Top Items:
Ben Armbruster / Think Progress:
Iraqi Journalist Throws His Shoes At Bush During Press Conference In Baghdad (Updated)» — President Bush is in Baghdad today on a surprise farewell visit highlighting the security deal recently reached between the U.S. and Iraq. CNN Baghdad correspondent Michael Ware reports …
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BBC:
Shoes thrown at Bush on Iraq trip — President Bush ducks as the shoes are thrown — A surprise visit by US President George Bush to Iraq has been overshadowed by an incident in which two shoes were thrown at him during a news conference. — An Iraqi journalist was wrestled to the floor …
Steven Lee Myers / New York Times:
Bush Arrives in Iraq for a Final Visit — BAGHDAD — President Bush flew to Iraq on Sunday, a final trip to highlight the recently completed security agreement between Iraq and the United States. — Air Force One arrived in Baghdad at 4 p.m. after a 10-and-a-half-hour overnight flight from Andrews Air Force Base near Washington.
The Huffington Post:
Iraqi Throws Shoes At Bush During Press Conference (VIDEO) — CNN notes that this is considered an insult among muslims: … Earlier from AP: BAGHDAD — On an Iraq trip shrouded in secrecy and dissent, President George W. Bush on Sunday hailed progress in the unpopular war that defines …
Discussion:
Tennessee Guerilla Women, The Politico, BAGnewsNotes, Reuters, The Impolitic, Agence France Presse, Pharyngula and New York Times
Edwin Chen / Bloomberg:
Bush Ducks Shoes Thrown in Iraqi Leader's Office — A A A — Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) — President George W. Bush ducked two shoes thrown at him by a man during a press conference in the Iraqi prime minister's office to mark the signing of a security agreement.
Adam Ashton / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Iraqi journalist hurls shoes at Bush during news conference
Iraqi journalist hurls shoes at Bush during news conference
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Mike Allen / The Politico:
McCain scolds GOP for whacking Obama — In a surprising rebuke to the warriors who fought for him through tough times, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday sided with President-elect Barack Obama and scolded the Republican National Committee for fanning the Illinois corruption scandal.
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Jennifer Parker / George's Bottom Line:
McCain: RNC's Obama-Blagojevich Focus Not Helpful
McCain: RNC's Obama-Blagojevich Focus Not Helpful
Discussion:
The Fix, Hot Air, TPM Election Central, TIME.com, Washington Monthly and Chicago Breaking News
Michael Isikoff / Newsweek:
The Fed Who Blew the Whistle — Is he a hero or a criminal? — Nigel Parry / CPI for Newsweek — From the magazine issue dated Dec 22, 2008 — Thomas M. Tamm was entrusted with some of the government's most important secrets. He had a Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearance, a level above Top Secret.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, Macsmind, PERRspectives Blog, Power Line, theheretik.us, Kevin Drum and Pacific Views
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Michael Calderone / Michael Calderone's Blogs:
NYT wiretap source revealed
NYT wiretap source revealed
Discussion:
Associated Press
Carol E. Lee / The Politico:
Biden to shrink VP role — big time — Joe Biden is laying plans to significantly shrink the role of the vice presidency in Barack Obama's White House, according to an official familiar with his thinking. — It's not just that Biden won't sit in on Senate Democrats' weekly caucus meetings …
Discussion:
The Politico, The Democratic Daily, Commentary, Washington Post, The Caucus, Becoming 44, Below The Beltway and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS
David Neiwert / Crooks and Liars:
Nazis in the military: 'I'm so proud of my kills' — [Shawn Stuart, Iraq War veteran, at a 2006 neo-Nazi rally in Olympia, WA.] — Two years ago, the Southern Poverty Law Center ran a devastating report describing the infiltration of neo-Nazis into the ranks of the American military.
Jordy Yager / The Hill:
State official says Blagojevich may step aside Monday — Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) may give up his seat on Monday, according to the state's attorney general. — “We have heard that there is a possibility that tomorrow he will make an announcement that he will step aside,” Lisa Madigan said Sunday on NBC's “Meet the Press.”
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
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Bill Marsh / New York Times:
Illinois Is Trying. It Really Is. But the Most Corrupt State Is Actually . . . Where is officialdom most crooked? Last week, many guessed it must be Illinois, after news that Gov. Rod Blagojevich was taped making brazen personal demands in exchange for his selection of a Senate successor to President-elect Barack Obama.
Associated Press:
Palin's church damaged in suspicious fire — ANCHORAGE, ALASKA — Gov. Sarah Palin's home church has been badly damaged in an arson fire. — Damages to the Wasilla Bible Church were estimated at $1 million, authorities said today. No one was injured in the fire, which was intentionally set while people …
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Deborah Blum / The Huffington Post:
Why My Dog (And I) No Longer Watch CNN — In my home office we are boycotting CNN. Of course, my home office is a room at the back of my house occupied by myself and the family dog, a boxer named Dodger, who contributes by snoring musically while I work. — Nevertheless, we take this boycott seriously.
Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:
A Finger in the Dike — For the first time in human history, I agree with Dick Cheney. According to The Los Angeles Times, he warned Republican senators that if they refused to bail out the auto companies, “we will be known as the party of Herbert Hoover forever.”
Andrew Orlowski / The Register:
Google cranks up the Consensus Engine — Manufacturing isn't dead - it just went to Mountain View — Google this week admitted that its staff will pick and choose what appears in its search results. It's a historic statement - and nobody has yet grasped its significance.
Peter Baker / New York Times:
The Lasting Effects of Political Poison — WASHINGTON — It came to John D. Podesta during a jog through the scenic Rock Creek Park over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. His boss was going to be impeached and there was no way around it. It took Rahm Emanuel a little longer to reach that conclusion.
Discussion:
Kevin Drum, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Monthly, Capital Gains and Games blogs and Hot Air