Top Items:
Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
The dying scandal that keeps growing — Ever since the NSA scandal began, Bush followers, led by Karl Rove, and even some frightened Democrats, have loudly insisted that this scandal is actually beneficial for Republicans, because they can use it to depict Democrats as weak on national security.
RELATED ITEMS:
New York Times:
Facing Pressure, White House Seeks Approval for Spying — After two months of insisting that President Bush did not need court approval to authorize the wiretapping of calls between the United States and suspected terrorists abroad, the administration is trying to resist pressure for judicial review …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, Wampum, AMERICAblog, The Carpetbagger Report, The Strata-Sphere, TalkLeft and The Moderate Voice
Wichita Eagle:
EDITORIAL: ROBERTS' CREDIBILITY ON LINE — Many Kansans, including members of The Eagle editorial board, have long admired Sen. Pat Roberts for his plainspokenness and reputation for fair brokering of issues. — So it's troubling that Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee …
Jimmy Carter / Washington Post:
Don't Punish the Palestinians — As the results of the recent Palestinian elections are implemented, it's important to understand how the transition process works and also how important to it are actions by Israel and the United States. — Although Hamas won 74 of the 132 parliamentary seats …
RELATED ITEMS:
Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:Carter: They Know Not What They Did — Jimmy Carter takes …
Discussion:
Betsy's Page
Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
Troubleshooting the Tale of a Hunt Gone Sour — WASHINGTON — Mary Matalin, Vice President Dick Cheney's longtime troubleshooter, was sleeping in last Sunday when the phone jangled her awake at 8 a.m. She groggily picked it up to hear, 'The vice president shot somebody, and he's O.K.' "
RELATED ITEMS:
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
How Not to Keep Your Head Down — Nothing makes journalists madder than the feeling that they're not getting the full story — and the Bush administration has been giving them plenty of practice. — On one controversy after another, the White House has been the gang that couldn't shoot straight …
Guardian:An instinct for the capillary — Luckily for the Bush administration …
Discussion:
Ed Driscoll.com
Jane Mayer / New Yorker:
THE MEMO — How an internal effort to ban the abuse and torture of detainees was thwarted. — One night this January, in a ceremony at the Officers' Club at Fort Myer, in Arlington, Virginia, which sits on a hill with a commanding view across the Potomac River to the Washington Monument …
RELATED ITEM:
Richard B. Schmitt / Los Angeles Times:
Privacy Guardian Is Still a Paper Tiger — A year after its creation, the White House civil liberties board has yet to do a single day of work. — WASHINGTON — For Americans troubled by the prospect of federal agents eavesdropping on their phone conversations or combing through their Internet records …
Jim Tankersley / toledoblade.com:
Hackett's research targeted Brown — Votes to cut funding for intelligence cited — Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown voted to cut intelligence funding more than a dozen times before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a record that Paul Hackett's campaign advisers called proof …
RELATED ITEM:
Robert Mayer / Publius Pundit:
RUSSIA SHUTS DOWN NEWSPAPER WITH CARTOON DEPICTING MOHAMMED — The municipal government in Volgograd has decided to close down a local newspaper for printing a cartoon showing Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, and Moses watching a crowd of clashing people while saying, "We never taught them to do that …
Edward Rothstein / New York Times:
History Illuminates the Rage of Muslims — An ant climbs a blade of grass, over and over, seemingly without purpose, seeking neither nourishment nor home. It persists in its futile climb, explains Daniel C. Dennett at the opening of his new book, "Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon" …
Scott Shields / MyDD:
Bill Frist, Brilliant Political Strategist — It's not very often that we here at MyDD come up with the same conclusions as the folks over at RedState. But last week, I had to agree when Blanton wrote a piece that described Bill Frist as hapless and inept, and that he's "failed to be a real leader" in the Senate.
Michael J. Totten:
"Our Jerusalem" — ERBIL, IRAQ - Iraq may not survive in one piece. The overwhelming majority of Iraqi Kurds are packing their bags. Most have already said goodbye. Erbil (Hawler in Kurdish) is the capital of the de-facto sovereign Kurdistan Regional Government.
The Big Trunk / Power Line:
A CASE STUDY — In Minnesota the Democratic Party has undertaken a campaign to suppress two advertisements giving voice to the sentiments of Iraq war veterans and Gold Star Families who support the war. Brian Melendez is the chairman of the Minnesota Democratic Party.
National Review:
"He Shall Direct Thy Paths to the Weapons of Mass Destruction." — William Tierney, the former United Nations weapons inspector who unveiled the so-called "Saddam Tapes" at a conference in Arlington, Virginia, Saturday, told National Review Online that God directed him to weapons sites in Iraq …
