Top Items:
Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
How Petraeus Moved The Debate, Literally — How far has General David Petraeus moved the debate on Iraq? His testimony on the surge, and the effects of the surge itself, has made it much more difficult for Democrats to argue for withdrawal and defeat. In fact, at last night's debate …
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A.B. Stoddard / The Hill:
A Lack of Clarity — Thank you, Tim Russert, for dragging the truth from all the Democratic candidates about what "ending the war" actually means. We hear these words a lot, especially from Hillary Clinton, yet Russert's questioning at MSNBC's New Hampshire debate last night revealed …
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Romney hits Dems on gay issue — Leading the way on an issue almost certain to be resurrected during the general election, Mitt Romney issued a statement this morning condemning the Democratic candidates for their refusal at last night's debate to rule out teaching about gay issues to second-graders.
William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
A Good Night for the Republican Nominee — From CampaignStandard.com: The odds are getting better for the GOP. — Editor's note: This piece first appeared at THE WEEKLY STANDARD's new election blog, The Campaign Standard. — Last night, for the first time this election cycle, I watched a Democratic presidential debate.
Beth Fouhy / Associated Press:
Dems can't make guarantee on Iraq troops — HANOVER, N.H. - The leading Democratic White House hopefuls conceded Wednesday night they cannot guarantee to pull all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of the next presidential term in 2013. — "I think it's hard to project four years from now …
Representative Dennis Kucinich / New York Times:
The Democratic Presidential Debate on MSNBC
The Democratic Presidential Debate on MSNBC
Discussion:
Reuters, The Carpetbagger Report, Dick Polman's American Debate, Townhall.com and Shakespeare's Sister
Brian Faughnan / Weekly Standard:
Saddam Risked His Life for WMD Secrets — The Washington Post reports on a story leaked to Spain's El Pais about a meeting between President Bush and the former Spanish president Jose Maria Aznar weeks ahead of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. It's interesting to note how Bush discusses Saddam's signals …
Discussion:
MoJoBlog
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Michelle Mittelstadt / Houston Chronicle:
Senate temporarily sidelines immigration legalization bill — Democrats vow to pass measure aiding 1 million youths — WASHINGTON — The prospects for immediate Senate action on the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants, disappeared Wednesday amid Republican opposition.
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Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Verizon Rejects Messages of Abortion Rights Group — Saying it had the right to block "controversial or unsavory" text messages, Verizon Wireless has rejected a request from Naral Pro-Choice America, the abortion rights group, to make Verizon's mobile network available for a text-message program.
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New York Times:
Blackwater Tops All Firms in Iraq in Shooting Rate — The American security contractor Blackwater USA has been involved in a far higher rate of shootings while guarding American diplomats in Iraq than other security firms providing similar services to the State Department …
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Los Angeles Times:
What are 'Hollywood values'? — If it's all about free love and hating America, how come there aren't many openly gay stars or pro-jihadi movies? If it's all about the almighty dollar, how come Hollyweirdos disproportionately back the party that wants to tax them more?
Cornelia Dean / New York Times:
Scientists Feel Miscast in Film on Life's Origin — A few months ago, the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins received an e-mail message from a producer at Rampant Films inviting him to be interviewed for a documentary called "Crossroads." — The film, with Ben Stein, the actor …
New York Times:
In a 9/11 Survival Tale, the Pieces Just Don't Fit — Tania Head's story, as shared over the years with reporters, students, friends and hundreds of visitors to ground zero, was a remarkable account of both life and death. — She had, she said, survived the terror attack …
William McCall / Associated Press:
2 Patriot Act Provisions Ruled Unlawful — PORTLAND, Ore. — Two provisions of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional because they allow search warrants to be issued without a showing of probable cause, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. — U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled …
The Corner:
Blowing smoke — Okay, Muslim foot-baths in Kansas City airport, gender-segregated swimming sessions at French municipal pools, banning pork from Aussie hospital menus, no eating donuts for Belgian cops during Ramadan, no seeing-eye dogs or alcohol in Minneapolis taxi cabs, fine, fine, fine.
MSNBC:
Bin Laden may have just escaped U.S. forces — August mission in Tora Bora almost snared 'high value target' — A little more than a month ago, with the anniversary of Sept. 11 approaching and fears of a new al Qaeda attack rising, some U.S. intelligence and military analysts thought …
USA Today:
19,000 insurgents killed in Iraq since '03 — More than 19,000 militants have been killed in fighting with coalition forces since the insurgency began more than four years ago, according to military statistics released for the first time. — The statistics show that 4,882 militants …