Top Items:
Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
Removal of Rumsfeld Dates Back to Summer — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld walking back to his motorcade Thursday after touring the Eisenhower Museum in Abilene, Kan. — President Bush was moving by late summer toward removing Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary, people inside and outside the White House said Thursday.
Discussion:
The Hill, The Moderate Voice, Outside The Beltway, The Political Pit Bull, Salon, First Draft, The Heretik and First Read
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Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
Extremely odd behavior from the Washington Post re: the President's Rumsfeld lie — (updated below) — It is now conclusively clear that President Bush lied last week, several days before the election, when he vowed definitively to reporters that Donald Rumsfeld would remain as Defense Secretary for the next two years.
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
After Rumsfeld: Bid to Reshape the Brain Trust — Robert M. Gates, President Bush's choice to become defense secretary, has sharply criticized the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war and has made it clear that he would seek advice from moderate Republicans who have been largely frozen …
Martin Fletcher / Times of London:
Troops fear Rumsfeld's exit will end their Iraq mission — Half of America and the upper echelons of the US military may be cheering Donald Rumsfeld's resignation from the post of Defence Secretary, but there was no rejoicing yesterday among those most directly affected by his decisions: the frontline soldiers in Iraq.
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Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Troops Fear The Loss Of Rumsfeld — American troops concerned with the loss of Donald Rumsfeld spoke to Martin Fletcher of the Times of London, worried that the new Secretary of Defense would pull them out of Iraq before they could complete the mission: … The American troops believe in the mission they serve.
C. J. Chivers / New York Times:
Marines Get the News From an Iraqi Host: Rumsfeld's Out. 'Who's Rumsfeld?' — Hashim al-Menti smiled wanly at the marine sergeant beside him on his couch. The sergeant had appeared in the darkness on Wednesday night, knocking on the door of Mr. Menti's home.
Ann Althouse / Althouse:
Oh, why don't you just admit it? — Okay, I'm depressed about the election. — She asks herself a question, then answers it — Rumsfeldianly. — What is it, exactly? — It's the failure of Americans to support the war. It's the folding and crumpling because things didn't go well enough …
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Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit.com:
I NOTED EARLIER that Ann Althouse is depressed about the elections, and looking around it seems that a lot of people feel that way. Well, I understand that, God knows. But one iron rule of elections is that you win some and you lose some. And people tend to exaggerate their importance and …
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Only a Minor Earthquake — How serious is the "thumpin' " the Republicans took on Tuesday? Losing one house is significant but hardly historic. Losing both houses, however, is defeat of a different order of magnitude, the equivalent in a parliamentary system of a vote of no confidence.
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Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
With Power Set to Be Split, Wiretaps Re-emerge as Issue — The Bush administration escalated its defense of the National Security Agency's domestic wiretapping program on Thursday, even as Democrats in Congress vowed to investigate the program aggressively once they assume power.
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Jeanne Cummings / Wall Street Journal:
Redistricting: Home to Roost — How Republicans' — Gerrymandering Efforts — May Have Backfired — WASHINGTON — Gerrymandering was supposed to cement Republican control of the House of Representatives, offering incumbents a wall of re-election protection even as public opinion turned sharply against them.
The Big Trunk / Power Line:
TO THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI — Today is the birthday of the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps Museum (depicted above) opens today in Quantico — "a monument to honor, courage and commitment." Earlier this week Mark Yost previewed the museum in an excellent column (subscribers only) for the Wall Street Journal.
Discussion:
Solomonia, Debbie Schlussel, Villainous Company, Reason Magazine, Cato-at-liberty and Blue Crab Boulevard
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Daniel Henninger / Opinion Journal:
Like Father, Like Son? — Team 41 is a threat to the Bush legacy. — With the appointment of Robert Gates—CIA director from 1991 to 1993—to succeed Don Rumsfeld as secretary of defense, George W. Bush has brought upon himself much talk about sons in the shadow of their fathers.
Discussion:
The Corner, Works and Days, The LLama Butchers, Blue Crab Boulevard and No More Mister Nice Blog
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Oskar Garcia / Associated Press:
McGovern to Meet With Congress on War — George McGovern, the former senator and Democratic presidential candidate, said Thursday that he will meet with more than 60 members of Congress next week to recommend a strategy to remove U.S. troops from Iraq by June.
Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
RNC asks Steele to replace Mehlman — Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, whose party just lost both chambers of Congress, will leave his position in January, and the post as party chief has been offered to Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele.
BBC:
MI5 tracking '30 UK terror plots' — MI5 knows of 30 terror plots threatening the UK and is keeping 1,600 individuals under surveillance, the security service's head has said. — Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller warned the threat was "serious" and "growing".
Discussion:
The Strata-Sphere
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Matt Stoller / MyDD:
How Could Dean Be Ousted? — I worked for Simon Rosenberg for DNC Chair. I've read the charter and the bylaws of the Democratic National Committee, and I've seen the process up close. It's an election to become DNC Chair. Dean won, he won on a platform of putting money towards state parties …
Kevin Drum / Political Animal:
TODAY'S LESSON: THERE IS NO LESSON....I finally got around to looking at the overall 2006 exit poll data in detail, and it's pretty interesting. Anyone planning to make any grand pronouncements about the "lesson" of the election really ought to spend a few minutes comparing the 2006 exit poll data to the 2004 exit poll data first.
Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:
2006 Elections Hit Lockstep Conservative Talk Show Hosts' Credibility (UPDATED) — You can add another casualty to the 2006 elections: the credibility of lockstep conservative talk show radio hosts. — There's a difference between a conservative talk show host and a lockstep talk show host.
Times of London:
Handover to Iraqi Army 'set for the end of next year' — American and Iraqi officials have set a date for giving Iraq's forces responsibility for security across the country. — Under a plan to be presented to the UN Security Council next month, the Iraqi Government would assume authority …
Redstate:
We Fight On — WELCOME HOME TO REDSTATE — If you noticed, we were up all through the night on November 7th. We were back in the game on the 8th. And today we fight on. RedState is not going anywhere. We intend to expand on what we've built and wage war for the cause.
Jack E. Jett / RADAR:
CONFESSIONS OF AN ANGRY HUSTLER — Ted Haggard's bitter boy toy tells all — HEAVEN CAN WAIT Reverend Ted Haggard begs forgiveness — On November 3, all-American family man Ted Haggard resigned as head of the 30-million strong National Association of Evangelicals after a male prostitute …