Top Items:
Peggy Noonan / Opinion Journal:
Too Bad — President Bush has torn the conservative coalition asunder. — What political conservatives and on-the-ground Republicans must understand at this point is that they are not breaking with the White House on immigration. They are not resisting, fighting and thereby setting …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Huffington Post …, Tapscott's Copy Desk, The Newshoggers, News Bloggers Blog, The Strata-Sphere, Firedoglake, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Moderate Voice, The Gun Toting Liberal™, Heading Right, La Shawn Barber's Corner, Tammy Bruce, TBogg, Silflay Hraka, The Impolitic, Neptunus Lex, Multi Medium, Six Meat Buffet, Central Sanity, DownWithTyranny!, Middle Earth Journal, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Carpetbagger Report, Think Progress, Rising Hegemon, Vox Popoli, Sadly, No!, Cliff Schecter, rubber hose and Hot Air
RELATED:
Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
The End Of The Bushes? — Peggy Noonan, one of my favorite columnists and always a great read, today turns her substantial rhetorical guns on what she sees as the biggest threat to the Republican Party — George Bush. Accusing him of following his father in squandering a great political inheritance …
Mary Katharine Ham / Townhall.com:
RNC Outsources Phone Solicitation to DNC, Apparently — Well, either that, or the WSJ editorial board is manning the phones. — You heard yesterday that the RNC canned its in-house phone bank employees, partly due to an estimated 40% drop in small donations.
Michael A. Fletcher / Washington Post:
Senior Bush Aide Dan Bartlett to Resign — White House Counselor Among President's Longest Serving Advisers — White House counselor Dan Bartlett, one of President Bush's top aides and among his longest serving, said today he will resign in July,becoming the latest administration official …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, The Newshoggers, Shakesville, Wonkette, PoliBlog (TM), The Next Hurrah, TalkLeft and The Heretik
RELATED:
Terence Hunt / Associated Press:
Top Bush aide leaving White House — WASHINGTON - Dan Bartlett, one of President Bush's most trusted advisers and his longest-serving aide, said Friday he is resigning to begin a career outside of government. — The move was announced on Bartlett's 36th birthday.
Discussion:
TIME
Jodi Kantor / New York Times:
One Place Where Obama Goes Elbow to Elbow — Last Christmas, Senator Barack Obama flew to Hawaii to contemplate a presidential bid in the peace of his childhood home. But there, on a humid playground near Waikiki Beach, he found himself being roughed up by some of his best friends.
RELATED:
Karen Tumulty / Time:
Obama's Inconvenient Truths — Presidential-primary politics tends to be played like a game of connect the dots, with all the would-be nominees running from interest group to interest group, knowing and delivering precisely what each constituency is expecting to hear.
Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
RNC faces donor falloff, fires solicitors — The Republican National Committee, hit by a grass-roots donors' rebellion over President Bush's immigration policy, has fired all 65 of its telephone solicitors, The Washington Times has learned. — Faced with an estimated 40 percent falloff …
RELATED:
Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Firing The Collectors: Desperation Or Efficiency?
Firing The Collectors: Desperation Or Efficiency?
Discussion:
THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS
Jonathan Alter / Newsweek:
Iraq Is Not Vietnam—Or Korea Either — Both the Vietnam and Iraq wars were started and perpetuated by heedless, arrogant leaders unwilling to change course when the facts on the ground changed. But the similarities mostly end there. — President Bush thinks the Vietnam analogy for Iraq is wrong.
RELATED:
Thomas B. Edsall / Huffington Post:
Conservative Catholics Organize To Sink Rudy — The early success of Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid has provoked a groundswell of opposition from disparate forces including conservative Catholics, remnants of Pat Buchanan's presidential campaigns and regional political operatives seeking to break into the Republican firmament.
Tony Paterson / The Independent:
German brain drain at highest level since 1940s — For a nation that invented the term "guest worker" for its immigrant labourers, Germany is facing the sobering fact that record numbers of its own often highly-qualified citizens are fleeing the country to work abroad in the biggest mass exodus for 60 years.
Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
Boehner Leads Effort to Polish GOP 'Brand' — Their president's approval ratings are at historic lows. The war in Iraq is grinding down their political prospects, and their party is showing deep divisions on issues such as education and immigration. — But to House Minority Leader John A. Boehner …
E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Debating In Parallel Universes — So when Democratic presidential candidates get together, they argue about who has the best health-care plan. When Republicans have a big discussion, it's about torture and who'll use it when. — Okay, okay, Republicans had their chat about torture …
Dan Gilgoff / US News:
Fired McCain Religion-Outreach Aides Say They Were Ignored — Two former aides hired to spearhead religious outreach for presidential candidate John McCain say that they were virtually ignored by the campaign and that McCain's top campaign strategists are intent on winning votes …
Daniel J. Levitin / Washington Post:
It Was 40 Years Ago Today — Yes, it's been 40 years exactly since Sgt. Pepper, having labored the previous 20 years teaching his band to play, arranged for its debut in full psychedelic regalia. He leveraged a little help from his friends, notably the vocalist Billy Shears …
Scott Shane / New York Times:
Senate Panel Questions C.I.A. Detentions — The Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday questioned the continuing value of the Central Intelligence Agency's secret interrogation program for terrorism suspects, suggesting that international condemnation and the obstacles it has created …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post …, Washington Post, Salon, Los Angeles Times, Firedoglake, The Agonist and Air America Radio
Invitation / Economist:
Tony Blair reflects on the lessons of his decade as Britain's prime minister — TEN years ago, if you had told me I would spend a significant part of my premiership on foreign policy, I would have been surprised, a little shocked and probably, politically, somewhat alarmed.
Jonah Goldberg / National Review Online:
Better Off Fred? — Here are just a few little-known facts about Fred Thompson: — Every night before going to sleep, Osama bin Laden checks under his bed for Fred Thompson. — Though Fred Thompson left the Senate in 2003, Harry Reid still hasn't stopped wetting his pants.