Top Items:
New York Times:
Blagojevich Ousted by Illinois State Senate — SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois State Senate on Thursday convicted Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich on a sprawling article of impeachment that charged him with abusing his power. The vote prompted the governor's immediate and permanent ouster …
Discussion:
Washington Post, BBC, The Lede, The Gun Toting Liberal, The Caucus, American Power, DownWithTyranny!, Think Progress, Taylor Marsh, TalkLeft, The Reaction and marbury
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Zach Christman / NBC Chicago:
Bye Bye, Blago: Senate Removes Gov From Office
Bye Bye, Blago: Senate Removes Gov From Office
Discussion:
Associated Press
Marc Ambinder:
More Republican Triangulating On Bipartisanship: Cantor Responds To White House — House Republicans are reacting strongly to reports that the White House plans a political onslaught to pressure Republicans into supporting the stimulus package and to punish those who don't.
Discussion:
D-Day, Balloon Juice, The Huffington Post, FiveThirtyEight.com, The Reaction, Comments from Left Field and MyDD
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Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight.com:
The Republican Death Spiral — It's not just the goose egg that the House Republicans laid on the Democratic stimulus package yesterday: Boehner's Boys have been equally uncooperative on other matters. Case in point: a bill yesterday to delay the transition to digital TV.
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
HALPERIN BLAMES OBAMA.... President Obama went to great lengths …
HALPERIN BLAMES OBAMA.... President Obama went to great lengths …
Discussion:
Media Matters, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, The Sideshow, Crooks and Liars, AmSpecBlog and Eunomia
Jared Allen / The Hill:
Pelosi dismisses need for bipartisanship — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she didn't come to Washington to be “bipartisan”, one day after shuttling through an $819 economic stimulus bill without a single Republican vote. — “I didn't come here to be partisan …
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Victoria McGrane / The Politico:
Kerry: Ignore Republicans if they'll vote no anyway — Sen. John Kerry says Democrats should ignore Republicans' demands about the stimulus plan if they're going to vote against it anyway. — Reacting to Wednesday night's vote in the House — where not a single GOP member supported the stimulus package …
MSNBC:
Obama slams Wall Street on bonuses — President calls the $18.4 billion in bonuses paid last year ‘shameful’ — President Barack Obama issued a withering critique Thursday of Wall Street corporate behavior, calling it “the height of irresponsibility” for Wall Street employees to be paid …
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Dana Blanton / Fox News:
FOX News Poll: Teary-Eyed Thumbs Up for Obama — More than a quarter of Americans say they were moved to tears during Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony. And after his first week in office, there is widespread approval for the job Obama is doing as president.
Discussion:
Political Machine
Zac Frank / Slate:
What a 1988 college thesis by the former vice president's daughter tells us about the Bush presidency. — When I worked at the library at Colorado College, I quickly discovered the job had few perks. The free book loans on demand were little better than subprime mortgages when you realized anyone could get them.
Peter Finn / Washington Post:
Military Judge Denies Obama Request to Suspend Hearings at Guantanamo — A military judge in Guantanamo Bay has denied the Obama administration's request to delay proceedings for 120 days in the case of a detainee accused of planning the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole warship …
Discussion:
TPMMuckraker, Daily Kos, Pajamas Media, Hot Air, Political Machine, TalkLeft, Brian Beutler, D-Day and The Washington Independent
Kevin Sullivan / RealClearPolitics:
RNC Chair Race Reaches Finish Line — By Greg Bobrinskoy — With this Friday's RNC Chair election fast approaching, the divide between what committee members are looking for has come down to the two buzzwords of competency versus change. The race has been seen as a virtual tie among …
Discussion:
race42008.com
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Manuel Roig-Franzia / Washington Post:
For GOP, a Case of Misshapen Identity
For GOP, a Case of Misshapen Identity
Discussion:
Firedoglake
The Huffington Post:
Judd Gregg: Commerce Secretary? — There is a strong possibility that Barack Obama will ask Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) to serve as his Secretary of Commerce, Democratic Senate aides tell the Huffington Post. — The move would fill a vacancy that has lingered since Gov. Bill Richardson withdrew his nomination.
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Chuck Carlton / Associated Press:
Former President George W. Bush, wife attend Baylor women's basketball game — ccarlton@dallasnews.com — A big women's basketball game between No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 4 Baylor just gained added prestige. — Former President George W. Bush and wife Laura attended Wednesday's game.
Kleinheider / Post Politics:
Chip Saltsman Withdraws From RNC Chairman's Race — Chip Saltsman's letter to the voting membership of the Republican National Committee: … Always a darkhorse, Saltsman's candidacy for RNC chair careened off the tracks when it was publicized that Saltsman gave a CD of political satire composed …
Discussion:
Washington Times, The Caucus, Ben Smith's Blogs, Political Machine, The Note, Daily Kos, TPMDC, Hotline On Call and PoliPundit.com
Mary Katharine Ham / Weekly Standard:
Republican Strategy: Just Have Nancy Pelosi Continue to Explain the Stimulus — I'm pretty sure with every interview, she's chipping away at public support. — Below, her stellar explanation of why STD prevention education is stimulative. Because it just is:
Matthew Lee / Associated Press:
Professor who slammed Clinton will be Obama aide — WASHINGTON (AP) — Samantha Power, the Harvard University professor who earned notoriety for calling Hillary Rodham Clinton a “monster” while working to elect Barack Obama president, will take a senior foreign policy job at the White House, The Associated Press has learned.
Steven Ertelt / LifeNews.com Pro-Life Headlines:
NBC Rejects Pro-Life Super Bowl Ad Educating Viewers on Obama and Abortion — Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — NBC is coming under fire from pro-life advocates for rejecting a television commercial a pro-life group hoped to run during the Super Bowl. The ad shows a beautiful picture …
David Cay Johnston / CJR:
Who's Undercutting Obama? — For the moment, at least, it's his press office — It's 3 p.m. and the phone in the White House press secretary's office is ringing. It rings and rings and rings. Eventually, a recorded voice asks callers to leave a message—followed by a second voice saying the voicemail box is full.
Kevin Freking / Associated Press:
Senate passes bill to expand child health coverage — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON - The Democratic-controlled Congress moved a step closer to handing President Barack Obama an early health care victory Thursday as the Senate passed …
Discussion:
Reuters
John Yoo / Wall Street Journal:
Obama Made a Rash Decision on Gitmo — The president will soon realize that governing involves hard choices. — During his first week as commander in chief, President Barack Obama ordered the closure of Guantanamo Bay and terminated the CIA's special authority to interrogate terrorists.
Discussion:
Think Progress, Los Angeles Times, At-Largely, The Raw Story, Balkinization, ATTACKERMAN, Flopping Aces and The Poor Man Institute
Martin Feldstein / Washington Post:
An $800 Billion Mistake — As a conservative economist, I might be expected to oppose a stimulus plan. In fact, on this page in October, I declared my support for a stimulus. But the fiscal package now before Congress needs to be thoroughly revised. In its current form …
Discussion:
Legislation, Talking Points Memo, Viking Pundit, The Swamp, Real Time Economics, The Huffington Post, Outside The Beltway, PoliGazette and NPR
RELATED:
Rasmussen Reports:
Public Support for Economic Recovery Plan Slips to 42% — Public support for the economic recovery plan crafted by President Obama and congressional Democrats has slipped a bit over the past week. At the same time, expectations that the plan will quickly become law have increased.
Discussion:
The Campaign Spot, Macsmind, The Plum Line, Political Machine, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, RedState, Booman Tribune, AmSpecBlog, Salon and Wall Street Journal
Paul Krugman:
Bad — As the Obama administration apparently prepares to launch Hankie Pankie II — buying troubled assets from banks at prices higher than they will fetch on the open market — it occurred to me that an updated version of an old Communist-era joke may be appropriate: under Bush …
Discussion:
D-Day
Charlie LeDuff / Detroit News:
Life goes on around body found frozen in vacant Detroit warehouse — DETROIT — This city has not always been a gentle place, but a series of events over the past few, frigid days causes one to wonder how cold the collective heart has grown. — It starts with a phone call made by a man …
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Palin, Obama to share stage — In what could be a preview of the 2012 presidential race, Sarah Palin and President Barack Obama will share a stage together this Saturday night in Washington, Politico has learned. — The Alaska governor and former GOP vice presidential nominee …