Top Items:
Nibras Kazimi / New York Sun:
Turnaround in Baghdad — There has been a flurry of press reports recently about insurgents battling American and Iraqi security forces on Haifa Street in Baghdad, and around the rural town of Buhruz in Diyala Province. These same insurgents also claimed to have shot down a Black Hawk helicopter near Buhruz.
RELATED:
Pundit Review Radio / BLACKFIVE:
Does Anyone Else Detect a Trend? — Read through the last couple or three weeks of posts at B5 and Mudville, and one might get the impression that something good is afoot. Without sounding too optimistic, I'm sure there must be a reason for the progress we are seeing in Iraq, and …
Discussion:
Gateway Pundit
Jeff Goldstein / protein wisdom:
Chimpy McHitlerburton's smirky rodeo ride through history, 23 …
Chimpy McHitlerburton's smirky rodeo ride through history, 23 …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Washington Post:
Congress's Iraq Quagmire — ON TUESDAY nearly every member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee warmly endorsed Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, the new U.S. commander in Iraq, and a number wished him success or "Godspeed" in his mission. Yesterday some of the same senators voted …
RELATED:
Tony Karon / Time:
2008: Hillary vs McCain? — Hillary Clinton is the clear front-runner to win the Democratic party's nomination for President in 2008, but the Republican race will be a close contest between Senator John McCain and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani — with McCain edging Giuliani by a three- to four-point margin.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Caucus, Captain's Quarters, Preemptive Karma, ABCNEWS and No More Mister Nice Blog
RELATED:
Ben Smith / The Politico:
Schumer Believes Ordinary People, Not War, Will Become '08 Focus — Sen. Charles Schumer, architect of the new Democratic Senate majority, argues that, contrary to conventional wisdom, the 2008 elections will not center on Iraq. — "I think Iraq will not be as strong an issue in the 2008 elections …
Discussion:
MyDD
Marc Santora / New York Times:
Angry Dispute Erupts Among Iraqi Lawmakers — Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki's presentation of a new Baghdad security plan to the Iraqi Parliament on Thursday broke down in bitter sectarian recriminations, with Mr. Maliki threatening a Sunni Arab lawmaker with arrest and, in response …
Discussion:
Booman Tribune
RELATED:
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Video: Iraqi Shiite soldiers put the boots to Sunni insurgents
Video: Iraqi Shiite soldiers put the boots to Sunni insurgents
Discussion:
BLACKFIVE
CBS News:
Pelosi Says She Wasn't Consulted On Iraq — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday that President George W. Bush did not consult her before announcing his new strategy for the war in Iraq — a sign that, despite the cozy rhetoric, the relationship between Washington's two powerhouses has already had its share of friction.
MediaChannel:
Helping Lara Logan — Sometimes it's hard to swim in the mainstream. — There has been much heated debate over the past few years over media coverage of the Iraq War. The Bush administration has repeatedly attacked the 'liberal bias' of the mainstream news industry …
Discussion:
Booman Tribune, NO QUARTER, Seeing the Forest, Pottersville, Jesus' General, Taylor Marsh and Rising Hegemon
Bob Geiger:
Senate GOP Leadership Tries To Eliminate Federal Minimum Wage — Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO), evidently convinced that he was beating a dead horse by continuing his quest to ban flag-burning and discriminate against gay people, announced this month that he would not seek reelection in 2008 …
RELATED:
Jonathan S. Landay / Real Cities:
Rockefeller: Cheney applied 'constant' pressure to stall investigation on flawed Iraq intelligence — WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney exerted "constant" pressure on the Republican former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee to stall an investigation into the Bush administration's use …
Emptywheel / Firedoglake:
Libby Liveblog: Cathie Martin One — Now up, Cathie Martin. — Cathie will testify to several things. First, she was involved in some of the early discussions of a response to Wilson. She learned of Plame's identity from Harlow and passed that on to Libby.
RELATED:
Tim Dickinson / Rolling Stone:
Run, Al, Run — The ideal candidate for the Democrats may be the man who won the popular vote in 2000 — and who opposed the war in Iraq from the very start — A stiff Vice President campaigns on his administration's legacy of unprecedented prosperity. Looks terrible on TV.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Huffington Post, The BRAD BLOG, Volunteer Voters, Political Insider and Liberal Values
Paul Krugman / New York Review of Books:
Who Was Milton Friedman? — 1. — The history of economic thought in the twentieth century is a bit like the history of Christianity in the sixteenth century. Until John Maynard Keynes published The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money in 1936, economics …
Kevin Drum / Political Animal:
HALFWAY MEASURES....I don't want to jump all over Barack Obama before he has a chance to present his ideas in a serious way, but can I just say that I found his healthcare speech today distinctly underwhelming? He starts out with his trademark high-flown rhetoric ("Plans that tinker …
Discussion:
The RBC, Balloon Juice, The Huffington Post, TAPPED, The Sentinel Effect and Liberal Values
The Smoking Gun:
Outrage Over Texas College MLK Day Party — Event featured Aunt Jemima, gang apparel, fried chicken, malt liquor — Students at a Texas college threw a Martin Luther King Jr. Day party that featured attendees wearing gang apparel and Afro wigs, carrying malt liquor, handguns, and fried chicken …
Discussion:
Associated Press
Robert F. Kennedy Jr / Rolling Stone:
Was the 2004 Election Stolen? — Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted — enough to have put John Kerry in the White House. — The complete article, with Web-only citations, follows. Talk and read about it in our National Affairs blog …
Washington Post:
Vice President Cheney on CNN — WOLF BLITZER, CNN: And joining us now, the Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney. Mr. Vice President, thanks very much for doing this. — VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY: It's good to see you again, Wolf. — BLITZER: We heard the President mention …