Top Items:
Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
Experts Doubt Drop In Violence in Iraq — Military Statistics Called Into Question — The U.S. military's claim that violence has decreased sharply in Iraq in recent months has come under scrutiny from many experts within and outside the government, who contend that some of the underlying statistics …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, TPMmuckraker, The Agonist, The Carpetbagger Report, Booman Tribune, The Detroit Times, Democratic National Committee, Hullabaloo, Taylor Marsh, rochesterturning.com, unbossed.com, DownWithTyranny!, Flopping Aces, The Mahablog, Think Progress, The Belgravia Dispatch, Comments From Left Field, Prairie Weather, The Next Hurrah, Daily Kos, Greatscat!, The Democratic Daily, AMERICAblog, No More Mister Nice Blog, Easter Lemming Liberal News, The Gavel, Balloon Juice, democracyarsenal.org, Whiskey Fire, Corrente, The Heretik and Brilliant at Breakfast
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S.A. Miller / Washington Times:
Dems already dismissing Iraq war report — Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, talked with reporters yesterday in Washington. "We know what is going to be in it," he said of the Iraq war report next week. "I expect the Bush report to say, 'The surge is working.
Satyam / Think Progress:
O'Hanlon Rips GAO Report: It Is 'Flat-Out Sloppy'
O'Hanlon Rips GAO Report: It Is 'Flat-Out Sloppy'
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars
WNBC:
FBI Makes 11 Corruption Arrests In N.J. — NEW YORK — Eleven public officials were charged Thursday in a widespread FBI corruption investigation in New Jersey, officials said. — Among those charged were Passaic Mayor Sammy Rivera and Orange Mayor Mims Hackett, investigators said.
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Jeff Whelan / New Jersey Online:
11 NJ officials arrested on bribery charges
11 NJ officials arrested on bribery charges
Discussion:
TPMmuckraker
Associated Press:
US Democratic hopeful Kucinich meets Assad, blasts Bush — US Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich, on a Mideast visit that included a stop in Syria, said the country lambasted by the Bush administration deserves credit for taking in more than a million Iraqi refugees.
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Jerusalem Post:
Syria: Air defenses fired at Israeli aircraft over our airspace — Syrian air defenses opened fire on IAF aircraft that violated Syrian airspace overnight Thursday, a Syrian military spokesman said. — "We warn the Israeli enemy government against this flagrant aggressive act …
Discussion:
Haaretz, Captain's Quarters, Blogs for Bush, Atlas Shrugs, Israel Matzav, The Corner and Gateway Pundit
New York Times:
Transcript of the Fox News Republican Presidential Candidates Debate — The Fox News Republican Presidential Candidates Debate in Durham, N.H. with candidates: Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas); the former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani; the former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, The Corner, The Fix, The Carpetbagger Report, Flopping Aces, Captain's Quarters, Fausta's blog, Happy Furry Puppy Story …, Burkean Reflections, PSoTD, National Review, VDARE.com, Washington Post, State of the Day, Shakespeare's Sister, Take Our Country Back, michellemalkin.com, The Politico, Sister Toldjah and Instapundit.com
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National Review:
Reacting to Fred on Jay Leno — I held off on assessing the transcript, I wanted to see how Fred Thompson came across to a viewing audience. — The Upsides: Thompson is a likeable figure. He comes across as a decent man; there's none of the I-don't-trust-this-guy-slickness of John Edwards or the brittleness of Hillary.
Discussion:
Fox News, Daily Pundit, Althouse, Wake up America, Hot Air, Captain's Quarters, VodkaPundit, Liberty Pundit, Roger L. Simon and Instapundit.com
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Andrew Malcolm / Los Angeles Times:
Shocking truth about Fred Thompson revealed! — Before we get too far into the brand-new presidential campaign of Fred Thompson, which began in the wee hours of this morning in a webcast at Fred08.com, we need to straighten one thing out for the official record.
Larry Neumeister / Associated Press:
Judge Strikes Down Part of Patriot Act — NEW YORK - — A federal judge struck down parts of the revised USA Patriot Act on Thursday, saying investigators must have a court's approval before they can order Internet providers to turn over records without telling customers.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
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Fox News:
Counterterrorism Officials Analyzing Islamic Web Post Warning of 'Special Gift' — DEVELOPING STORY: Federal counterterrorism officials are analyzing a posting on an Islamic forum Web site that warns of "a special gift" to be given on the sixth anniversary of Sept. 11, FOX News has learned.
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David S. Broder / Washington Post:
The Making of the Front-Runner — As the serious stage of the presidential campaign begins this fall, Hillary Rodham Clinton has clearly established herself in the lead of the race for the Democratic nomination. That makes her the most worthy subject for examination among all the White House prospects.
Discussion:
New York Post, Taylor Marsh, Stubborn Facts, NYT, MSNBC, The Peking Duck and The Politico
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Jeff G. / protein wisdom:
"Muslim Student Association Harasses Women and Jews at University of Texas-San Antonio" — Happily, they shot their own video to document the occasion. — I'm interested to hear what the diversity czars and the risk-averse university bureaucrats have to say about this kind …
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L. Paul Bremer III / New York Times:
How I Didn't Dismantle Iraq's Army — "The Iraqi Army of the future cannot be an extension of the present army, which has been made into a tool of dictatorship." — Report by the Department of State's Future of Iraq Project, May 2002 — IT has become conventional wisdom that the decision …
CNN:
Tenor Luciano Pavarotti dead at 71 — (CNN) — Famed opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who appeared on stage with singers as varied as opera star Dame Joan Sutherland, U2's Bono and Liza Minnelli, died Thursday in Italy after suffering from pancreatic cancer, manager Terri Robson said in a statement.
Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit.com:
SO I'M READING JACK GOLDSMITH'S NEW BOOK, The Terror Presidency: Law and Judgment Inside the Bush Administration, and so far it's quite good. Excerpt: … As I've said before, this war has been overlawyered, which is not to say it has been well-lawyered. Goldsmith notes that the Defense …
New York Sun:
Petraeus for President? — "Senators and distinguished guests, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to testify in respect of progress in the Battle of Iraq. Before I do however, there are a few things I'd like to get off of my chest. Although your house of Congress confirmed …
James Gordon Meek / NY Daily News:
Iraq government near collapse, secret report says — WASHINGTON - Lawmakers returning here this week got hit with more bad news about Iraq in a confidential report that says the fragile democracy is "collapsing," the Daily News has learned. — The boycott of the government by certain Shiite …
Michael Lewis / Bloomberg:
A Wall Street Trader Draws Some Subprime Lessons: Michael Lewis — Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) — So right after the Bear Stearns funds blew up, I had a thought: This is what happens when you lend money to poor people. — Don't get me wrong: I have nothing personally against the poor.
CNN Political Ticker:
GOP senators hold 'spirited' discussion on Craig — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republican senators held what one participant called a "passionate" and "spirited" closed-door discussion Wednesday afternoon about how their leaders responded to the sex scandal involving their colleague Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho, CNN has learned.
Discussion:
The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Senate 2008 Guru, MyDD, The Politico, TPM Election Central, Prairie Weather and The Reaction