Top Items:
Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Hey Democrats, Why Win? — DEMOCRATS are all but breaking out the Champagne. Republicans are divided and disheartened; President Bush's poll numbers seem to be in free fall. Many Democrats are talking not only about victory in November but about what they will do once Congress is in their hands.
Discussion:
ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, MyDD, Booman Tribune, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Billmon and Althouse
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Digby / Hullabaloo:
Leadership — Leading Democrats tell the New York Times that it would be better if the party doesn't win in the fall — and if it has the sad misfortune to do so, it would be better off not holding any investigations into the Bush administration. — And if, somehow, the party does unfortunately win …
USA Today:
51% oppose NSA database — WASHINGTON — The majority of Americans disapprove of a massive Pentagon database containing the records of billions of phone calls made by ordinary citizens, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll. About two-thirds are concerned that the program may signal other …
Discussion:
Eschaton
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NewsMax.com:
Bush Approval Rating Jumps Six Points — President Bush's job approval rating has jumped six points in the wake of a media barrage of criticism over his administration's telephone records collection program. — A Harris Interactive poll published in The Wall Street Journal Online on Friday …
Mark Steyn / Chicago Sun Times:
To connect the dots, you have to see the dots — Here are two news stories from the end of last week. The first one you may have heard about. As "The Today Show's" Matt Lauer put it: — "Does the government have your number? This morning a shocking new report that the National Security Agency …
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Newsweek:
Hold the Phone — Big Brother knows whom you call. Is that legal, and will it help catch the bad guys? — May 22, 2006 issue - In the difficult days after 9/11, White House officials quietly passed the word through Washington's alphabet soup of intelligence agencies: tell us which weapons you need to stop another attack.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post
John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
SNL: If Al Gore were President — SNL: If Al Gore were President — "Saturday Night Live," opened their show tonight with Al Gore addressing the nation as if he was the President of the United States. Gore was focused and quite funny in this entertaining spoof of the current administration and their long range of failures.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, TalkLeft, Outside The Beltway, Democrats.com, Pensito Review and Draft Gore 2008
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Allahpundit / hotair.com:
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: hero ... and illegal alien — As Chris Rock said, "Prejudice makes no sense, because whoever you hate is going to end up in your family." Not a perfect fit for the situation here — "hate" is too strong a word vis-a-vis illegals — but not completely inapt, either.
Discussion:
Liberty and Justice
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Associated Press:
Plane Carrying Kennedy Hit by Lightning — A plane carrying U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy from western Massachusetts to his home on the coast was struck by lightning Saturday and had to be diverted to New Haven, Conn., his spokeswoman said. — The eight-seat Cessna Citation 550 plane lost …
Associated Press:
At least 30 killed in rampages by Brazilian gang — Notorious group launches at least 55 attacks against police, others — SAO PAULO, Brazil - One of Brazil's most notorious gangs staged dozens of attacks on police before dawn Saturday, setting off gunbattles in three cities that killed at least 30 people, officials said.
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Bill / True Blue Liberal:
Will the Real Traitors Please Stand Up? — From NY Times — By Frank Rich — When America panics, it goes hunting for scapegoats. But from Salem onward, we've more often than not ended up pillorying the innocent. Abe Rosenthal, the legendary Times editor who died last week …
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Nick Cohen / Observer:
Memo to EU: we call it Islamic terrorism because it is terror inspired by Islam — The United Nations held 'World Press Freedom Day 2006' earlier this month. I don't know why. Maybe the UN realised that so many of its member states stifled press and other freedoms they needed encouragement to do better.
Reuters:
Laura Bush doesn't believe bad polls — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - First lady Laura Bush said on Sunday she does not believe opinion polls showing her husband's approval ratings at record low levels. — Interviewed on Fox News Sunday, Laura Bush said she did not think people were losing confidence …
Times of London:
Thank you, my foolish friends in the West — Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is only the latest dictator-in-waiting to bask in adulation from western 'progressives', says Ian Buruma — When the Cuban novelist Reinaldo Arenas managed to escape to the US in 1980, after years of persecution …
Dan Balz / Washington Post:
McCain Reconnects With Liberty University — Senator May Have an Eye Toward 2008 as He Reaches Out to Religious Conservatives — LYNCHBURG, Va., May 13 — Six years after labeling the Rev. Jerry Falwell one of the political "agents of intolerance," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) …
RELATED ITEMS:
Adam Nagourney / New York Times:At Falwell's University, McCain Defends Iraq War
Discussion:
RuminateThis
Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit.com:
ALL THE COOL KIDS ARE DOING IT — Drezner, McArdle, even Bainbridge — so I'll take the Atrios/Drum "are you a liberal" test, too. The questions (in bold) and my answers appear below: — 1) Repeal the estate tax repeal: I've never cared much about the Estate Tax, one way or another. Score me a weak no.
Associated Press:
Report: Mentally ill troops forced into combat — Military not following own rules on deployment, paper says — HARTFORD, Connecticut (AP) — U.S. military troops with severe psychological problems have been sent to Iraq or kept in combat, even when superiors have been aware of signs of mental illness …
Donald G. McNeil Jr / New York Times:
Avian Flu Wanes in Asian Nations It First Hit Hard — Even as it crops up in the far corners of Europe and Africa, the virulent bird flu that raised fears of a human pandemic has been largely snuffed out in the parts of Southeast Asia where it claimed its first and most numerous victims.
Discussion:
Just a Bump in the Beltway
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