Top Items:
Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Jesse Jackson Apologizes for Remarks on Obama — WASHINGTON — The Rev. Jesse Jackson apologized on Wednesday for critical and crude comments he made about Senator Barack Obama, remarks in which he accused Mr. Obama of “talking down to black people.” — Mr. Jackson, before an interview …
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Charles Hurt / New York Post:
JESSE'S A ‘NUT’ JOB — LASHES OBAMA WITH VILE LOW BLOW — WASHINGTON - In a shocking blast at Barack Obama that was caught on tape, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said, “I wanna cut his nuts out.” — He made the astonishingly vulgar remark as he accused the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee …
Discussion:
The New Republic, Associated Press, MSNBC, THE GUN TOTING LIBERAL™, michellemalkin.com and Opinion L.A.
The Politico:
Dems searching their souls on drilling — In the stages of grief, denial gives way to anger and then to bargaining. — It may be an apt metaphor this week, as Democrats' long-held opposition to expanded offshore oil drilling succumbs to the political realities of $4-per-gallon gasoline.
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Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Obama's Ideology Proving Difficult to Pinpoint — Democrats Decry a Move Toward Middle, but Republicans Still See a Liberal — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama put himself on the opposite side of his party's leadership in the Senate yesterday by reversing course to support a compromise intelligence surveillance bill.
Gail Collins / New York Times:
The Audacity of Listening — We have to have a talk about Barack Obama. — I know, I know. You're upset. You think the guy you fell in love with last spring is spending the summer flip-flopping his way to the right. Drifting to the center. Going all moderate on you. So you're withholding the love.
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Clinton and Obama do joint fundraiser but he forgets the fund part — The unity thing is proving something of a stubborn problem for the no longer officially dueling camps of Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. There've been reports in recent days of some die-hard Clinton supporters …
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Cathleen Decker / Los Angeles Times:
Carly Fiorina's fuzzy McCain-speak — Carly Fiorina is one of John McCain's chief surrogates, talking him up particularly to that key target group, women. But Fiorina, ousted as chief of Hewlett-Packard in 2005, is not above rounding the edges on straight talk.
Discussion:
The New Republic, The Swamp, PoliticalBase.com Blog, MSNBC, TPM Election Central, RealClearPolitics and Wonkette
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The Lede:
In an Iranian Image, a Missile Too Many — Updated, 9:33 a.m., Agence France-Presse has retracted the image as “apparently digitally altered.” — As news spread across the world of Iran's provocative missile tests, so did an image of four missiles heading skyward in unison.
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
Barack's Brilliant Ground Game — For a campaign that says it wants to end the politics of the Bush-Cheney years, the Obama for President effort has cribbed an awful lot from the Bush-Cheney playbooks of 2000 and 2004. — For starters, Barack Obama's manager admitted to the New York Times …
Susan Page / USA Today:
This year, 6 types of voters will decide the presidential election — All voters are not created equal. — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama leads Republican John McCain in the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll by only single digits among registered voters, 48%-42%, at the edge of the survey's margin of error.
Andrew Grice / The Independent:
Bush to G8: 'Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter' — After rejecting global climate-change targets, George Bush's parting shot to the G8 summit — President George Bush signed off with a defiant farewell over his refusal to accept global climate change targets at his last G8 summit.
Discussion:
The Reaction, Firedoglake, Gateway Pundit, Brilliant at Breakfast, AMERICAblog News and Obsidian Wings
Stephanie Mencimer / MoJoBlog:
Rove Is a No-Show — Members of the House Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law didn't even wait until the 10 a.m. mark to declare former presidential adviser Karl Rove a no-show this morning. The committee had subpoenaed Rove to appear to discuss the politicization …
Discussion:
Think Progress
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Mike Allen / The Politico:
Gramm calls slowdown ‘mental’ — Former Sen. Phil Gramm, a top economic adviser to presumptive GOP nominee John McCain, referred to the economic slowdown as “a mental recession” and called the United States “a nation of whiners.” — The comments, in an interview with The Washington Times …
Discussion:
Think Progress, MSNBC, Hot Air, Angry Bear, PoliticalBase.com Blog, The Trail, Salon, Sound Politics and No More Mister Nice Blog
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Washington Post:
U.S. General: Iraqi Forces to Be Fully Ready in '09 — Iraq's army and police will be fully manned and operational by mid-2009, possibly as early as April, the top U.S. general in charge of building Iraqi security forces said yesterday, signaling the prospect that Iraqi forces …
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Wall Street Journal:
The Price of Fannie Mae — As opposed to GM or Ford, most Americans have never heard of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Yet the insolvency of either mortgage giant would have far more profound consequences for every American taxpayer than the bankruptcy of those car companies.
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Rasmussen Reports:
Election 2008: Missouri Presidential Election — Missouri: McCain Leads By Five in Classic Swing State — The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Missouri shows John McCain attracting 47% of the vote while Barack Obama earns 42%. A month ago, the candidates were essentially even.
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Peter Applebome / New York Times:
Build a Wiffle Ball Field and Lawyers Will Come — Some town-owned land in Greenwich, Conn., has been turned into a Wiffle ball field by teenagers. Neighbors are complaining. Jeff Currivan, 17, shown at bat, said, “They think we're a cult.” — GREENWICH, Conn.
Discussion:
Overlawyered
George F. Will / Washington Post:
Survival of the Sudsiest — Perhaps, like many sensible citizens, you read Investor's Business Daily for its sturdy common sense in defending free markets and other rational arrangements. If so, you too may have been startled recently by an astonishing statement on that newspaper's front page.
Ernesto Londoño / Washington Post:
U.S. Troops in Iraq Face A Powerful New Weapon — Suspected Shiite militiamen have begun using powerful rocket-propelled bombs to attack U.S. military outposts in recent months, broadening the array of weapons used against American troops. — U.S. military officials call the devices Improvised Rocket Assisted Munitions, or IRAMs.
New Scientist:
Cleaner skies explain surprise rate of warming — From New Scientist Print Edition. Subscribe and get 4 free issues — GOODBYE air pollution and smoky chimneys, hello brighter days. That's been the trend in Europe for the past three decades - but unfortunately cleaning up the skies …