Top Items:
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Conservatives Are Such Jokers — In 1960, John F. Kennedy, who had been shocked by the hunger he saw in West Virginia, made the fight against hunger a theme of his presidential campaign. After his election he created the modern food stamp program, which today helps millions of Americans get enough to eat.
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New York Times:
Misleading Spin on Children's Health — Trying to justify his ideologically driven veto of a bill to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program, President Bush and his staff have fired a barrage of misinformation about this valuable program. Before the House votes on whether …
Patrick Healy / New York Times:
G.O.P. Contenders Endorse Health Insurance Veto
G.O.P. Contenders Endorse Health Insurance Veto
Discussion:
Boston Globe, MSNBC, RealClearPolitics, DownWithTyranny!, MyDD, Booman Tribune, AMERICAblog and Brendan Nyhan
David Brooks / New York Times:
The Republican Collapse — Modern conservatism begins with Edmund Burke. What Burke articulated was not an ideology or a creed, but a disposition, a reverence for tradition, a suspicion of radical change. — When conservatism came to America, it became creedal.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, The Corner, Eunomia, The Anonymous Liberal, DownWithTyranny!, Beliefnet and Central Sanity
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John Cole / Balloon Juice:
The Republican Decline — Long piece by David Brooks in which he attempts to figure out why the Republican party appears to be in shambles: … Hogwash. If you want to know why the Republican party is in shambles, read this: … For starters, people got tired of being associated with these drooling retards.
Joe Klein / TIME: Swampland:
Phony Issue of the Day — It probably wasn't the wisest thing for Barack Obama to say, and he's backtracking now—but I can certainly understand why he was less than proud of our country's behavior starting, say, in the fall of 2002. — I mean, you had an administration that went to war arrogantly, stupidly and without good reason.
Associated Press:
Bush: U.S. 'does not torture people' — President responds to report that 2005 memo relaxed interrogation rules — WASHINGTON - President Bush defended his administration's detention and interrogation policies for terrorism suspects on Friday, saying they are both successful and lawful.
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Brian Faughnan / Weekly Standard:
Gallup: Americans Back White House Plan for Iraq Drawdown — We are constantly told by the Left that the American people support their efforts to get the United States out of Iraq as quickly as possible. The Netroots demand that Congress put more pressure on the White House …
Discussion:
Gallup Poll
Yeas & Nays:
Matthews says Bush administration has "finally been caught in their criminality" — Playing Hardball with the Prez — "Hardball" host Chris Matthews addresses attendees at Thursday night's ten-year anniversary of "Hardball," which took place at the Decatur House in Washington, D.C.
Andrew Sullivan / The Atlantic Online:
Peggy Noonan's Open Eyes — I've long enjoyed Peggy Noonan's work (except for one dreadful book even she must regret writing). I don't always agree with her, but she represents for me that brand of blue-state conservatism that came of age in the Reagan era, one that was often Catholic …
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Simon Perez / KPIX-TV:
Berkeley Marine Center Draws Anti-War Ire — (CBS) BERKELEY Marine Captain Richard Lund recruits college students and graduates as candidates for officer positions in the marines. But carrying out that job in Berkeley is not always an easy task. — He has listened to a variety of complaints …
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Jose Lambiet / Palm Beach Post:
Limbaugh leaves probation better, richer — No, Sen. Tom Harkin, radio talker Rush Limbaugh isn't back on drugs! — So says the state of Florida. And Limbaugh himself, who told Page Two, as he enters his last month on probation for a narcotics arrest, that he doesn't even miss getting high and now feels like a better person.
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Andrew Sullivan / The Atlantic Online:
Losing A Generation? — The number of young people who do not consider themselves Christians is growing, as is the hostility toward Christianity expressed by the next generation of non-Christians, claims a new book from David Kinnaman of Barna.org. Money quote: … And so the polarization grows.
Danny / Beltway Blogroll:
National Journal's Cover Story On Blogs — Back in January 2006, I authored a cover story on "The Rise Of Blogs" for National Journal magazine. In this week's hot-off-the-presses edition of the magazine, Bara Vaida, a former senior writer for me at Technology Daily, follows up with another cover story titled "Blogging On."
Discussion:
INSTAPUTZ
Naomi Wolf / Firedoglake:
Blackwater: "Newly Created Thug Caste" — (Naomi Wolf is the author of The End of America: Letter of Warning To A Young Patriot. She has written extensively about Blackwater and joins us in the comments — jh) — Congress is finally asking questions of Erik Prince, the head of Blackwater …
Discussion:
The Agonist
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Matthew Mosk / Washington Post:
Giuliani Leads GOP 3rd-Quarter Money Race — $11 Million Total Dwarfed By Leading Democrats — Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani announced yesterday that he raised $11 million for his presidential bid over the past three months, edging out his closest Republican competitor …
Discussion:
MoJoBlog, Wall Street Journal, Personal Democracy Forum, Wonkette, TIME and The Politico
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Brian Faughnan / Weekly Standard:
Netroots Nightmare: O'Hanlon Teams Up with HRC — When Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution wrote in the New York TImes that the surge was working, they were widely criticized by the antiwar left, which went to great lengths to undercut their findings.
Michael Roston / Huffington Post:
Dems Postpone Rollout Of Controversial Wiretapping Bill — Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the House Majority Leader, postponed a press conference announcing new reforms of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act after progressive lawmakers banded together and said they would fight any legislation …