Top Items:
William Branigin / Washington Post:
Senate Republicans Block Floor Vote on Iraq Resolution — Senate Republicans today blocked a floor vote on a House-passed resolution that expresses disapproval of President Bush's plan to send thousands of additional U.S. troops to Iraq, as a procedural motion to cut off debate on the measure fell short of the 60 votes needed.
Discussion:
Obsidian Wings, The Reaction, the talking dog, The American Street, Austin Bay Blog, TalkLeft, alphabet city and Prairie Weather
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Associated Press:
SENATE GRIDLOCKED ON IRAQ TROOP BUILDUP — Feb. 16: Sgt. John Guerra, 21, from Dallas, Tex., walks with his platoon from the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team during a patrol in Iraq. — WASHINGTON — The Senate gridlocked on the Iraq war in a sharply worded showdown on Saturday …
CNN:
Senate won't vote on rebuke of troop buildup … WASHINGTON (CNN) — Senate Democrats failed to garner the necessary 60 votes they needed to consider a nonbinding resolution that opposes President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq. — The vote was 56-34, with seven Republicans crossing …
N. Todd Pritsky / Dohiyi Mir:
It Is A Victory — Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and atom bombs:
It Is A Victory — Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and atom bombs:
Washington Post:
Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army's Top Medical Facility — Behind the door of Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan's room, part of the wall is torn and hangs in the air, weighted down with black mold. When the wounded combat engineer stands in his shower and looks up, he can see the bathtub on the floor above through a rotted hole.
Discussion:
AMERICAblog, Gun Toting Liberal ™, INTEL DUMP, Obsidian Wings, Brilliant at Breakfast, The News Blog and Donklephant
David Saltonstall / NY Daily News:
Rudy's inner diva is outed — Demands private jet, fancy hotel — and 100G — to give speech, sez Web site — Move over, J.Lo. There's a new diva on the scene - and his name is Rudy Giuliani. — At least that's the impression given by a copy of the basic contract the former mayor …
Discussion:
Riehl World View
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Don Vito / The Smoking Gun:
Rudy Giuliani: No Free Speech — Lucrative contract depicts GOP hopeful as image-conscious diva — We've previously posted the tour riders of Dick Cheney and John Kerry, but those two pols look like pikers compared to the high-rolling, diva-like Rudolph Giuliani, wannabe Republican presidential candidate.
Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:
At least he didn't specify which M&Ms were to be removed from his dressing room
At least he didn't specify which M&Ms were to be removed from his dressing room
Discussion:
The Right's Field
Washington Post:
Not the 'Real Vote' — REP. JOHN MURTHA (D-Pa.) has a message for anyone who spent the week following the House of Representatives' marathon debate on Iraq: You've been distracted by a sideshow. "We have to be careful that people don't think this is the vote," the 74-year-old congressman …
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Victoria Toensing / Washington Post:
Trial in Error — Could someone please explain to me why Scooter Libby is the only person on trial in the Valerie Plame leak investigation? — Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald charged Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff with perjury on the theory that Libby had a nefarious reason …
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, The RBC, Let Freedom Ring, Booman Tribune, Don Surber and Jules Crittenden
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Patrick Healy / New York Times:
Antiwar Anger at '02 Vote on Iraq Follows Clinton — One of the most important decisions that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton made about her bid for the presidency came late last year when she ended a debate in her camp over whether she should repudiate her 2002 vote authorizing military action in Iraq.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Oliver Willis, Hot Air, AMERICAblog, Don Surber, TalkLeft, Booman Tribune, culturekitchen, Riehl World View, Daily Pundit, Liberty Street and Viking Pundit
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New York Times:
Planning Seen in Iraqi Attacks on U.S. Copters — Documents captured from Iraqi insurgents indicate that some of the recent fatal attacks against American helicopters are a result of a carefully planned strategy to focus on downing coalition aircraft, one that American officials say has been carried …
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Telegraph:
Sure, Barack, you voted 'no' to war in Iraq. That was the easy part — If politics were a fairy tale, Barack Obama would surely be the next president of the United States. With his melting pot roots (father Kenyan, mother Kansan, born in Hawaii) and his molten hot rhetoric …
Julie Bosman / New York Times:
With One Word, Children's Book Sets Off Uproar — The word "scrotum" does not often appear in polite conversation. Or children's literature, for that matter. — Yet there it is on the first page of "The Higher Power of Lucky," by Susan Patron, this year's winner of the Newbery Medal …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
Russell Roberts / Los Angeles Times:
Workers are fine with fewer unions — Wealth and productivity have soared while union membership has declined. — LABOR UNIONS' importance in the workplace has fallen steadily since 1950, when roughly a third of American workers were unionized. Today, that number is well below 10% in the private sector.
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Gateway Pundit:
Father of Salt Lake Mall Killer Believes Son Was Trained (Video) — The father and aunt of Salt Lake City mall killer, Sulejman Talovic, spoke with News Channel 5 KSL.com in Salt Lake. — They are concerned that someone they do not know was influencing the young man to commit the horrible crimes.
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Joe / AMERICAblog:
Forget Iraq. McCain wants to be the anti-sex candidate. He's preaching abstinence now. — fark it! Oh, this is rich. John McCain can't make the votes on Iraq — the dominant issue of these times. No, McCain has more pressing matters on his plate. He's too busy working on his no-sex agenda.
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Dan Duray / San Francisco Chronicle:
Audit finds $10 billion in fuzzy spending — Inspectors reviewed one-sixth of $350 billion U.S. has spent on Iraq — (02-16) 04:00 PST Washington — More than $10 billion of the money paid to military contractors for Iraq reconstruction and troop support was either excessive or unsupported by documents …