Top Items:
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
A Plausible Plan B — If we were allied with an Iraqi government that, however weak, was truly national — cross-confessional and dedicated to fighting a two-front war against Baathist insurgents and Shiite militias — a surge of American troops, together with a change of counterinsurgency strategy …
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New York Times:
U.S. May Cut Troops in Iraq by Summer, General Says — Gen. George Casey, the top American commander in Iraq, said today that the additional troops being sent to Iraq could begin to be withdrawn by late summer if security conditions improve in Baghdad. — "I believe the projections are late summer …
Nico / Think Progress:
Gonzales: 'There Is No Express Grant of Habeas Corpus In The Constitution' — Yesterday, during Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales claimed there is no express right to habeas corpus in the U.S. Constitution. Gonzales was debating Sen. Arlen Specter …
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Joe Strupp / Editor and Publisher:
WHCA Chief Says He Did Not Tell Comedian to Back Off Bush and Iraq — NEW YORK Earlier this week word emerged that impersonator Rich Little would be the star performer at this year's White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington in April. Organizers admitted they wanted a somewhat more …
Discussion:
San Francisco Chronicle, The Carpetbagger Report, AMERICAblog, Attytood, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Swampland and Wonkette
Think Progress:
Obama Smeared As Former 'Madrassa' Student, Possible Covert Muslim Extremist — This morning, Fox News featured a segment highlighting a right-wing report that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) attended an Islamic "madrassa" school as a 6-year-old child. — Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy pointed …
New York Times:
Flexing Muscle, China Destroys Satellite in Test — China successfully carried out its first test of an antisatellite weapon last week, signaling its resolve to play a major role in military space activities and bringing expressions of concern from Washington and other capitals, the Bush administration said yesterday.
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US News:
First Twin Jenna Shops a Book — You can soon add the title of author to first daughter Jenna Bush's résumé. — Whispers learns that the 25-year-old blond twin of Barbara Bush is shopping a book proposal to major publishers in New York City.
Politics Central:
THE GLENN AND HELEN SHOW: GORDON CROVITZ ON THE WSJ, OLD AND NEW MEDIA, AND BLOGGING AS ART FORM — People in the newspaper business seem awfully gloomy about the future right now, and with reason. But there's one bright spot: Wall Street Journal publisher Gordon Crovitz, who describes himself as …
Discussion:
Dr. Helen
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Dean Barnett / Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog:
The Most Depressing Poll Ever — In the latest Fox News poll, just out today, the pollsters asked the following question: … Here are the results: … Friends, I'll allow you a minute to wrap your minds around this, for we are truly through the looking class.
Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Rice Highlights Opportunities After Setbacks On Mideast Trip — As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew to Europe on Wednesday after four days of talks in the Middle East, her Boeing 757 jet passed high over Baghdad. On a cloudless day at 37,000 feet, the city seemed sparkling and calm …
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Akiva Eldar / Haaretz:
Abdullah to Haaretz: Jordan will develop nuclear power
Abdullah to Haaretz: Jordan will develop nuclear power
Discussion:
The Strata-Sphere
Washington Post:
Senate Passes Ethics Package — Parties Reach Hard-Fought Deal On Lobbying and Other Reforms — Senate Democrats and Republicans broke a difficult stalemate last night and approved 96 to 2 expansive legislation to curtail the influence of lobbyists, tighten congressional ethics rules …
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David Von Drehle / Washington Post:
Art Buchwald's Moveable Feast — From Paris to D.C., He Lived by His Wit — They say Art Buchwald is dead, but I have my doubts. — The last time Art was dying, months and months ago, he turned the hospice common room into a cavalcade of stars, from Ethel Kennedy to Donald Rumsfeld.
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Michael J. Totten:
The Blitzing of Haret Hreik — HARET HREIK, LEBANON - I have been to Haret Hreik, Hezbollah's dahiyeh and de-facto "capital" south of Beirut, many times. But I didn't expect to see it on my most recent trip. Every Lebanese person I know warned me to stay out of there.
Teri Karush Rogers / New York Times:
Ordeal by Appliance: Weekend Home Tales — FOR some people, the most elusive aspect of owning a vacation home that sits beyond big-city borders isn't finding the time to enjoy it. It's finding someone to service the deluxe appliances inside. — "We called Viking over the holidays every year …
Discussion:
Crooked Timber
George Russell / Fox News:
U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT REVEALS NORTH KOREA'S MISUSE OF U.N. DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FUNDS AND OPERATIONS — NEW YORK — Has North Korean leader Kim Jong Il subverted the United Nations Development Program, the $4 billion agency that is the U.N.'s main development arm, and possibly stolen tens …
Peggy Noonan / Opinion Journal:
'My Fellow Americans . . .' — Thoughts in advance of the State of the Union. — The president's State of the Union Address is Tuesday night, and right now his speechwriters are likely still caught in staffing hell, receiving last-minute suggested changes from agencies and offices throughout the government.
Rick Weiss / Washington Post:
Putting the Brakes on Light Speed — Researchers Slow Waves While Maintaining Their Ability to Carry Information — Scientists said yesterday that they had achieved a long-sought goal of slowing waves of light to a relatively leisurely pace and using those harnessed pulses to store an image.
Discussion:
The Sundries Shack