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” …
Discussion:
TIME.com, TPM Election Central, Hot Air, The Carpetbagger Report, Sister Toldjah, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, The Moderate Voice, Major Garrett's Bourbon Room, Liberal Values, Redstate, Macsmind, Taylor Marsh, Talking Points Memo, Power Line, Eunomia, The New Republic, The Corner, Hullabaloo, The News Buckit, Real Clear Politics, protein wisdom, The Impolitic, Gateway Pundit, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Weekly Standard Blog, Swampland, Truthdig and Angry Bear
RELATED:
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.
New York Times:
Obama Strives to Retain Some Flexibility on His Iraq Policy — Senator Barack Obama said Thursday that he might “refine” his plans for a phased withdrawal from Iraq after meeting with military commanders there later this summer. But later, he hastily held a second news conference …
Jennifer Loven / Associated Press:
Obama says Iraq trip could refine his policy
Obama says Iraq trip could refine his policy
Discussion:
Democrats.com
Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
News Orgs Already Getting It Wrong On Obama's Iraq Remarks
News Orgs Already Getting It Wrong On Obama's Iraq Remarks
Discussion:
The Jed Report
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.
RELATED:
Sarah Wheaton / The Caucus:
Obama Responds to FISA Protest on His Web Site
Obama Responds to FISA Protest on His Web Site
Discussion:
Liminal states, The Huffington Post, Connecting.the.Dots, The Trail, TIME.com, Shakesville and The Political Carnival
Jim Kuhnhenn / Associated Press:
Obama: Mental distress can't justify late abortion — WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says “mental distress” should not qualify as a justification for late-term abortions, a key distinction not embraced by many supporters of abortion rights.
RELATED:
Jeralyn / TalkLeft:
Obama: Mental Distress Can't Justify Late Term Abortion — Here's Obama reaching out to the evangelical right. The Associated Press reports: … Obama made no such distinction last year: … NARAL leaders ought to feel like idiots. [More...] … A leading anti-choice group …
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.
RELATED:
Miguel Helft / New York Times:
Google Told to Turn Over User Data of YouTube — SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge has ordered Google to turn over to Viacom its records of which users watched which videos on YouTube, the Web's largest video site by far. — The order raised concerns among YouTube users and privacy advocates …
Discussion:
The Reaction, Boing Boing, Electronic Frontier Foundation, BBC, Viking Pundit, The Volokh Conspiracy and The Impolitic
RELATED:
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.
Discussion:
StephenBainbridge.com, Macsmind, Grasping Reality …, Washington Monthly, Eschaton, NewsBusters.org, TalkLeft and The American Scene
RELATED:
Adam Smith / St. Petersburg Times:
Florida Gov. Crist says he's getting married — ST. PETERSBURG — Florida's most powerful bachelor is getting hitched. — Gov. Charlie Crist, single for nearly three decades, on Thursday morning became engaged to his girlfriend of nine months, Carole Rome. — “She's special in every way.
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 …
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.
Senator John McCain / Yahoo! News:
Putting The Country First — Two of our greatest statesmen, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, took their last breaths on July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after they presented America with our Declaration of Independence. They had been fellow revolutionaries, the closest of comrades, who went on to become bitter political rivals.
Patrick Healy / New York Times:
Target: Barack Obama. Strategy: What Day Is It? — Despite a three-month head start, Senator John McCain has struggled to solidify lines of attack against Senator Barack Obama for the general election, Republican operatives say and some of his own advisers acknowledge …