Top Items:
Graham Bowley / New York Times:
Cheney Makes Surprise Visit to Baghdad — Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced visit to Baghdad today, meeting with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders to pressure them to show more progress in quelling violence in Iraq, and to do so quickly.
RELATED:
WSJ.com: Washington Wire:
In Iraq, Cheney Sticks to the Script — Yochi J. Dreazen reports on the vice president's trip to Baghdad. — Vice President Dick Cheney's surprise trip to Baghdad today was meant to deliver a tough message to the Iraqi government - put off your vacation plans and get back to work.
Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post:
Bush Would Veto New Iraq Bill — President Bush would veto the new Iraq spending bill being developed by House Democrats because it includes unacceptable language restricting funding, White House press secretary Tony Snow said this morning. — Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One …
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Giuliani gave to Planned Parenthood — Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani in his campaign appearances this year has stated that he personally abhors abortion, even though he supports keeping a legal right to choose. But records show that in the '90s he contributed money …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Dick Polman's American Debate, Public Eye, News Hounds, AMERICAN DIGEST, Shakesville, The Mahablog, Blogometer, Balloon Juice, Pollster.com, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, PoliBlog (TM), Associated Press, Hotline On Call, Central Sanity, Real Clear Politics, August J. Pollak, Vox Popoli, The Caucus, Kiko's House, TalkLeft, Wonkette, Redstate and The Carpetbagger Report
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Chance for Reform — CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS have been promising since last November's election to reform President Bush's treatment of foreign prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay prison. There are practical limits to what can be done while this president remains in office …
RELATED:
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Democrats bear responsibility for restoring habeas corpus — The Military Commissions Act of 2006 is, without question, the single worst law enacted during the Bush presidency, and is one of the most destructive laws passed in the last several decades. It is not merely a bad law.
Discussion:
NYT, Norwegianity, D.A. Ridgely, Calitics, The Impolitic, Hullabaloo, DownWithTyranny! and WorkingForChange
Bob Lewis / Associated Press:
Obama Overstates Kansas Tornado Deaths — RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Barack Obama, caught up in the fervor of a campaign speech Tuesday, drastically overstated the Kansas tornadoes death toll, saying 10,000 had died. — The death toll was 12. — "In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas.
RELATED:
Steven Stalinsky / New York Sun:
Islamist-Left Alliance A Growing Force … Over the past year, multiple international conferences have featured leaders of the anti-global left and Islamist groups working together. Go to any anti-war or anti-globalization demonstration in the West and chances are you will see the flags …
Discussion:
Atlas Shrugs
RELATED:
Marist Poll:
National Poll: Presidential Campaign 2008 — This WNBC/Marist Poll reports: — · Hillary Clinton is not only the Democratic favorite for her party's nomination but, for the first time, she edges both Rudy Giuliani and John McCain: Senator Hillary Clinton still outpaces her Democratic rivals by a wide margin.
RELATED:
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
DeLay: FBI 'running amok' — Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) is calling on the Justice Department either to drop its investigation of his wife and former political associates or else to bring charges quickly. — DeLay said he has given the FBI documents exonerating his wife …
Opinion Journal:
Axis of Soros — The men and motives behind the World Bank coup attempt. — Mark Malloch Brown spoke Monday to a crowded auditorium at the World Bank's headquarters, warning that the bank's mission was "hugely at risk" as long as Paul Wolfowitz remained its president.
Discussion:
The Newshoggers, BusinessWeek Online, The Sundries Shack, New York Times and JammieWearingFool
Talking Points Memo:
Bingo! I think we have our 9th fired US Attorney — and one replaced in short order by one of the Bush DOJ's prime 'vote fraud' scammers. — As noted earlier, there are a handful of other US Attorneys who resigned in 2006 under what now appear suspicious circumstances, especially given who subsequently replaced them.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Carpetbagger Report, The Next Hurrah, Cannonfire, TPMmuckraker, CorrenteWire and Fired Up! Missouri
RELATED:
David Kopel / The Volokh Conspiracy:
"FRANCE WILL NOT ABANDON THE WOMEN WHO ARE CONDEMNED TO THE BURQA" President-elect Nicolas Sarkozy's first speech to the French nation concluded with a wonderful endorsement of human rights. (Video here.) — Sarkozy spoke from a prepared text , which appears on his official campaign websites.
The Hill:
Pelosi threat to sue Bush over Iraq bill — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is threatening to take President Bush to court if he issues a signing statement as a way of sidestepping a carefully crafted compromise Iraq war spending bill. — Pelosi recently told a group of liberal bloggers …
AlterNet.org:
Majority of Iraqi Lawmakers Now Reject Occupation — By Raed Jarrar and Joshua Holland, AlterNet. — More than half of the members of Iraq's parliament rejected for the first time on Tuesday the continuing occupation of their country. The U.S. media ignored the story.