Top Items:
David Stout / New York Times:
Supreme Court Rejects Death Penalty for Child Rape — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled, 5 to 4, on Wednesday that sentencing someone to death for raping a child is unconstitutional, assuming that the victim is not killed. — “The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child …
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Andy McCarthy / The Corner:
Eighth Amendment Question: Isn't Brutally Raping an Eight-year-old More Cruel Than Lethal Injection? — Even if you agree with their bottom line, do Justice Kennedy and the justices in Kennedy v. Louisiana have a clue about how offensive it is to write this line in rationalizing why a man …
Discussion:
Fausta's blog
M.E. Sprengelmeyer / Rocky Mountain News:
Nader: Obama ‘talking white’ — Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader accused Sen. Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic Party nominee, of downplaying poverty issues, trying to “talk white” and appealing to “white guilt” during his run for the White House.
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Top of the Ticket, The Raw Story, Don Surber, Political Machine, Blue Girl, Red State, American Power, baldilocks, Political Punch, Reason Magazine, Shakesville, TIME.com, Boston Globe, Spin Cycle, Wake up America, No More Mister Nice Blog, Pajamas Media, Outside The Beltway, The Caucus, Fox News, Corrente, Comments from Left Field, pandagon.net and TPM Election Central
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Ben Smith / The Politico:
Obama's aim: 14 Bush states and local races — Barack Obama will focus his resources largely in 14 states George W. Bush won in 2004, his chief field operative said Tuesday, hoping to score upsets in places like Virginia, Indiana, and Georgia. — But winning the White House won't be his only goal …
Matthew Yglesias:
The Nader Way — Via Andrew Sullivan, Ralph Nader's not very taken with Barack Obama: … I would find this more persuasive were it not for the fact that Obama does want to crack down on predatory lending and other forms of financial exploitation of the poor. And then there's this:
Discussion:
TPM Election Central
Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
More Phony Myths — Karl Rove was impressed with Barack Obama when he first met him. But now he sees him as a “coolly arrogant” elitist. — This was Rove's take on Obama to Republicans at the Capitol Hill Club Monday, according to Christianne Klein of ABC News: — “Even if you never met him, you know this guy.
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Rolling Stone:
Inside Barack Obama's iPod — Barack Obama is a Stevie Wonder geek. In the Democratic presidential candidate's new interview with Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Jann S. Wenner, Obama waxed rhapsodic about his favorite artists, many of whom — Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Jay-Z — have shown him love with endorsements.
Gallup:
Gallup Daily: Obama, McCain Tied at 45% — Obama had held at least a slim advantage for most of June — PRINCETON, NJ — The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update on the presidential election finds John McCain and Barack Obama exactly tied at 45% among registered voters nationwide.
Discussion:
The New Republic, HillBuzz, The Trail, The Washington Note, Pajamas Media, Wake up America, Hot Air and Donklephant
John Gizzi / Human Events:
Pelosi on ‘Hush Rush,’ and Filibustering FISA — The speaker of the House made it clear to me and more than forty of my colleagues yesterday that a bill by Rep. Mike Pence (R.-Ind.) to outlaw the “Fairness Doctrine” (which a liberal administration could use to silence Rush Limbaugh …
Discussion:
StephenBainbridge.com, Media Blog, Daily Pundit, NewsBusters.org, TigerHawk and Sweetness & Light
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
To the Loser Go the Spoils — Hillary Clinton was taking the elevator up to her Senate office yesterday for the first time since she lost the Democratic presidential nomination when one of her aides, Philippe Reines, warned her about the condition of her office.
Discussion:
The Democratic Daily, Outside The Beltway, TalkLeft, Booman Tribune and Real Clear Politics
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Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
Taking Ownership of Iraq? — Having recently returned from Egypt, I have the Suez Canal on my mind. And looking at Iraq from Cairo, the thought occurred to me that maybe the Iraqis have just crossed the Suez Canal. If so, that's good news. — What am I talking about?
Discussion:
Eschaton, Weekly Standard Blog, Commentary, First Draft, Booman Tribune, A Tiny Revolution and Dean's World
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Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
Obama Making Private Calls Appealing To Hillary's Top Fundraisers — And Sometimes Hearing Criticism In Return — Barack Obama has begun privately calling Hillary's top fundraisers and making personal appeals for their support, and in some cases is getting some criticism in return …
John Riley / Spin Cycle:
Schumer: Against telcom immunity — Chuck Schumer's spokesman tells us that he's going to oppose the current version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act legislation, which immunizes telcom companies for past implementation of Bush's requests and expands the government's capacity to surveil without court approval.
Discussion:
feingold.senate.gov, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Think Progress, MyDD and Blue Girl, Red State
Daniel Libit / The Politico:
Meet the make-believe strategists of TV — Jane Fleming Kleeb went on “The O'Reilly Factor” two weeks ago to talk about global warming, a topic on which, by her own admission, she's hardly an expert. So who, then, is Jane Fleming Kleeb? Well, according to the Chyron that flashed across …
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report, Achenblog, Wilshire & Washington, Gateway Pundit and pandagon.net
Megan McArdle:
The lesser of two incredibly awful evils — Yesterday, when I pointed out that ordinary Zimbabweans were probably better off under Ian Smith than they now are under Mugabe, I received the horrified accusation that I was defending Rhodesia's racist regime. Hardly; a baby is better off having …
Discussion:
alicublog
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