Top Items:
MSNBC:
Saudis consider sending troops to Iraq — Government 'deeply skeptical' al-Maliki can make Bush surge plan work — Saudi Arabia believes the Iraqi government is not up to the challenge and has told the United States that it is prepared to move its own forces into Iraq should the violence …
RELATED:
Bryan / Hot Air:
Assessing Iraq — Michelle and I spent four days patrolling the environs around Forward Operating Base Justice in north and west Baghdad last week. FOB Justice is near one functional neighborhood, Khadimiyah, one mostly recovered neighborhood, Al Salam, one dysfunctional neighborhood …
RELATED:
Michelle Malkin:
Back from Baghdad — My HotAir.com colleague Bryan Preston and I are back from Iraq. Thanks to Allah and Ian for holding down the fort at HA and thanks much to guest-bloggers Mary Katharine Ham, See-Dubya, and the Big Lizards for filling in here during my absence. Be sure to bookmark their blogs.
Pachacutec / Firedoglake:
Libby Trial Jury Selection: Day One Recap of Libby's Dilemma — "I am completely without objectivity. There is nothing you can say that would make me feel positively about President Bush." Thus spake the eighth of nine prospective jurors reviewed by Judge Reggie Walton …
Discussion:
Don Surber
RELATED:
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
Libby Quick Hits — Day One of the Libby trial has passed, and the sun did not stop in the sky - whew! — Let's go for some quick-ish hits. The NY Times has a case overview from Monday that is absurdly misinformed. Obviously, this trial is a bit awkward for them …
Emptywheel / The Next Hurrah:We've Got a Potential Witness (and Mention) List
Discussion:
JustOneMinute
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Three Time [Loser] Winner — There just didn't seem to be any other way to explain why I'm not going to be present for the first two weeks of the Libby trial so I decided to resort to the truth. — As someone who has devoted years to building this blog around coverage of the CIA leak investigation …
Kevin Drum / Political Animal:
THE LEFT AND THE WAR....If anti-war liberals were right about the war from the start, how come they don't get more respect? Here's the nickel version of the answer from liberal hawks: It's because they don't deserve it. Sure, the war has gone badly, but not for the reasons the doves warned of.
RELATED:
Online NewsHour:
President Bush Defends Decision to Send Additional Troops to Iraq — JIM LEHRER: Mr. President, welcome. — PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Thank you, sir. — MR. LEHRER: How do you feel about the way the Iraqi government handled the hangings of Saddam Hussein, and now more recently, two of his top aides?
Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Obama Forms Presidential Exploratory Committee — Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (D), one of the Democratic Party's brightest young stars, jumped into the 2008 race for the White House today, establishing a presidential exploratory committee that is expected to lead immediately into a full-blown campaign for president.
Discussion:
New York Times, Captain's Quarters, The Huffington Post, TIME, The Reaction, The Caucus, OxBlog and The Moderate Voice
RELATED:
David Leonhardt / New York Times:
What $1.2 Trillion Can Buy — The human mind isn't very well equipped to make sense of a figure like $1.2 trillion. We don't deal with a trillion of anything in our daily lives, and so when we come across such a big number, it is hard to distinguish it from any other big number.
Reuters:
Philippines says Abu Sayyaf leader killed in clash — MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines said on Wednesday that troops had killed the top planner of the country's most deadly Islamic militant group in a clash at a rebel jungle camp in the southwest. — Abu Sulaiman, one of the top five leaders …
Justin Rood / TPMmuckraker:
What's the White House Doing to Prosecutors? — During a floor speech on the topic moments ago, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said the White House has told her it was replacing from five to 10 Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys with its own interim appointees. — We know of seven who have left during …
Discussion:
Left in the West, Daily Kos, The Sideshow, Balloon Juice, The Carpetbagger Report, Unfogged, Rising Hegemon, digg and This Modern World
Chris Bowers / MyDD:
When Blogospheres Collide — Remember this pic? — This is a picture of the linking patterns among highly trafficked progressive and conservative blogs during the final months of the 2004 election. It was the first, and to date best, academic study on linking patterns within the political blogosphere.
Scott Shane / New York Times:
As Trial Begins, Cheney's Ex-Aide Is Still a Puzzle — Paradox seems to define I. Lewis Libby Jr., who remains a bit mysterious even to close colleagues. He is the White House policy enforcer who also wrote a literary novel; a buttoned-down Washington lawyer who likes knocking back tequila shots …
Richard McGregor / Financial Times:
Stronger renminbi finds key backing — The Chinese ministry responsible for promoting exports has backed a further appreciation of the renminbi, removing one of the last remaining institutional lobbies in Beijing against a stronger currency. — A think-tank attached to the commerce ministry said that an …
Discussion:
Daniel W. Drezner
Output Producer, CA — 
China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — 
Senior Assignment Editor, DC — 
Breaking News Editor, Tokyo — 
Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — 
Reporter - Ottawa Bureau — 
Local Government Reporter, IA — 
Research Director, CA — 
Immigration Enforcement Reporter — 
Presque Island Reporter, ME — 
Contributing Parks Ed. - SW, CA — 
AI Content Editor, WA — 
Legislative Reporter, TN — 
Editorial Assistant, Remote US — 
Elon Musk Reporter, NY or CA — 
Government & Politics Editor, WA — 
Business & GA Reporter. VT — 
Sports Reporter, WA — 
Energy Reporter, TX — 
Senior Reporter, SC — 
Trade & Climate Correspondent, DC — 
Reporter, WI — 
Political Newsletter Writer, CO — 
Jackson Reporter, MS — 
Music Editor, AZ — 
Breaking News Reporter, NV — 
Fearless Reporter/Producer, IA — 
Reporter II - Technology, Remote — 
Editor, Remote US — 
City Reporter, WA — 
Executive Editor, OR — 
Education & Budget Reporter, CA — 
Senior Writer/Editor, FL — 
Media Editor, Remote — 
