Top Items:
Telegraph:
Islam, like Christianity, is not above criticism — The Pope quotes a barbed medieval criticism of Islamic violence in the course of a scholarly discourse, and Muslims all over the world go into uproar; churches are firebombed. The Prime Minister's wife delivers a playful slap to a cheeky teenager …
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New York Times:
Bush Untethered — Watching the president on Friday in the Rose Garden as he threatened to quit interrogating terrorists if Congress did not approve his detainee bill, we were struck by how often he acts as though there were not two sides to a debate. We have lost count of the number …
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Liz Sidoti / Associated Press:
GOP talk of vibrant economy rings hollow — FALMOUTH, Ky. - Used boots fetch $3 and old salt-and-pepper shakers bring in a buck at a makeshift flea market along Highway 27, presumably not what President Bush and Republicans have in mind when they herald a vibrant economy.
Discussion:
Media Blog
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Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
AP Prefers Anecdotes To Real Data — As we approach the midterms, the media will attempt to kneecap Republicans on one of the issues where they can point to real success: the economy. Over the last three years, as the last of the tax cuts came into force and provided more incentive for investment …
George E. Condon Jr / San Diego Union-Tribune:
Effect of Ney's guilt could weigh heavily
Effect of Ney's guilt could weigh heavily
Discussion:
TPMmuckraker
Robin Toner / New York Times:
As Senator Falters, a Democrat Rises in Virginia — From the start, the Virginia Senate race was an emblematic campaign for 2006: combat boots vs. cowboy boots, in the inevitable shorthand. — A highly decorated Vietnam veteran and former secretary of the Navy who opposed the war in Iraq …
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Cyrus Nowrasteh / Opinion Journal:
The Path to Hysteria — My sin was to write a screenplay accurately depicting Bill Clinton's record on terrorism. — I am neither an activist, politician or partisan, nor an ideologue of any stripe. What I am is a writer who takes his job very seriously, as do most of my colleagues …
BBC:
Narrow win for Swedish opposition — Sweden's centre-right opposition bloc has defeated the ruling Social Democrat party in the country's closest-fought general election for decades. — Moderate party leader Fredrik Reinfeldt declared victory as near-complete results gave him a 1% lead.
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Shankar Vedantam / Washington Post:
In Politics, Aim for the Heart, Not the Head — In 1935, researchers from Columbia University fanned out around the city of Allentown, Pa., and handed out leaflets ahead of local and state elections. What residents did not know was that they were part of an experiment in political persuasion …
Discussion:
DonkeyRising
Washington Post:
Major Problems At Polls Feared — Some Officials Say Voting Law Changes And New Technology Will Cause Trouble — An overhaul in how states and localities record votes and administer elections since the Florida recount battle six years ago has created conditions that could trigger a repeat …
Discussion:
PoliBlog, Outside The Beltway, The Remedy, The BRAD BLOG, Don Surber, Norwegianity, Blue Crab Boulevard and The Democratic Daily
John Fund / Opinion Journal:
Time for a Time-Out? — Will the GOP learn its lesson on pork? — If Republicans lose big in November, one reason will be their tardy response to public outrage over profligate spending. The guilty pleas of former GOP Rep. Duke Cunningham and lobbyist Jack Abramoff prompted demands …
Patterico / Patterico's Pontifications:
NEWSWEEK "Isikoffed" the Gonzales Memo — Since Christopher Hitchens is correcting old Dowdified quotes, I thought I'd correct one myself. This one, from a 2004 NEWSWEEK article, is a major Dowdification — in my view, every bit as egregious as Dowd's original. What's more, it's still influencing lefties even today.
Eric Lipton / New York Times:
Bid to Stockpile Bioterror Drugs Stymied by Setbacks — The last of the anthrax-laced letters was still making its way through the mail in late 2001 when top Bush administration officials reached an obvious conclusion: the nation desperately needed to expand its medical stockpile to prepare for another biological attack.
Damon Darlin / New York Times:
Hewlett Review Is Said to Detail Deeper Spying — A secret investigation of news leaks at Hewlett-Packard was more elaborate than previously reported, and almost from the start involved the illicit gathering of private phone records and direct surveillance of board members and journalists …
Discussion:
Abovethelaw.com
Blaine Harden / Washington Post:
Corruption That Shook Capitol Isn't Rattling Elections — Abramoff Case and Others Not Necessarily Key Issues — HAMILTON, Mont. — Sen. Conrad Burns gazed at a debate audience and asked if anyone could guess who was blocking efforts in Washington to control health-care costs.
Patricia Lopez / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Klobuchar keeps big lead over Kennedy — A charged-up DFL base and disapproval of Bush play a role in the margin, similar to a July poll's. — DFL U.S. Senate candidate Amy Klobuchar continues to hold a dominant lead over GOP rival Mark Kennedy, 56 to 32 percent, in the latest Minnesota Poll …
Jeffrey H. Birnbaum / Washington Post:
Support for Electronic Filing of Senate Candidates' Campaign-Finance Records Gains Momentum — In the next few weeks leading up to Election Day, money will pour into candidates' coffers and voters will be able to see which lobby groups are trying hardest to buy their lawmakers' favor.
Bret Stephens / Opinion Journal:
The Liberals' War — Why is the left afraid to face up to the threat of radical Islam? … Here's a puzzle: Why is it so frequently the case that the people who have the most at stake in the battle against Islamic extremism and the most to lose when Islamism gains—namely, liberals—are typically the most reluctant to fight it?