Top Items:
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
GOP sees Rev. Wright as pathway to victory — For months, Republican party officials have watched with increasing trepidation as Barack Obama has shattered fundraising records, packed arena after arena with shrieking fans and pulled in significant Republican and independent votes.
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Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
A Speech That Fell Short — Barack Obama has run a campaign based on a simple premise: that words of unity and hope matter to America. Now he has been forced by his charismatic, angry pastor to argue that words of hatred and division don't really matter as much as we thought.
Discussion:
Rising Hegemon
Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Black, White & Gray — In many ways, Barack Obama's speech on race was momentous and edifying. — You could tell it was personal, that he had worked hard on it, all weekend and into the wee hours Tuesday. Overriding aides who objected to putting race center stage, he addressed a painful …
Discussion:
Gawker
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Obama's faith in the reasoning abilities of the American public — (updated below) — I haven't written about the Obama speech yet (video here) because I spent much of the day reading the instantaneous reactions of virtually everyone else, and because the issues raised by the speech …
New York Times:
Mr. Obama's Profile in Courage — There are moments — increasingly rare in risk-abhorrent modern campaigns — when politicians are called upon to bare their fundamental beliefs. In the best of these moments, the speaker does not just salve the current political wound, but also illuminates larger …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Ben Smith's Blogs, Attytood, Hot Air, Flopping Aces and NewsBusters.org
The Big Trunk / Power Line:
Throw grandma under the bus — When seeking to extricate himself from the tight spot in which he has been placed by his long association with the spiritual leadership of Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama hauled in his (living) maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham.
Washington Post:
Moment of Truth — SEN. BARACK Obama's mission in Philadelphia …
Moment of Truth — SEN. BARACK Obama's mission in Philadelphia …
Discussion:
Boston Globe, Personal Democracy Forum, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos and The Carpetbagger Report
James Carney / Time:
Obama's Bold Gamble on Race
Obama's Bold Gamble on Race
Discussion:
The Current, michellemalkin.com, Washington Wire, National Review, Slate, Swampland and The Root
Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
Paul slighted by the ‘neoconservative’ GOP — Ron Paul says the legions of newcomers his presidential campaign brought to the Republican Party are getting the cold shoulder from John McCain and from the party. — The Texas congressman says neither he nor his supporters have heard …
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Economics Blog:
Volcker: Fed's ‘Extreme’ Intervention ‘Raises Some Real Questions’ — Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said the Fed's decision to lend money to Bear Stearns Cos. to keep it from collapsing is unprecedented and “raises some real questions” about whether that's the appropriate role for the Fed.
Discussion:
The Opinionator, DownWithTyranny!, Marginal Revolution, naked capitalism and Economist's View
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Michael Cooper / New York Times:
McCain Missteps on Iraq; Democrats Pounce — JERUSALEM — Senator John McCain's trip overseas was supposed to highlight his foreign policy acumen, and his supporters hoped that it would showcase him in a series of statesmanlike meetings with world leaders throughout the Middle East and Europe …
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Marc Ambinder:
Questions About Obama — For the first time in two months, Democrats who had concluded that Barack Obama had sewn up the nomination, Democrats who support Barack Obama, Democrats who had concluded, as I had, that the mathematics work against Hillary Clinton, are filling my inbox and voice mail …
Fredric U. Dicker / New York Post:
PATERSON GAL'S TAPE SHOCKER — OLYMPICS BABE BARES RECORDING & JOB ‘HE GOT ME’ — An attractive Olympic gold-medalist says she had a close personal relationship with Gov. Paterson earlier this year - during which time she recorded a series of secret telephone conversations with him.
Philip Bredesen / New York Times:
Choose, or Lose in November — WE Democrats have a problem, but it's one we can fix. — We are blessed with two fine candidates, but it's entirely possible that when primary season ends on June 3, we will still lack a clear nominee. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton could each still believe …
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Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
Bearing Arms ... Against Bears — JUSTICE KENNEDY THINKS D.C. RESIDENTS NEED PROTECTION—FROM GRIZZLIES. — With all due respect to those who complain that the justices on the Supreme Court are too secretive, and for those who wish, perhaps, that David Souter was more like David …
Discussion:
The Daily Politics, Balkinization, Convictions, Betsy's Page, Viking Pundit and Legalities
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Linda Greenhouse / New York Times:
Court Weighs Right to Guns, and Its Limits
Court Weighs Right to Guns, and Its Limits
Discussion:
Commentary, Concurring Opinions, New York Sun, The Volokh Conspiracy and Lawyers, Guns and Money
David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
Estimates of Iraq War Cost Were Not Close to Ballpark — WASHINGTON — At the outset of the Iraq war, the Bush administration predicted that it would cost $50 billion to $60 billion to oust Saddam Hussein, restore order and install a new government. — Five years in, the Pentagon tags …
Discussion:
Think Progress, CNN, Associated Press, Brilliant at Breakfast, Econbrowser, Big Brass Blog and Middle Earth Journal
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NY Daily News:
Sharpton supporting Barack - silently — The Rev. Al Sharpton is backing Barack Obama, but he's made the strategic decision to keep his support quiet. — That's the message Sharpton delivered to his flock last Saturday as he boasted of talking to Obama “two or three times a week” …
John Leicester / Associated Press:
Calls Mount for Olympic Ceremony Boycott — PARIS (AP) - Moves to punish China over its handling of violence in Tibet gained momentum Tuesday, with a novel suggestion for a mini-boycott of the Beijing Olympics by VIPs at the opening ceremony. — Such a protest by world leaders …
Steve Holland / Reuters:
Obama's lead over Clinton narrows: Reuters poll — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama's big national lead over Hillary Clinton has all but evaporated in the U.S. presidential race, and both Democrats trail Republican John McCain, according a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.
Janny Scott / MSNBC:
Obama chooses reconciliation — Experts say ‘nonpartisan’ speech on race is almost without precedent — It was an extraordinary moment — the first black candidate with a good chance at becoming a presidential nominee, in a country in which racial distrust runs deep and often unspoken …
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