Top Items:
Michael Hirsh / Newsweek:
Huckabee Surges, Obama Gains in Iowa — The new NEWSWEEK poll shows the former Arkansas governor now has a two-to-one lead over Romney, while Barack improves against Hillary. — Yana Paskova / Getty Images — Looking Up: Huckabee now seems unstoppable in the Iowa caucuses
Discussion:
TPM Election Central, MyDD, Associated Press, The Moderate Voice, Reason Magazine, Riehl World View, Right Wing Nut House, Open Left, CNN Political Ticker, Democratic Strategist, TBogg, Boston Globe, Mike Huckabee for President, Political Machine, Hotline On Call, Hot Air, Taegan Goddard's …, Taylor Marsh, MSNBC and Obama HQ
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Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
Edwards Campaign Internal Poll Finds Statistical Tie In Iowa — John Edwards' campaign pollster has produced an internal poll that he claims shows that Edwards is locked with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in a statistical three-way tie for first place in Iowa.
Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:
C.I.A. Was Urged to Keep Interrogation Videotapes — White House and Justice Department officials, along with senior members of Congress, advised the Central Intelligence Agency in 2003 against a plan to destroy hundreds of hours of videotapes showing the interrogations of two operatives of Al Qaeda, government officials said Friday.
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Rasmussen Reports:
Just 18% Believe Iran has Stopped Nuclear Weapons Development Program — Just 18% of American voters believe that Iran has halted its nuclear weapons program. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 66% disagree and say Iran has not stopped its nuclear weapons program.
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Mesh / Harvard:
Iran NIE and a prediction — From Stephen Peter Rosen — For the most part, the arguments about the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran have been and will be a debate, not about intelligence, but about Bush foreign policy. But the NIE also provides an opportunity to assess …
Thom Shanker / New York Times:
Secretary Calls Iran a Threat to Regional Security — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates declared today that Iran is a grave threat to regional security, even without nuclear weapons, and called on Tehran to account for the full range of intelligence describing its support for terrorism and instability around the world.
Discussion:
Prairie Weather
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Katrin Bennhold / New York Times:
Despite Report, France and Germany Keep Pressure on Iran — The leaders of France and Germany said Thursday that Iran remained a danger and that other nations needed to keep up the pressure over its nuclear program despite a United States intelligence report's conclusion that Tehran was no longer building a bomb.
Emptywheel:
Whitehouse Reveals Smoking Gun of White House Claiming Not to Be Bound by Any Law — Damn, I love me some Sheldon Whitehouse. He, like, actually knows the law. And he, like, is willing to actually read the stuff he is exercising oversight over. — Which is why this speech he gave today …
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Satyam / Think Progress:
O'Reilly: Progressive blog readers = 'devil worshippers.' — On Fox News yesterday, Bill O'Reilly let loose on "far-left websites" like DailyKos, stating, "If you read these far-left websites, you're a devil worshipper. You are." O'Reilly's ombudsman responded, "As a journalist, you know better than that."
Discussion:
Liberal Values, Daily Kos, NO QUARTER, The Newshoggers, Unqualified Offerings and My Two Sense
John Distaso / New Hampshire Union Leader:
Site of Barack-Oprah event isn't unionized — MANCHESTER - Barack Obama's presidential campaign deeply concerned organized labor by booking its big rally Sunday with superstar Oprah Winfrey at the Verizon Wireless Arena. — A union representing organized stage hands have been trying unsuccessfully …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, ABCNEWS, Taylor Marsh, UrbanGrounds, The Atlantic Online, TalkLeft and TPM Election Central
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KNTV-TV:
Penn Endorses Kucinich For President In SF — Sr. Advisor Confirms Endorsement To NBC11 — Academy Award-winning actor Sean Penn endorsed Dennis Kucinich for president in San Francisco Friday. — Penn made what had been billed as a "major political statement" at San Francisco State University.
Washington Post:
Hill Close To Deal on War Funds — Plan Includes Boost In Domestic Spending — House Democratic leaders could complete work as soon as Monday on a half-trillion-dollar spending package that will include billions of dollars for the war effort in Iraq without the timelines for the withdrawal …
Pamela Bone / The Australian:
Why we stay mute on Islamic sex apartheid — US Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton last week urged President George W. Bush to call on King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to drop all charges against a 19-year-old Saudi woman who had been gang-raped at knifepoint …
Discussion:
The Belmont Club
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John Borland / Wired News:
Former 'No Nukes' Protester: Stop Worrying and Love Nuclear Power — The only way to rescue our plug-hungry planet from catastrophic global warming is to embrace nuclear power, and fast. — That's the argument of Gwyneth Cravens, a novelist, journalist and former nuke protester.
John Bresnahan / The Politico:
Jim McCrery to announce retirement — Rep. Jim McCrery (R-La.), the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, is planning to retire, according to GOP insiders. — The 58-year-old McCrery was first elected to the House in 1986, and he would have taken over the powerful Ways …
Discussion:
Swing State Project
Deacon / Power Line:
MIKE HUCKABEE'S SUNDAY SCHOOL FOREIGN POLICY — Earlier this week, I compared Mike Huckabee's stated approach to foreign policy to that of Jimmy Carter. The more I learn about Huckabee, the more I think I may have been unfair to Carter (Carter the president, that is; not the Carter of today).
Discussion:
TownHall Blog