Top Items:
Horses Mouth:
Okay, it's admittedly not hard to have fun at Joe Lieberman's expense, but this one's too good to pass up. — This morning Lieberman and his chief flack Marshall Wittmann put out a press release containing Lieberman's usual attacks on Democrats over Iraq. The duo faulted "Congressional critics" …
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Rich Lowry / The Corner:
Here Are the Key Judgments of the NIE (Sorry for the Long Post) — There have been measurable but uneven improvements in Iraq's security situation since our last National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq in January 2007. The steep escalation of rates of violence has been checked for now …
Associated Press:
Fox-Backed Democrat Debate Called Off — Sept. 23 Debate Will Not Be Held; Major Candidates Had Been Planning To Skip — (AP) Fox News and a black political group say they will not hold a Sept. 23 Democratic presidential debate in Detroit, which the leading candidates already were planning to skip.
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CNN:
Sen. Warner: Start bringing troops home by Christmas — WASHINGTON (CNN) — One of the Senate's top Republicans has called on President Bush to start bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq by Christmas, telling reporters Thursday that a pullout was needed to spur Iraqi leaders to action.
Discussion:
Fox News, Associated Press, Political Radar, D-Day, Taylor Marsh, Hullabaloo, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, USA Today, The Carpetbagger Report and Viking Pundit
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Charles Babington / Associated Press:
Arizona's Rep. Rick Renzi to Retire — WASHINGTON — Three-term Rep. Rick Renzi, an Arizona Republican facing a federal inquiry into his family's insurance business, said Thursday he will not seek re-election next year. Renzi becomes the fifth GOP House member in recent weeks to announce retirement plans …
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John Edwards for President:
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery: "To Build One America, End the Game" — Hanover, New Hampshire — August 23, 2007 — This election is unlike any we have faced before. The stakes are higher. And the challenges we face as a nation are greater than at any time in memory.
Associated Press:
Mexican Senate sides with mom deported from USA — MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican Senate committee passed a measure Wednesday urging President Felipe Calderon to send a diplomatic note to the United States protesting the deportation of an illegal migrant who took refuge in a Chicago church for a year.
Michael Hirsh / Newsweek:
Why America's Pullout From Vietnam Worked — The truth behind Bush's mangling of Cold War history. — The Soviet Union was in its final days of existence when I visited Vietnam in late December of 1991. The cold war was about to end forever with the collapse of one of the two adversaries that had kept it going for 40-odd years.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Wake up America, Hang Right Politics, Sadly, No!, SWJ Blog and Middle Earth Journal
Associated Press:
Arizona School Suspends 13-Year-Old Boy for Drawing Gun — MESA, Arizona — Officials at an Arizona school suspended a 13-year-old boy for sketching what looked like a gun, saying the action posed a threat to his classmates. — The boy's parents said the drawing was a harmless doodle and school officials overreacted.
SilentPatriot / Crooks and Liars:
Daily Show: Three Generations of "America to the Rescue" — In perhaps the most brilliant segment on "The Daily Show" I've ever seen, last night Jon ran through the last three decades of United States intervention in the Middle East to show how incoherent, ass-backwards and counter-productive it has been.
New York Times:
More Iraqis Said to Flee Since Troop Rise — The number of Iraqis fleeing their homes has soared since the American troop increase began in February, according to data from two humanitarian groups, accelerating the partition of the country into sectarian enclaves.
Juan Cole:
Military Coup Planned for Iraq? — A rumor is circulating among well-connected and formerly high-level Iraqi bureaucrats in exile in places like Damascus that a military coup is being prepared for Iraq. I received the following from a reliable, knowledgeable contact.
Associated Press:
Giuliani hires controversial image firm — WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani has a new team of media consultants with a strong record of electing GOP candidates, sometimes using controversial ads. — The team is led by Heath Thompson and his Dallas-based firm, Scott Howell & Company.
Discussion:
TalkLeft
Rusty / The Jawa Report:
NYC Muslim Calls Korean Hostages "Terrorists", Smiles at thought of Daniel Pearl Style Beheading — American Muslim convert and New York City native Yousef al-Khattab outdoes himself and compares the Korean hostages to "terrorists" and suggests that because they are guilty of the "crime" …
Seattle Times:
FBI's release of ferry passenger photos resented — For Arabs and Muslims across the Puget Sound area, a rise in the nation's threat level or a bombing halfway around the world often can mark a period of unease. — In the years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, leaders in that community …
CNN:
Major Republican firm lobbying to undermine Maliki — CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) — A powerhouse Republican lobbying firm with close ties to the White House has begun a public campaign to undermine the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, CNN has confirmed.
Discussion:
Think Progress, New York Times, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Time, The Carpetbagger Report and TPMmuckraker