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Senators Block Vote on Gonzales — The Senate yesterday rejected a bid to conduct a vote of no confidence in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, as Republicans declined to defend the embattled presidential confidant but rejected the effort as a political stunt.
Discussion:
New York Times, The Moderate Voice, Blognonymous, Brian Beutler, About U.S. Politics and Rook's Rant
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No-Confidence Vote on Gonzales Fails in the Senate — Senate Democrats fell short this afternoon in their effort to hold a vote of no confidence in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales but still registered a strong, if symbolic, rebuke of the nation's chief law enforcement officer.

Joe Chooses His New Friend, Karl Rove, Over the Rule of Law — Between Joe Lieberman's calls to bomb Iran over the weekend, and his no vote on the no confidence resolution against Alberto Gonzales today, we have hit the final straws in Joe Lieberman's little dance with the dark side.
Discussion:
Booman Tribune

Americans Have Lost Confidence in the Attorney General — Today, every Senator will have the opportunity to go on record and either approve or disapprove of the performance of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Gonzales has repeatedly shown that he lacks the leadership necessary to run the Justice Department.
Discussion:
TPMmuckraker, Comments From Left Field, Washington Times, Daily Kos and DownWithTyranny!

George Bush's Exceedingly, Surprisingly, Very and Quite Long Goodbye — I think we can now officially call this a lame-duck Congress: — WaPo: No-confidence resolution against Gonzales fails in the Senate. — I don't mean to be cute about it. OK, I do.

Gonzales 'no confidence' vote fails; 7 GOP switch sides — The New York Democrat raised the point while responding to an effort by Senate Republicans to argue that Schumer was committing a conflict of interest by investigating the Justice Department in the Judiciary Committee while also leading …

Appeals Court Orders Enemy Combatant Free by Military — In a stinging rejection of one of the Bush administration's central assertions about the scope of executive authority to combat terrorism, a federal appeals court ordered the Pentagon to release a man being held as an enemy combatant.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Outside The Beltway, The Carpetbagger Report, Washington Monthly, Kiko's House, Happy Furry Puppy Story …, The Gun Toting Liberal™, The Newshoggers, At-Largely, the talking dog, Comments From Left Field, Watching Those We Chose, Sister Toldjah, Prairie Weather, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, About U.S. Politics and Truthdig
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President denied authority to detain civilians in U.S. — UPDATE at 3:15 p.m. The Justice Department said on Monday that it will ask the full 12-member Fourth Circuit Court to reconsider en banc the panel decision in Al-Marri v. Wright (Circuit docket 06-7427).

al-Marri Reactions I — The Hidden Alternative Holding (Surprise — It's About Abusive Interrogation!) — The principal merits holding in the court of appeals' opinion today in al-Marri is that Congress has not authorized the indefinite military detention of a person who is (i) …
Discussion:
The American Street, Firedoglake, Outside The Beltway, The Mahablog, The Atlantic Online and Brian Beutler

Go Ahead And Shoot At Me — I woke up this morning and was going to start my stint as a guest correspondent by trying to kick up a dialogue on how my people in rural America are getting screwed into the stone ages. As an inexperienced blogger (I think this is the third time I've posted anything) …
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Majority of Republicans Doubt Theory of Evolution — More Americans accept theory of creationism than evolution — PRINCETON, NJ — The majority of Republicans in the United States do not believe the theory of evolution is true and do not believe that humans evolved over millions of years from less advanced forms of life.
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Reaganomics Hits France — Now that French voters are giving him a decisive parliamentary majority, President Nicolas Sarkozy is going to launch a pro-growth, tax cutting, deregulation, reform plan. — In other words, Reaganomics finally comes to France.
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Some in U.S. Intelligence See Musharraf on His Way Out — Since September 11, 2001, the U.S.'s Pakistan policy can be summed up in two words: Pervez Musharraf. But within the U.S. intelligence community, and in Pakistan, there's a growing belief that the U.S.-friendly military dictator's days …
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CAIR membership plummets — ONLINE EXCLUSIVE / DEVELOPING: — Membership in the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has declined more than 90 percent since the 2001 terrorist attacks, Audrey Hudson will report in Tuesday's editions of The Washington Times.
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, Power Line, The Jawa Report, Jihad Watch, Atlas Shrugs and Little Green Footballs

Poll: Rural Vote No Longer a Lock for Republicans — · A new national poll indicates rural Americans are no longer reliably Republican, and the Bush administration's conduct of the war in Iraq seems mainly to blame. — People from the nation's smallest places had the biggest impact in the last two presidential elections.

State Dems lead revolt … HALLANDALE BEACH - Setting the stage for a showdown with the Democratic National Committee, state Democratic Party leaders decided Sunday that Florida will hold one of the first presidential primaries in the country next year. — The Jan. 29 primary date set …

Blitzer Promised Not To 'Utter' The Words 'Paris Hilton,' Then Devoted Whole Segment To Her — According to the Washington Times, CNN host Wolf Blitzer "vowed" on Friday "that during that afternoon's entire news program, he would not bring himself to utter two words: Paris Hilton."


Rather Attacks Couric: 'Dumb It Down, Tart It Up' — As already noted on NewsBusters, former CBS anchor Dan Rather appeared on Monday's edition of "Morning Joe" and lobbied for a "a strategic withdrawal from Iraq." He also found time to twice bash his "Evening News" successor Katie Couric for dumbing down and "tarting up" the news.