …
Dorkafork / INDC Journal:
The Silence Is Deafening — The scales have fallen off of my eyes. Islam is bad. It is by nature incompatible with the West. The 99.9% of Muslims not protesting are not coming out against the violence. They are the silent majority and their silence is damning. — (I mean, besides this statement.
