Top Items:
Tim Shipman / Telegraph:
Barack Obama sends bust of Winston Churchill on its way back to Britain — Barack Obama has sent Sir Winston Churchill packing and pulse rates soaring among anxious British diplomats. — A bust of the former prime minister once voted the greatest Briton in history, which was loaned …
Discussion:
Jules Crittenden, Fausta's Blog, protein wisdom, NewsBusters.org, Riehl World View and Theo Spark
Michael Isikoff / Newsweek:
A Torture Report Could Spell Big Trouble For Bush Lawyers — From the magazine issue dated Feb 23, 2009 — An internal Justice Department report on the conduct of senior lawyers who approved waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics is causing anxiety among former Bush administration officials.
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Satyam Khanna / Think Progress:
Gingrich's obstructionism becomes role model for House GOP.» — In 1993, former Speaker Newt Gingrich notoriously whipped the House GOP into opposing President Clinton's major initiatives, ranging from the budget to health care reform. The New York Times reports that Gingrich …
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Congress Matters:
From the files — by David Waldman aka Kagro X — What files? The insane pack-rat files, of course. — I have with me a hard copy of a collection of Republican quotes predicting doom and disaster in the wake of the 1993 Clinton economic stimulus plan, and much of the rhetoric is eerily similar to today's.
John O'Connor / Associated Press:
Burris confirms request for Blagojevich donation — SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Raising fresh questions about his appointment to Congress, Sen. Roland Burris admitted in a document released Saturday that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother asked him for campaign fundraising help before the governor named Burris as Illinois' junior senator.
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Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Obama's Denver signing; ‘Good as any’ — President Barack Obama will fly to Denver, the place where he accepted the Democratic Party's nomination last summer, to sign the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” into law on Tuesday. — It's “as good” a place “as any” …
Discussion:
The Politico
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Hilary Leila Krieger / Jerusalem Post:
'Lieberman weakens Israel's cause in US' — Former administration officials and American Jewish leaders are warning that the rise of Avigdor Lieberman could hurt Israel's image in the US, particularly if he is given a top portfolio or his positions on Israeli Arabs become government policy.
Discussion:
Israel Matzav
Nelson D. Schwartz / New York Times:
Rise in Jobless Poses Threat to Stability Worldwide — PARIS — From lawyers in Paris to factory workers in China and bodyguards in Colombia, the ranks of the jobless are swelling rapidly across the globe. — Worldwide job losses from the recession that started in the United States …
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Washington Post:
Israel's Step Backward — How the Obama administration should react to the rightward swing in last week's election — ISRAEL'S ELECTION last week propelled the country back in time to a political era when the parliament was sharply divided between parties that favored or opposed a two-state settlement with Palestinians.
Associated Press:
WHAT'S THE RUSH? — ‘URGENT’ $TIMULUS ON HOLD FOR BAM'S WEEKEND OFF — After pushing Congress for weeks to hurry up and pass the massive $787 billion stimulus bill, President Obama promptly took off for a three-day holiday getaway. — Obama arrived at his home in Chicago on Friday …
Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Obama's To Do List — Everyone has a to-do list around the house. — In an interview Friday afternoon on Air Force One en route to Chicago, President Obama shared his with a small group of columnists. — Now that Congress has approved his economic recovery plan, he was asked, what's his plan for the rest of 2009?
Reuters:
Iraqis open arms to romance as violence fades — BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Romance is in the air in Baghdad as war-weary Iraqis celebrate Valentine's Day after a sharp drop in violence, allowing lovers to cautiously hold hands in parks and to buy gifts for their sweethearts.
Frank Rich / New York Times:
They Sure Showed That Obama — AM I crazy, or wasn't the Obama presidency pronounced dead just days ago? Obama had “all but lost control of the agenda in Washington,” declared Newsweek on Feb. 4 as it wondered whether he might even get a stimulus package through Congress.