Top Items:
Jane Perlez / New York Times:
New Questions Arise in Killing of Ex-Premier — LAHORE, Pakistan — New details of Benazir Bhutto's final moments, including indications that her doctors felt pressured to conform to government accounts of her death, fueled the arguments over her assassination on Sunday and added to the pressure …
Discussion:
Agence France Presse, The Swamp, Captain's Quarters, The Newshoggers, CNN, Macsmind, PBD, Hot Air, Jules Crittenden, Sky News, A Blog For All and Newsweek
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Robert D. Novak / Washington Post:
What Bhutto Was Worried About — The assassination of Benazir Bhutto followed two months of urgent pleas to the State Department by her representatives for better protection. The U.S. reaction was that she was worried over nothing, expressing assurance that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf would not let anything happen to her.
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters
Philip Sherwell / Telegraph:
Bhutto ‘blocked from hiring US bodyguards’ — Benazir Bhutto was so fearful for her life that she tried to hire British and American security experts to protect her, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal. — But the plans collapsed because President Pervez Musharraf refused to allow …
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
The Great Divide — Yesterday The Times published a highly informative chart laying out the positions of the presidential candidates on major issues. It was, I'd argue, a useful reality check for those who believe that the next president can somehow usher in a new era of bipartisan cooperation.
Discussion:
The Newshoggers, TalkLeft, Crooks and Liars, The Mahablog, Norwegianity, Prairie Weather and Liberal Values
John Fund / Opinion Journal:
What's the Matter With Iowa? — The caucuses are anything but a Norman Rockwell exercise in small-town democracy. — The trouble with the Iowa caucuses isn't that there's anything wrong with Iowans. It's the bizarre rules of the process. Caucuses are touted as authentic neighborhood meetings …
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New York Times:
Looking at America — There are too many moments these days when we cannot recognize our country. Sunday was one of them, as we read the account in The Times of how men in some of the most trusted posts in the nation plotted to cover up the torture of prisoners by Central Intelligence Agency interrogators …
Beth Fouhy / Associated Press:
Chelsea Clinton Guards Her Words — VINTON, Iowa (AP) - It's one thing for Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign to turn down interview requests for the candidate's daughter, Chelsea. But can't a 9-year-old reporter catch a break? — Sydney Rieckhoff, a Cedar Rapids fourth grader and …
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Elizabeth Drew / The Politico:
First what? — In all the excitement over the prospect …
First what? — In all the excitement over the prospect …
Discussion:
Blue Crab Boulevard
Laura Meckler / Wall Street Journal:
Romney Claws Back in Iowa Polls — Huckabee Plans TV Ads To Attack His Chief Rival; 3 Democrats in Tight Race — DES MOINES, Iowa — Mike Huckabee's surge in Iowa showed signs of retreat as three new polls found rival Mitt Romney, who has attacked Mr. Huckabee by land and by air, climbing back.
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Pundit Review Radio / BLACKFIVE:
ANTI-MILITARY LAWYER DAMAGES MARINE'S CAR ON EVE OF DEPLOYMENT — This ought to make your blood boil. And this Marine should receive a commendation for not kicking the living crap out of the guy...seriously. — Marine Sgt Mike McNulty is on activation orders to Iraq (second tour).
Matthew Yglesias:
If You've Got Nothing Nice to Say — I just hope The New York Times Book Review is as kind to my book when the time comes as they were to Jonah Goldberg (of course, realistically we're all just desperately hoping to be reviewed at all): “Yet the title of his book aside …
Discussion:
TalkLeft
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Los Angeles Times:
U.S. lawmakers visit Syria — Specter and Kennedy travel to Damascus from Israel on a peacemaking trip. — DAMASCUS, Syria — A pair of U.S. lawmakers visited the Syrian capital on Sunday in an attempt to persuade the Arab state to make peace with Israel and woo it from the Iranian sphere of influence.
Discussion:
Hot Air
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Peter Robinson / The Corner:
Thompson Makes His Move — On the Internet as of sometime this afternoon, Fred Thompson's closing argument to the people of Iowa. — Whereas Romney is saturating the airwaves with attack ads, Thompson pays the voters the courtesy of speaking calmly, and in detail—the video runs to just over 15 minutes.
Discussion:
Pirate's Cove, Bill Hobbs, Jay Currie, Wizbang, Macsmind, The Democratic Daily and Stop The ACLU
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Mary Jacoby / Wall Street Journal:
Ron Paul's War Chest Swelled in 4th Quarter — Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul may lag behind in public-opinion polls. But after raising about $19 million for the final three months of the year, he is now among his party's front-runners in the race for campaign cash.
New York Post:
SPITZER-PROBE BOSS IN VACATION UPROAR — THE man supposedly leading a key state probe of Gov. Spitzer and the Dirty Tricks Scandal has abruptly taken a 21/2-week vacation in South America - after secretly receiving a $15,000 pay raise, The Post has learned.
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool
Sam Roberts / New York Times:
Bloomberg Moves Closer to Running for President — Buoyed by the still unsettled field, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York City is growing increasingly enchanted with the idea of making an independent presidential bid, and his aides are aggressively laying the groundwork for him to run.
Khaled Abu Toameh / Jerusalem Post:
Aksa Martyrs Brigades calls for Fayad's assassination — Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, on Sunday called for the murder of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad for “collaboration” with Israel and the US. — This was the first time the group has openly called for Fayad's assassination.