Top Items:
Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
Obama On FISA: Telecom Immunity Issue Doesn't Override National Security — At a presser today, Obama weighed in again on the FISA cave, and suffice it to say that what he said won't make opponents any less unhappy about Obama's position than they were already.
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Ian Welsh / Firedoglake:
The Real FISA Vote Passes 80 to 15 With the Presidential Nominees Passing — They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin — The FISA Cloture vote just passed. The Senate will now consider the motion …
Discussion:
Newshoggers.com, Hullabaloo, American Street, The Poor Man Institute, Hot Air, First Draft and Open Left
Michelle Malkin:
What the child rapist, saved today by Supreme Court liberals, did to his 8-year-old stepdaughter — Anthony Kennedy and the leftists on the Supreme Court ruled this morning that what child rapist Patrick Kennedy did to his 8-year-old stepdaughter is a crime that should not be punishable by death.
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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 …
Orin Kerr / The Volokh Conspiracy:
KENNEDY V. LOUISIANA: SCOTUSBlog is reporting that the Supreme …
KENNEDY V. LOUISIANA: SCOTUSBlog is reporting that the Supreme …
Discussion:
Associated Press, SCOTUSblog, Bench Memos, Clayton Cramer's BLOG, Betsy's Page, Commentary and Pajamas Media
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.
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Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
Netroots feel jilted by Obama's FISA stand — When former Sen. John Edwards dropped out of the presidential race, the progressive Netroots took their affections to Barack Obama, defending him against attack from Hillary Rodham Clinton and others. — But with his support of a government surveillance bill …
Discussion:
Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog
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Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Serenity Lost: Obama And The Netroots — Only weeks into the general election campaign and already a notable tension is beginning to materialize within the Democratic Party. At question is Sen. Barack Obama's relationship with the progressive netroots, the online community that helped aid …
New York Post:
KEITH GOES NUTS OVER KETCHUP — MSNBC blowhard Keith Olbermann couldn't even control his temper at a memorial reception for beloved Tim Russert. — Network sources told Page Six Olbermann was furious last week when MSNBC didn't get him a first-class ticket to Washington, DC …
GayPatriot:
BREAKING ELECTION NEWSGAYPATRIOT EXCLUSIVE:John McCain Meets with Log Cabin Republicans President — GayPatriot has exclusively learned that presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Senator John McCain held a personal meeting with the head of the national gay Republicans organization, the Log Cabin Republicans.
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.
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, The Opinionator, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Swamp, Macsmind, Media Blog, Spin Cycle and Reason Magazine
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TexasDarlin / NO QUARTER:
Hawaiian Official Quoted, Birth Certificate Challenged [UPDATE] — [Update at end] — Via the Israel Insider in a June 24 story: … The Insider also published this image of the State of Hawaii seal that is ALWAYS included on certifications of birth, as I also confirmed with the Hawaii Vital Records office:
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:
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Mark Halperin / TIME.com:
HALPERIN'S TAKE: What Smart Republican Strategists Think Should Be on John McCain's To-Do List — 1. Prove to your staff you can drive a message for more than one consecutive day. — 2. Tell Americans what the one, key difference is between you and Obama.
Discussion:
Jonathan Martin's Blogs
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:
Hot Air, PoliPundit.com, Redstate, StephenBainbridge.com, NewsBusters.org, Sweetness & Light, Daily Pundit, Media Blog and TigerHawk
Mike Soraghan / The Hill:
BlueDogs seek a hunting ground in upper chamber — Blue Dog Democrats, frustrated that their fight to end deficit spending has been stymied by the Senate, may endorse candidates running for the upper chamber. — Leaders of the group told The Hill on Wednesday that they are considering plans …
M. Duss / Wonk Room:
Conservatives Mount Campaign To Claim ‘Iraq War Was Worth It’ — The recent decline in violence in Iraq has seems to have given conservatives cover to not only defend the “surge,” but even to attempt to rehabilitate the decision to go to war in the first place.
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Teresa Isanhart / reason.tv:
Why it's time to lay off NAFTA — Campaign season is just getting warmed up, but looking back on the primaries we've already seen plenty of the usual fare: candidates shaking hands, hanging out at diners, and scaring voters about foreigners who are taking your jobs.
Marc Ambinder:
Plouffe On McCain's Squandared Opportunity — The most interesting moment of David Plouffe's 90 minute briefing and press conference was a casual assertion that he didn't think McCain “used the period from March 3rd [until the end of the Democratic primaries] very effectively, and for that, we're grateful.”