Top Items:
Fox News:
SHEEHAN, IRAQ WAR PROTESTERS BREAK UP HOUSE DEMOCRATS' PRESS CONFERENCE — Jan. 3: Peace activist Cindy Sheehan speaks on Capitol Hill. — WASHINGTON — Iraq war protesters broke up a press conference by House Democrats on Wednesday with chants to bring American troops home from Iraq.
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David Edwards / The Raw Story:
Cindy Sheehan, anti-war activists interrupt Democratic press conference
Cindy Sheehan, anti-war activists interrupt Democratic press conference
Bob Fertik / Democrats.com:
BREAKING: Cindy Sheehan Hijacks Pelosi Press Conference
BREAKING: Cindy Sheehan Hijacks Pelosi Press Conference
Discussion:
Redstate
Deborah Sontag / New York Times:
In Padilla Wiretaps, Murky View of 'Jihad' Case — In 1997, as the government listened in on their phone call, Adham Hassoun, a computer programmer in Broward County, Fla., proposed a road trip to Jose Padilla, a low-wage worker there. The excursion to Tampa would be his treat, Mr. Hassoun said …
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Digby / Hullabaloo:
Psikhushka — I have written before about this amazing essay …
Psikhushka — I have written before about this amazing essay …
Discussion:
the talking dog
Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:
Intelligence Chief Is Shifted to Deputy State Dept. Post — John D. Negroponte, whom President Bush installed less than two years ago as the first director of national intelligence, will soon leave his post to become the State Department's second-ranking official, administration officials said Wednesday.
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New York Times:
In Meetings With Allies, Clinton Hones '08 Strategy — The topic was the Democratic sweep in New Hampshire in November, and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton couldn't get enough of it. — Dining in Washington recently with three allies from New Hampshire, which has the first-in-the-nation primary …
Discussion:
Obsidian Wings, Althouse, TalkLeft, JustOneMinute, Stop The ACLU and CNN Political Ticker
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Peter Baker / Washington Post:
Bush Signals Budget Accord — President Bush promised yesterday to produce a plan to balance the federal budget in five years and challenged lawmakers to slash their special pet projects in half next year, embracing priorities of the new Democratic leadership that will assume control of Congress today.
Deb Riechmann / Associated Press:
White House Won't Condemn Saddam Taunts — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration sent conflicting signals Wednesday about the taunting and baiting that accompanied Saddam Hussein's execution, with the White House declining to join criticism of the procedure and the State Department and U.S. military raising questions about it.
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Christopher Drew / New York Times:
U.S. Bars Lab From Testing Electronic Voting — A laboratory that has tested most of the nation's electronic voting systems has been temporarily barred from approving new machines after federal officials found that it was not following its quality-control procedures and could not document that it was conducting all the required tests.
Discussion:
CorrenteWire
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Mike Males / New York Times:
This Is Your Brain on Drugs, Dad — WHEN releasing last week's Monitoring the Future survey on drug use, John P. Walters, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, boasted that "broad" declines in teenage drug use promise "enormous beneficial consequences not only for our children now …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein
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Washington Post:
But It's Thomas Jefferson's Koran! — Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, found himself under attack last month when he announced he'd take his oath of office on the Koran — especially from Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode, who called it a threat to American values.
Discussion:
Riehl World View, Norwegianity, The Debate Link, The Volokh Conspiracy, Gun Toting Liberal ™, IMAO, Never Yet Melted, Political Animal, Unfogged, DownWithTyranny!, The Carpetbagger Report, Atlas Shrugs, Jihad Watch, TPMCafe blogs, AMERICAblog, Think Progress, Obsidian Wings, The Sideshow, Hot Air, Wonkette, PoliBlog (TM), skippy the bush kangaroo, Don Surber, Townhall.com Blog's …, No More Mister Nice Blog, Pandagon, Reason Magazine, shotinthedark.info, CNN Political Ticker, Daily Kos and A Blog For All
TRex / Firedoglake:
Late Nite FDL: And They Call Us 'Unhinged', Partie Deux — We'll, there's just nothing like that good old Right Wing Civility, now is there? … Isn't that special? — Can you imagine the s**t-storm that would erupt if a liberal posted an entry like that on their blog?
Discussion:
The Radio Equalizer, Hullabaloo, Polimom Says, The Unapologetic Mexican and The Democratic Daily
Defense Tech:
THE LAW CATCHES UP TO PRIVATE MILITARIES, EMBEDS — Since the start of the Iraq war, tens of thousands of heavily-armed military contractors have been roaming the country — without any law, or any court to control them. That may be about to change, Brookings Institution Senior Fellow P.W. Singer notes in a Defense Tech exclusive.
Dean Barnett / Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog:
A Moment of Savagery - Now a New Hope? — If you're looking for a blogger to feel some pity for Saddam Hussein because his executioners were primitive and rude, you've come to the wrong place. Punch up the Daily Kos and you'll find countless diarists eager to express some sympathy for this particular devil.
Editor and Publisher:
AP: Sen. Lieberman's Party Taken Over By Critic — STAMFORD The Connecticut for Lieberman Party, the minor political party created by Sen. Joe Lieberman for his successful independent bid for re-election, has been taken over by a longtime critic of the senator.
Times of London:
Young celebrate freedom in a city where fear is still lurking — There was not a hijab or niqab in sight as clubbers at the Global Dance Hall worked up a sweat to gangsta rap and Kenyan hip-hop. Instead, women shook their hair and stole glances at the men lining the wall.
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters
James Vicini / Reuters:
FBI: Guantanamo interrogator squatted over Koran — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI agents at Guantanamo saw a military interrogator squat over the Koran in order to anger a prisoner and observed a detainee whose head was wrapped in duct tape, according to recently released FBI documents from a 2004 internal inquiry.
Tony Mauro / LAW.com:
Rehnquist FBI File Sheds New Light on Drug Dependence, Confirmation Battles — The late Chief Justice William Rehnquist's Senate confirmation battles in 1971 and 1986 were more intense and political than previously known, according to a newly released FBI file that also offers dramatic …
Foreign Policy:
Why Hawks Win — Why are hawks so influential? The answer may lie deep in the human mind. People have dozens of decision-making biases, and almost all favor conflict rather than concession. A look at why the tough guys win more than they should. — National leaders get all sorts of advice in times of tension and conflict.
Digby / Hullabaloo:
The Healing Process — Following up on my post below, I noticed that the transcript of last night's Shields and Brooks was available and I think it deserves a little bit more attention: … There are so many things in that little exchange that I find apalling I don't know where to start.
Discussion:
Online NewsHour, MyDD, Sirotablog, Brilliant at Breakfast, PrairiePundit, CorrenteWire and Washington Post