Top Items:
Richard Esposito Reports / The Blotter:
Giuliani's Mistress Used N.Y. Police as Taxi Service — Richard Esposito Reports: — Well before it was publicly known he was seeing her, then-married New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani provided a police driver and city car for his mistress Judith Nathan, former senior city officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.
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Ben Smith / The Politico:
Rudy calls billing 'perfectly appropriate' — Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his senior aides Thursday blamed anonymous bookkeepers for his administration's practice of billing the travel expenses for his personal security detail to obscure city agencies.
Discussion:
CBS News, Cameron's Corner, The Reaction, Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic Online and Daily Kos
New York Times:
Giuliani Defends Spending on His Mayoral Security — Rudolph W. Giuliani last night called a Web site's account of his spending a "political hit job" as his campaign struggled to explain why hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel expenses for his mayoral security detail were billed …
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
BREAKING: RUDY'S NEW SHAG FUND EXPLANATION!
BREAKING: RUDY'S NEW SHAG FUND EXPLANATION!
Discussion:
TPMmuckraker
Atrios / Eschaton:
Oh My — Judi! … I'm sure Joe will give us his take as soon …
Oh My — Judi! … I'm sure Joe will give us his take as soon …
Discussion:
Group News Blog
Redstate:
CNN's Performance Was Unacceptable. There Should Be A Do Over of This Debate. — Our own Dan Spencer made USA Today today in an article by Jill Thompson. — Only if you check our front page, we don't have a contributor named Dan Spencer; well, we do, but he does not write under his name.
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Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
CNN defends vetting of debate questioners — The retired general who quizzed Republican presidential candidates about gays and lesbians in the military was not the only person linked to a Democratic presidential candidate who got to ask a question at Wednesday's CNN/YouTube debate.
Discussion:
New York Times, About.com US Politics, Think Progress, Riehl World View, Redstate, Hot Air, NewsBusters.org, Salon and Weekly Standard
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
CNN Admits Holes in Screening of Questioners
CNN Admits Holes in Screening of Questioners
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org
Jerome L. Sherman / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Murtha finds military progress in trip to Iraq — Warns that Iraqis must do more for their own security — WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. John Murtha today said he saw signs of military progress during a brief trip to Iraq last week, but he warned that Iraqis need to play a larger role in providing …
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Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Hell freezes over: "I think the surge is working," says Murtha — Via Bill Amos. I'm not giving you the direct link yet; I want you to watch this clip from July first so you can appreciate his ignorance, hypocrisy, and defeatism. CNN had him on for reaction after lefty war supporters Michael O'Hanlon …
Michelle Malkin:
Surprise: Muslim YouTube questioner was former CAIR Intern — CAIR brags: — They taught her well: — See what others have said — Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse …
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Mandates and Mudslinging — From the beginning, advocates of universal health care were troubled by the incompleteness of Barack Obama's plan, which unlike those of his Democratic rivals wouldn't cover everyone. But they were willing to cut Mr. Obama slack on the issue, assuming that in the end he would do the right thing.
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Fox News:
Study: Canadian Beer Drinkers Threaten Planet — Scientists have found a new threat to the planet: Canadian beer drinkers. — The government-commissioned study says the old, inefficient "beer fridges" that one in three Canadian households use to store their Molson and Labatt's contribute significantly …
Discussion:
Moonbattery, GraniteGrok, Blue Crab Boulevard, Jules Crittenden, small dead animals, No Runny Eggs and Tim Blair
Guardian:
Fraud, intimidation and bribery — State workers forced to vote in effort to rig result for president — The Kremlin is planning to rig the results of Russia's parliamentary elections on Sunday by forcing millions of public sector workers across the country to vote, the Guardian has learned.
Discussion:
The Newshoggers
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John Mercurio / MSNBC:
Mercurio: The Three Kings of the Democrats — Candidates await Gore, Kennedy and Kerry endorsements — WASHINGTON - Forget about Oprah and Barbra. When it comes to moving votes in the Democratic primary and shaping the race for the White House, there are only three Democrats left …
Discussion:
The Democratic Daily
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FactCheck.org:
GOP YouTube Debate Flubs — Falsehoods, exaggerations and stumbles — The CNN/YouTube debate among Republicans lacked any talking snowmen, but we did note a few false and misleading statements by the candidates. — Romney claimed New York called itself a "sanctuary city" for illegal aliens.
John Solomon / Washington Post:
Obama Campaign Worker Discussed PAC Donations — Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign helped recommend several of the donations his political action committee made in recent months to politicians in key primary states as the campaign was working to secure endorsements, campaign officials said yesterday.
Discussion:
Lynn Sweet
Joe Klein / TIME: Swampland:
Dialing the Republicans — I attended Frank Luntz's dial group of 30 undecided—or sort of undecided—Republicans in St. Petersburg, Florida, last night...and it was a fairly astonishing evening. — Now, for the uninitiated: dials are little hand-held machines that enable a focus group member …
John C. Hulsman / Opinion Journal:
A Man on a Mission — What's wrong with Michael Gerson's "heroic conservatism." — Michael Gerson, long praised (some would say over-praised) as President Bush's genius speechwriter, is also, it turns out, a would-be moral philosopher and political strategist.
Discussion:
Punditry