Top Items:
Harold Meyerson / Washington Post:
Spineless Sages — Top GOP Senators Only Talk Against the War — Anyone searching for the highest forms of invertebrate life need look no further than the floor of the U.S. Senate last week and this. These spineless specimens go by various names — Republican moderates …
RELATED:
Bob Geiger:
After GOP Iraq-Withdrawal Filibuster, Reid Sets Aside Defense Authorization Bill — In an in-your-face response to Republicans continuing to block a full Senate vote on withdrawing American troops from Iraq, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) just moments ago set aside …
Greg Sargent / Election Central:
Breaking: Reid Yanks Defense Authorization Bill To Force GOP's Hand — Ratcheting up the stakes in the wake of the GOP's successful blocking of a vote on Iraq withdrawal just moments ago, Harry Reid just announced on the Senate floor that he won't allow a vote on the entire Defense Authorization bill until …
Discussion:
Open Left, The Carpetbagger Report, Watching Those We Chose, Taylor Marsh and State of the Day
Associated Press:
US: Top al-Qaida in Iraq figure captured — BAGHDAD - The U.S. command said Wednesday the highest-ranking Iraqi in the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq has been arrested, adding that information from him indicates the group's foreign-based leadership wields considerable influence over the Iraqi chapter.
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, BBC, Abu Aardvark, PoliBlog (TM), Macsmind, Cox & Forkum and Scared Monkeys
RELATED:
Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post:
Intelligence Puts Rationale For War on Shakier Ground — The White House faced fresh political peril yesterday in the form of a new intelligence assessment that raised sharp questions about the success of its counterterrorism strategy and judgment in making Iraq the focus of that effort.
Discussion:
New York Times, Slate, The Atlantic Online, New York Times, All Spin Zone, The Buck Stops Here, Salon, Left I on the News, Gateway Pundit, PoliBlog (TM), The Heretik, The Carpetbagger Report, Prairie Weather, the talking dog, Balloon Juice, Watching Those We Chose, The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos, The Politico and MSNBC
Bill Roggio / The Fourth Rail:
Islamic State of Iraq - an al Qaeda front
Islamic State of Iraq - an al Qaeda front
Discussion:
The Belmont Club
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
U.S. captures "leader" of Islamic State of Iraq
U.S. captures "leader" of Islamic State of Iraq
Discussion:
protein wisdom, The Jawa Report, Don Surber, USA Today, Gateway Pundit, The Nose On Your Face and Theo Spark
Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
R. Milhous Giuliani — With the same rootless confidence that causes people to ignore hurricane warnings, many social conservatives remain in denial about Rudy Giuliani's chances of winning the Republican nomination. — But with three debates and eight months as the Republican front-runner under his belt …
RELATED:
Philip Elliott / Associated Press:
Edwards ad touts him as a tough guy — CONCORD, N.H. - Elizabeth Edwards tells voters her husband, Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, is a tough guy "who can stare the worst in the face and not blink" in an ad set to start airing Wednesday in New Hampshire.
Discussion:
The Politico, JustOneMinute, New York Times, New York Post, The Hill and Chicago Tribune
RELATED:
sos.georgia.gov:
Georgia Election Results — Unofficial And Incomplete Results of the Tuesday, July 17, 2007 Special Election Runoff — The results displayed are UNOFFICIAL AND INCOMPLETE until certified by both county election superintendents and the Secretary of State, a process that will not be completed until the week of July 23.
Al Kamen / Washington Post:
Fredo Finally Gives U.S. Attorney a Good Evaluation — In the Justice Department's Great Hall (the very room where giant, blue drapes covered the underdressed statuary during John Ashcroft's tenure as attorney general), an array of prosecutors, securities regulators and FBI honchos gathered yesterday …
John Whitesides / Reuters:
Voters unhappy with Bush; Congress: Reuters poll — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most U.S. voters think the country is on the wrong track and remain deeply unhappy with President George W. Bush and Congress, but still feel good about their finances and optimistic about the future, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.
Carlin Romano / Chronicle of Higher Education:
If We Don't Call Them Names, the Terrorists Win — After the terrorist near misses in London and Glasgow, British officials did the expected. They raised their nation's threat-assessment level. They weighed the balance between civil liberties and new, tougher security measures.
Washington Post:
Papers Detail Industry's Role in Cheney's Energy Report — At 10 a.m. on April 4, 2001, representatives of 13 environmental groups were brought into the Old Executive Office Building for a long-anticipated meeting. Since late January, a task force headed by Vice President Cheney …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Think Progress, Brian Beutler, TPMmuckraker, Prairie Weather and Wampum
Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
[TS] Op-Ed Columnist: Help Wanted: Peacemaker — The Iraqi Parliament is on vacation in August and our soldiers are fighting in the heat. Something is wrong with this picture.
Discussion:
INTEL DUMP, The Atlantic Online, Daniel W. Drezner, Dohiyi Mir, Brian Beutler, Michael P.F. van der Galiën and iraqwarit
Jacqueline L. Salmon / Washington Post:
Christian Fantasy Genre Builds Niche Without Hogwarts, Muggles or Spells — Could the next Harry Potter be a devout Christian? — As the days tick down until Saturday, when a breathless world learns the fate of the teenage wizard, a new breed of fantasy fiction, with Potter-style stories, is emerging.
Gregg Easterbrook / The Huffington Post:
Greatest Living American Ignored — Today in Washington I was in the room as the greatest living American received a medal. George W. Bush, Nancy Pelosi and others were present. But will you ever hear this event occurred? To judge from tonight's major network evening newscasts, perhaps not.
Michael A. Fletcher / Washington Post:
White House Had Drug Officials Appear With GOP Candidates — White House officials arranged for top officials at the Office of National Drug Control Policy to help as many as 18 vulnerable Republican congressmen by making appearances and sometimes announcing new federal grants …
Rebecca Keeble / NEWS.com.au:
Gore's message loses bite — Decrease Increase - — Submit comment: — ONLY one week after Live Earth, Al Gore's green credentials slipped while hosting his daughter's wedding in Beverly Hills. — Gore and his guests at the weekend ceremony dined on Chilean sea bass - arguably one of the world's most threatened fish species.