Top Items:
Matt Apuzzo / Associated Press:
Russert on the Hot Seat in Libby Trial — WASHINGTON (AP) — NBC's Tim Russert got the sort of "Meet the Press" interrogation he usually gives to his guests as attorneys Thursday flashed excerpts of his previous statements on a video monitor and asked him to explain inconsistencies.
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Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Tim Russert, on The Uncomfortable Side of a Question
Tim Russert, on The Uncomfortable Side of a Question
Discussion:
New York Times
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Russert and Me — I was the most surprised person at the Scooter Libby trial yesterday.
Russert and Me — I was the most surprised person at the Scooter Libby trial yesterday.
Discussion:
Maine Web Report, CBS News, Sister Toldjah, TPMCafe blogs, Blue Crab Boulevard and Political Animal
Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:
7 GOP Senators Back War Debate — Lawmakers Had Blocked Action on Troop Resolution — Senate Republicans who earlier this week helped block deliberations on a resolution opposing President Bush's new troop deployments in Iraq changed course yesterday and vowed to use every tactic at their disposal to ensure a full and open debate.
Discussion:
Unclaimed Territory, Captain's Quarters, The Washington Note, Associated Press, The Left Coaster, PoliBlog (TM), Angry Bear, The Carpetbagger Report, Decision '08, The Moderate Voice, DownWithTyranny!, Blue Crab Boulevard, AMERICAblog, Jules Crittenden, Power Line, State of the Day, Middle Earth Journal and The Heretik
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Kate Zernike / New York Times:
Allied With Democrats, Lieberman Easily Aligns With Republicans — It came as little surprise that when Senate Republicans blocked debate Monday on a resolution that would have opposed President Bush's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, erstwhile Democrat, sided with them.
Discussion:
Sirotablog
Washington Times:
Pentagon limits Pelosi jet size — The Department of Defense yesterday sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that puts limits on the size of the plane she may use to travel across the country and restricts the guests she can bring, The Washington Times has learned.
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Edward Epstein / San Francisco Chronicle:
GOP makes much ado about the size of Pelosi's plane — The House speaker has had the use of a government jet since the Sept. 11 attacks — (02-08) 04:00 PST Washington — The way Speaker Nancy Pelosi will travel home to San Francisco and on official business is the latest tempest to hit the House of Representatives.
John Edwards '08 Blog:
Statement on Campaign Bloggers — The tone and the sentiment of some of Amanda Marcotte's and Melissa McEwan's posts personally offended me. It's not how I talk to people, and it's not how I expect the people who work for me to talk to people. Everyone is entitled to their opinion …
Dr. Rusty Shackleford / The Jawa Report:
Al Qaeda in Iraq Crumbling: al Masri on the run — Coalition forces in Iraq have delivered a series of stunning blows to al Qaeda in Iraq in the last 48 hours. — A key aide to Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the man who replaced Abu Musab al Zarqawi as the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, has been south of Baghdad.
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Nibras Kazimi / New York Sun:
Blackout of the Press — Abu Omar al-Baghdadi made his grand entrance onto the jihadist stage on October 12, 2006, and since then he's delivered two very important speeches — the more recent one came out last week — and has taken credit for much of the spectacular outbreaks of violence in Iraq of late …
Matthew Yglesias:
Jonah Goldberg Day! — Two years ago today, Jonah Goldberg threw down the following challenge to Juan Cole: … Since Goldberg enjoys throwing a little smear-job in with his punditry, he also offered this: … Got it. So we have a prediction, along with the insinuation that Professor Cole …
New York Times:
Mormon Candidate Braces for Religion as Issue — As he begins campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination, Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is facing a threshold issue: Will his religion — he is a Mormon — be a big obstacle to winning the White House?
Ryan Grim / The Politico:
Bush Wants Funding Jump for Anti-Drug Ads Rated as Useless — President Bush has proposed a significant jump in funding for an anti-drug advertising campaign that government-funded research shows is at best useless and at worst has increased drug use among some teens.
New York Times:
Copter Crashes Suggest Change in Iraqi Tactics — With two more helicopter crashes near Baghdad, including a Marine transport crash on Wednesday that killed seven people, the number of helicopters that have gone down in Iraq over the past three weeks rose to six.
Discussion:
TAPPED, The Moderate Voice, The Heretik, Talking Points Memo, The Carpetbagger Report and The Daily Background
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
2008 Field Sprouts Rootless Candidates — The 2008 presidential campaign has already produced the next generation of American politicians. They don't have local accents. That's because they don't have local roots. Nor do they boast legions of home-state friends, teachers and mentors …
Jim Lindgren / The Volokh Conspiracy:
MANY 1967-72 SPITTING INCIDENTS ARE DOCUMENTED IN THE PRESS. Hundreds of Vietnam-era veterans have publicly claimed in recent decades that they were spat on by citizens or anti-war protesters because of their military status either before they went to Vietnam, on leave, or after their return from overseas.