Top Items:
New York Times:
Secret U.S. Endorsement of Severe Interrogations — When the Justice Department publicly declared torture "abhorrent" in a legal opinion in December 2004, the Bush administration appeared to have abandoned its assertion of nearly unlimited presidential authority to order brutal interrogations.
Discussion:
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Washington Post:
White House Denies Torture Assertion — Bush administration officials acknowledged today that the Justice Department issued a secret legal opinion in early 2005 allowing specific interrogation techniques to be used on CIA terrorism suspects, but denied that the tactics violated earlier government decrees against torture.
Discussion:
TalkLeft
Rasmussen Reports:
27% of Republicans Would Vote for Pro-Life Third Party Instead of Giuliani — If Rudy Giuliani wins the Republican nomination and a third party campaign is backed by Christian conservative leaders, 27% of Republican voters say they'd vote for the third party option rather than Giuliani.
Discussion:
Election Central, Taegan Goddard's …, TIME: Swampland, MyDD, Liberal Values and Democratic Strategist
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James C. Dobson / New York Times:
The Values Test — REPORTS have surfaced in the press about a meeting that occurred last Saturday in Salt Lake City involving more than 50 pro-family leaders. The purpose of the gathering was to discuss our response if both the Democratic and Republican Parties nominate standard-bearers who are supportive of abortion.
John Harwood / Wall Street Journal:
Republicans Grow Skeptical On Free Trade — WASHINGTON — By a nearly two-to-one margin, Republican voters believe free trade is bad for the U.S. economy, a shift in opinion that mirrors Democratic views and suggests trade deals could face high hurdles under a new president.
Roger Cohen / New York Times:
The New L-Word: Neocon — A few years back, at the height of the jingoistic post-9/11 wave, the dirtiest word in the American political lexicon was "liberal." Everyone from President Bush to Ann Coulter was using it to denote wimplike, Volvo-driving softies too spineless for dangerous times and too given to speaking French.
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Tristero / Hullabaloo:
Dear Roger Cohen — I find it hard to maintain my composure when confronted by your blatantly misleading, self-serving, and malicious essay. … Let's stop right there. "Ousting Saddam Hussein" is not, and never was the issue. Roger, my friend, the world knows the truth …
Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Romney spends heavily, loans himself $8.5 million — Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney at an "Ask Mitt Anything" session at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., today. No word on whether anyone asked Romney for $8.5 million. AP Photo by Jim Cole — by Mark Silva
Discussion:
CNN Political Ticker
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Garance Franke-Ruta / American Prospect:
COULTER COMES OUT AGAINST WOMEN VOTING. — Most of the time I ignore aging would-be pin-up Ann Coulter, but this week she came out with a whopper that could be as much of a gift to the Democratic Party as MoveOn.org's advertisement on Gen. Petraeus was for the G.O.P. More of a gift, even.
Washington Post:
Iraqis to Pay China $100 Million for Weapons for Police — Experts Fear More Will Go to Insurgents — Iraq has ordered $100 million worth of light military equipment from China for its police force, contending that the United States was unable to provide the materiel and is too slow …
Multi-National Force:
Iraqi Forces, U.S. Special Forces detain al-Qaeda financier, one other — Multi-National Corps - Iraq — Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory — APO AE 09342 — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — RELEASE No. 20071004-02 — Iraqi Forces, U.S. Special Forces detain al-Qaeda financier, one other
Jonathan Turley / USA Today:
A liberal's lament: The NRA might be right after all — This term, the Supreme Court may finally take up the Voldemort Amendment, the part of the Bill of Rights that shall not be named by liberals. For more than 200 years, progressives and polite people have avoided acknowledging that following …
Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Another Dimension Of The Thomas Smear — I spent some time last night reviewing some of the transcripts from the "high-tech lynching" delivered by the Senate Judiciary Committee to Clarence Thomas, just to refamiliarize myself with the actual testimony and evidence.
Pol Watcher / Colin McEnroe:
This Is Your Elephant on Drugs — The new official logo of the 2008 Gop convention. I'm not kidding.