Top Items:
Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:
Obama Might ‘Refine’ Iraq Timeline — Barack Obama in Fargo, N.D. (Photo: Jae C. Hong/Associated Press) — FARGO, N.D. - Senator Barack Obama said Thursday the United States cannot sustain a long-term military presence in Iraq, but added that he would be open to “refine my policies” …
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Mike Allen / The Politico:
Obama to ‘refine’ Iraq plan — Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Thursday backed off his firm promise to withdraw combat forces from Iraq immediately and instead said he could “refine” his plan after his trip to Baghdad later this month. — Earlier, a top Obama adviser had said that the senator is not “wedded” to a specific timeline.
Discussion:
TownHall Blog, The New Republic, The Jed Report, Pajamas Media, Gateway Pundit and American Spectator
Jonathan Weisman / The Trail:
Obama Softens on Iraq Withdrawal Timeline
Obama Softens on Iraq Withdrawal Timeline
Discussion:
Associated Press, Major Garrett's Bourbon Room, The American Mind and TPM Election Central
BBC:
Google must divulge YouTube log — Google must divulge the viewing habits of every user who has ever watched any video on YouTube, a US court has ruled. — The ruling comes as part of Google's legal battle with Viacom over allegations of copyright infringement.
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Miguel Helft / New York Times:
Judge Orders Google to Turn Over YouTube Records — SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in New York has ordered Google to turn over to Viacom a database linking users of YouTube, the Web's largest video site by far, with every clip they have watched there. — The order raised concerns among users …
Discussion:
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Kurt Opsahl / Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Court Ruling Will Expose Viewing Habits of YouTube Users
Court Ruling Will Expose Viewing Habits of YouTube Users
Discussion:
Threat Level, Wampum, Reason Magazine, Stop The ACLU, Discourse.net, The Impolitic, Wake up America, Blogs of War and The Volokh Conspiracy
Matthew Yglesias:
I'm Worried — David Broder: … And yet here we are in 2008. And I don't think anyone can seriously dispute that the current President of the United States violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or any number of legal commitments to refrain from torture.
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Joe Rospars / my.barackobama.com:
Response from Barack on FISA and Discussion with Policy Staff — Barack is on the road today, but he wrote a response that he asked be posted on the blog. You'll find it below. — In addition, for the next 30 minutes or so, three members of our policy staff will be in the comments on this post to respond to any questions you have.
Douglas J. Feith / Wall Street Journal:
Why We Went to War in Iraq — A lot of poor commentary has framed the Iraq war as a conflict of “choice” rather than of “necessity.” In fact, President George W. Bush chose to remove Saddam Hussein from power because he concluded that doing so was necessary.
Doyle McManus / Los Angeles Times:
A short but sweet gathering — Barack Obama's campaign and the Democratic National Committee are toying with a convention scheduling change that has been broached before in theory but never seriously considered: cutting the party's conclave in Denver short by one day to give Obama an extra …
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Marc Ambinder, Hot Air, The Trail, Redstate, TIME.com and The Political Carnival
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Rasmussen Reports:
Election 2008: Montana Presidential Election — Montana: Obama Leads McCain By Five — Barack Obama is leading John McCain by five percentage points in Montana. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state shows Obama attracting 48% of the vote while McCain earns 43%.
Discussion:
The New Republic, Strange Bedfellows, TPM Election Central, FiveThirtyEight.com, Matthew Yglesias, Open Left, Reason Magazine, Left in the West, Publius Endures, Cliff Schecter, Slog, MyDD, Donklephant, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Political Machine, pandagon.net and The Carpetbagger Report
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The Al-Haramain ruling and the current Congress — (updated below) — A Bush-41-appointed Federal District Judge yesterday became the third judge — out of three who have ruled on the issue — to reject the Bush administration's claim that Article II entitles the President to override or ignore the provisions of FISA.
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ABC News:
Plasma, LCDs blamed for accelerating global warming — Audio: Flat screen TVs ‘contribute to global warming’ (The World Today) — A gas used in the making of flat screen televisions, nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), is being blamed for damaging the atmosphere and accelerating global warming.
Wall Street Journal:
McCain Allies Find Finance-Law Holes — Governors' Fund Recruits Big Donors; Bid to Catch Obama — Allies of Sen. John McCain have found new loopholes in the campaign-finance law he helped write — and they're using them to reel in huge contributions to help him compete with Sen. Barack Obama.
Discussion:
Marc Ambinder, TPMMuckraker, Newshoggers.com, MoJoBlog, Betsy's Page, BuzzFlash.org and Jonathan Martin's Blogs
Patricia Cohen / New York Times:
The '60s Begin to Fade as Liberal Professors Retire — MADISON, Wis. — When Michael Olneck was standing, arms linked with other protesters, singing “We Shall Not Be Moved” in front of Columbia University's library in 1968, Sara Goldrick-Rab had not yet been born.
David Matthews / The Hill:
Philly radio station refuses to run Democratic ad — A Philadelphia news radio station has rejected a Democratic ad that features an impersonator of President Bush thanking GOP congressional candidates for supporting the “Big Oil” agenda. — Philadelphia KYW-AM Vice President …
Daniel J. Chacon / Rocky Mountain News:
‘She deceived us,’ mayor says about jazz singer — Opting for black anthem ‘a very bad decision,’ says City Council boss Hancock — Sen. Barack Obama said today a jazz singer's decision to sing the ‘Black National Anthem’ at Denver's State of the City speech this week was wrong.
Steve Doughty / Daily Mail:
Sharia law SHOULD be used in Britain, says UK's top judge — The most senior judge in England tonight gave his blessing to the use of sharia law to resolve disputes among Muslims. — Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips said that Islamic legal principles could be employed to deal with family …
Discussion:
Vodkapundit
CNN:
CNN Poll: Voters say both candidates likeable, flip-floppers — (CNN) - How do voters feel about the two major-party presidential candidates this year? — As the marathon 2008 campaign for the White House enters its final four months, a solid majority views both Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain favorably.
Discussion:
The New Republic