Top Items:
Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:
Hillary Clinton Facing Hollywood Defections — And "Clinton Fatigue"? (UPDATED) — Senator Hillary Clinton's camp can't be too happy over New York Times columnist Marueen Dowd's latest column, which has some peppery words about her candidacy and her husband from Hollywood bigwig David Geffen.
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Michael Finnegan / Los Angeles Times:
Obama sees 2 sides of L.A. — The Democrat draws fans among Hollywood's elite and in Crenshaw in an early bid for support and money for his presidential campaign. — Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama wrapped up his first California campaign swing Tuesday by invoking …
hillaryclinton.com:
Clinton Camp to Obama: Cut Ties & Return Cash After Top Booster's Vicious Attacks
Clinton Camp to Obama: Cut Ties & Return Cash After Top Booster's Vicious Attacks
Discussion:
MyDD
Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:
EXCLUSIVE: Cheney Says British Troop Withdrawal Is Positive Sign — Vice President Tells Soldiers in Tokyo the U.S. Will Not Withdraw Until the Job Is Done — British Prime Minister Tony Blair's announcement that British troops will begin withdrawing from Iraq would appear to be bad news for the Bush administration.
Discussion:
Salon, Guardian, Gun Toting Liberal ™, Booman Tribune, Don Surber, The Moderate Voice, Captain's Quarters and The Daily Dish
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David Stringer / Associated Press:
Blair announces Iraq withdrawal plan — LONDON - Britain will withdraw around 1,600 troops from Iraq in the coming months and aims to further cut its 7,100-strong contingent by late summer if Iraqi forces can secure the country's south, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday.
R. Jeffrey Smith / Washington Post:
Berger Case Still Roils Archives, Justice Dept. — In a chandeliered room at the Justice Department, the longtime head of the counterespionage section, the chief of the public integrity unit, a deputy assistant attorney general, some trial lawyers and a few FBI agents all looked down at their pant legs and socks.
Discussion:
Right Wing Nut House, TIME, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Volokh Conspiracy and PrairiePundit
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Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
The Defense Rests, and Not a Minute Too Soon — For a brief moment yesterday, Scooter Libby was not a former White House aide on trial for perjury. He was an orphan in need of a loving home. — "He's been under my protection for the last month; now I'm entrusting him to you," defense lawyer Ted Wells told the puzzled jurors.
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Washington Post:
Swift Action Promised at Walter Reed — Investigations Urged as Army Moves to Make Repairs, Improve Staffing — The White House and congressional leaders called yesterday for swift investigation and repair of the problems plaguing outpatient care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center …
Josh White / Washington Post:
Guantanamo Detainees Lose Appeal — Habeas Corpus Case May Go to High Court — A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that hundreds of detainees in U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, do not have the right to challenge their imprisonment in federal courts, a victory for the Bush administration …
Discussion:
TalkLeft, the talking dog, Obsidian Wings, Gun Toting Liberal ™, Lawyers, Guns and Money and Daily Kos
Norm / normblog:
Open Letter on Iranian Holocaust Denial Conference — [This has been sent to me by an Iranian reader, with with a request that I post it.] — An open letter by a group of Iranian academics, writers, and artists regarding the Tehran Conference on Holocaust Denial
James Joyner / Outside The Beltway:
Black President More Likely than Mormon or Atheist — A recent Gallup poll reveals that Americans are much more likely to elect a black man or a woman president than a Mormon or an old man. More interestingly, they'd rather be governed by a homosexual than an atheist: — Now, these numbers are prospective.
Associated Press:
Ex-GOP Rep. Kasich considers run for governor — COLUMBUS - Former U.S. Rep. John Kasich is contemplating a run for Ohio governor 2010, prompting him to begin speaking regularly at Republican functions around the state. — "I've made it clear to people that I'm going to look at the governor's office …
Washington Post:
The 'Crime' Of Blogging In Egypt — A former college student, Abdelkareem Nabil Soliman, is sitting in an Egyptian prison, awaiting sentencing tomorrow. His alleged "crime": expressing his opinions on a blog. His mistake: having the courage to do so under his own name.
Peter Allen / Telegraph:
Hornets hit France and could reach Britain — Swarms of giant hornets renowned for their vicious stings and skill at massacring honeybees have settled in France. — And there are now so many of the insects that entomologists fear it will just be a matter of time before they cross to Britain.
Bloomberg:
Merck Stops Campaign to Mandate Gardasil Vaccine Use (Update3) — Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) — Merck & Co. will stop lobbying state officials to require that girls receive the company's Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine before they can attend school. — Merck made the decision after groups including …
Washington Post:
The Woman in the Middle — Moderate Democrat Is New Target of Liberal Bloggers — The Democratic majority was only three weeks old, but by Jan. 26, the grass-roots and Net-roots activists of the party's left wing had already settled on their new enemy: Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher (D-Calif.) …
Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:
Mitt Romney's Extreme Makeover — Precisely two years ago, Mitt Romney, then the governor of Massachusetts but already eyeing a 2008 presidential bid, sat in the coffee shop of a Washington hotel, doing his best not to explain his views on abortion. — Romney was speaking to a few of us from The Post …
Milt Freudenheim / New York Times:
Some Employers Are Offering Free Drugs — For years, employers have been pushing their workers to pay more for health care, raising premiums and out-of-pocket medical expenses in an effort to save money for the company and force workers to seek only the most necessary care.
Discussion:
Swords Crossed
Christopher Drew / New York Times:
Lower Voter Turnout Is Seen in States That Require ID — States that imposed identification requirements on voters reduced turnout at the polls in the 2004 presidential election by about 3 percent, and by two to three times as much for minorities, new research suggests.