Top Items:
CNN:
Senate approves Gates as defense secretary … WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Senate voted 95-2 Wednesday to approve Robert Gates as President Bush's choice to replace Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary. — The vote came a day after the nomination sailed through the Senate Armed Services Committee.
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Spencer Ackerman / American Prospect:
No Middle Ground — The Iraq Study Group calls its prescription "responsible transition;" there's nothing responsible about it. — Given the specific lineup of the 10 wise men and women serving on the Iraq Study Group, the most conspicuous absence is that of supermodel Heidi Klum.
Jamie Holly / Crooks and Liars:
Feingold Cuts Through The ISG Hype on Countdown — Keith Olbermann had Russ Feingold on to give his assessment of the now very famous Iraq Study Group report. — Video - WMV Video -QT — Feingold said what I have felt all day. This report does not give us a clear path in Iraq and leaves the future of the war up in the air.
Sudarsan Raghavan / Washington Post:
Threats Wrapped in Misunderstandings — The Iraq Study Group's prescriptions hinge on a fragile Iraqi government's ability to achieve national reconciliation and security at a time when the country is fractured along sectarian lines, its security forces are ineffective and competing visions threaten …
Agence France Presse:
Baker panel's mention of Palestinian "right of return" raises eyebrows — A reference to Palestinians' "right of return" in the report issued by the high-level Iraq Study Group broke a diplomatic taboo which sparked immediate concern in Israel and surprise among Middle East policy experts.
United States Institute of Peace:
Iraq Study Group Report Released — Download the official report just released by the Iraq Study Group titled The Iraq Study Group Report: The Way Forward - A New Approach. USIP is the facilitating organization for the Iraq Study Group (ISG), co-chaired by James A. Baker, III, and Lee H. Hamilton.
Discussion:
The Nation, Agence France Presse, Time, AMERICAblog, Captain's Quarters, Pajamas Media, Political Animal, The Moderate Voice, Scared Monkeys, Outside The Beltway, FP Passport, Don Surber, Blogs of War, The World Wide Rant, Informed Comment, Riehl World View, PoliPundit.com, NewsHog, Wake up America, Security Watchtower, Dick Polman's American Debate, David Corn, Obsidian Wings, The Lede, On Deadline, worldpublicopinion.org, rubber hose, Blue Jersey, Atlas Shrugs, newsweek, TimChapmanBlog.com, KnoxViews, Editor and Publisher, The Indepundit, Happy Furry Puppy Story …, Gun Toting Liberal, UN Dispatch, ABCNEWS, IMAO, WorldwideStandard.com, The News Blog, The Democratic Daily, The Reaction and The Carpetbagger Report
Fred Kaplan / Slate:
Enter the Grown-Up — ROBERT GATES' IMPRESSIVE—AND REASSURING—CONFIRMATION HEARINGS. — The most eyebrow-raising moment—of many such moments—in Robert Gates' confirmation hearings today came when Sen. Robert Byrd, the stentorian Democrat of West Virginia, asked if he favored attacking Iran.
Washington Post:
The Realists' Repudiation Of Policies for a War, Region — The Iraq Study Group report released yesterday might well be titled "The Realist Manifesto." — From the very first page, in which co-chairmen James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton scold that "our leaders must be candid and forthright …
Anne Plummer Flaherty / Associated Press:Gates confirmed as secretary of defense
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway
Allahpundit / Hot Air:Report: Democrats meet with Hamas?
Discussion:
Jerusalem Post, Insight, The American Pundit, The Political Pit Bull, Wizbang and PoliPundit.com
Khaled Abu Toameh / Jerusalem Post:
Hamas smuggled $66 million in 8 months — Hamas officials have managed to smuggle more than $66 million in cash through the Rafah border crossing in the past eight months, a member of the Hamas-led government revealed Wednesday. — Meanwhile, sources close to the Hamas-led government claimed …
Discussion:
Yourish.com, The Jawa Report, BizzyBlog, A Blog For All, Power Line, Sigmund, Carl and Alfred, Ace of Spades HQ and Macsmind
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Gateway Pundit:
Iranian Students Protest Regime... Shout "Death to Dictators!" — ** Thousands of Iranian students rallied against the regime today in Tehran! Iranian Students at Tehran University gathered earlier today to commemorate "Students Day" and protest the brutal regime. — The students shouted, "Death to the Dictatorship!"
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Michelle Malkin:
The Great Australian Bikini March; Plus: Muslim boys urinate on Bible — Aussie ladies are taking to the streets in their two-piece swimwear to protest those thug mullahs who attacked unveiled women as "uncovered meat." (Hat tip - Ace) — A.M. Mora y Leon at Publius Pundit notes:
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Linda Greenhouse / New York Times:
Case of the Dwindling Docket Mystifies the Supreme Court — On the Supreme Court's color-coded master calendar, which was distributed months before the term began on the first Monday in October, Dec. 6 is marked in red to signify a day when the justices are scheduled to be on the bench, hearing arguments.
Associated Press:
Mixed reaction to Cheney's daughter's pregnancy … WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative leaders voiced dismay Wednesday at news that Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Dick Cheney, is pregnant, while a gay-rights group said the vice president faces "a lifetime of sleepless nights" …
T. F. Boggs / t.f. boggs:
What we should and should not do: An Authoritative Voice... After watching the Iraq Survey Group press conference today I am a firm believer that all politicians are idiots. Okay well not all of them but they all have a problem understanding reality. If any politician is reading …
Discussion:
Gateway Pundit
Jeralyn / TalkLeft:
Arrest Warrant Issued in Denver for Oregon Blogger — Many of you will remember the Deb Frisch - Protein Wisdom blog drama. — Dr. Frisch has removed her website, but many of her posts and comments can still be found on Technorati and Google. — After the Frisch-Goldstein drama …
Discussion:
Flopping Aces, Michelle Malkin, Patterico's Pontifications, Blue Crab Boulevard and Done With Mirrors
Agence France Presse:
Follow God or vanish, Ahmadinejad tells West — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned Western leaders to follow the path of God or "vanish from the face of the earth". — "These oppressive countries are angry with us ... a nation that on the other side of the globe has risen …
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