Top Items:
New York Times:
Clintons Move to Tamp Down Criticism From Blacks About Recent Comments — WASHINGTON — The Clinton campaign moved Friday to try to quell a potentially damaging reaction to recent comments by Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton that have drawn criticism from African-Americans …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs, The Swamp, The Politico, TalkLeft, TIME: Swampland, Political Machine, Booman Tribune, American Street, Jules Crittenden, Outside The Beltway, News Hounds, Connecting.the.Dots, Macsmind, TPM Election Central, The Gun Toting Liberal™, Bookworm Room, Althouse, Irish Trojan in Tennessee, Marc Ambinder and Sister Toldjah
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Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Edwards Will Face a Moment of Truth After South Carolina Primary — John Edwards is the forgotten man in the race for the Democratic nomination, but he's not an inconsequential candidate. — Edwards, the angry populist of Iowa who may become a Southern-fried Democrat as the South Carolina primary unfolds …
Ryan Lizza / New Yorker:
MINORITY REPORTS — After New Hampshire, a hint of racial politics. … The brief interregnum between the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary may be remembered as a time when it appeared that the magical qualities ascribed to Barack Obama included an ability to suspend all the ordinary rules of politics.
Qassim Abdul-Zahra / Associated Press:
Iraq to reinstate Saddam party followers — BAGHDAD - Iraq's parliament voted Saturday to allow some former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to reclaim government jobs and said others could receive pensions but could not return to work. President Bush said the legislation was “an important step toward reconciliation.”
RELATED:
Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
De-Baathification Reform Law Passes In Iraqi Parliament — Note: I'm leaving this post on top for the morning; newer posts are below. — Those who claim that the surge strategy in Iraq has paid no dividends because it hasn't met Congressional benchmarks may wish to skip to the next post.
Navy Times:
‘Filipino Monkey’ may be behind radio threats, ship drivers say — The threatening radio transmission heard at the end of a video showing harassing maneuvers by Iranian patrol boats in the Strait of Hormuz may have come from a locally famous heckler known among ship drivers as the “Filipino Monkey.”
RELATED:
Thom Shanker / New York Times:
Iran Encounter Grimly Echoes '02 War Game — WASHINGTON — There is a reason American military officers express grim concern over the tactics used by Iranian sailors last weekend: a classified, $250 million war game in which small, agile speedboats swarmed a naval convoy to inflict devastating damage on more powerful warships.
Rudyg / Stumper:
Blumenthal On the Boil — Sidney Blumenthal plays hardball. A longtime confidante and adviser to the Clintons, he has zealously defended them through any number of scandal investigations. Along the way, Blumenthal has shown an affinity for the sharp counterattack.
Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Joe Won't Be The Veep Pick For McCain — Unlike in the 2004 campaign, when a still-angry McCain allowed rumors of a second-slot deal with John Kerry to percolate just a little before denying them, the McCain campaign wants to scotch rumors of a similar deal with Senator Joe Lieberman.
Meghan Daum / Los Angeles Times:
Hillary's gotta have it — In courting the voters, maybe she should play by 'The Rules.' — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton may have clawed her way out of an abyss in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, but the shadows over her campaign are a reminder that the path she's forging is still in the deep woods.
Discussion:
Unqualified Offerings
New York Times:
Bush and Congress Seen Pushing for Stimulus Plan — WASHINGTON — The Bush administration and Congressional leaders, increasingly concerned about a possible recession, are moving closer to agreeing that an economic stimulus package is needed soon, Washington officials said Friday.
James Vicini / Reuters:
U.S. appeals court dismisses Guantanamo torture suit — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that four former Guantanamo prisoners, all British citizens, have no right to sue top Pentagon officials and military officers for torture, abuse and violations of their religious rights.
Discussion:
On Deadline
RELATED:
Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Baghdad Embassy Is Called A Fire Risk — ‘Serious’ Problems Were Ignored, Says State Dept. Official — The firefighting system in the massive $736 million embassy complex in Baghdad has potential safety problems that top U.S. officials dismissed in their rush to declare construction largely completed …
David Hardy / Of Arms and the Law:
Government files amicus — on DC's side! — PDF here. — Quick read: Gov't says, yes, it's an individual right. BUT we join with DC in asking Court to reverse the DC Circuit, because it applied strict scrutiny to the DC law. It should only have applied an intermediate standard.
Discussion:
Redstate
Vanderleun / AMERICAN DIGEST:
Cutting Through the Katrina Krapola — “You've got a mouth full of gimme, a hand full of much obliged." — Bessie Smith, Gulf Coast Blues — I don't know about you but I have had it with the legions of hustlers, grifters, drunks, junkies, pathics and drooling layabouts that keep waddling …
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