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 …
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Bush Declines to Call Situation in Iraq Civil War — On the eve of a high-profile trip to Jordan to meet Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq, President Bush on Tuesday dismissed suggestions that Iraq had descended into civil war, blamed Al Qaeda for the latest wave of sectarian violence …
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.
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:
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Brad R. / Sadly, No!:
Raise a Glass for the Ole Perfesser — If someone from another planet came to earth and asked me to find two sentences that summarized the insanity of Glenn Harlan Reynolds, I'd probably choose these two: … Is America in danger of being invaded by the Mole People?
Discussion:
Eschaton
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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
Washington Post:
Economics Experts Join Romney's PAC — He hasn't even formed his presidential exploratory committee, but Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has already signed up an economic brain trust to advise him, led by two former chairmen of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers.
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Mike Dorning / Chicago Tribune:
Obama tests presidential waters — As Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) nears a decision on a White House bid, he is taking steps to reach out to potential supporters in important states in the nominating process, including headlining a Dec. 10 rally in New Hampshire, home of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary.
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 …
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Kim Sengupta / Independent:
Disembowelled, then torn apart: The price of daring to teach girls — The gunmen came at night to drag Mohammed Halim away from his home, in front of his crying children and his wife begging for mercy. — The 46-year-old schoolteacher tried to reassure his family that he would return safely.
Mark Sherman / Associated Press:
Supreme Court to Take Up Global Warming — WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is defending its refusal to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from new motor vehicles in the first case about global warming to reach the Supreme Court. — The Environmental Protection Agency lacks the power …
Examiner:
Prophets of Iraq defeat are rushing judgment — The Washington DC Examiner Newspaper, The Examiner — WASHINGTON - President Bush was right to declare yesterday in Latvia that he will not withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq until the "mission is complete" because "we can accept nothing less …
Dennis Prager / Townhall.com:
America, Not Keith Ellison, decides what book a congressman takes his oath on — Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, has announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but on the bible of Islam, the Koran.
Discussion:
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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 …
Steven R. Hurst / Associated Press:
Witnesses detail Iraq burning deaths — BAGHDAD, Iraq - The attack on the small Mustafa Sunni mosque began as worshippers were finishing Friday midday prayers. About 50 unarmed men, many in black uniforms and some wearing ski masks, walked through the district chanting "We are the Mahdi Army, shield of the Shiites."
Discussion:
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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 …
Redstate:
Republicans Divided: "Moderates" or Conservatives To Blame? — I didn't start writing my last blog post with the intention to segue into the relationship between the "moderate" and socially conservative wings of the Republican Party. — I think it's something that needs to be discussed.
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.
Victor Davis Hanson / Opinion Journal:
Losing the Enlightenment — A civilization that has lost confidence in itself cannot confront the Islamists. — Our current crisis is not yet a catastrophe, but a real loss of confidence of the spirit. The hard-won effort of the Western Enlightenment of some 2,500 years that …
Dan Eggen / Washington Post:
Judge Strikes Down Parts of Executive Order on Terrorism — A Los Angeles federal judge has ruled that key portions of a presidential order blocking financial assistance to terrorist groups are unconstitutional, further complicating the Bush administration's attempts to defend its aggressive anti-terrorism tactics in federal courts.
Los Angeles Times:
Firefighter settlement sharply splits council — A torturous debate left the Los Angeles City Council sharply divided by race Tuesday as members weighed whether to restore a settlement offered to a black firefighter whose dinner had been laced with dog food.
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 …
Think Progress:
Powell: Iraq Is In A Civil War And Bush Should Stop Denying It — Speaking with CNN reporter Hala Gorani in Dubai today, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Iraq's violence meets the standard of a civil war and thinks President Bush needs to acknowledge that.
Discussion:
Eschaton