Top Items:
Jay Rosen / PressThink:
Dick Cheney Did Not Make a Mistake By Not Telling the Press He Shot a Guy — "The public visibility of the presidency itself is under revision. More of it lies in shadow all the time. Non-communication has become the standard procedure, not a breakdown in practice but the essence of it …
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Steve Clemons / The Washington Note:
Can Cheney be His Own Declassification Machine? — In my view, the law says "No". . .but I have little doubt Alberto Gonzales and his minions will construct a rationale that says otherwise. — But I have run across some interesting information — and have some questions that we should all pose …
National Review:
The Little-Noticed Order That Gave Dick Cheney New Power — In addition to discussing his hunting accident, Vice President Dick Cheney, in his interview on the Fox News Channel Wednesday, also pointed to a little-known but enormously consequential expansion of vice-presidential power …
AOL News:Rove Pushed Cheney to Talk
Discussion:
The RCP Blog, firedoglake, Adventus, Daily Kos, SpeakSpeak News, The All Spin Zone, Althouse, sisu, The Rude Pundit and WTF Is It Now??
Kevin Sites / Associated Press:
Iran Renames Danish Pastries — TEHRAN, Iran - Iranians love Danish pastries, but when they look for the flaky dessert at the bakery they now have to ask for "Roses of the Prophet Muhammad." — Bakeries across the capital were covering up their ads for Danish pastries Thursday …
Mark Benjamin / Salon:
Salon exclusive: The Abu Ghraib files — Never-published photos, and an internal Army report, show more Iraqi prisoner abuse — evidence the government is fighting to hide. — Print EmailFont: S / S+ / S++ — An unknown detainee with women's underwear on his head, strapped to a bed frame.
Discussion:
Reuters, ACLU, Body and Soul, Obsidian Wings, Fausta's Blog, Daimnation!, Andrew Sullivan, Riehl World View and The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta
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Dr. Rusty Shackleford / The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta:Exclusive: Prisoner Abuse Photos from Iraq that MSM Won't Show You
David Stout / New York Times:
Senate Panel Decides Against Eavesdropping Inquiry, for Now — WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 — The Senate Intelligence Committee decided today not to investigate President Bush's domestic surveillance program, at least for the time being. — "I believe that such an investigation is currently unwarranted …
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White House:
President Discusses Health Care — Reforming Health Care for the 21st Century — THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming. Please be seated. (Applause.) Jack, thanks for the introduction, thanks for letting us convert your lobby into a — (laughter) — place to come and visit.
Discussion:
The Washington Monthly, Obsidian Wings, The Carpetbagger Report, ShopFloor.org and Whatever It Is …
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Dave Pierre / Exposing Liberal Media Bias:
HBO's Gumbel: Lack of Blacks Makes Olympics 'Look Like a GOP Convention' — Kudos to radio talk-show host Larry Elder for publicizing some eye-opening remarks from Bryant Gumbel on the most recent episode of HBO's Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel. The comments have received scant coverage …
Radio Blogger:
Helen Thomas hangs up on Hugh Hewitt. — The dean of the White House press corps, known lovingly around the Hugh Hewitt Show as Aunt Bethany... appeared on the program a little while ago, and it didn't end well, with Ms. Thomas hanging up on Hugh. Here's how it went: — 02-15thomas.mp3
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Fraters Libertas, The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta, The Mahablog, The Anchoress and TBogg
BBC:
France steps up rhetoric on Iran — France has for the first time explicitly accused Iran of using its nuclear programme as a cover for clandestine military nuclear activity. — Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told French TV no civilian programme could explain Iran's activity.
Polly Curtis / Guardian:
Abortions at home are safe - pilot study — Women who are less than nine weeks pregnant can safely have medical abortions at home, according to the head of a government-backed pilot project. — Abortion services for the 20,000 women who seek a chemically induced abortion every year …
MSNBC:
U.S. must release domestic spying documents — Judge rules in favor of civil liberties group in Freedom of Information case — WASHINGTON - A federal judge Thursday ordered the Justice Department to respond within 20 days to requests by a civil liberties group for documents about President Bush's domestic eavesdropping program.
Raleigh News & Observer:
Able Danger hearing sets intelligence officers at odds — The Pentagon's top intelligence official clashed repeatedly Wednesday with former operatives of the clandestine Able Danger program over how much the government knew about al-Qaeda before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Dorkafork / INDC Journal:
The Birdshot Conspiracy — You're close to the truth, Mr. Marshall. Closer than you know. — I was in New Zealand 20 hours after the shooting. And there was no mention of it in any of the newspapers. Not one. If I had been in the press office I would have sent out a press release immediately.
Anthony Faiola / Washington Post:
Japanese Putting All Their Energy Into Saving Fuel — KAMIITA, Japan — When the Japanese government issued a national battle cry against soaring global energy prices this winter, no one heeded the call to arms more than this farming town in the misty mountains of western Japan.
Mario F. Cattabiani / Philadelphia Inquirer:
Swann sat out on most election days — When Lynn Swann votes for himself in the May Republican primary, it will be a rare springtime trip to the polls. — Despite once saying that the right to vote should never be taken for granted, Swann missed 20 of the state's 36 elections in the last 18 years …
Tim Chapman / Townhall.com:
Assistant Majority Leader Shadegg? — Two weeks ago Republicans in the House of Representatives stunned political observers by electing John Boehner (R-OH) as their next Majority Leader instead of promoting the next-in-line Roy Blunt (R-MO). The leadership race that led to this surprise outcome …
National Review:
Checked and Unbalanced — As a reverent admirer of George Will, it pains me to say that his diatribe today against the National Security Agency's terrorist-surveillance program is an embarrassing magpie of hyperbole and error. — Will's premise is that the administration, in authorizing the program …
Discussion:
Power Line
