Top Items:
John McCain / Wall Street Journal:
We Are All Georgians — For anyone who thought that stark international aggression was a thing of the past, the last week must have come as a startling wake-up call. After clashes in the Georgian region of South Ossetia, Russia invaded its neighbor, launching attacks that threaten its very existence.
Discussion:
The Swamp, Washington Post, At-Largely, The Caucus, Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, The Carpetbagger Report and TIME.com
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Seumas Milne / Guardian:
This is a tale of US expansion not Russian aggression — It's likely to be a taste of things to come — The outcome of six grim days of bloodshed in the Caucasus has triggered an outpouring of the most nauseating hypocrisy from western politicians and their captive media.
Andrew E. Kramer / New York Times:
Peace Plan Offers Russia a Rationale to Advance — TBILISI, Georgia — It was nearly 2 a.m. on Wednesday when President Nicolas Sarkozy of France announced he had accomplished what seemed virtually impossible: Persuading the leaders of Georgia and Russia to agree to a set of principles that would stop the war.
Discussion:
The Reaction, The New Republic, Guardian, RIA Novosti, The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, BitsBlog and Prairie Weather
Charles Krauthammer / Real Clear Politics:
How to Stop Putin — WASHINGTON — The Russia-Georgia cease …
How to Stop Putin — WASHINGTON — The Russia-Georgia cease …
New York Times:
Russia Backs Separatists as Rice Heads for Talks on Crisis
Russia Backs Separatists as Rice Heads for Talks on Crisis
Discussion:
Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
I See Four Key Battleground States — Presidential campaigns ultimately come down to who can win 270 Electoral College votes. With most states favoring one candidate or the other, this year's contest could come down to a few battleground states. — Based on visits this past week …
Discussion:
TownHall Blog, Commentary, At-Largely, Booman Tribune, www.redstate.com, Sister Toldjah, MSNBC, PoliPundit.com and TIME.com
Marc Ambinder:
Clinton's Name Likely To Be Placed In Nomination; Agreement Near With Obama Campaign — Reports of strife between negotiators for Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are exaggerated and the two sides are nearing an agreement on how Clinton's delegates will participate …
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Mark Bieganski / The Oprah blog:
Confirmed: Oprah Winfrey plans to be there when Barack Obama accepts nomination
Confirmed: Oprah Winfrey plans to be there when Barack Obama accepts nomination
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs
Walter Shapiro / Salon:
Johnny, I hardly knew ye — After covering John Edwards — and liking him — for years, what I thought I knew about him was wrong. But reporters often misjudge candidates. — John Edwards at his South Carolina primary night rally in Columbia, S.C., on Jan. 26, 2008.
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People.com:
The Edwards Affair: Elizabeth's ‘Excruciating Anguish’ — Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards stunned the nation with his televised confession Aug. 8 that he had an extramarital affair. Battling cancer that her doctors call incurable, his wife, Elizabeth …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Slate, Washington Post, Web Scout, Scared Monkeys, Political Radar and NewsBusters.org
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The Neocons And The Soviets — It's very bizarre to read the neocons' speaking about Russia as if the Soviet Union were still in existence. Here's a classic slice of the mindset from Max Boot, who wants a third little war in the Caucasus: … Condi Rice, who really should know better, said:
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Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
PUT NOT YOUR FAITH IN AEI — Andrew Sullivan, who's been on a tear on this story, has another good post on the bankrupt posturing of the neocons, jumping at the hopes of a new Cold War with the Russians, despite the lack of the ideological underpinnings on which we fought …
Eli Saslow / Washington Post:
New Books Aim To Unweave the Obama Narrative — In two autobiographies and dozens of speeches, Barack Obama has weaved the narrative that defines his campaign: An introspective boy gradually comes to terms with his mixed-race heritage and emerges with an “unprejudiced” worldview.
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Luke Rosiak / OpenSecrets.org:
Troops Deployed Abroad Give 6:1 to Obama — During World War II, soldiers crouching in foxholes penned letters assuring their sweethearts that they'd be home soon. Now, between firefights in the Iraqi desert, some infantrymen have been sending a different kind of mail stateside …
Wall Street Journal:
The Obama Tax Plan — Even as Barack Obama proposes fiscally responsible tax reform to strengthen our economy and restore the balance that has been lost in recent years, we hear the familiar protests and distortions from the guardians of the broken status quo.
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Carrie Johnson / Washington Post:
Hair Samples in Anthrax Case Don't Match — Strands From Mailbox in Princeton Are Not From Ivins, Investigators Say — Federal investigators probing the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks recovered samples of human hair from a mailbox in Princeton, N.J., but the strands did not match the lead suspect …
Kate Zernike / New York Times:
Charismatic Governor Rises to the Short List — The turning point in Tim Kaine's campaign for Virginia governor in 2005 was an advertisement by his opponent featuring a father whose son had been murdered by a man Mr. Kaine represented on death row. — “Tim Kaine says that Adolf Hitler …
Jack Shafer / Slate:
Conventional Nonsense — MAKING THE CASE FOR A PRESS BOYCOTT OF THE NATIONAL POLITICAL CONVENTIONS. — With just one exception over the last three decades, the two major parties have known the identity of their likely presidential candidate weeks or even months before gaveling their national political conventions open.