Top Items:
Spencer Ackerman / tpmmuckraker.com:
Iraqis Order Blackwater out of Iraq — But Will It Leave? — Following a Baghdad shootout yesterday that left at least nine civilians dead, security-contractor giant Blackwater will no longer be permitted to operate in Iraq, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry.
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Larry Johnson / NO QUARTER:
The Iraq Blackwater Test — Depending on whether the Blackwater security firm stays in Iraq will inform us whether Prime Minister Maliki has any power or is just a U.S. puppet. My money is on the puppet. Over the weekend Blackwater contractors escorting a State Department/US Embassy Baghdad convoy got into a shoot out.
CNN:
U.S. probing security firm's battle in Iraq — BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Iraq's Interior Ministry has revoked the license of Blackwater USA, an American security firm whose contractors are blamed for a Sunday gunbattle in Baghdad that left eight civilians dead.
Time:
Will Iraq Kick Out Blackwater? — TIME has obtained an incident report prepared by the U.S. government describing a fire fight Sunday in Baghdad in which at least eight Iraqis were reported killed and 13 wounded. The deadly incident occurred when a convoy of U.S. personnel protected …
Discussion:
Danger Room
Washington Post:
Crocker Blasts Refugee Process
Crocker Blasts Refugee Process
Discussion:
New York Times, Hullabaloo, The Impolitic, The Newshoggers, MoJoBlog, FP Passport, Prairie Weather and Truthdig
Washington Post:
At Iowa Event, Clinton Vows Pre-Inauguration Diplomatic Push — Appearing Sunday at a mini-Democratic convention of sorts in a field, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton declared that if she is elected she will not wait until her inauguration to begin acting as president.
Discussion:
Open Left, Wall Street Journal, Sic Semper Tyrannis 2007, Sweetness & Light, MSNBC and National Review
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Beth Fouhy / Associated Press:
Clinton calls for universal health care — DES MOINES, Iowa - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton called for universal health care on Monday, plunging back into the bruising political battle she famously waged and lost as first lady on an issue that looms large in the 2008 presidential race.
Ezra Klein:
The Hillary Plan — Let me try and give a quick sketch of the Clinton proposal before I have to run for a meeting: Clinton's plan is of the "individual mandate" variety, in which universal coverage is achieved by mandating that every American purchase health care.
Massimo Calabresi / Time:
How Bush's AG Pick Irritates the Right — If the administration was trying to avoid a fight with the left over the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales' replacement as Attorney General, they may have succeeded with the nomination of former New York district judge, Michael Mukasey.
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The Corner:
Meeting Mukasey — I wasn't going to post anything else on Mukasey, but come on guys and gals, there are gapping holes in what we know about him, and his supporters aren't helping matters. Ed Whelen, a good friend who I admire deeply, tells us not to worry about Schumer and Aron's support for him.
New York Times:
Bush Names Choice for Successor to Gonzales — President Bush said this morning that he will nominate Michael B. Mukasey, a former federal judge from New York who has presided over some high-profile terrorism trials, as his next attorney general. — "Judge Mukasey is clear-eyed about the threat …
Garrett Therolf / Los Angeles Times:
Chemerinsky to return as UC Irvine law dean — UC Irvine Chancellor Michael V. Drake and Erwin Chemerinsky have reached an agreement that will return the liberal legal scholar to the dean's post at the university's law school, sources told The Times this morning.
Discussion:
Eschaton, The RBC, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, The Sideshow, Calitics, Abovethelaw.com and LA Observed
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In From the Cold:
New Details (and Lingering Questions) — Israeli Air Force F-15Is (GlobalSecurity.org) — Sunday's U.K. Times provided tantalizing details of Israel's recent airstrike against that Syrian nuclear facility. — Based on reporting from the Middle East and Washington …
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National / Homeland Security National Terror Alert:
School Terror Threat - "Jihad Boom" Postcards With Threatening Cartoon Sent To Nine Schools … Investigators released the postcards with the threatening drawings on them Monday in hopes of generating leads in the case. Officials said that the postcards are made up of various and traditional themes …
Discussion:
WKMG-TV, The Jawa Report, The Moderate Voice, Wake up America, Atlas Shrugs and Jihad Watch
ABCNEWS:
ACLU Backs Sen. Larry Craig — Senator Accused of Soliciting Sex Has an Unlikely Ally in American Civil Liberties Union — Idaho's Republican Senator Larry Craig reads a statement to the media Monday afternoon, Aug. 28, 2007, in Boise, Idaho. He read a statement and took no questions during …
MNpublius.com:
BREAKING: CONGRESSMAN JIM RAMSTAD TO RETIRE #2 | Analysis — We'll be following this closely as the day and, if need be, the week progresses, but here are some initial thoughts: — First of all, this is anyone's seat if Ramstad is retiring. Congressman Ramstad has done an amazing job …
The Corner:
So long, white boy — So reads the headline on this article from Salon, which argues that the Democrats should end-and in fact already are ending-any efforts to court the white male vote. Well, Salon's headline certainly gets the message across, doesn't it?
Discussion:
Salon, Outside The Beltway, bustardblog, QandO, Democratic Strategist, Tammy Bruce and Daily Pundit
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Why Do Republicans Want to Punish the Troops for George Bush's Failures? — Glenn Greenwald's piece on the Kagan family is such a concise, elegant, tight portrait of everything that is wrong with the warmongers who lead this country and dominate our political discourse that it almost makes your teeth hurt.