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Democrats Criticize Iraq in 1st Debate — ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) - Democratic presidential candidates criticized President Bush over the Iraq war Thursday night in the first debate of their campaign, and urged him to reconsider his threat to veto legislation to begin withdrawing U.S. troops.
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Getting Pumped for the Mike Gravel Inaugural — The Democrats held their first all-presidential candidate debate tonight in South Carolina. I wasn't there, but an MSNBC web camera was, and it beamed the debate into the comfort of Reason HQ in DC. My impressions: — Joe Biden underperformed.
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Democratic Candidate Debate:Gravel - "Some Of These People Frighten Me"
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Timmeh's Tool Time Redux — Everyone has their favorite moment from the Bill Moyers documentary last night, this was mine: … After sitting in the Libby trial with jaw-dropping incredulity as Russert admitted he'd spilled his guts to the FBI when they first contacted him and then later refused …
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Why Didn't They Call Me? — A little highlight from the Moyers show — here's the King of the Kewl Kids going all Sergeant Shultz when asked to explain how he got used and discarded like a wet kleenex by Dick Cheney: … But lest you think that Russert is some sort of prima donna who waits for the phone to ring, he later said:
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Washington Reporters In Meltdown, Damage-Control Freak Out Mode — In the lead up to and wake of Bill Moyers' much-anticipated mega-dunk on the Washington press corps this week, we are seeing the ugliest side of Beltway culture - the meltdown, damage-control freak out.
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Knoller On What Bill Moyers Got Wrong — Last night, PBS aired "Buying The War," "a 90-minute documentary that explores the role of the press in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq." The program, which Tom Shales called "one of the most gripping and important pieces of broadcast journalism so far this year …
Discussion:
Salon, Unqualified Offerings, WIMN's Voices, The Huffington Post, MaxSpeak, Washington Post, Romenesko and Firedoglake
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CNN's Ware: Troop Pullout Debate Is 'Delusional,' Would Hand Iraq to al Qaeda — Left-wing blogs loved it when CNN's Michael Ware rebuked Senator John McCain a few weeks ago, after McCain suggested he could safely walk through areas of Baghdad. But this morning on CNN …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, Ace of Spades HQ, TAPPED, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Liberty Street, Donklephant, The Right Angle and Confederate Yankee
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One Choice in Iraq — Last week a series of coordinated suicide …
Discussion:
Hot Air, PoliPundit.com, Booman Tribune, Shakesville, Captain's Quarters, The Washington Note, Ezra Klein, TalkLeft, Matthew Yglesias, The Corner, Cliff Schecter, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Blue Crab Boulevard, Daily Kos, The Mahablog, The Strata-Sphere, Taylor Marsh, Jules Crittenden, First Read, State of the Day, The Anonymous Liberal, Rising Hegemon and Neptunus Lex
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The September Compromise — September. That's how much time they get. Give the administration, General Petraeus, and most importantly, the Iraqi government until September to straighten out Iraq or we start withdrawing by October. — General Petraeus told Congress on Wednesday …
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Iraqi spokesman criticizes Senate vote — BAGHDAD - An Iraqi government spokesman criticized the U.S. Senate vote to begin withdrawing U.S. troops by Oct. 1. — "We see some negative signs in the decision because it sends wrong signals to some sides that might think of alternatives …
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Senate passes Iraq spending bill; Update: Iraqi spokesman criticizes — Just across on Fox News. On to the White House now for the promised veto, although that won't come until next week. Standby for the roll; it'll probably look almost exactly like this, the roll from the vote a few weeks ago …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, The Jawa Report, CNN Political Ticker, Flopping Aces and Ace of Spades HQ
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Baghdad's Fissures and Mistrust Keep Political Goals Out of Reach — U.S. military commanders say a key goal of the ongoing security offensive is to buy time for Iraq's leaders to reach political benchmarks that can unite its fractured coalition government and persuade insurgents to stop fighting.
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Keep Your Eye on the Benchmarks — There is one thing that pretty much everyone agrees on regarding the situation in Iraq: Without Iraqi political progress, there is no chance for U.S. troops there to achieve their mission of leaving behind a peaceful country.
Discussion:
The Agonist, Shakesville, CorrenteWire, The Newshoggers, The Democratic Daily and First Draft
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Tenet: "Slam Dunk" Comment Misused — Ex-CIA Director Explains Phrase He Says Bush Administration Has Dishonorably Clung To — (CBS) Ex-CIA Director George Tenet says the way the Bush administration has used his now famous "slam dunk" comment — which he admits saying in reference to making …
Discussion:
Political Animal
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Day By Day: Crossing A Line? — Today's panel of Day by Day uses blackface on Hillary Clinton to make a political point about her pandering to the African-American community by changing the cant and accent of her speech to sound more "black". Rick Moran of Right Wing Nut House criticized Chris Muir …
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David Broder Is a Gasbag — One of the few regrets I have in life is that I allowed Ann Devroy of the Washington Post to talk me into apologizing for calling David Broder "a gasbag" in 1995. My admiration for Devroy trumped my contempt for Broder. Ann, sadly, is gone, but Broder remains.
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Islamic State Of Iraq: The Cross Worshippers And Their Henchmen Plans Have Collapsed — The Islamic State of Iraq has issued a statement that speaks to the utter collapse of America's so-called "new security plan" and the upheaval that is taking place in the US Congress over how to extract itself from the Iraqi quagmire.
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What They Said — I was planning to mark the fourth anniversary of the start of the war by looking back at some of the more remarkable statements pundits made at the time. But I'm a weekly cartoonist, and this month I just had too many other ideas clamoring for my limited space …
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Senate Passes Emergency Supplemental Bill — Just moments ago, the Senate followed the lead of the House of Representatives by passing the $124 billion supplemental spending bill containing a provision that mandates a withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq by this time next year.
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report, MyDD, Booman Tribune, The Mahablog, Captain's Quarters and Cliff Schecter
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Is the War on Terror Over? — Do we still need to fight a war on terror? — The answer seems to be no for an increasing number in the West who are weary over Afghanistan and Iraq or complacent from the absence of a major attack on the scale of 9/11. — The British Foreign Office …
Discussion:
Dr. Sanity