Top Items:
USA Today:
Bush approval rating hits new low — WASHINGTON — President Bush's approval rating has slumped to 31% in a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, the lowest of his presidency and a warning sign for Republicans in the November elections. — The survey of 1,013 adults, taken Friday through Sunday …
Discussion:
Brendan Nyhan, TAPPED, Happy Furry Puppy Story …, The Carpetbagger Report, A Tiny Revolution, Firedoglake, Political Arithmetik, Environmental Republican, Shakespeare's Sister, This Modern World, THE CUNNING REALIST, News Hounds, The Mahablog, MyDD, State of the Day, Sploid, The Left Coaster and Middle Earth Journal
Justin Rood / TPM Muckraker:
EXCLUSIVE: CIA Nominee Hayden Linked to MZM — While director of the National Security Agency, Gen. Michael V. Hayden contracted the services of a top executive at the company at the center of the Cunningham bribery scandal, according to two former employees of the company.
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Terence Hunt / Associated Press:
Bush Turns to Gen. Hayden to Lead CIA — WASHINGTON — President Bush on Monday chose Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden to lead the embattled Central Intelligence Agency, re-igniting a debate over the domestic surveillance program that the onetime head of the National Security Agency once ran.
Discussion:
In From the Cold, The Strata-Sphere, Hot Air, Fox News, The Moderate Voice, Wizbang, Blogcritics.org, Iowa Voice, News Hounds, A Blog For All, Hugh Hewitt, The Democratic Daily Blog, Super Fun Power Hour, Associated Press, Right Voices, The Sandbox, Ace of Spades HQ, Flopping Aces, A Chequer-Board of Nights … and PunditGuy
UPI:
CIA No. 3, facing bribe probe, quits — WASHINGTON, May 8 (UPI) — CIA Director Porter Goss' No. 3 man at the agency, facing investigation as part of a congressional bribe probe, quit Monday, an official said. — Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, the CIA's executive director, announced his resignation …
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Mark Hosenball / Newsweek:
Changing the Guard — While Bush's new CIA nominee preps for a tough nomination battle, agency No. 3 Dusty Foggo is leaving the agency — May 8, 2006 - By all accounts, Michael Hayden is one of the most knowledgeable and experienced intelligence officers currently working for the United States government.
Nick Schwellenbach / The Project On Government …:
The CIA's Existential Crisis
The CIA's Existential Crisis
Discussion:
Time, Talking Points Memo, Think Progress, The Next Hurrah, The Strata-Sphere and War and Piece
Dr. Rusty Shackleford / The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta:
Atwar Bahjat Beheading Video a Hoax (Images / Video) — ****Jawa Report Exclusive**** — A gruesome beheading video delivered to the Sunday Times purporting to be of slain journalist Atwar Bahjat is a hoax. On Sunday, May 7th, the Times reported that they had received a low-quality video of Atwar Bahjat being slowly beheaded.
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Jerusalem Post:
Peres says that Iran 'can also be wiped off the map' — TEHRAN, Iran — Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Monday in an interview to Reuters that "the president of Iran should remember that Iran can also be wiped off the map," Army Radio reported. — According to Peres …
Discussion:
BBC, Blue Crab Boulevard, IMAO, Iowa Voice, FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog, The Sandbox and Daily Pundit
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Karl Vick / Washington Post:
Iran's Leader Writes to President Bush — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has written a letter to President Bush, a spokesman for Iran's hard-line government said Monday. The letter proposed "new solutions for getting out of international problems and the current fragile situation in the world …
Christine Hauser / New York Times:
Iranian President Writes Letter to Bush — Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has written a letter to President Bush with suggestions on how to resolve current international tensions, Iranian officials said today, but there was no immediate information about whether he was proposing …
Jackie Calmes / Wall Street Journal:
Al Gore Might Yet Join 2008 Contenders — Former Vice President Keeps Mum — As His Movie Sparks Talk of a White House Run — First there was Clinton-Gore. Could Clinton vs. Gore be next? — For former Vice President Al Gore, a rash of favorable publicity surrounding this month's opening …
CBS News:
Did Bush Force British Minister Out? — London Papers: Foreign Secretary Jack Straw's Iran Stance Prompted Angry Bush Call To Blair — (CBS/AP) Two London papers have speculated this weekend that complaints by President George W. Bush forced a British minister from his post because of his opposition …
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Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
It's What They leave Out That Makes It Interesting... Jim Vandehei of the WaPo tackles the possibility of a Rove indictment: … The puzzle - just how did Rove testify about a conversation he didn't (and perhaps still doesn't) remember? Jane Hamsher provides an excellent guess …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Firedoglake, The Moderate Voice, The Strata-Sphere, protein wisdom and The Next Hurrah
Seth Sutel / Associated Press:
Newspaper Circulation Declines 2.6 Percent — Newspaper circulation fell 2.6 percent in the six-month period ending in March, according to data released Monday, as more people turned to the Internet and other media outlets for news and information. — The decline in average paid weekday circulation …
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
What's in a Name? Plenty If It's Kennedy — It's hard to imagine that Patrick Kennedy would have gotten elected to Congress a dozen years ago without his last name. — It's equally hard to imagine that the media would be going wild about his late-night car crash and prescription drug addiction if he weren't a Kennedy.
Agence France Presse:
Moussaoui asks for new trial — Less than a week after he was jailed for life over the September 11 attacks, Al-Qaeda plotter Zacarias Moussaoui submitted a motion asking to withdraw his guilty plea so he can have a new trial. — "Moussaoui wishes to withdraw his guilty plea because when he entered …
Discussion:
Argghhh!
Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
His Legacy and His Library Occupy Bush's Thoughts — WASHINGTON — President Bush had dinner last month on the Stanford University campus at the home of George P. Shultz, who was President Ronald Reagan's secretary of state, and the topic of conversation was not, as might be expected, the war in Iraq.
Michael Powell / Washington Post:
U.S. Immigration Debate Is a Road Well Traveled — NEW YORK — They were portrayed as a disreputable lot, the immigrant hordes of this great city. — The Germans refused for decades to give up their native tongue and raucous beer gardens. The Irish of Hell's Kitchen brawled and clung to political sinecures.
Discussion:
The Heretik, TAPPED, TalkLeft, The Corner on National …, PoliBlog and ed fitzgerald's unfutz
Washington Post:
Mary Cheney's Step Forward — Mary Cheney's new book is out. The author herself has been out as a lesbian for many years. In fact, before her father ran for vice president, she was the marketing liaison to the gay and lesbian community for Coors Brewing Co. Now she has published a book …
Drudge Report:
MURDOCH TO HOST FUNDRAISER FOR HILLARY CLINTON — Rupert Murdoch has agreed to host a political fundraiser for Hillary Clinton this summer! — Murdoch's surprise decision to raise money for Clinton in July, on behalf of NEWS CORP., parent company of FOXNEWS and the NEW YORK POST …