Top Items:
Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
Steele: GOP needs ‘hip-hop’ makeover — NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW: — Newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele plans an “off the hook” public relations offensive to attract younger voters, especially blacks and Hispanics, by applying the party's principles to “urban-suburban hip-hop settings.”
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly, TBogg, Oliver Willis, Ben Smith's Blogs, Political Fix, TPMDC, Riehl World View, Eunomia, Pam's House Blend, No More Mister Nice Blog, The New Republic, TIME.com, Ross Douthat, Salon, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Wonkette, The Caucus, Gawker, Sadly, No!, Hullabaloo, Hotline On Call and The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
RELATED:
Josh Gerstein / The Politico:
Rove testimony hangs in balance — A federal appeals court has agreed to give President Barack Obama a little more time—but only a little— to decide whether to support... one of President Bush's most controversial uses of executive privilege. — The new administration had asked …
Discussion:
TPMMuckraker
CNN:
Spokesman for embattled Sen. Burris resigns — (CNN) — A spokesman for Illinois Sen. Roland Burris resigned Thursday in the wake of new disclosures about requests that Burris raise money for disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich while seeking a U.S. Senate appointment.
RELATED:
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Greed is Not a Defense — I found Ezra Klein's defense of Politico to be pretty weak stuff. — Ezra's main point is that coverage that's utterly trivial and that poisons public understanding of crucial issues that effect the lives of billions of people is rewarded by the market …
Discussion:
Eschaton
RELATED:
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
THE PROBLEM OF THE POLITICO. — I love Mike Allen's Playbook. Unabashedly. I wouldn't even deny that it's “the 4chan of political reporting.” But it's the best guide to the morning news, and Allen mixes “drive the day” trivia — and there is a lot of that — with a good eye for the substance in stories.
Ben Smith / The Politico:
Budget to kick off health care rewrite — At the end of the day last Wednesday, Obama aides and a handful of Senators hashed out the details of a $787 billion spending package in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office. — Larry Summers, the architect of the plan, was no longer in the room …
Discussion:
American Prospect, Washington Post, Wonk Room, Donklephant, Wonkette, Weekly Standard, The Plum Line and TIME.com
RELATED:
Joe Strupp / Editor and Publisher:
‘NY Times’ Settles Lobbyist Lawsuit Over McCain Report — NEW YORK Vicki Iseman, the Washington, D.C., lobbyist who had sued The New York Times for $27 million over an article last year that she claimed wrongly depicted her as having an affair with Sen. John McCain, has reached a settlement with the newspaper.
RELATED:
Radley Balko / Reason:
Manufacturing Guilt? — Editor's Note: The following article contains graphic and disturbing photographs and video excerpts of an examination conducted on the body of a 23-month-old girl. The images are the basis of claims that forensic experts fabricated evidence in a case that put a man on death row …
Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:
Rep. Cao Faces Potential Recall Petition For Toeing GOP Line And Voting Against The Stimulus — Earlier this month, New Orleans's new congressman Joseph Cao (R) stated that he would vote for the economic recovery package. “I believe that more likely than not, I will vote …
RELATED:
Byron York / www.dcexaminer.com:
The RAT hiding deep inside the stimulus bill — The far-reaching — and potentially dangerous — provision that no one knows about. — You've heard a lot about the astonishing spending in the $787 billion economic stimulus bill, signed into law this week by President Barack Obama.
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, RBO, Riehl World View, Hot Air, Wizbang, Cold Fury, Macsmind and Sister Toldjah
Sacramento Bee:
Budget plan goes to Schwarzenegger after Legislature's OK — The deal is done. — The California Legislature voted early today to approve a massive budget package of tax increases, spending cuts and borrowing to close a $40 billion deficit after granting major concessions to one holdout Republican senator.
RELATED:
Noah Shachtman / Danger Room:
Google Earth Shows U.S. Drones at Pakistani Base? — Don't take a Senator's word for it. Old Google Earth satellite photos, dug up by the News of Pakistan, show U.S. drones, parked on a Pakistani runway, back in 2006. — The paper ID's the robotic planes as massive Global Hawk drones — unlikely, the shape's all wrong.
RELATED:
Joe Stephens / Washington Post:
Valenti's Sexuality Was Topic For FBI — Under Pressure, LBJ Let Hoover's Agents Investigate Top Aide — When Beltway insider Jack Valenti died two years ago at age 85, he was playing the role of intermediary between Washington and Hollywood as the theatrical, snowy-haired president of the Motion Picture Association of America.
Discussion:
Commentary, Connecting.the.Dots, On Deadline, The Daily Dish, Hot Air, AMERICAblog News, Weekly Standard, Gawker and Towleroad
Michael Wolff / Off the Grid:
Chimp Cartoon Makes Murdoch a Chump — Well, yes, it would require quite a contortion to find that Rupert Murdoch's New York Post had not compared the first black president to a monkey in an editorial cartoon. — Now, it is true that the Post has a certain vernacular involving public figures …
The Moderate Voice:
Kill “Qwerty”! (Guest Voice) — FOR GOD'S SAKE, THIS IT THE 21ST CENTURY - LET'S GET RID OF “QWERTY”!! — by Marc Pascal — Why do computers still have keyboards? They represent a quaint vestige of their predecessor typewriters that were invented 130 years ago.
Reuters:
TEXT-Talk to some Taliban, but from strength-adviser — Following are excerpts from an interview with David Kilcullen, an influential military adviser to Western governments, on the possibility of negotiating with the Taliban. — An Australian counter-insurgency specialist who was a technical adviser …
Ben Evans / Associated Press:
Democrats strike different tone on Katrina — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON - The economic stimulus signed by President Barack Obama will spread billions of dollars across the country to spruce up aging roads and bridges.
David Weigel / The Washington Independent:
Alberto Gonzales: I'll Cooperate with Leahy Truth Commission — Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appeared at a forum on Republicans and the Hispanic vote at the Capitol Hill Club this morning, getting a standing ovation from the crowd when he was pointed out by the moderator.
The Politico:
Obama eases Canadian trade worries — In his first foreign trip as president, President Barack Obama agreed with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the need to boost trade across the border — even as the two men seemed to part ways on the importance of sending more troops to Afghanistan.
Discussion:
The Swamp
CNN:
Republicans urge Obama to overturn stem cell ban — (CNN) - A group of six moderate House Republicans have written to President Obama urging him to lift President Bush's ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. — “We are writing to respectfully urge that you immediately lift …
Jim Treacher / Mother, May I Sleep with Treacher?:
TOP 10 REASONS PRESIDENT BARACK H. OBAMA IS NOTHING LIKE TRAVIS THE CHIMP — 10. Travis understood TurboTax — 9. Obama somewhat less likely to attack Biden — 8. Travis never lied — 7. Obama's smile not quite as genuine — 6. Travis could get through entire day without teleprompter
Michelle Malkin:
Gimme, gimme, gimme: More scenes from the anti-Obama entitlement backlash — So, a CNBC host is calling for a new “tea party” to protest Barack Obama's out-of-control spendulus/entitlement culture? We've been doing it all week. Seattle, Denver, Mesa. Kansas this weekend. And more outbreaks to come.
Martina Stewart / CNN:
Republican wants White House e-mail plan — WASHINGTON (CNN) - A California Republican congressman has called on President Obama to put in place a system that ensures all White House emails be preserved even if official business was done through private e- mail accounts.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Carol E. Lee / The Politico:
Biden outlines dangers at Panetta oath — At a swearing-in ceremony for CIA Director Leon Panetta, Vice President Joe Biden outlined the dangers facing the United States and emphasized the government's need for intelligence that represents “unvarnished truth.”
Discussion:
The Swamp