Top Items:
Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
White House Conference Call On Executive Privilege (Update: Executive Privilege Analysis) — The White House hosted a blogger conference call to discuss the issues surrounding the Bush administration's use of executive privilege in the probe of the firings of eight federal prosecutors.
RELATED:
The Raw Story:
White House calls bloggers to push privilege — At the urging of top conservative bloggers, the White House set up a Friday morning conference call to promote its message on the subject of executive privilege, RAW STORY has found. "The White House hosted a blogger conference call to discuss …
David Stout / New York Times:
White House Backs Gonzales on Testimony — The White House offered a vigorous defense of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales today, insisting that he had not given misleading testimony to Congress, but that national security factors prevented further clarification for now.
Carrie Budoff / The Politico:
'No more confirmations of Bush high court nominees' — New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a powerful member of the Democratic leadership, said Friday the Senate should not confirm another U.S. Supreme Court nominee under President Bush "except in extraordinary circumstances."
Discussion:
Power Line, Redstate, Comments From Left Field, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Viking Pundit and Wizbang
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Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Another Thompson resignation — Another aide to Fred Thompson's campaign-in-waiting resigned last night, two sources close to the campaign confirm. Tom Frechette had been effectively serving as campaign manager Tom Collamore's deputy. Collamore was removed from his post Tuesday and given a "senior adviser" role.
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Kombiz Lavasany / Democratic National Committee:
Rough Seas Ahead For Thompson — The Fred Thompson campaign has seen some tough times lately, confronted with his record as a lobbyist and the subsequent cover-up. That was followed by staff problems at the very top of the campaign. — But rather than kick a man when he's down, we decided to throw him a life vest.
Washington Post:
Let the Cleavage Conversation Begin — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign has sent out a fundraising letter calling a Washington Post fashion writer's column on Clinton's cleavage "grossly inappropriate" and asking donors "to take a stand against this kind of coarseness and pettiness in American culture."
Discussion:
Jules Crittenden, Taylor Marsh, The Democratic Daily, Don Surber, NewsBusters.org, Hot Air, Balloon Juice and Althouse
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CNN Political Ticker:
Clinton seeks 'cleavage' cash — WASHINGTON (CNN) - Few political fundraising e-mails have ever carried the subject header "cleavage," but White House hopeful Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign sent a solicitation to supporters Friday with the attention-grabbing header in order to decry …
Discussion:
WIMN's Voices, New York Times, Wonkette, The Carpetbagger Report, Washington Times and MSNBC
Rusty / The Jawa Report:
Kos: Tillman Murdered for Chomsky Admiration, Antiwar Views — It's about time someone finally connected Noam Chomsky to Pat Tillman's death. Another Kos diarist goes off the deep end. This time with help from the AP which leads yet another story about the tragic death of Pat Tillman with this:
Discussion:
At-Largely, The Impolitic, Little Green Footballs, Riehl World View and Comments From Left Field
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Faiz / Think Progress:
Chickenhawk Congressman Smears Military Expert — Center for American Progress military expert Lawrence Korb testified before the House Armed Services Committee this morning, challenging escalation proponents to have the courage of their convictions and call for a draft if they would like the surge to continue indefinitely.
Discussion:
Buckeye State Blog
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Amanda / Think Progress:
Bush Administration Subpoenas Michael Moore — For the filming of his documentary SiCKO, Michael Moore took sick 9/11 workers to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to help them obtain free medical care. "The (rescue workers) just want medical attention!" Moore shouts into a loudspeaker in the movie …
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A. O. Scott / New York Times:
In the Beginning: Focusing on the Iraq War Enablers — So far, some of the best documentaries about the war in Iraq — "Gunner Palace," "The War Tapes" and "Iraq in Fragments," for example — have concentrated less on politics, policy or military strategy than on individual, in-the-moment experiences.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
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Ana Marie Cox / Time:
Will the G.O.P. Say No to YouTube? — The sequel to the self-styled "ground-breaking" YouTube debate on CNN may be history before it even begins. — The Rudy Giuliani campaign has cited scheduling conflicts in saying it will skip the Republican version of this week's Democratic debate …
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Ben Smith / The Politico:
Edwards: "They want to shut me up" — MyDD flags an intense minute and a half from John Edwards in Creston, Iowa, yesterday in which he heatedly tells an audience that the attention to trivia (I assume the reference here is to his haircuts) is "not an accident" and that "they want to shut me up" …
Julianna Goldman / Bloomberg:
Bob Dole Says Thompson Will Benefit From McCain's Lost `Buzz' — Bob Dole says his preferred presidential candidate, Arizona Senator John McCain, is fading and that his support is likely to be ``picked up'' by Fred Thompson, who is expected to announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination in September.
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Xuanthai / CNN Political Ticker:
McCain losing ground in home state
McCain losing ground in home state
Discussion:
Blogs For Fred Thompson
Fred File:
On Federalism — The Framers drew their design for our Constitution from a basic understanding of human nature. From the wisdom of the ages and from fresh experience, they understood the better angels of our nature, and the less admirable qualities of human beings entrusted with power.
Peter J. Wallison / TCS Daily:
Is the War Lost? Three Inconvenient Truths About Iraq Right Now — Democratic Party opponents of the Iraq War are now deeply invested in a withdrawal strategy. They argue, as Harry Reid has phrased it, that the war is lost. But there are three inconvenient truths...
David S. Cloud / New York Times:
U.S. Set to Offer Huge Arms Deal to Saudi Arabia — The Bush administration is preparing to ask Congress to approve an arms sale package for Saudi Arabia and its neighbors that is expected to total $20 billion over the next decade at a time when some United States officials contend that the Saudis …