Top Items:
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:
Hullabaloo, Newshoggers.com, American Street, The Poor Man Institute, Hot Air, Open Left, First Draft and Shakesville
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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.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Open Left, Spin Cycle, Balloon Juice, Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos, MyDD, Political Machine, CommonDreams.org and The Carpetbagger Report
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.
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Corner, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Stop The ACLU, Fausta's blog, Martini Revolution, JammieWearingFool, Wonkette and Macsmind
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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 …
Linda Greenhouse / New York Times:
Justices Bar Death Penalty for the Rape of a Child
Justices Bar Death Penalty for the Rape of a Child
Discussion:
Buck Naked Politics
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 …
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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 …
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.
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.
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.
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:
Guardian Unlimited, Ben Smith's Blogs, Macsmind, The Opinionator, Spin Cycle and Media Blog
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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 …
Brian Montopoli / CBS News:
McCain Declares Energy Independence by 2025 — From CBS News' Jamie Farnsworth: — Las Vegas, NV - Senator John McCain unveiled the name of his energy project in Las Vegas today as he wrapped up the western swing of his two week energy tour. Deemed the Lexington Project …
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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
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M.E. Sprengelmeyer / Rocky Mountain News:
Nader: Obama ‘talking white’
Nader: Obama ‘talking white’
Discussion:
The Raw Story, Top of the Ticket, Political Machine, Washington Post, Left in the West, protein wisdom, Pam's House Blend, Shakesville, No More Mister Nice Blog, AMERICAblog News, Don Surber, Political Punch, Hot Air, The Caucus, TIME.com, Spin Cycle, Reason Magazine, Pajamas Media, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Boston Globe, Fox News, pandagon.net, Comments from Left Field, Corrente, Outside The Beltway and TPM Election Central
Clifford Krauss / New York Times:
Parties Split on How to Expand Offshore Drilling — HOUSTON — The two political parties have settled on markedly different strategies for improving domestic oil supplies to help lower gasoline prices. — Republicans want to end the 27-year ban on offshore drilling along much of the nation's coastline …
Discussion:
TownHall Blog
Matthew Yglesias:
Shock of the Old — Belle Waring returns to the United States from Singapore where she lives: … I believe it's the Pulaski Skyway (pictured above). In part, a country like the United States just isn't going to be able to compete infrastructure-wise with a newly-prosperous country like Singapore …
Discussion:
Crooked Timber
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, Redstate, PoliPundit.com, StephenBainbridge.com, Sweetness & Light, NewsBusters.org, Daily Pundit, Media Blog and TigerHawk
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.