Top Items:
Barak Ravid / Haaretz:
Disinformation, secrecy, deception: How the Gaza offensive came about — Long-term preparation, careful gathering of information, secret discussions, operational deception and the misleading of the public - all these stood behind the Israel Defense Forces “Cast Lead” operation against Hamas targets …
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Bradley Burston / Haaretz:
Bradley Burston / The worst anti-Israel charges you'll hear in wartime — It is, abruptly and again, wartime. Across the globe, the selective pacifists of the left and the recliner Rambos of the right are spoiling for their next battle, the war in Gaza. — They will fight one another …
Hana Levi Julian / Arutz Sheva:
IDF Releases Photos of Hamas Targets, Terror Training Facilities — (IsraelNN.com) The IDF on Saturday night released aerial photos of Hamas facilities targeted by IAF fighter pilots on Saturday in Operation ‘Cast Lead.’ — The photos show the military training facilities Hamas has developed in Gaza …
David Horovitz / Jerusalem Post:
Analysis: The policy of restraint is over — The Israeli air strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza on Saturday, hugely dramatic in their scope, nonetheless mark only the beginning of an ongoing, potentially lengthy operation aimed at restoring calm to the South, rather than a one-off response to the escalated Kassam rocket fire.
BBC:
Eyewitness: Chaos in Gaza — The BBC's Rushdi Abou Alouf in the Gaza Strip described the chaos as Israeli warplanes fired missiles at Hamas targets, killing at least 155 Palestinians. — Israeli planes are still flying over Gaza and they have just targeted another Hamas [security] …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Times of London, Pajamas Media, Buck Naked Politics, CBS News, Xinhua News Agency and Atlas Shrugs
Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post:Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza Strip Imperil Obama's Peace Chances
Aussie Dave / Israellycool:Israel Strikes Back — I will be updating this post.
Discussion:
Ya Libnan, Aljazeera, Associated Press, Gateway Pundit, Mere Rhetoric, CNN, Jerusalem Post, Firedoglake, Commentary, Solomonia, Jules Crittenden and A Blog For All
Jerusalem Post:IDF amasses forces near Gaza ahead of possible ground op.
Discussion:
Ynetnews, The New Republic, Time, Yourish.com, Israel Matzav, Haaretz, New York Times, Mere Rhetoric and Gateway Pundit
Haaretz:Olmert: Our desire for quiet was met with terror
Discussion:
Ynetnews, Mondoweiss, Israpundit, The RBC, Commentary, American Footprints, Yourish.com, Jerusalem Post and PoliBlog
Mike Allen / The Politico:
GOP chair ‘appalled’ by ‘Magic Negro’ CD — Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan issued a statement Saturday distancing the party's leadership from one of the GOP's best-known operatives, Chip Saltsman, who distributed a CD containing “Barack the Magic Negro” …
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Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:Republican's Gift Held Racial Parody of Obama
Discussion:
New York Times, Buck Naked Politics, bastard.logic, The Moderate Voice, The Skepticians and Commentary
New York Times:
As a Candidate, Kennedy Is Forceful but Remains Elusive — Caroline Kennedy, the woman who would be New York's next senator, is sure of one thing. Among all the hopefuls seeking to succeed Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, she said on Saturday, there is no better choice.
Discussion:
NY Daily News, RIGHTWINGSPARKLE, Connecting.the.Dots, Gawker, Commentary, The New Republic, Don Surber and Ben Smith's Blogs
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Andie Coller / The Politico:
After Bush, will MoveOn live up to its name? — After more than a decade spent railing against the Republican machine, MoveOn wants to move on —even if it means leaving some of its high-minded ideals behind. — Last week, the group's members chose their top four priorities for the organization …
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications
New York Times:
By Saying Yes, WaMu Built Empire on Shaky Loans — “We hope to do to this industry what Wal-Mart did to theirs, Starbucks did to theirs, Costco did to theirs and Lowe's-Home Depot did to their industry. And I think if we've done our job, five years from now you're not going to call us a bank.”
Christopher Booker / Telegraph:
2008 was the year manmade global warming was disproved — Looking back over my columns of the past 12 months, one of their major themes was neatly encapsulated by two recent items from The Daily Telegraph. — The first, on May 21, headed “Climate change threat to Alpine ski resorts” …
David S. Broder / Washington Post:
The GOP Goes South — As a rule, a new president's choice of a secretary of transportation makes few headlines, even when the appointee is a member of the opposition. In 2001, George W. Bush decided to name as transportation secretary Norman Mineta, a former representative from California …
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News
Frank Rich / New York Times:
You're Likable Enough, Gay People — IN his first press conference after his re-election in 2004, President Bush memorably declared, “I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it.” We all know how that turned out. — Barack Obama has little in common …
Discussion:
TalkLeft
Charles Krauthammer / Weekly Standard:
The Net-Zero Gas Tax — A once-in-a-generation chance. — Americans have a deep and understandable aversion to gasoline taxes. In a culture more single-mindedly devoted to individual freedom than any other, tampering with access to the open road is met with visceral opposition.
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog
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Hilzoy / Washington Monthly:
The Disaster In Tennessee — I'm late to this story, but: what's happening in Tennessee sounds horrific: … This is much bigger than the Exxon Valdez spill. You can see aerial video here. I find it disturbing that the amount of fly ash now thought to have been released is over twice …
Marianne Mollmann / Washington Post:
Ending Impunity For Rape — I have a project for Joseph Biden and Hillary Clinton to work on together: ending impunity for rape. Rape-conviction rates are appallingly low across the globe. I don't mean only in countries that many would think of as lacking good justice systems …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Corydon Ireland / Harvard University Gazette:
Samuel Huntington, 81, political scientist, scholar — ‘One of the most influential political scientists of the last 50 years’ — Samuel P. Huntington - a longtime Harvard University professor, an influential political scientist, and mentor to a generation of scholars in widely divergent fields - died Dec. 24 on Martha's Vineyard.
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