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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Rasmussen Reports:
Rhode Island Senate: Chafee Trailing By 8 — Whitehouse (D) 51% Chafee (R) 43% — The GOP establishment forcefully backed Republican Lincoln Chafee in the primary over a more conservative and arguably less-electable Republican. But, perhaps damaged by having to struggle so long for the nomination …
Discussion:
Pajamas Media
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David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Compromise Called Possible on Interrogations — President Bush's national security adviser signaled on Sunday that he was seeking a compromise with the Republican senators who are rebelling against the administration's proposal to explicitly permit certain severe interrogation practices against terrorism suspects.
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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 …
Discussion:
Blue Crab Boulevard
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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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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Seth Borenstein / Associated Press:
Harmful chemical leaks in space station — HOUSTON - International space station astronauts pulled an alarm and donned protective gear Monday after smelling a foul odor that turned out to be a harmful chemical leaking from an oxygen vent, NASA said. — "We don't exactly know the nature of the spill …
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 …
Anne E. Kornblut / New York Times:
For This Red Meat Crowd, Obama's '08 Choice Is Clear — Senator Barack Obama insists, as always, that he is not running for president. But there are compelling clues that he is not exactly not running, either. — The most obvious was his keynote appearance here on Sunday …
Scott Macleod / Time:
"We Do Not Need Attacks" — Exclusive: On the eve of a visit to the U.S., Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks to TIME's Scott MacLeod about debating President Bush, pursuing nuclear energy and denying the Holocaust — TIME: What were your impressions of New York during your visit to the U.S. last year?
Drudge Report:
BUSH BASHING PIG HITS MADISON SQUARE GARDEN — ROGER WATERS [PINK FLOYD] CONCERT TOUR HITS NORTH AMERICA AND NYC WITH FLYING PIGS, URGING DEM VOTES IN ELECTION, 'IMPEACH BUSH' WRITTEN ON REAR OF PIG FLOATING OVER AUDIENCE... One concertgoer writes: 'Seeing Bush's name written across the pig's arse made me howl'... The pig had graffiti.
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 …
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:
Outside The Beltway, PoliBlog, 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 …
Sam Harris / Los Angeles Times:
Head-in-the-Sand Liberals — Western civilization really is at risk from Muslim extremists. — TWO YEARS AGO I published a book highly critical of religion, "The End of Faith." In it, I argued that the world's major religions are genuinely incompatible, inevitably cause conflict …
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 …
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.