Top Items:
Peggy Noonan / Opinion Journal:
They Should Have Killed Him — The death penalty has a meaning, and it isn't vengeance. … Excuse me, I'm sorry, and I beg your pardon, but the jury's decision on Moussaoui gives me a very bad feeling. What we witnessed here was not the higher compassion but a dizzy failure of nerve.
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Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:
Moussaoui Given Life Term by Jury Over Link to 9/11 — ALEXANDRIA, Va. May 3 — A federal jury rejected the death penalty for Zacarias Moussaoui on Wednesday, with some jurors concluding that he played only a minor role in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
France Wants Moussaoui Back — The French have apparently not let the ink dry on the jury submission from yesterday's sentencing recommendation in the Zacarias Moussaoui trial before starting to interfere with its implementation. Le Monde reports today that French officials have contacted …
Marc Santora / New York Times:
9/11 Verdict Draws Mixed Reactions — For the families of those killed on Sept. 11, there are many things they agree on when it comes to Zacarias Moussaoui. — That he is an unrepentant horror of a person is not much in question. They are quick to call his behavior during his trial and sentencing hearing abominable and painful.
Discussion:
Bull Moose
Will / Attytood:
Why won't the government try the real criminals of 9/11?
Why won't the government try the real criminals of 9/11?
Discussion:
Vodkapundit, New York Times, Booman Tribune, The All Spin Zone, Wizbang and Andrew Sullivan
Richard Cohen / Washington Post:
So Not Funny — First, let me state my credentials: I am a funny guy. This is well known in certain circles, which is why, even back in elementary school, I was sometimes asked by the teacher to "say something funny" — as if the deed could be done on demand.
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Jeffrey H. Birnbaum / Washington Post:
House Lobbying Rules Call for More Disclosure — The House narrowly approved ethics legislation yesterday that would expand the amount of information that lobbyists must disclose about their interactions with lawmakers and would also rein in big-money political groups that spent heavily in the last presidential election.
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Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Lobbying Bill Passes Narrowly in House — WASHINGTON, May 3 — The House narrowly passed a bill on Wednesday intended to restore public trust in Congress by reshaping the relationship between lawmakers and lobbyists. But Democrats denounced the measure as a sham, and 20 Republicans voted against it.
Rachel L. Swarns / New York Times:
Growing Unease for Some Blacks on Immigration — WASHINGTON, May 3 — In their demonstrations across the country, some Hispanic immigrants have compared the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s struggle to their own, singing "We Shall Overcome" and declaring a new civil rights movement …
Allan Lengel / Washington Post:
Businessman Pleads Guilty To Bribing Rep. Jefferson — A Louisville man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to bribing Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) with more than $400,000 in payments, company stock and a share of the profits to promote the Kentucky firm's high-tech business ventures in Africa.
Discussion:
Blue Crab Boulevard
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Philip Shenon / New York Times:
Businessman Pleads Guilty to Bribing a Representative
Businessman Pleads Guilty to Bribing a Representative
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
New York Times:
Under U.S. Pressure, Mexico President Seeks Review of Drug Law — MEXICO CITY, May 3 — After intense pressure from the United States, President Vicente Fox has asked Congress to reconsider a law it passed last week that would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of drugs as part …
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Radio Blogger:
Juan Cole is 10th rate...he is the embodiment of the mediocre...his sentences are syntactical train wrecks...it's illiteracy, simply. - Christopher Hitchens — HH: Christopher Hitchens, welcome back to the Hugh Hewitt Show. — CH: Nice to be back. — HH: Now I don't even know how to raise this …
Andrew Samwick / Vox Baby:
You Pay Your Money, You Take Your Chances — I finally decided to go in for TimesSelect. I am greeted by Tom Friedman's column, "Let's (Third) Party," where I read this gem about gasoline prices: … That's a fascinating "truth." Note that he is not writing here about the externalities associated …
Ken Silverstein / Harper's:
Follow-up 2: Red Lights on Capitol Hill — More details on Shirlington Limousine — A few days ago I wondered aloud exactly how Shirlington Limousine of Arlington, Virginia, owned by Christopher Baker—a man with a lengthy history of illegal activity—got millions of dollars in federal contracts …
Jim Stratton / orlandosentinel.com:
Contractor's deal was Harris priority, former staffers say — Former senior members of U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris' congressional staff say they initially rejected a defense contractor's $10 million appropriation request last year but reversed course after being instructed by Harris to approve it.
Richard Morin / Washington Post:
The Fox News Effect — We report. You decide. Does President Bush owe his controversial win in 2000 to Fox cable television news? — Yes, suggest data collected by two economists who found that the growth of the Fox cable news network in the late 1990s may have significantly boosted …
Discussion:
The Democratic Daily Blog
Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
Tax Deal Sets Day of Reckoning — Tough Choice on Deficit in Store for President, Congress in 2011 — With this week's hard-fought agreement on a $70 billion tax-cut extension, President Bush and congressional Republicans have effectively set a date for a fiscal day of reckoning …
Opinion Journal:
Prodigal State — Tort reform brings doctors back to Texas. — DALLAS—The Senate is once again taking up the issue of medical justice reform. If senators want to expand access to health care by increasing the number of physicians and lowering costs, they need to look at Texas.
Christopher Lee / Washington Post:
Volunteer Efforts Spark Push For Public Service Academy — Group Pressing Congress to Create College — Teach for America veteran Chris Myers Asch has done his bit for public service. — After teaching fifth- and sixth-graders for three years in Sunflower County, Miss. …