Top Items:
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
“Bitter-gate”: Where Do We Go Now? — Critical mass has been reached. “Bitter” and “cling” will forever be tied to Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) in the same way that “Tuzla” and “the laugh” will always evoke Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) when a political junkie thinks of the 2008 Democratic race.
Discussion:
The Trail
RELATED:
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Kentucky Rep. 'That boy's finger does not need to be on the button' — Um: … An aide to Davis, Jeremy Hughes, declined to comment on the remark, and didn't dispute the accuracy of the quote.
Pol Watchers:
Republicans talk about Iraq, Obama at N. Ky. dinner
Republicans talk about Iraq, Obama at N. Ky. dinner
Discussion:
American Street, MSNBC, Ben Smith's Blogs, Orcinus, DownWithTyranny!, Open Left, Daily Kos, The Other McCain, Corrente, Comments from Left Field, Pam's House Blend, MyDD, Talking Points Memo, Political Punch, Political Machine, Blue Girl, Red State, The Raw Story, The Poor Man Institute, Political Radar, Balloon Juice, AMERICAblog, Gallup and StephenBainbridge.com
Michael Ledeen / The Corner:
Italy: It's a landslide — Huge, perhaps historic, victory for Berlusconi's “Popolo della liberta' ” (which translates a bit awkwardly as “the people of liberty;” maybe it's better to call it “the freedom folks"). It's considerably worse than AP lets on. Berlusconi defeated Walter Veltroni's …
RELATED:
Karl / protein wisdom:
Not much the matter with Kansas or Pennsylvania — At the WaPo, E.J. Dionne unloads the usual liberal conventional wisdom regarding Barack Obama's condescending view that small town residents are bitter and cling to guns, religion and prejudice due to the last 25 years of US economic policy:
Discussion:
Marc Ambinder
RELATED:
Will Bunch / Philly.com:
Obama would ask his AG to “immediately review” potential of crimes in Bush White House — Tonight I had an opportunity to ask Barack Obama a question that is on the minds of many Americans, yet rarely rises to the surface in the great ruckus of the 2008 presidential race …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Booman Tribune, American Street, Comments from Left Field, Washington Post, RADAMISTO and The Democratic Daily
David Weiner / The Huffington Post:
McCain “Family Recipes” Lifted from the Food Network — What will they call it? Farfallegate? Rosemary Chicken Dome Scandal? Perhaps something with the ubiquitous Rachael Ray in it. — It seems that Cindy McCain, John McCain's perfect, blonde beer-baroness wife is about to find herself painted …
Discussion:
Brilliant at Breakfast, Comments from Left Field, TPM Election Central and The American Mind
Matt / Think Progress:
Lieberman: It's ‘a good question’ to ask if Obama is ‘a Marxist.’ — In his New York Times column today, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol claimed that Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) now-infamous “bitter” remarks sound like Karl Marx's “famous statement about religion.”
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Dick Polman's American Debate, Real Clear Politics, Daily Kos, Fox News, democracyarsenal.org, Shakesville, The Daily Dish, Comments from Left Field, The Other McCain, News Hounds, StephenBainbridge.com, alicublog, Betsy's Page, Cliff Schecter …, RADAMISTO, Redstate and The Fact Hub
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
America's turn: How bitter are you? Vote now — For days now we've all been reading about how bitter or not bitter small-town Pennsylvanians are. — All three major remaining presidential candidates — Sens. John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who started this whole thing …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish
Carrie Johnson / Washington Post:
Lawmakers Want FBI Access to Data Curbed — Bipartisan groups in Congress are pressing to place new controls on the FBI's ability to demand troves of sensitive personal information from telephone providers and credit card companies, over the opposition of agency officials who say they deserve more time to clean up past abuses.
Discussion:
Political Machine
Ezra Levant:
Was the CBC afraid to show the Danish cartoons? “Well, yeah” — Two weeks ago, CBC Sunday did an extended segment about how Canada's human rights commissions have been turned into political censors. Here's my extended review of that documentary. In short, I thought it was well done …
Marc Ambinder:
McCain's Economy: Major Tax Reform, No Austerity — The message from Sen. John McCain's economic speech today seems to be that the economic policies of both parties are dogmatic and ill-equipped to harness the energy and contain the excesses of the modern economy.
Michael Barbaro / New York Times:
Retailing Chains Caught in a Wave of Bankruptcies — The consumer spending slump and tightening credit markets are unleashing a widening wave of bankruptcies in American retailing, prompting thousands of store closings that are expected to remake suburban malls and downtown shopping districts across the country.
The Big Trunk / Power Line:
Enter CAIR — In “Zaman vs. Kersten” I quoted Stephen Schwartz's descripton of the Islamist playbook: … CAIR is the Islamist group that wrote the book on the scenario Schwartz describes. It holds itself out as a civil rights organization representing Muslims in the United States …
Discussion:
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Robert Reid / Associated Press:
U.S. Military Will Finally Release AP Photog in Iraq — BAGHDAD The U.S. military says it will release Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein after more than two years in custody. — The statement said Hussein will be freed Wednesday now that Iraqi judicial committees have granted him amnesty for all allegations.
Discussion:
Firedoglake