Top Items:
New York Times:
Kennedy Drops Bid for Clinton's Senate Seat, Citing Personal Reasons — Caroline Kennedy announced early Thursday that she was withdrawing from consideration for the vacant Senate seat in New York, startling the state's political world after weeks in which she was considered a top contender for the post.
Discussion:
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New York Post:
CAROLINE KENNEDY ENDS SENATE SEAT BID — By FREDRIC U. DICKER IN ALBANY and MAGGIE HABERMAN IN N.Y. — Caroline Kennedy has told Gov. David Paterson that she is withdrawing her name from consideration to replace outgoing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the U.S. Senate, The Post has learned.
Discussion:
NY Daily News, Newsday, The Politico, Hot Air, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Note, Michelle Malkin, The Daily Politics, Runnin' Scared, JammieWearingFool, Spin Cycle, CBS News, JustOneMinute, Political Machine, Gothamist, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, TalkLeft, Wonkette, Townhall.com, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Wizbang, Oliver Willis, On Deadline and Daily Kos
MSNBC:
Caroline Kennedy withdraws Senate bid — Personal reasons cited in official statement released early Thursday — msnbc.com staff and news service reports — ALBANY, New York - Caroline Kennedy said she has withdrawn her name from consideration for the Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton …
Michael Gormley / Associated Press:
Kennedy cites ‘personal reasons’ for ending bid
Kennedy cites ‘personal reasons’ for ending bid
Discussion:
Reuters
Associated Press:
Obama takes presidential oath again after stumble — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON - After the flub heard around the world, President Barack Obama has taken the oath of office. Again. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the oath to Obama …
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Steven Pinker / New York Times:
Oaf of Office — IN 1969, Neil Armstrong appeared to have omitted an indefinite article as he stepped onto the moon and left earthlings puzzled over the difference between “man” and “mankind.” In 1980, Jimmy Carter, accepting his party's nomination, paid homage to a former vice president he called Hubert Horatio Hornblower.
Discussion:
Alexander Cornswalled, Washington Wire, normblog, The Volokh Conspiracy and Language Log
New York Times:
Obama to Shut Guantánamo Site and C.I.A. Prisons — WASHINGTON — President Obama is expected to sign executive orders Thursday directing the Central Intelligence Agency to shut what remains of its network of secret prisons and ordering the closing of the Guantánamo detention camp within a year, government officials said.
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Sara A. Carter / Washington Times:
EXCLUSIVE: Obama to close terrorist ‘black sites’ — President Obama on Thursday will order the closure of so-called black sites, where CIA and European security services have interrogated terrorist suspects, under executive orders dismantling much of the Bush admistration's architecture …
Ian Sparks / Daily Mail:
Former French President Chirac hospitalised after mauling by his clinically depressed poodle … Former French president Jacques Chirac was rushed to hospital after being mauled by his own ‘clinically depressed’ pet dog. — The 76-year-old statesman was savaged by his white Maltese dog …
Discussion:
Fausta's Blog
Chad Pergram / Fox News:
Murtha Says He'd Take Guantanamo Prisoners in His District — Rep. Jack Murtha volunteers to house prisoners from Guantanamo Bay in his Pennsylvania district, as President Obama prepares to order the shut-down of the facility. — FOXNews.com — Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa. …
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Tom Baldwin / Times of London:
President Obama's first call ‘was to President Abbas’ — President Obama placed the Middle East at the forefront of his first hours in office yesterday as he sought to make good on his promise of “ushering in a new era of peace”. — In a flurry of telephone calls from the Oval Office …
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Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:
Foxman: George Mitchell is too ‘fair’ …
Foxman: George Mitchell is too ‘fair’ …
Discussion:
Sandbox, Guardian, American Thinker, Blogs and Stories, KansasCity.com Prime Buzz, The Jewish Week, Liberty Street and D-Day
Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:
Obama tasks Clinton to step up US diplomacy — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton is taking control of the State Department with a mandate from President Barack Obama to step up diplomatic efforts and restore the nation's tattered image abroad.
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David Stout / New York Times:
Clinton Is Approved, but Vote on Holder Is Delayed
Clinton Is Approved, but Vote on Holder Is Delayed
Discussion:
The Politico, Glenn Thrush's Blogs, Gothamist, Washington Wire, Buck Naked Politics, The Swamp and Washington Monthly
Jonn Lilyea / This ain't Hell …:
Obama blows off Medal of Honor recipients — According to TSO who was at the “Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball”, this newly sworn-in President for the first time in 56 years blew off the ball (that's 14 Inaugurations). — Some background on the ball;
The Campaign Spot:
TurboTax Doesn't Prompt Users to Pay Self-Employment Taxes? Or Just Geithner's Copy of the Software? — In today's confirmation hearing, Treasury Secretary nominee Tim Geithner said he used TurboTax to prepare his returns for the years in question where he failed to pay self-employment taxes …
Discussion:
Megan McArdle, Fausta's Blog, Washington Wire, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Corner, NewsBusters.org, Pajamas Media, Chicago Boyz, Commentary and Hot Air
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
In U.S., 60% Tuned In to Inauguration as It Happened — Nearly half (46%) rate Obama's speech as excellent — PRINCETON, NJ — Six in 10 Americans tuned in live to the presidential inauguration ceremonies on Tuesday. Another 20% heard or read news reports of the event while 20% caught none of it.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Siobhan Gorman / Wall Street Journal:
Intelligence Agencies' Databases Set to Be Linked — After Years of Bureaucratic Snags, System Aims to Ease Communications, Give Spies Access to More Data — WASHINGTON — U.S. spy agencies' sensitive data should soon be linked by Google-like search systems, nearly five years …
Discussion:
GroupIntel
Jill Serjeant / Reuters:
Obama inauguration got unprecedented news coverage — LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's inauguration generated an unprecedented 35,000 stories in the world's major newspapers, television and radio broadcasts over the past day — about 35 times more than the last presidential swearing-in …