Top Items:
Washington Post:
The Phony Debate — THE SENATE Democratic leadership spent the past week trying to prove that Congress is deeply divided over Iraq, with Democrats pressing and Republicans resisting a change of course. In fact that's far from the truth. A large majority of senators from both parties favor …
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Margaret Talev / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Senate tied in knots by filibusters — WASHINGTON — This year Senate Republicans are threatening filibusters to block more legislation than ever before, a pattern that's rooted in — and could increase — the pettiness and dysfunction in Congress. — The trend has been evolving for 30 years.
Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
Bush Approves New CIA Methods — President Bush set broad legal boundaries for the CIA's harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects yesterday, allowing the intelligence agency to resume a program that was suspended last year after criticism that it violated U.S. and international law.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, PoliBlog (TM), The Carpetbagger Report, Wonkette, The Raw Story and Prairie Weather
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William Glaberson / New York Times:
Court Tells U.S. to Reveal Data on Detainees at Guantánamo — A federal appeals court ordered the government yesterday to turn over virtually all its information on Guantánamo detainees who are challenging their detention, rejecting an effort by the Justice Department …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Corner, Norwegianity, Balloon Juice, Kiko's House, The American Street and Prairie Weather
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Somini Sengupta / New York Times:
Chief Justice Is Reinstated in Pakistan
Chief Justice Is Reinstated in Pakistan
Discussion:
WorkingForChange
Washington Post:
Fight Over Documents May Favor Bush, Experts Say — Contempt Charge Precedents Cited in Firings Case — The Bush administration's vow this week to block contempt charges from Congress could prove to be a successful strategy for protecting White House documents about the multiple firings of U.S. attorneys …
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Chris Weigant / The Huffington Post:
White House Declares Bush Emperor
White House Declares Bush Emperor
Discussion:
Burnt Orange Report
Chris Bowers / Open Left:
On Why So Few Bloggers Have Endorsed In 2008 — Part One: New Establishment Rising: The End Of The Flat Blogosphere — Part Two: New Establishment Rising: Why So Few Bloggers Have Endorsed in 2008 — Taking a quick look at The Liberal Blog Advertising Network …
William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
They Don't Really Support the Troops — The latest from the New Republic and the Nation. — Cindy Sheehan, mother of a soldier who was killed in Iraq, emerged on the American political scene two years ago. Distraught and unstable, she was shamelessly exploited by opponents of George W. Bush …
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Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
The Pentagon Gets a Lesson From Madison Avenue — U.S. Needs to Devise a Different 'Brand' to Win Over the Iraqi People, Study Advises — In the advertising world, brand identity is everything. Volvo means safety. Colgate means clean. IPod means cool.
Discussion:
Think Progress, The Impolitic, the talking dog, Sadly, No!, Daily Kos and Outside The Beltway
Online NewsHour:
Senate Debates Iraq Withdrawal; Report Shows Al-Qaida Regrouping — As the Senate debated different proposals for redeploying troops from Iraq, the National Intelligence Estimate revealed that al-Qaida is regrouping despite the war on terrorism. Political analysts Mark Shields and David Brooks discuss the week's events.
Discussion:
Obsidian Wings
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KAL / Democracy in America:
Bald eagles — Our political cartoonist casts his eye towards the presidential campaign — A GROWING number of Republicans are hoping that Fred Thompson, a former senator and television actor, will throw his hat into the presidential ring. Should he do so, he'd be wise to keep his head …
Fred Kaplan / Slate:
The Pentagon Insults Hillary Clinton — BIG MISTAKE. — The extraordinary exchange of letters between Sen. Hillary Clinton and the undersecretary of defense for policy may turn out to be a signal event in the congressional debate over the Iraq war—and possibly in the 2008 presidential election.
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Nigel Bunyan / Telegraph:
Binman's St George bandana 'is racist' — A black dustman has been banned from wearing a St George's Cross bandana because council officials say it could be regarded as racist. — Matthew Carter, 35, who was born in Barbados, used the headgear to keep his dreadlocks out of the way while he was on his rounds in Burnley, Lancs.
Discussion:
Harry's Place
CNN:
Doctors remove polyps from Bush's colon — WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush on Saturday reclaimed his presidential power from Vice President Dick Cheney after undergoing a routine colonoscopy, a White House spokesman said. — Five polyps were found in the examination, spokesman Scott Stanzel said.
Discussion:
Wonkette
Faiz / Think Progress:
Sen. Sununu: I Don't Want President Bush To Campaign With Me — The New York Times writes this morning that conservatives are trying to walk a fine line between supporting and distancing themselves from President Bush: … One of those conservative trying to strike this delicate balance is Sen. John Sununu (R-NH).
Discussion:
New York Times
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Bloggers Raise Red Flags Over New Republic's 'Baghdad Diarist' — The column in the New Republic, described as being penned by a U.S. soldier in Iraq, is filled with tales of petty, stomach-churning behavior. — The "Baghdad Diarist," writing under the pseudonym Scott Thomas, says he was …