Top Items:
Los Angeles Times:
How Clinton has built her lead — REASON TO SMILE: Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton greets residents in New Hampton, Iowa Sunday. Polls show her national popularity with Democrats growing. — Her base is voters who dominate the Democratic nominating process. But the presidential campaign season is still young.
Discussion:
The Caucus, Washington Post, Des Moines Register, Bloomberg, PRWeb and The Van Der Galiën Gazette
RELATED:
Shaun Mullen / The Moderate Voice:
Iowa Caucuses As Smoke-Filled Room — A minister, priest and rabbi walk into a 4-H club . . . I'll eat my straw boater if it turns out that the Iowa caucuses next January play a decisive role in determining who the Republican presidential sacrificial lamb will be, let alone who the Democrats nominate to be the next president.
Joshua Partlow / Washington Post:
Top Iraqis Pull Back From Key U.S. Goal — Reconciliation Seen Unattainable Amid Struggle for Power — BAGHDAD — For much of this year, the U.S. military strategy in Iraq has sought to reduce violence so that politicians could bring about national reconciliation, but several top Iraqi leaders …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, TIME: Swampland, The Atlantic Online, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, Rising Hegemon, Greatscat! and Truthdig
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
As War Dragged On, Coverage Tone Weighed Heavily on Anchors — Charlie Gibson is a product of the Vietnam War era. When he was a television reporter in Lynchburg, Va., he had driven to Washington on weekends to march in antiwar demonstrations. And he had lost friends in that jungle war.
Hillary Rodham Clinton / The Trail:
Clinton's Iran Vote Prompts A Harsh Back-and-Forth — Randall Rolph said he came to New Hampton, Iowa, on Sunday to see Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) with an open mind about whether to support her candidacy. After a tough exchange over Iran, he left saying he had ruled her out.
Discussion:
Unfogged
RELATED:
Chuck Todd / MSNBC:
Clinton gets snippy with Iowan over Iran
Clinton gets snippy with Iowan over Iran
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Taylor Marsh, About.com Liberal Politics, The Politico and The Atlantic Online
Geoffrey Wheatcroft / Washington Post:
Who Made Hillary Queen? — Among so much about American politics …
Who Made Hillary Queen? — Among so much about American politics …
Michael J. Totten:
The Best Police Force in Iraq — RAMADI, IRAQ - In late July when I visited a police station in the town of Mushadah just north of Baghdad I worried that Iraq was doomed to become the next Gaza. As many as half the police officers, according to most of the American Military Police who worked …
Discussion:
Jules Crittenden
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Same Old Party — There have been a number of articles recently that portray President Bush as someone who strayed from the path of true conservatism. Republicans, these articles say, need to return to their roots. — Well, I don't know what true conservatism is, but while doing research …
Nathaniel R. Helms / warchronicle.com:
Al Qaeda in Haditha: The battle the media ignored — Buried in the mountain of exhibits attached to the once secret Haditha, Iraq murder inquiry prepared by US Army Maj. Gen. Eldon A. Bargewell is an obscure Marine Corps intelligence summary (see pdf) that says the deadly encounter …
RELATED:
Frank Newport / Gallup Poll:
Republicans Remain Deeply Distrustful of News Media — Democrats much more positive — PRINCETON, NJ — Republicans in America today remain deeply distrustful of the national news media — in sharp contrast to Democrats, who have a great deal more trust in the media's accuracy.
Discussion:
The Swamp
Washington Times:
Mexican 'House of Death — CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Fernando Reyes wasn't dying fast enough, so his killers wrapped his head in a plastic bag. It wouldn't be long before the brutally beaten and tortured drug smuggler would take his last breath. — An undercover informant working for U.S. authorities …
Discussion:
Reason Magazine
Sarah Baxter / Times of London:
Al Gore tipped to win Nobel — THE environmental campaigner Al Gore is being tipped as a favourite to win the Nobel peace prize in Oslo this Friday in a controversial move that could place saving the planet above saving people from war and conflict. — Gore, a former American vice-president …
Helen Smith / Pajamas Media:
ASK DR. HELEN: FIGHTING FOR MEN'S RIGHTS — Men are becoming increasingly concerned about finding justice in today's legal system. PJM advice columnist Dr. Helen interviews Glenn Sacks and warns against "standing idly by while your rights are infringed, your freedoms are in question and your sex is used as a weapon against you."
Omar Fadhil / Opinion Journal:
Al Qaeda's War of Villages — Signs that the terrorists are losing in Iraq. — BAGHDAD—The latest chapter in al Qaeda's war manual in their war against the Iraqi people and the Coalition is this: raiding remote peaceful villages, burning down homes and slaughtering both man and beast.
Discussion:
SWJ Blog
Susan Saulny / New York Times:
He Can Act, but Can He Debate? Untested Thompson Faces Rivals for First Time — In an unusual political season that seems to offer up a presidential debate every week or so, the Republican debate tomorrow is expected to offer something new: Fred D. Thompson.
Peterhamby / CNN Political Ticker:
Obama: GOP doesn't own faith and values — GREENVILLE, South Carolina (CNN) — After speaking to an evangelical church on Sunday in this traditionally conservative South Carolina city, Sen. Barack Obama said that Republicans no longer have a firm grip on religion in political discourse.
New York Times:
U.S. Renews Bid to Destroy Opium Poppies in Afghanistan — After the biggest opium harvest in Afghanistan's history, American officials have renewed efforts to persuade the government here to begin spraying herbicide on opium poppies, and they have found some supporters within President Hamid …