Top Items:
New York Times:
Senate Rejects Measure on Detainees — The Senate today rejected an amendment to a bill creating a new system for interrogating and trying terror suspects that would have guaranteed such suspects access to the courts to challenge their imprisonment. — The vote was 51 to 48 against the amendment …
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Associated Press:
Senate Passes Detainee Bill Sought by Bush — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Thursday endorsed President Bush's plans to prosecute and interrogate terror suspects, all but sealing congressional approval for legislation that Republicans intend to use on the campaign trail to assert their toughness on terrorism.
William Branigin / Washington Post:
Senate Narrowly Rejects Detainee Bill Provision — The Senate today narrowly rejected a measure that would have allowed suspected terrorists to challenge their detention in federal court, as the body moved closer to passing a White House-backed bill to authorize special military tribunals …
Discussion:
Instapundit.com, Power Line, The Strata-Sphere, The Anchoress, The Daily Background and Balloon Juice
Justin Rood / TPMmuckraker:
Senate Kills Habeas Amendment on Torture Bill — The Senate just killed an amendment to ensure federal courts could review the legitimacy of individual' imprisonment on suspicion of involvement in terrorism. The amendment had been proposed by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Dan Froomkin / Washington Post:
Bush Rules — Today's Senate vote on President Bush's detainee legislation, after House approval yesterday, marks a defining moment for this nation. — How far from our historic and Constitutional values are we willing to stray? How mercilessly are we willing to treat those we suspect to be our enemies?
Bruce Ackerman / Los Angeles Times:
The White House Warden — Congress may give the president the power to lock up almost anyone he thinks is a terror threat. — BURIED IN THE complex Senate compromise on detainee treatment is a real shocker, reaching far beyond the legal struggles about foreign terrorist suspects in the Guantanamo Bay fortress.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns and Money, Eschaton, NewsHog, Suburban Guerrilla, Booman Tribune, The Corner, About U.S. Politics and Political Animal
Salon:
Tortured justice — The rush is "very political," says Sen. Dianne Feinstein — and will likely succeed — The Republican Congress Wednesday moved to the cusp of passing landmark legislation to broaden the definition of "enemy combatants" in America's global "war on terror" …
Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
George Bush's vast new powers of detention and interrogation — Final passage of the torture/detention bill was 65-34. Without necessarily planning in advance to do so, I live-blogged the Senate proceedings here (if you're going to subject yourself to something as unpleasant as watching U.S. Senators …
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
World to end shortly: Senate vote on detainee bill forthcoming; Update: Bill passes
World to end shortly: Senate vote on detainee bill forthcoming; Update: Bill passes
Roll Call:
House Report Details 485 Contacts Between Abramoff Team and White House Officials — Hundreds of contacts between top White House officials and former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his associates "raise serious questions about the legality and actions" of those officials, according …
Discussion:
Suburban Guerrilla
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George Stephanopoulos / ABCNEWS:
White House-Abramoff Contacts More Extensive Than Thought, Report Says
White House-Abramoff Contacts More Extensive Than Thought, Report Says
Discussion:
Bark Bark Woof Woof
The Blotter:
Sixteen-Year-Old Capitol Hill Page Concerned About E-mail Exchange with Congressman — Rhonda Schwartz and Maddy Sauer Report: — A 16-year-old male congressional page concerned about the appropriateness of an e-mail exchange with a congressman alerted Capitol Hill staffers to the communication.
Discussion:
AMERICAblog, TPMmuckraker, Brilliant at Breakfast, Shakespeare's Sister and Matthew Yglesias
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Steven Lee Myers / New York Times:
Kazakhs Shrug at 'Borat' While the State Fumes — There is no Running of the Jews here. No one greets you with the expression "Jagshemash," which is either nonsense, garbled Polish or mangled Czech; it's hard to say. The country's national drink is not made from horse urine …
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New York Times:
For Kazakh Leader's Visit, U.S. Seeks a Balance — When Vice President Dick Cheney came to this oil-rich Central Asian nation this spring he expressed admiration for what he called its "political development." Yet just a day before his visit began, the authoritarian government effectively shut …
Matt Stoller / MyDD:
Lieberman Goes on Rightwing Blog, Attacks Al Gore, Chris Dodd, and Ted Kennedy — I don't normally link to right-wing outlet Pajamas Media, but since this right-wing billionaire backed blog outlet has an exlusive interview with Joe Lieberman.... Lieberman is throwing the whole party under the bus.
Discussion:
Winds of Change.NET, Riehl World View, Roger L. Simon, Ned Lamont for Senate and Solomonia
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Patrick Quinn / Associated Press:
Iraq terror leader recruits scientists — CAIRO, Egypt - In a new audio message Thursday, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq called for explosives experts and nuclear scientists to join his group's holy war against the West. He also said that more than 4,000 foreign insurgent fighters …
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CBS News:
Bob Woodward: Bush Misleads On Iraq — Tells 60 Minutes' Wallace That Kissinger Is Regular Visitor To White House — (CBS) Veteran Washington reporter Bob Woodward tells Mike Wallace that the Bush administration has not told the truth regarding the level of violence, especially against U.S. troops, in Iraq.
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org, Taylor Marsh, Think Progress, Wonkette, CNN Political Ticker, The Next Hurrah and Dinocrat
Michelle Malkin:
How not to argue about Islam — This post by Dean Esmay, "calling out Michelle Malkin," is what is known in the business as traffic bait. — So go ahead and click it and give Esmay more of the traffic he wants. I highly recommend you read his post as the classic blogospheric example of how not to argue about Islam.
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Bryan / Hot Air:
Esmay: Do Facts Matter?
Esmay: Do Facts Matter?
Discussion:
One Hand Clapping, Eteraz, The Glittering Eye, The Peking Duck, Pundit Review, Jihad Watch and Cold Fury
Senator Bill Frist:
Secure Fence Act to Pass Senate — In a post 9/11 world, border security is a matter of national security. Securing our borders is not an insurmountable problem ... but it has been a problem that too many have been willing to ignore for too long. — While our borders are still inexcusably porous …
Lorie Byrd / Examiner:
Hard to sort out the truth in mainstream media — WASHINGTON - How can we know what to believe? That is what a neighbor asked me several weeks ago over dinner. We were discussing the fact that she no longer believes everything she sees in the news and often wonders what is the truth.
Adina Greene / Jerusalem Post:
GPO warns press on doctored photos — The Government Press Office held a meeting with heads of foreign news agencies earlier this month to protest the doctoring of photographs of the recent Lebanon war and the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians, and warned them that action could be taken …
The Star-Ledger / nj-community:
Menendez Dumps Key Adviser Caught On Tape Seeking 'Favors' — U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's closest political adviser was secretly recorded seven years ago boasting of political power and urging a Hudson county contractor to hire somone as a favor to Menendez, according to a transcript obtained by The Star-Ledger.