Top Items:
New York Times:
With Democrats Like These ... Every now and then, we are tempted to double-check that the Democrats actually won control of Congress last year. It was particularly hard to tell this week. Democratic leaders were cowed, once again, by propaganda from the White House and failed, once again …
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New York Times:
Wiretapping Compromise Was Months in the Making — Last June, in a phone conversation with Vice President Dick Cheney, John D. Rockefeller IV, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, set down his conditions for revising the law governing the National Security Agency's eavesdropping.
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Giuliani asks Values Voters to trust him — Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, walking into a political lion's den, told the year's largest gathering of social conservatives that he is "not always the best example of faith" but that their similarities are much greater than their differences.
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David Paul Kuhn / The Politico:
Poll finds Thompson appeals to churchgoers — Fred Thompson may have failed to impress Beltway insiders when he finally launched his run for the White House last month, but he is winning over a critical segment of the Republican coalition, new polling suggests.
Gateway Pundit:
"Crooks & Liars" Discovers Best Way to Defend Rep. Pete Stark — Lie. — Nutrooters Crooks and Liars discovers that if you can't possibly win an argument over the latest disgusting anti-military, anti-Bush remarks by a Democratic politician... Then just lie about it.
Discussion:
Don Surber, Buck Naked Politics, The American Street, Big Brass Blog and Crooks and Liars
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Digby / Hullabaloo:
Battered Spouses — Yesterday I said I felt a hissy coming on and today it's blown in with all the sincerity and gravitas of Tom DeLay speaking at a Martin Luther King day luncheon. — The Situation Room just led the half hour with this: … JC Watts later called Stark a "small person with a withered soul."
Zachary Coile / San Francisco Chronicle:
Pelosi backs away from Rep. Stark's criticism of Bush
Pelosi backs away from Rep. Stark's criticism of Bush
Discussion:
Booman Tribune, Conservative Belle, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Power Line, News Hounds and Weekly Standard
Steve Benen / Talking Points Memo:
Thompson's fall from grace — There was a time over the summer when Fred Thompson looked like he'd enjoy enormous support from the GOP's religious right base. The Dobson crowd had already ruled out McCain and Giuliani, and skepticism over Romney lingered.
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Michael Luo / New York Times:
For 3 Candidates, a Test on Religion
For 3 Candidates, a Test on Religion
Discussion:
CNN Political Ticker, The Carpetbagger Report, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, The Politico and The Swamp
Josh White / Washington Post:
Ex-Prosecutor Alleges Pentagon Plays Politics — Pressure for 'Sexy' Guantanamo Hearings — Politically motivated officials at the Pentagon have pushed for convictions of high-profile detainees ahead of the 2008 elections, the former lead prosecutor for terrorism trials at Guantanamo Bay said last night …
Washington Post:
IEDs Seen As Rising Threat in The U.S. — As Preparedness Is Criticized, Bush Works on a Plan — The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI agree that the homemade explosive devices that have wreaked havoc in Iraq pose a rising threat to the United States.
Don Surber:
ABC's Rush report shows why people hate the media — Why the Surber kids were told Daddy is a piano player in a whorehouse — Why do people absolutely detest the media? Is it the laziness? Is it the incompetence? Is it the bias? — This report from the ABC News blog shows all 3 elements.
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Erick Erickson / The Truth Laid Bear:
Update: Saturday Morning — And now the real (sorry, Ron) main event: Rudy Giuliani. — Giuliani took the stage to a warm reception of applause, answering the immediate question of whether the FRC crowd might rudely snub him from moment one. Not so: definitely a courteous and even enthusiastic welcome.
Matthew Felling / CBS News:
A Journalist? Says Who? — I've discussed in this space - though in the light and frothy context of inappropriate photos posted online - how once something is on the Internet, it's in the public domain. — The same goes for legal rulings. — In a fascinating instance …
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Debra Cassens Weiss / ABA Journal:
Blogger Posts 9/11 Opinion Withdrawn Over Security Concerns
Blogger Posts 9/11 Opinion Withdrawn Over Security Concerns
Discussion:
Concurring Opinions
Greg Sargent / Election Central:
Rudy's New Minnesota Campaign Official Has An "N-Word" Problem — The man named yesterday by the Giuliani campaign to a law enforcement outreach campaign post in Minnesota was forced to resign a government job in 2004 when proof surfaced that he'd admitted to repeatedly using the word "nigger" in the past, Election Central has learned.
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report, All Spin Zone, The Huffington Post and skippy the bush kangaroo
Adam Nossiter / New York Times:
An Improbable Favorite Emerges in Cajun Country — An Oxford-educated son of immigrants from India is virtually certain to become the leading candidate for Louisiana's next governor in Saturday's primary election. It would be an unlikely choice for a state that usually picks its leaders …
Arizona Republic:
Sheriff's deputies arrest 'New Times' owners — Paper at odds with county authorities — Michael Kiefer, Robert Anglen and JJ Hensley — Phoenix New Times owners Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin were arrested Thursday night by Maricopa County sheriff's deputies on charges of revealing grand jury information, a misdemeanor.
Discussion:
The Newshoggers, L.A. Times, LA Observed, New York Times, Feathered Bastard and Boing Boing
Hillel Italie / Associated Press:
J.K. Rowling Outs Hogwarts Character — NEW YORK (AP) - Harry Potter fans, the rumors are true: Albus Dumbledore, master wizard and Headmaster of Hogwarts, is gay. J.K. Rowling, author of the mega-selling fantasy series that ended last summer, outed the beloved character Friday night …