Top Items:
Associated Press:
Justices Back Most G.O.P. Changes to Texas Districts — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld most of the Texas congressional map engineered by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay but threw out part, saying some of the new boundaries failed to protect minority voting rights.
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Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Decisions: No ruling on Hamdan; partisan gerrymander claim rejected — (NOTE: The Chief Justice announced that the Court will issue remaining decisions in the Term at 10 a.m. Thursday. The two still-undecided cases are the war crimes tribunal case (Hamdan v. Rumsfeld) …
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Piling On the New York Times With a Scoop — Story on Secret Program Further Rouses Critics — President Bush calls the conduct of the New York Times "disgraceful." Vice President Cheney objects to the paper having won a Pulitzer Prize. A Republican congressman wants the Times prosecuted.
Discussion:
Rantingprofs, James Wolcott, War and Piece, Roger L. Simon, NewsBusters.org, Patterico's Pontifications, KnoxViews, Public Eye and JunkYardBlog
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The Hill:
GOP bill targets NY Times — House Republican leaders are expected to introduce a resolution today condemning The New York Times for publishing a story last week that exposed government monitoring of banking records. — The resolution is expected to condemn the leak and publication …
Bryan Bender / Boston Globe:
Terrorist funds-tracking no secret, some say — Cite White House boasts of tighter monitoring system — WASHINGTON — News reports disclosing the Bush administration's use of a special bank surveillance program to track terrorist financing spurred outrage in the White House and on Capitol Hill …
Aussie Dave / Israellycool:
Operation Summer Rains — Before dawn today, IDF tanks and troops went into Gaza. Their mission is clear: to secure the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. As National Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told Israel Radio: … According to an army source …
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Ibrahim Barzak / Associated Press:
Israelis keep pressure on Palestinians — RAFAH, Gaza Strip - Israel turned up the pressure on Palestinian militants to release a captive soldier Wednesday, sending its warplanes to bomb a Hamas training camp after knocking out electricity and water supplies for most of the 1.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip.
Yaakov Katz / Jerusalem Post:
IDF captures airstrip, gains foothold east of Rafah — Israeli fighter jets struck the northern Gaza Strip around 2 p.m. Wednesday, firing missiles at open areas. The strike is part of the army's "pressure pot" tactic, meant to turn up pressure on Gaza by placement of troops and weapons fire with a minimum of casualties.
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, Israel Matzav, Liberty and Justice, Power Line, Yourish.com and Security Watchtower
BBC:
Hamas resist Israel recognition
Hamas resist Israel recognition
Discussion:
Atlas Shrugs, Gateway Pundit, A Blog For All, Israel Matzav, FP Passport, Yourish.com and PoliBlog
Kate Zernike / New York Times:
Bush's Use of Authority Riles Senator — WASHINGTON, June 27 — Senators on the Judiciary Committee accused President Bush of an "unprecedented" and "astonishing" power grab on Tuesday for making use of a device that gave him the authority to revise or ignore more than 750 laws enacted since he became president.
Discussion:
TPMmuckraker, The Moderate Voice, Flopping Aces, Daniel W. Drezner, The Heretik, Bring it On! and Prometheus 6
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Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
Bush's Challenges of Laws He Signed Is Criticized
Bush's Challenges of Laws He Signed Is Criticized
Discussion:
Bench Memos …
David Espo / Associated Press:
Obama: Democrats Must Court Evangelicals — WASHINGTON — Sen. Barack Obama chastised fellow Democrats on Wednesday for failing to "acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people," and said the party must compete for the support of evangelicals and other churchgoing Americans.
Discussion:
MyDD, The Republic of T., Firedoglake, Hot Air, David Sirota, The Agonist, AMERICAblog, Street Prophets and Eschaton
Charles Babington / Washington Post:
Senate Rejects Flag Desecration Amendment — The Senate rejected by a single vote yesterday an effort to amend the Constitution to allow Congress to ban desecration of the American flag, after a two-day debate freighted with political calculations and sharp disputes over the limits of free speech.
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Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Not Quite the Banner Day One Might Have Hoped For
Not Quite the Banner Day One Might Have Hoped For
Discussion:
David Corn, The Carpetbagger Report, Balloon Juice, The Glittering Eye, Marc Cooper and Bring it On!
CNN:
Senator seeks tax on pimps, prostitutes — Grassley: 'It's a no-brainer to have the IRS go after sex traffickers' — NEW YORK (CNN) — Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa is hoping to stamp out the sex trade by taxing pimps and prostitutes, then jailing them when they don't pay.
Brock Vergakis / Associated Press:
U.S. Rep. Cannon wins Republican primary — SALT LAKE CITY - U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon (news, bio, voting record) said his solid victory in Utah's Republican primary is good news for President Bush and those seeking a consensus on immigration policy this year.
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Glen Warchol / sltrib.com:
Incumbent wins easily as Jacob's immigration challenge fizzles
Incumbent wins easily as Jacob's immigration challenge fizzles
Discussion:
CNN, CQPolitics.com, The Strata-Sphere, Hit and Run, The Corner on National …, The Heretik and The RCP Blog
Porkbusters:
we need to stop this... now — Guest Contributor: Sen. John McCain — Last week I had the honor of speaking to a group of my fellow Republicans at the presidential library of one of my heroes — President Ronald Reagan. — When I was first elected to Congress, I was one of many newly elected members …