Top Items:
Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
U.S., Iraq Scale Down Negotiations Over Forces — Long-Term Agreement Will Fall to Next President — U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have abandoned efforts to conclude a comprehensive agreement governing the long-term status of U.S troops in Iraq before the end of the Bush presidency …
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Marie Colvin / Times of London:
Nouri al-Maliki ready to oust US from Iraq green zone — The green zone of Baghdad, a highly fortified slice of American suburbia on the banks of the Tigris river, may soon be handed over to Iraqi control if the increasingly assertive government of Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, gets its way.
New York Post:
EGO-BAMA, SWALLOW SOME OF THAT PRIDE — In his pre-campaign book, “The Audacity of Hope,” Barack Obama proclaims, “I find comfort in the fact that the longer I'm in politics the less nourishing popularity becomes, that a striving for rank and fame seems to betray a poverty of ambition …
Ryan Lizza / New Yorker:
MAKING IT — How Chicago shaped Obama. — Barack Obama on the South Side during his first campaign, for the State Senate. An outsider in Chicago's system, he was meticulous about constructing his own political identity and coalition. Photograph by Marc PoKempner.
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The Big Trunk / Power Line:
THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF BARACK OBAMA — Jonah Goldberg devotes a good column to the thesis that Barack Obama believes in nothing more than he believes in himself. He collects quotes that illustrate Obama's adolescent grandiosity, a grandiosity that was visibly on display in his handling of his treatment of Jeremiah Wright.
Frank Rich / New York Times:
The Real-Life ‘24’ of Summer 2008 — WE know what a criminal White House looks like from “The Final Days,” Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's classic account of Richard Nixon's unraveling. The cauldron of lies, paranoia and illegal surveillance boiled over, until it was finally every man …
N. Gregory Mankiw / New York Times:
What if the Candidates Pandered to Economists? — IN the months to come, John McCain and Barack Obama will be vying for the support of various voting blocs. It is safe to say, however, that one group won't get much attention: economists. — The American Economic Association represents …
Discussion:
Marginal Revolution, The Glittering Eye, EconLog, PrestoPundit, naked capitalism and The Volokh Conspiracy
Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
No Ice Cream, Senator? — Barack Obama may make it to the Rose Garden, but he'll still be an orchid. For all his attempts to act like a sturdy American perennial, he's a genuine hothouse flower, and everything he is and does is cultivated. — He has been trying of late to show off his dad cred …
Juan Williams / FOX Forum:
A Man Who Loved People, the Gritty Nature of Life and All of the Human Comedy — NPR Senior Correspondent/FOX News Political Contributor — Tony Snow and I traveled parallel paths through Washington. We are a year apart in age -Tony is a year younger at 53 -and both loved politics and debate.
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Times of London:
Stephen Payne: a hotshot lobbyist who can get you into White House — A lobbyist offered access to Dick Cheney and other US leaders in return for a donation to the Bush library — The images on the tiny screen of Stephen Payne's personal organiser told a clear story: this was a man with connections at the highest level.
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Times of London:
US Treasury rescue for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — Treasury secretary looks at $15 billion cash injection for crisis-hit mortgage lenders — US TREASURY secretary Hank Paulson is working on plans to inject up to $15 billion (£7.5 billion) of capital into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac …
Discussion:
BloggingStocks, Emptywheel, Calculated Risk, Scripting News, naked capitalism and Balloon Juice
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Satyam / Think Progress:
George Will Sticks Up For Gramm: Americans Are ‘The Cry Babies Of The Western World’ — Last week, Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) economic adviser Phil Gramm sparked controversy by stating that the U.S. is in a “mental recession” created by a “nation of whiners.”
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News
CNSNews:
Global Warming Led to ‘Black Hawk Down,’ Congressman Says — On the Spot (CNSNews.com) - A top Democrat told high school students gathered at the U.S. Capitol Thursday that climate change caused Hurricane Katrina and the conflict in Darfur, which led to the “black hawk down” battle between U.S. troops and Somali rebels.
Discussion:
Pirate's Cove, The Powers That Be, Gateway Pundit, Macsmind, TigerHawk, Moonbattery, Right Wing News and American Thinker
Jeffry Scott / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
McKinney wins Green Party nomination — CHICAGO — Former Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney reassumed the national political stage Saturday, winning the presidential nomination of the Green Party of the United States at the party's national convention here.
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Thers / Firedoglake:
OBAMA ROCKED BY SCANDAL: Is Presidential Bid Over? — I know we're not supposed to directly quote AP stories without paying them serious cash, but this story is so important and has such major ramifications for this election — which will of course decide the leader of the free world …
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Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Today's cover feature in Bus & Driver: Bernie Mac
Today's cover feature in Bus & Driver: Bernie Mac
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, QandO, Stop The ACLU, Don Surber, Althouse, Political Punch, Ed Driscoll.com, The Swamp, Democracy Project and Shakesville