Top Items:
Juan Williams / Wall Street Journal:
Judge Obama on Performance Alone — Let's not celebrate more ordinary speeches. — With the noon sun high over the U.S. Capitol, Barack Obama yesterday took the oath of office to become president of the United States. On one level, it was a simple matter of political process — the symbolic transfer of power.
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The Politico:
Obama faces first day as president — With the pageantry almost behind him, Barack Obama comes to work for the first full day Wednesday to face problems both foreign and domestic. — And his staff just hopes to figure out the computers. — Obama wraps up the inaugural festivities Wednesday morning …
CNN:
Change In the Air(waves) — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Welcome to the YouTube White House. — In one of many signs of “change” in the air, President Obama has officially tweaked the name of a White House institution, the Weekly Radio Address, which has been heard on stations across the nation each Saturday for years.
Wall Street Journal:
Financials Plunge as U.S. Considers New Rescue Options — Shares of the biggest names in American banking plunged Tuesday as some investors feared that the government would need to nationalize the most deeply wounded financial institutions, wiping out stockholders.
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New York Times:
Questions for Mr. Geithner — Timothy Geithner, President Obama's nominee for Treasury secretary, appears before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday. The Op-Ed page asked seven experts in finance and economics to pose the questions they would like to hear the nominee answer.
Discussion:
The Washington Independent
Deborah Solomon / Wall Street Journal:
Tax Issue Won't Derail Geithner
Tax Issue Won't Derail Geithner
Discussion:
CBS News, New York Magazine, McClatchy Washington Bureau, The Caucus, The Politico and TIME.com
Peter Finn / Washington Post:
Obama Seeks Halt to Legal Proceedings at Guantanamo — In one of its first actions, the Obama administration instructed military prosecutors late Tuesday to seek a 120-day suspension of legal proceedings involving detainees at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — a clear break with the approach of the outgoing Bush administration.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Think Progress, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Jules Crittenden, Daily Kos, The Strata-Sphere, Fausta's Blog, The Washington Independent, RealClearWorld, the talking dog, TIME.com, Emptywheel, Booman Tribune, Don Surber, On Deadline, Macsmind, Obsidian Wings, Newshoggers.com, ATTACKERMAN, Truthdig, Kevin Drum and Balkinization
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Jane Sutton / Reuters:
Guantanamo trial of Canadian halted
Guantanamo trial of Canadian halted
Discussion:
Gallup, Washington Monthly, Associated Press, Outside The Beltway, Stop The ACLU, MyDD and GINA COBB
Amanda Carpenter / Townhall.com:
Something Has to Be Said — The utter lack of ooh-ing and ah-ing over Michelle Obama's inauguration wear should tell you something. It was bad. — She's worn beautiful things in the past. I tend to think saturated, jewel tones (royal purple, forest green, dark teal, deep orange) look great on her.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Other McCain, American Spectator, JammieWearingFool and Riehl World View
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Fox News:
World Celebrates, Riots on Obama's Inauguration Day — While much of the world celebrated the arrival of the new American president on Tuesday, some regions saw angry protests. — In Iran, protesters burnt posters of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama and waved flags in support of Gaza, Reuters reported.
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BBC:
Dutch MP faces anti-Islam charges — A Dutch court has ordered prosecutors to put a right-wing politician on trial for making anti-Islamic statements. — Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders made a controversial film last year equating Islam with violence and has likened the Koran to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.
Discussion:
Atlas Shrugs, Samizdata.net, Gateway Pundit, Gates of Vienna, Jihad Watch and Fausta's Blog
NY Daily News:
Human rights honcho in kiddie porn bust — A high-ranking human rights worker with ties to the United Nations was nabbed at Kennedy Airport Tuesday with kiddie porn in his suitcase, officials said. — Clarence Dias, 65, president of the International Center for Law in Development …
Gregg Levine / Firedoglake:
Worst. Inauguration. Ever. — So, I don't even know how to write about this without it sounding like bitter grousing, and frankly, I'm a little embarrassed to have to report that after five hours of standing in the bitter cold, getting pushed and shoved to the point where you start to feel …
Anita Chang / Associated Press:
Chinese translation cuts out parts of Obama speech — BEIJING - The official Chinese translation of President Barack Obama's inauguration speech omitted his references to communism and dissent, and a live broadcast on state television Wednesday quickly cut away to the anchor when sensitive topics were mentioned.
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
White House Cheat Sheet: The Debut — Welcome to the newest Fix feature — our daily rundown of the news you need to know about the White House of President Barack Obama. — We started the cheat sheet during the party conventions over the summer and had so much fun with it that we thought …
Naftali Bendavid / Wall Street Journal:
GOP Calibrates Role as Opposition — WASHINGTON — House Minority Leader John Boehner recently attacked the potential “wasteful spending” and “mountains of debt” in President Barack Obama's stimulus plan. A few days later, he warmly invited Mr. Obama to address House Republicans, saying …
The Politico:
Seven reasons for healthy skepticism — Even in a city of cynics, the Inauguration of a new president — and the infusion of new ideas, new personalities and new energy that comes with it — summons feelings of reverence. — Barack Obama, especially, is the object of inaugural good feelings.
Carolyn Lochhead / San Francisco Chronicle:
Experts say Obama should retake the oath — (01-21) 04:00 PST Washington - — Several constitutional lawyers said President Obama should, just to be safe, retake the oath of office that was flubbed by Chief Justice John Roberts. — The 35-word oath is explicitly prescribed in the Constitution …
New York Times:
Israel Completes Gaza Withdrawal — GAZA — After more than three weeks of fighting, Israeli troops completed their withdrawal from Gaza early on Wednesday, the military said, but residents reported the continued sound of what they said was naval gunfire in the waters off the Mediterranean coastline here.
Kenneth Lovett / NY Daily News:
Paterson has Hillary Clinton's Senate replacement in mind - but wants to think about it more — ALBANY - Gov. Paterson said Tuesday he has finally zeroed in on a candidate to replace Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate - but wants to mull it over a few more days.
Discussion:
TIME.com
Michelle Roberts / Oregonian:
Portland Mayor Sam Adams apologizes for ‘sexual relationship’ with teenager … Portland Mayor Sam Adams held a news conference at 1:30 p.m. today in City Hall to discuss reports of his sexual relationship with a teenager. Reporter Michelle Roberts is sending dispatches from the news conference.