Top Items:
John Bresnahan / The Politico:
House Democrats' New Strategy: Force Slow End to War — Led by Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Pa., and supported by several well-funded anti-war groups, the coalition's goal is to limit or sharply reduce the number of U.S. troops available for the Iraq conflict, rather than to openly cut off funding for the war itself.
Discussion:
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Matt Stoller / MyDD:
Grace Time is Over — It's pretty obvious at this point that the Democratic leadership isn't serious about ending the war in Iraq. They won't defund the war, and keep repeating the meme that cutting off funding for the war means cutting off funding for the troops. — It's time for the blogs to stop giving them a pass.
Bryan / Hot Air:
Murtha and the Democrats: A new low — Disgusting. … If they do what they're apparently planning to do, "slow bleed" will be a very apt description. Those doing the bleeding, slowly, will be US troops. … This is the strategy of a corrupt, dishonorable man. Yes, I realize I'm talking about a former Marine.
White House:
Press Conference by the President — THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming in on an icy day. I have just finished a conversation with General David Petraeus. He gave me his first briefing from Iraq. He talked about the Baghdad security plan. It's the plan that I described to the nation last January …
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report, Big Brass Blog, Happy Furry Puppy Story …, First Draft and My Left Wing
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CNN:
Bush: U.S. aims to protect troops, not wage war with Iran … WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush said Wednesday he did not know if Iranian leaders sent weapons used to kill U.S. troops in Iraq but Iranian-made bombs were having a deadly effect and the United States had to respond.
Discussion:
Think Progress, The Heretik, In the Bullpen, protein wisdom, Decision '08 and State of the Day
Mark Memmott / On Deadline:
Bush: 'Preposterous' to suggest intelligence on Iran is wrong
Bush: 'Preposterous' to suggest intelligence on Iran is wrong
Discussion:
Washington Times, The Raw Story, White House, NewsHog, Michelle Malkin, The Impolitic, Pajamas Media and CorrenteWire
Spencer Ackerman / TPMmuckraker:
Bush: Who Cares if Iran Ordered EFP Attacks? — The Iran innuendo continues. In his press conference today, President Bush said that the U.S. knows "with certainty" that the EFPs coming in from Iran for attacks on U.S. forces originate with the Qods Forces — a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Talking Points Memo, NewsHog, Donklephant, The Anonymous Liberal and Political Animal
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Baltimore Sun:
America's view of Republicans crumbles in Iraq — According to the latest Gallup survey, Republican self-identification has declined nationally and in almost every American state. Why? The short answer is that President Bush's war of choice in Iraq has destroyed the partisan brand Republicans spent the past four decades building.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Eschaton, Sadly, No!, The Carpetbagger Report, Middle Earth Journal, INSTAPUTZ and Faithful Progressive
Betsy Rothstein / The Hill:
Rep. Ellison calls the cops to snuff Tancredo's cigar — Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) believes it is his right as a Muslim to be sworn into Congress with the Quran. But apparently, the freshman lawmaker doesn't believe it's Rep. Tom Tancredo's (R-Colo.) right to smoke a cigar in his congressional office.
Discussion:
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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Parsing the Polls: Answering the Mormon Question — The fact that Mitt Romney is a Mormon is no secret. Scads of stories have been written about that very fact, and it's a regular topic of conversation among Washington's chattering class. — What effect Romney's religion will have on his chances …
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Matt Apuzzo / Associated Press:
Libby lawyers rest in CIA leak trial — WASHINGTON - Attorneys for former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby rested their case in the CIA leak trial Wednesday after a day of legal wrangling over classified information and whether additional witnesses could be presented.
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Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:
U.S. Says Powerful Iraqi Cleric Is Living in Iran — The powerful Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr has left Iraq and has been living in Iran for the past several weeks, senior Bush administration officials said Tuesday. — With fresh American forces arriving in Baghdad as part of the White House plan …
Discussion:
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Amy Schatz / Wall Street Journal:
Candidates Find A New Stump In the Blogosphere — Nearly a year before the first caucuses and primaries take place, the 2008 presidential campaign advertising war is under way online. — Candidates of both parties are already buying space on search engines, blogs and other Internet sites popular …
Discussion:
protein wisdom, DonkeyRising, Gun Toting Liberal ™, Outside The Beltway and Liberal Values
driftglass:
I'm Spartacus. — Shakespeare's Sister has announced that she is bowing out of the Edwards campaign. — Needless to say this is a very sad and sobering development. — And needless to say that she is doing it with orders of magnitude more grace and élan than either …
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Neoconservatives hate liberty as much as they love war — Frank Gaffney, one of the country's most influential and well-connected neoconservatives, has a column in today's Washington Times in which he argues that the debate taking place in Congress over the war in Iraq constitutes treason.
Deseret News:
6 minutes of horror … In just six minutes, 18-year-old Sulejman Talovic left a tragic path of destruction that forever changed the lives of dozens of people. — "His intent was to shoot as many people as he possibly could," said Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank.
Discussion:
Classical Values, Little Green Footballs, BizzyBlog, Blue Crab Boulevard, Jihad Watch, Daily Pundit and The Jawa Report
John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Hillary Clinton: "If the administration believes that any, any use of force against Iran is necessary, the president must come to Congress to seek that authority. — Hillary Clinton demands that President Bush go through Congress if he plans to take any military action against Iran. — Download (456) |
Harold Meyerson / Washington Post:
A New Hampshire Ghost — A specter was haunting Hillary Clinton as she campaigned in New Hampshire this weekend: the specter of Ed Muskie. — As the ancient or merely studious among us will recall, the Democratic senator from Maine, who'd been Hubert Humphrey's running mate in 1968 …
Steve Kornacki / New York Observer:
Why Al Gore Won't Let the Rumors Die — It's too much to say that Al Gore has decided to run for President in 2008. — But it does seem that he wants to preserve the option. — Certainly, the recent buzz about a possible Gore campaign in 2008 doesn't seem to be spontaneously generated.
Discussion:
Liberal Values
Reuters:
Turkmen acting leader sworn in as new president … ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (Reuters) — Turkmenistan's acting leader, Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, was on Wednesday declared the winner of a February 11 election and immediately sworn in as the gas-rich nation's new president.
Scott Shields / MyDD:
Why Is Brian O'Dwyer So Angry? — When controversy strikes, it's often hard to keep up with all of the players and their allegiances. Take the latest dust-up over Edwards staffers Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan. Sure, there were the usual suspects like professional offendee Bill Donohue …