Top Items:
MSNBC:
Rove revamps the Republican strategy — With ratings down and an election coming up, the GOP take a new tack — President Bush and his longtime confidant and adviser, Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove. — WASHINGTON - This fall's election season is going to make the past three look like episodes of "Barney."
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Harold Meyerson:
The GOP's Bankruptcy of Ideas — The emerging Republican game plan for 2006 is, at bottom, a tautology: If the Democrats retake Congress it will mean, well, that the Democrats retake Congress. (Cue lightning bolt and ominous clap of thunder.) Karl Rove and his minions have plumb run out of issues to campaign on.
Rick Klein / Boston Globe:
GOP narrowing its congressional agenda — Focus is on pleasing base ahead of elections — WASHINGTON — Republican leaders in Congress have all but abandoned efforts to pass major policy initiatives this year, and are instead focusing their energies on a series of conservative favorites …
Ken Herman / coxwashington.com:
Abramoff's White House visits — Secret Service records released today under court order show that convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff made only two visits to the White House since President Bush took office in January 2001. — On March 6, 2001, Abramoff entered at 4:23 p.m. and left at 4:49 p.m. On Jan. 20 …
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CBS News:
President's Itinerary Ends Up In Trash — Worker Finds Details Of Bush's Fla. Trip Hours Before His Arrival — (CBS) A public sanitation worker in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday found a thick stack of papers with nearly every detail of President Bush's trip to Florida on the floor next to a big trash truck.
Discussion:
wusatv9.com, The Gun Toting Liberal, The Democratic Daily Blog, The Liberal Avenger, Booman Tribune and Daily Kos
USA Today:
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls — The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
Discussion:
MyDD, The Left Coaster, Booman Tribune, TalkLeft, Eschaton, Mia Culpa, AMERICAblog, Daily Kos and The Volokh Conspiracy
Judd / Think Progress:
After Series of Conflicting Statements, HUD Spokeswoman Goes on 'Scheduled Leave' — On April 28, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson told a real estate group that he had canceled a government contract because the contractor criticized President Bush.
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Bill Crawford / All Things Conservative:
IRAQ INDEX SHOWS PROGRESS BEING MADE — The Brookings Institution released its latest Iraq Index this week. I would encourage you to read it all, but here are some notable items: — Per Capita GDP (USD) for 2005 is forecast to increase from the previous year to $1,051. In 2002 it was $802.
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Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:
A stunning tolerance for corruption in Iraqi reconstruction aid — Occasionally, I think I can no longer be surprised. Stories like this one in the Wall Street Journal prove me wrong. … Here's the deal: Stuart Bowen has led the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.
Discussion:
The Reality-Based Community, Obsidian Wings, The Washington Monthly and Seeing the Forest
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La Shawn / La Shawn Barber's Corner:
Should George Bush Be Impeached? — According to Article II, Section 4, of the United States Constitution: — The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
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Fred Barbash / Washington Post:
J. Michael Luttig Resigns From Appeals Court — Appeals court Judge J. Michael Luttig, a leading conservative jurist and a short-list Bush administration candidate for the Supreme Court, announced today that he is resigning from the bench to serve as senior vice president and general counsel of the Boeing Co.
Betsy Pisik / Washington Times:
U.S. to send urgent aid to Palestinians — NEW YORK — The United States agreed under pressure yesterday to the creation of a system to transfer funds for salaries and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians — a softening of its unbending effort to isolate Hamas.
Discussion:
Power Line
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The Ugly American / The Real Ugly American.com:
Juan Williams: An Interview — I am very excited to share my interview with Fox News Contributor and Senior NPR Political Correspondent Juan Williams with you today. Mr. Williams is one of my favorite pundits on the liberal side of the aisle. You may not always agree with his arguments or reasoning but you do have to respect him.
Associated Press:
Security issue kills domestic spying inquiry — NSA won't grant Justice Department lawyers required security clearance — WASHINGTON - The government has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the National Security Agency refused to grant Justice Department lawyers …
Sheldon Alberts / canada.com:
Cheney's daughter provokes mixed reaction on gay issues — WASHINGTON - Throughout the last U.S. presidential election, Mary Cheney was known to American voters simply as Vice-President Dick Cheney's quiet gay daughter. — No more. — In a memoir published Tuesday …
Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:
Bush Backs Brother Jeb for White House — President Bush suggested Wednesday that he'd like to see his family's White House legacy continue, perhaps with his younger brother Jeb as the chief executive. — The president said Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is well-suited for another office and would make "a great president."
David Frum / American Enterprise Institute:
Pitying Darfur, Ignoring Iraq — It's not easy to be an enlightened liberal internationalist these days. — An enlightened liberal internationalist wants to send troops to the Sudanese region of Darfur to protect a majority Muslim population against murderous Islamic extremist militias.
Will / Attytood:
America's new "silent majority" — And so tonight-to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans-I ask for your support. — Richard Nixon, Nov. 3, 1969. — We were reading the New York Times on Sunday, which had an interesting article about the political situation in Ohio …
Washington Post:
Hard-Core Republicans Are Fleeing President — Conservatives Point to Spending, Immigration — Disaffection over spending and immigration have caused conservatives to take flight from President Bush and the Republican Congress at a rapid pace in recent weeks, sending Bush's approval ratings …
Robert J. Samuelson / Washington Post:
Affluence and Its Discontents — You hear the refrain all the time: The economy looks good statistically (4.7 percent unemployment), but it doesn't feel good. Although the United States is the wealthiest nation in history, our quarrels and quibbles with our prosperity are unending.
Times of London:
Guess who's coming to dinner with Red Ken? — The Venezuelan President aligns himself with dictators, human rights abusers and notorious narcoterrorists — WHICH INTERNATIONAL leader publicly threatens to blow up his country's oilfields, supports Iran's nuclear programme …