Top Items:
John M. Broder / New York Times:
Edwards's Bloggers Cross the Line, Critic Says — Two bloggers hired by John Edwards to reach out to liberals in the online world have landed his presidential campaign in hot water for doing what bloggers do — expressing their opinions in provocative and often crude language.
Discussion:
All Spin Zone, QandO, Patterico's Pontifications, MyDD, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Carpetbagger Report, culturekitchen, CorrenteWire, Shakespeare's Sister, Althouse, Right Wing Nut House, Balloon Juice, Feministe, South Of Heaven, The Political Pit Bull, Decision '08, A Spork in the Drawer, Transterrestrial Musings, Overlawyered, Beltway Blogroll, NewsHog, Rising Hegemon, Brainster's Blog and State of the Day
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TerryMoran:
Does John Edwards Condone Hate Speech? — A bit of a tempest is brewing over the strident and profanity-laced writings of John Edwards' official campaign "blogmaster," Amanda Marcotte. She joined the Edwards campaign last week, and she's already gotten a lot of attention.
Discussion:
The Jawa Report
Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
A look at John McCain's blogger-consultant — (updated below - Update II - Update III) — Apparently, there is a new standard that any blogger who has made controversial or profane remarks in the past is unsuitable to work for a political campaign. That is the premise of these two articles …
Discussion:
The Mahablog, The Heretik, Personal Democracy Forum blogs, The Sideshow, Ezra Klein, The Right's Field and Sadly, No!
Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:
Catholics Slam Bloggers Hired by Edwards — WASHINGTON — Two bloggers hired recently by Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards were criticized Tuesday by a Catholic group for posts they had written elsewhere on the Internet. — Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League …
Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Edwards Campaign Reconsidering Blogger Hires — The campaign of John Edwards, hailed for hiring two progressive bloggers for his 2008 Presidential campaign, has now said they will reconsider that decision in light of the blogging history of Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan.
Media Matters for America:
NY Times, AP reported Donohue's criticism of Edwards campaign bloggers …
NY Times, AP reported Donohue's criticism of Edwards campaign bloggers …
Discussion:
Eschaton
James Joyner / Outside The Beltway:
Edwards's Bloggers Making More News Than Candidate
Edwards's Bloggers Making More News Than Candidate
Discussion:
Personal Democracy Forum blogs
New York Times:
Baghdad Push Begins, U.S. Military Says — The long-awaited Baghdad security operation has begun, the top United States military spokesman in Iraq said today, also confirming that a transport helicopter had come down near Baghdad. He declined to comment on any casualties.
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Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Many Voices, No Debate, as Senate Is Stifled on War — At a time when even President Bush acknowledges that the war in Iraq is sapping the nation's spirit, the Senate has tied itself up in procedural knots rather than engage in a debate on Iraq policy. — Given the influence that voter frustration …
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wnbc.com:
Ban Proposed On Walking While Talking, Listening To iPod — Ban Would Apply To MP3 players, Blackberrys — A state senator from Brooklyn said on Tuesday he plans to introduce legislation that would ban people from using an MP3 player, cell phone, Blackberry or any other electronic device …
David Corn:
Libby Trial: Scooter Speaks, Part II — From my "Capital Games" column at www.thenation.com.... As jurors in the trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby spent Tuesday listening to audiotapes of Libby's two appearances in 2004 before the grand jury investigating the CIA leak, a possible killer moment occurred.
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Baltimore Sun:
Black women face dilemma in Democratic primary — Barack Obama is black. Hillary Rodham Clinton is a woman. — So if you're an African-American woman - and therefore, presumably, a Democrat - how do you choose between Senator Obama and Senator Clinton in what could turn out to be a precedent-setting presidential election?
Discussion:
TAPPED
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Dan Eggen / Washington Post:
Deputy Attorney General Defends Prosecutor Firings — A senior Justice Department official acknowledged yesterday that a top federal prosecutor in Arkansas was removed to make room for a former aide to presidential adviser Karl Rove, but he said that six other U.S. attorneys were fired for "performance-related" issues.
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
New Takes on the New Deal — When it released its budget proposal Monday, the Bush administration — and its congressional critics — focused anew on the country's giant Social Security program. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has said "significant political differences" …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
Andrew Zajac / Chicago Tribune:
Giuliani speaking fees draw scrutiny — Firm headed by `America's mayor' challenged in court — WASHINGTON — As Rudolph Giuliani prepares to run for the nation's highest public office based on his image as the heroic take-charge mayor of New York in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks …
Michael Wines / New York Times:
As Inflation Soars, Zimbabwe Economy Plunges — For close to seven years, Zimbabwe's economy and quality of life have been in slow, uninterrupted decline. They are still declining this year, people there say, with one notable difference: the pace is no longer so slow.
Discussion:
Daniel W. Drezner
Ian Swanson / The Hill:
Labor pushes Dems to deny Bush extension of authority — The AFL-CIO, United Autoworkers and other groups representing organized labor are pressing Democrats to deny the Bush administration an extension of its authority to send free-trade deals to Congress for up or down votes …
Abbas William Samii / Weekly Standard:
Iran Considers Gasoline Rationing — Sitting on a mountain of oil, the Iranians move toward gas rationing. — IRANIANS are among the world's biggest consumers of gasoline because the product is kept at an artificially low price through government subsidies.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Max Boot / Los Angeles Times:
Keys to a successful surge — Sending more troops to Iraq will work only if the U.S. changes its ways. — WHILE politicians debate whether more U.S. troops should be sent to Iraq, just as important is how those troops will be utilized. In the Boer War, a "surge" of soldiers helped.
Washington Times:
Pelosi's push for jet remains up in air — The Bush administration has agreed to provide House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with regular access to an Air Force passenger jet, but the two sides are negotiating whether she will get the big aircraft she wants and who she may take as passengers …