Top Items:
Associated Press:
Clinton, Edwards talk of limiting debate — DETROIT (AP) - Democrats John Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton consider themselves among the top presidential candidates. — They were caught by Fox News microphones discussing their desire to limit future joint appearances to exclude some lower rivals after a forum in Detroit Thursday.
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New York Post:
FRED MEETS WITH RUDY'S FIRE FOES — Likely Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson hit Rudy Giuliani's turf yesterday, talking with the city firefighters-union chief who's going all out to derail the former mayor's 2008 candidacy. — Thompson had breakfast with Uniformed Firefighters …
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Deserting Petraeus — "The key to turning [Anbar] around was the shift in allegiance by tribal sheiks. But the sheiks turned only after a prolonged offensive by American and Iraqi forces, starting in November, that put al-Qaeda groups on the run." — Finally, after four terribly long years, we know what works.
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New York Times:
Bush Distorts Qaeda Links, Critics Assert — In rebuffing calls to bring troops home from Iraq, President Bush on Thursday employed a stark and ominous defense. "The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq," he said, "were the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th …
Will / Attytood:
UPDATED: "Great oversimplification" …
UPDATED: "Great oversimplification" …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Crooks and Liars, The Carpetbagger Report, AMERICAblog and The Xsociate Files
Peggy Noonan / Opinion Journal:
American Grit — We can't fire the president right now, so we're waiting it out. — It's been a slow week in a hot era. I found myself Thursday watching President Bush's news conference and thinking about what it is about him, real or perceived, that makes people who used to smile at the mention of his name now grit their teeth.
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E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Hold Your Fire and Brimstone — Perhaps because no one else will do it, I want to offer a qualified defense of Sen. David Vitter, the socially conservative Louisiana Republican who faces a bit of a problem. — Vitter admitted Monday night to a "very serious sin in my past" …
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, The Carpetbagger Report, Booman Tribune, New Pairodimes, The Shreveport Times and The Corner
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Kate Moran / New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Prostitute describes Vitter affair — WOMAN SAYS N.O. ENCOUNTERS OCCURRED IN '90S WHILE HE WAS A STATE REP. — Days after U.S. Sen. David Vitter apologized after his phone number was linked to an escort service in Washington, D.C., a woman who once worked as a prostitute in Louisiana …
Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
What Atheists Can't Answer — British author G.K. Chesterton argued that every act of blasphemy is a kind of tribute to God, because it is based on belief. "If anyone doubts this," he wrote, "let him sit down seriously and try to think blasphemous thoughts about Thor."
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Elana Schor / The Hill:
Ethics groups blame AWOL McConnell — Frustrated by Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-S.C.) vow to hold up ethics conference talks until earmark reforms are enacted, Democrats and watchdog groups are pointing a finger at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). — McConnell is standing idle …
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Thomas B. Edsall / Huffington Post:
Strategists Agree: McCain's Only Option Is To Turn His Back On Bush — According to private conversations with political operatives from both parties, John McCain has no choice but to adopt a high risk strategy to revive his presidential bid, a double Hail Mary: Throw one stink bomb …
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Allison Klein / Washington Post:
A Gate-Crasher's Change of Heart — The Guests Were Enjoying French Wine and Cheese on a Capitol Hill Patio. When a Gunman Burst In, the Would-Be Robbery Took an Unusual Turn. — A grand feast of marinated steaks and jumbo shrimp was winding down, and a group of friends was sitting …
David Blair / Telegraph:
Musharraf declares war on Muslim extremists — President Pervez Musharraf pledged to combat Muslim extremists across Pakistan yesterday as furious crowds demonstrated against the storming of the Red Mosque and two suicide bomb attacks left six dead. — In a televised address to the nation …
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Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Going All In? — It looks as if Pervez Musharraf has decided …
Going All In? — It looks as if Pervez Musharraf has decided …
Discussion:
The Newshoggers
Victor Davis Hanson / City Journal:
The New York Times Surrenders A monument to defeatism on the editorial page — On July 8, the New York Times ran an historic editorial entitled "The Road Home," demanding an immediate American withdrawal from Iraq. It is rare that an editorial gets almost everything wrong, but "The Road Home" pulls it off.
John Holusha / New York Times:
New York Times Journalist Killed in Baghdad — Khalid W. Hassan, 23, an interpreter and reporter in the Baghdad bureau of The New York Times, was shot and killed today, the bureau chief, John F. Burns, reported. He was the second Iraqi employee of the Times to be killed during the current conflict.
Bloomberg:
Conrad Black, Three Codefendants Convicted of Fraud — Conrad Black, former chief executive officer of Hollinger International Inc., was found guilty of defrauding the newspaper publisher, becoming the latest CEO convicted in a five-year U.S. crackdown on corporate crime.
Discussion:
Roger Ailes
David Cay Johnston / New York Times:
Tax Loopholes Sweeten a Deal for Blackstone — The Blackstone Group, the big buyout firm, has devised a way for its partners to effectively avoid paying taxes on $3.7 billion, the bulk of what it raised last month from selling shares to the public. — Although they will initially pay $553 million …