Top Items:
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 …
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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 …
Think Progress:
Reid Pulls Defense Authorization Bill Off The Floor, Vows To Return To Iraq Redeployment Legislation — After forcing conservatives to stand all-night and filibuster the Levin-Reed Iraq redeployment bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has pulled the entire Defense Authorization bill from consideration on the Senate floor.
Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Republicans Call Reid's Bluff
Republicans Call Reid's Bluff
Discussion:
Washington Post, JustOneMinute, Gateway Pundit, Talking Points Memo, Associated Press and Outside The Beltway
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, Taylor Marsh, PoliBlog (TM), Outside The Beltway, Cox & Forkum, Macsmind and Scared Monkeys
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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:
Slate, New York Times, The Atlantic Online, New York Times, All Spin Zone, The Buck Stops Here, Salon, Los Angeles Times, PoliBlog (TM), Left I on the News, Gateway Pundit, Prairie Weather, The Carpetbagger Report, The Heretik, the talking dog, Balloon Juice, Watching Those We Chose, The Politico, Daily Kos and The Moderate Voice
Talking Points Memo:
Hot on the... CURIOUS TIMING — Hot on the heels of yesterday's release of the declassified NIE on Al Qaeda, the U.S. military in Baghdad announced today that it has captured a top leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq: … First off, the capture took place two weeks ago but was not announced until today.
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report
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, The Nose On Your Face, Gateway Pundit 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 …
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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.
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Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:
Flynt Ready to Implicate Another Senator — Larry King interviewed Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt last night on how he linked Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) to an alleged prostitution ring. Flynt now says he's got information linking another U.S. Senator to a sex scandal.
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 …
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.
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 …
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.
John Bresnahan / The Politico:
Clinton, McCain on Senate floor on Iraq — First of all, how did Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N,Y.) get stuck with a 4 a.m. time on the Senate floor? She is a relatively junior senator, yes, but she is still Hillary Clinton. I am surprised to see her stuck in this time slot.
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
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.