Top Items:
Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:
Obama takes 1st step in presidential bid — WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) said Tuesday he is taking the initial step in a presidential bid that could make him the nation's first black to occupy the White House. — Obama announced on his Web site …
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Christi Parsons / Chicago Tribune:
Obama takes first step in White House bid
Obama takes first step in White House bid
Discussion:
The Fix, MyDD, Dick Polman's American Debate, The Carpetbagger Report, CNN Political Ticker and digg
Kim Gamel / Associated Press:
U.N.: 34,000 Iraqis killed last year — BAGHDAD, Iraq - The United Nations said Tuesday that more than 34,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in sectarian violence last year, nearly three times the number reported dead by the Iraqi government. — The Iraqi Health Ministry did not comment on the report …
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Sam Roberts / New York Times:
51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse — For what experts say is probably the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one, according to a New York Times analysis of census results. — In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse …
Laura Rozen / Washington Monthly:
Rumsfeld is gone, but the veep's other loyalists remain. — With the departure of his longtime friend Donald Rumsfeld, John Bolton's resignation as U.N. ambassador, and Democrats taking over Congress, times seem grim for the Dick Cheney wing of the Bush administration.
Discussion:
Classical Values
Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
Choice of Martinez sparks GOP rebellion — Rebellion is brewing among conservatives on the Republican National Committee over President's Bush's attempt to "impose" Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida as "general chairman" of the party, who favors "amnesty" for illegal aliens.
Anne Applebaum / Slate:
Legalize It — HOW TO SOLVE AFGHANISTAN'S DRUG PROBLEM. — The British Empire once fought a war for the right to sell opium in China. — In retrospect, history has judged that war destructive and wasteful, a shameless battle of colonizers against colonized that in the end helped neither side.
Fox News:
FORMER U.N. OIL-FOR-FOOD CHIEF BENON SEVAN INDICTED OVER BRIBES FROM SADDAM'S REGIME — Benon Sevan. — Former U.N. Oil-for-Food chief Benon Sevan has been indicted in New York federal court for allegedly taking bribes under the program from Saddam Hussein's regime, U.S. authorities announced Tuesday.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Blue Crab Boulevard, A Blog For All, Atlas Shrugs, RightWinged.com, It Shines For All, Wake up America and Ed Driscoll.com
Examiner:
Yeas and Nays: Tuesday, Jan. 16 — WASHINGTON - Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin cover people, power and politics in the beltway each weekday. Email them at yan@dcexaminer.com . — Little to head WHCA's big night — He does a mean Ronald Reagan impersonation and his imitation of Richard Nixon is legendary.
Sharon Theimer / Associated Press:
AP: Iran Gets Army Gear in Pentagon Sale — WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has sold forbidden equipment at least a half-dozen times to middlemen for countries - including Iran and China - who exploited security flaws in the Defense Department's surplus auctions.
Alex Koppelman / Salon:
Iranian regime change: "Faster, please!" — ut as a politically divisive figure. He's loved — and consulted at the highest levels — by his fellow travelers for his hard-line positions on the Middle East. His catchphrase, "faster, please!" refers to the speed with which he'd like the United States to compel regime change in Iran.
progressivestates.org:
Stop the Escalation in Iraq — To: Legislators, Staff, and Interested Parties — From: Progressive States Network — Re: Preventing Escalation in Iraq — This LegAlert discusses the President's proposed escalation in Iraq, its implications for states and the nation …
Paul Crespo / NewsMax.com:
Dinesh D'Souza: 'The Left is Afraid of Bush' — A new book by respected conservative pundit and best-selling author Dinesh D'Souza argues that Islamic antipathy toward the U.S. stems from liberal values promulgated by the "cultural left" and promoted abroad.
Natasha Pearlman / Daily Mail:
A crowded womb — A twin leans over and kisses the cheek of her sister in a heart-warming picture that would not be out of place in any family home. — Yet these siblings are a not even born and the astonishing images have been captured on a new 'four-dimensional' ultrasound scan of the womb.
Cliff Schecter:
McCain Was Against War In Iraq Before He Was For It — So I began looking through some old newspaper clippings on the Gulf War for some research I have been doing, and you just wouldn't believe what I happened across. Featured prominently in one article from August of 1990 …
Los Angeles Times:
Iraq edges closer to Iran, with or without the U.S. — BAGHDAD — The Iraqi government is moving to solidify relations with Iran, even as the United States turns up the rhetorical heat and bolsters its military forces to confront Tehran's influence in Iraq.
Washington Post:
What Congress Can (And Can't) Do on Iraq — Congressional Democrats (and Republicans) who oppose President Bush's decision to send additional American troops to Iraq may frustrate his plan, but not — as suggested by Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn — by imposing 21,500 strings on the 21,500 new troops.
Discussion:
The Glittering Eye, Balkinization, Bitsblog, The Heretik, The Corner, GregsOpinion.com and Power Line
Robin Toner / New York Times:
Democrats Seek the Middle on Social Issues — The promise may not outlast their political honeymoon, but Democratic Congressional leaders say they are committed to governing from the center, and not just on bread-and-butter issues like raising the minimum wage or increasing aid for education.
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report, The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice and Brilliant at Breakfast