Top Items:
Mary Otto / Washington Post:
For Want of a Dentist — George's Boy Dies After Bacteria From Tooth Spread to Brain — Twelve-year-old Deamonte Driver died of a toothache Sunday. — A routine, $80 tooth extraction might have saved him. — If his mother had been insured. — If his family had not lost its Medicaid.
Discussion:
TAPPED, All Spin Zone, Bradford Plumer, Macsmind, Media Blog, Lean Left, The Vanity Press and Obsidian Wings
Kelly Kennedy / Army News, benefits, careers …:
Walter Reed patients told to keep quiet — Soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Medical Hold Unit say they have been told they will wake up at 6 a.m. every morning and have their rooms ready for inspection at 7 a.m., and that they must not speak to the media.
Patrick O'Connor / The Politico:
Republicans Set to Block Jefferson's Appointment to Homeland Security Panel — Republicans plan to force a floor vote on Rep. William Jefferson's move to the Homeland Security Committee in an unprecedented maneuver to force Democrats to go on the record supporting their embattled colleague …
Discussion:
DownWithTyranny!, CNN Political Ticker, The Political Pit Bull, Macsmind, Redstate and Bluey Blog
Washington Post:
Defending His Country, but Not Its 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy — Once a Marine, always a Marine. That pretty much sums up the life of retired Sgt. Eric Alva, who was sworn into the Marine Corps at 19, stationed in Somalia and Japan and lost his right leg when he stepped on a land mine on March 21 …
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New York Times:
U.S. Set to Join Iran and Syria in Talks on Iraq — American officials said Tuesday that they had agreed to hold the highest-level contact with the Iranian authorities in more than two years as part of an international meeting on Iraq. — The discussions, scheduled for the next two months …
Discussion:
Associated Press, NewsHog, The Carpetbagger Report, Captain's Quarters, The Moderate Voice, The Heretik, QandO, The Gun Toting Liberal ™, Middle Earth Journal, Washington Post, The Agonist, Crooks and Liars, The Daily Dish, State of the Day, Confederate Yankee, The Washington Note and DownWithTyranny!
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Marisa Taylor / Real Cities:
Political interference alleged in sacking of a U.S. attorney — WASHINGTON - The U.S. attorney from New Mexico who was recently fired by the Bush administration said Wednesday that he believes he was forced out because he refused to rush an indictment in an ongoing probe of local Democrats …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Carpetbagger Report, TPMmuckraker, Political Animal and Mercury Rising
John Harris / The Politico:
An Editor's Confession: I'm the Source of 'Slow Bleed' — With a mixture of pride and remorse, I have a confession: I am the author of the Democratic Party's "slow-bleed strategy" for ending the war in Iraq. — I had nothing to do with the details of the plan that Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) floated two weeks ago.
Discussion:
Attytood, Booman Tribune, The Carpetbagger Report, MyDD, Power Line, Wonkette, TalkLeft, Daily Kos, State of the Day, Cliff Schecter and Outside The Beltway
Bill Cotterell / News Press:
Bill would mandate nicer term for illegals — TALLAHASSEE — A state legislator whose district is home to thousands of Caribbean immigrants wants to ban the term "illegal alien" from the state's official documents. — "I personally find the word 'alien' offensive when applied to individuals …
Deborah Sontag / New York Times:
Jailers Testify About Padilla's Confinement — As Jose Padilla dropped his head and grew still, a senior official from the naval brig in Charleston, S.C., testified on Tuesday in federal court here that he had twice observed Mr. Padilla weeping in the electronically monitored cell …
Chicago Tribune:
Daley cruises to 6th term — Richard M. Daley laid claim to history on Tuesday, steamrolling two opponents and winning a sixth term that promises to make him the longest-serving mayor in Chicago history. — Another four years in the office will push Daley past the current record-holder …
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
U.S. Sanctions With Teeth — Everybody knows that economic sanctions don't work. Just look at the decades of fruitless pressure on Cuba. But guess what? In the recent cases of North Korea and Iran, a new variety of U.S. Treasury sanctions is having a potent effect, suggesting that the conventional wisdom may be wrong.
Aaron Blake / The Hill:
Some push for Huckabee to run for Senate, not president — Though his long-shot presidential campaign is still in its early stages, some wish former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee would drop his national aspirations and return home to wage what they see as a vital campaign against Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) in 2008 instead.
Discussion:
Redstate
Michael Calderone / New York Observer:
Dominion of Canada: Marty Peretz Sells Last New Republic Share — It feels like a burden has been lifted from me," Martin Peretz said on Feb. 27. — It feels like a burden has been lifted from me," Martin Peretz said on Feb. 27. — For the first time in three decades, Mr. Peretz, 68, no longer owns a stake in The New Republic.
Discussion:
Romenesko
Max Boot / Los Angeles Times:
Going it alone because we have to — Unless allies spend more on defense, the U.S. will continue to act unilaterally out of necessity. — TONY BLAIR'S decision to withdraw 1,600 troops from Iraq is understandable. The prime minister had to make a difficult decision about where to allocate …
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
The Question, Part III — Note from the jury: … Second note from jury: … After the second note came back, the Libby team was clustered around some piece of paper (I assume the note) chuckling. They showed it to Fitz, and nobody seemed to alarmed one way or the other. — emptywheel here.
Michael van der Galien / The Moderate Voice:
Interview with Harm de Blij - Part 1 — EDITOR'S NOTE: This was run earlier but since it is an original interview conducted for this site we will leave it at the top for several hours. NEWER posts are BELOW so keep scrolling. — A reader, Stuart, sent me a great present a couple of months ago …