Top Items:
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
In Theater of War, It's Iraq Study Group's Turn to Take the Stage — Minutes after the Iraq Study Group placed an improvised explosive device beneath the Bush administration's Iraq policy yesterday, panel member Lawrence Eagleburger was asked how President Bush reacted to the recommendations.
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White House:
President Bush Meets with British Prime Minister Tony Blair — Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building — PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all. Please be seated. I just had a good visit with Prime Minister Tony Blair. I appreciate you coming back, Mr. Prime Minister.
Discussion:
Think Progress, Firedoglake, Townhall.com Blog's …, Taylor Marsh, First Draft, Obsidian Wings, Wonkette and The Carpetbagger Report
Thomas E. Ricks / Washington Post:
Senators Challenge Feasibility of Iraq Plans — Study Group Concedes Some Risks But Calls Its Proposal 'Worth a Try' — Members of Congress yesterday questioned the practicability of recommendations from the Iraq Study Group about how to reverse the chaos in Iraq, but they praised the panel's stark assessment of conditions there.
New York Times:
Bush Expresses Caution on Key Points in Iraq Panel's Report — President Bush moved quickly on Thursday to distance himself from the central recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group: pulling back all combat brigades over the next 15 months and direct talks with Iran and Syria.
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Will It Work in the White House? — In 142 stark pages, the Iraq Study Group report makes an impassioned plea for bipartisan consensus on the most divisive foreign policy issue of this generation. Without President Bush, that cannot happen. — The commissioners gave a nod to Mr. Bush …
Deb Riechmann / Associated Press:
Bush: To win in Iraq, beat extremists — WASHINGTON - President Bush, admitting that "it's bad in Iraq," acknowledged Thursday that the United States needs a new approach in the unpopular war and promised to unveil details in an upcoming speech. — Bush said he was disappointed in the progress in Iraq …
William M. Arkin / Early Warning:
Not What the American or Iraqi People Want — For all the hype, the Iraq Study Group offers two fundamental recommendations that the President might and might even be able to implement: The Group calls for the United States to engage Iraq's neighbors, specifically Iran and Syria.
Frederick W. Kagan / NY Daily News:
Asking for chaos — Iraq Study Group fails the big test: how to quell the violence
Asking for chaos — Iraq Study Group fails the big test: how to quell the violence
Discussion:
Andrew Sullivan
Fox News:
NEW MEXICO GOV. BILL RICHARDSON: 'I AM RUNNING' IN 2008 — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is expected to formally file papers to form a presidential exploratory committee in January. But today he told FOX News "I am running," as he described the professional and personal experiences that he believes have prepared him for the job.
Discussion:
Donklephant, Macsmind, The Democratic Daily, JustOneMinute, Decision '08 and PrestoPundit
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Jennifer Talhelm / Associated Press:
Richardson Speaks Against Border Fence — WASHINGTON — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson says a fence at the Mexican border authorized by Congress this fall "gets in the way" of U.S.-Mexico relations, and he wants the new Democratic Congress to reverse the legislation.
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Video: Steyn slams the AP and Iraq Study Group on O'Reilly — Our subject is bias: anti-Bush in the case of the American press and anti-American in the case of too many Iraqi stringers. No mention of Jamilgate specifically, alas, but he does refer to Bilal Hussein, whose scandal is sexier anyway.
PR Newswire:
Report: Ex-Spy Contact Falls Into Coma — A key figure in the poisoning case of former spy Alexander Litvinenko fell into a coma after being questioned by Russian and British investigators, the Interfax news agency reported Thursday. — Dmitry Kovtun, a businessman and former Russian agent …
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Cillizzac / The Fix:
McCain Continues to Win Over Bush Insiders — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) continues to recruit top GOP political operatives in expectation of a presidential run. According to a source close to the McCain operation, the candidate has lined up Terry Nelson to serve as campaign manager …
Discussion:
MyDD, Taylor Marsh, Dick Polman's American Debate, Outside The Beltway and Ankle Biting Pundits
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Hotline On Call:
Here's Your 2008 McCain Presidential Team — The Washington Post this morning confirms that Terry Nelson is Sen. John McCain's campaign manager. — Brian Jones, currently the RNC's communications director, will serve as communications director. Several of Jones's current colleagues …
Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
Cheney Pregnancy Stirs Debate on Gay Rights — Mary Cheney, a daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, is expecting a baby with her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, Mr. Cheney's office said Wednesday. — Lea Anne McBride, a spokeswoman for Mr. Cheney, said the vice president and his wife …
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St. Petersburg Times:
Dean: Dems should keep out Buchanan — WASHINGTON - Republican Vern Buchanan might be the official winner in a messy Sarasota-area congressional race, but Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean says the Democratic-controlled Congress should not seat Buchanan without another election.
Salah Nasrawi / Associated Press:
Saudis reportedly funding Iraqi Sunnis — CAIRO, Egypt - Private Saudi citizens are giving millions of dollars to Sunni insurgents in Iraq and much of the money is used to buy weapons, including shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles, according to key Iraqi officials and others familiar with the flow of cash.
New York Times:
Long a Laggard, Wages Start to Outpace Prices — After four years in which pay failed to keep pace with price increases, wages for most American workers have begun rising significantly faster than inflation. — With energy prices now sharply lower than a few months ago …
Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:
Specter gets the chance to set things right — When the Military Commissions Act, which among other things suspended habeas corpus for suspected terrorists, went to the Senate floor in September, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) voiced some relatively passive concerns.
Badgers Forward:
MAJ Megan McClung - Rest In Peace — Right now I don't even know how to feel. MAJ Megan McClung, USMC, Public Affairs Officer for the Ready First Combat Team was killed in downtown Ramadi yesterday. — I met MAJ McClung quite by accident when I first arrived here …
Media Matters for America:
Meet the new boss... Now that the Baker-Hamilton Commission is ending this country's long national acid trip, I am struck by the fact that, save possibly Donald Rumsfeld and Christopher Hitchens, no one's intellect, analysis, and honesty have been more profoundly undermined by the results …