Top Items:
Nawaf Obaid / Washington Post:
Stepping Into Iraq — Saudi Arabia Will Protect Sunnis if the U.S. Leaves — In February 2003, a month before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, warned President Bush that he would be "solving one problem and creating five more" if he removed Saddam Hussein by force.
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Washington Post:
Bloc Led by Shiite Cleric Quits Iraqi Government — Lawmakers Loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr Protest Prime Minister's Summit With Bush — A bloc of Iraqi lawmakers allied with militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr announced Wednesday that they were suspending their involvement in the government …
Deb Riechmann / Associated Press:
U.S.-Iraq summit put off until Thursday — AMMAN, Jordan - President Bush's high-stakes summit with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was put off Wednesday after public disclosure of U.S. doubts about his capacity to control sectarian warfare. The White House said the two leaders would meet on Thursday.
Associated Press:
Bush to meet with Iraqi PM as gloomy memo surfaces … RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Reports circulated Wednesday that one of President Bush's top advisers has serious doubts about the Iraqi prime minister's ability to stem the violence in his country, as President Bush headed for a meeting with embattled Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Associated Press:
Gingrich calls for elimination of McCain-Feingold reforms — MANCHESTER, N.H. —Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Monday that First Amendment rights need to be expanded and cited the elimination of McCain-Feingold campaign finance reforms as one solution.
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Josh Gerstein / New York Sun:
Gingrich: Free Speech Should Be Curtailed To Fight Terrorism — A former House speaker, Newt Gingrich, is causing a stir by proposing that free speech may have to be curtailed in order to fight terrorism. — "We need to get ahead of the curve rather than wait until we actually literally lose a city …
David Espo / Associated Press:
Frist will not seek presidency in 2008 — WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Wednesday he will not run for president in 2008, a high-profile campaign dropout more than a year before the first convention delegates are chosen. — "In the Bible, God tells us for everything there is a season …
Discussion:
The Fix, Hot Air, Democrats.com, The Political Pit Bull, Outside The Beltway and The Democratic Daily
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Washington Wire:
Frist Decides Against '08 Presidential Bid — Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said he has put aside plans to run for the White House in 2008, and instead will return to medicine and the health-care field that helped launch his political career 12 years ago.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:
In Following His Own Script, Webb May Test Senate's Limits — At a recent White House reception for freshman members of Congress, Virginia's newest senator tried to avoid President Bush. Democrat James Webb declined to stand in a presidential receiving line or to have his picture taken …
Discussion:
commonsensepoliticalthought …, Hot Air, Hullabaloo, Power Line, The Moderate Voice, Townhall.com Blog's …, Dick Polman's American Debate, Shakespeare's Sister, Taylor Marsh, clarkstooksbury, First Read, Iowa Voice, Sunlight Foundation blogs, Sirotablog, The News Blog, Unclaimed Territory, Ed Driscoll.com, Middle Earth Journal, The Carpetbagger Report, BLACKFIVE, Volunteer Voters, Riehl World View, Sister Toldjah, The Caucus, CorrenteWire, Daily Kos, The Mahablog, Think Progress, The Heretik, Kesher Talk, AMERICAblog, Althouse, Wonkette, On Deadline and The Corner
Roy / alicublog:
COME, LET US TREASON TOGETHER. I seem to remember days when The West Wing was derided as a liberal fantasy. At least that fantasy was relatively benign; apparently some conservatives are dreaming of something a little more rough. — Behold Orson Scott Card's new novel, Empire, summarized thus by Publisher's Weekly:
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Ali Waked / Ynetnews:
Report: Syrian network planned to kill Lebanese officials — Al-Mustaqbal newspaper reports Lebanese security forces exposed network of 200 members which trained in refugee camps in Lebanon, planned to assassinate 36 senior Lebanese officials — The Lebanese security forces exposed a network …
Kirk Johnson / New York Times:
Pro-Peace Symbol Forces Win Battle in Colorado Town — Peace is fighting back in Pagosa Springs. — Last week, a couple were threatened with fines of $25 a day by their homeowners' association unless they removed a four-foot wreath shaped like a peace symbol from the front of their house.
Shmuel Rosner / Reuters:
Chirac: France, U.S. agree there is no point talking to Syria — France and the United States agree there is no point in talking to Syria because the conditions for an honest dialogue do not exist, French President Jacques Chirac said Wednesday. — Chirac's comments come …
Michael Calderone / New York Observer:
Washington Post Class Gets Graded — Welcome to corporate America, journos! Reporters at The Washington Post will now be ranked with a multiple-choice job-performance assessment each year. — Accompanying an annual written evaluation, each reporter will be described as …
Diane McWhorter / Slate:
The N-Word — UNMENTIONABLE LESSONS OF THE MIDTERM AFTERMATH. — There's been something weird about the denouement of the midterm elections, starting with the pronounced absence of Democratic triumphalism. The prevailing mood has been stunned relief rather than glee …
Los Angeles Times:
Controversy over Pentagon's war-spending plan — The emergency request of at least $127 billion is criticized as a wish list. The military cites a big need to buy equipment. — WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is preparing an emergency spending proposal that could be larger and broader …
Roddy Boyd / New York Post:
HANK'S NEW LADY — GREENBERG PUTS SQUEEZE ON PINCH'S PAPER — Billionaire insurance titan Maurice "Hank" Greenberg has begun buying huge blocks of New York Times stock to break the Sulzberger family's stranglehold on the media empire, The Post has learned.
Noble Americans / CNN:
Ahmadinejad's letter to Americans — [Editor's note: This is the full text of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's open letter to "the American People," as supplied to CNN.] — (CNN) — In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful — O, Almighty God, bestow upon humanity …