Top Items:
Washington Post:
Court Puts Off Decision On Indefinite Detention — The Supreme Court yesterday vacated a lower court's ruling that the president has the right to indefinitely detain a legal U.S. resident as a terrorism suspect, and put off a decision on one of the most expansive legal claims of the Bush administration.
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Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Justices Erase Ruling That Allowed a Detention — The Supreme Court on Friday erased a lower-court ruling on perhaps the most fundamental national security question of all: Does the president have the power to order the indefinite military detention of legal residents of the United States?
David Kravets / Threat Level:
Thoughts of Storm Troopers Filling Spy Case — Legal scholars, the blogopshere and the twitterati have been scratching their heads for a week following the Obama administration's assertion that it might “withdraw” (.pdf) classified documents at the center of a closely watched spy case.
Discussion:
Emptywheel
David S. Cloud / The Politico:
VIDEO: Wrong red button — GENEVA—After promising to “push the reset button” on relations with Moscow, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton planned to present Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with a light-hearted gift at their talks here Friday night to symbolize the Obama administration's desire …
Discussion:
Closing Velocity, Fox News, Political Machine, PoliGazette, Neptunus Lex, Hot Air, Sister Toldjah, Gateway Pundit, Right Wing News, Althouse, Planet Gore and Newshoggers.com
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Mark Landler / New York Times:
Lost in Translation: A U.S. Gift to Russia — GENEVA — The United States and Russia tried to mend their frayed relationship by having their top diplomats sit down to dinner here on Friday. Before the appetizer was served, the diplomatic first date had gotten off to an awkward start because of a gag gift gone awry.
Manu Raju / The Politico:
Dems need Franken more than ever — Suddenly, Al Franken represents more than just an empty seat in the Senate chamber. — Franken could have been the critical 60th vote on the stalled $410 billion omnibus Thursday night. He'd be a likely yes on President Barack Obama's ambitious budget.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
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Wall Street Journal:
Top U.S., European Banks Got $50 Billion in AIG Aid — The beneficiaries of the government's bailout of American International Group Inc. include at least two dozen U.S. and foreign financial institutions that have been paid roughly $50 billion since the Federal Reserve first extended aid to the insurance giant.
Rob Stein / Washington Post:
Obama to Lift Ban on Funding for Embryonic Stem Cell Research — President Obama is planning to sign an executive order on Monday rolling back restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research, according to sources close to the issue. — Although the exact wording …
Discussion:
New York Times, Jack & Jill Politics, The Gun Toting Liberal, NO QUARTER, Liberal Values, The Moderate Voice, ACSBlog and Swampland
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Associated Press:
Democrats blast Limbaugh for comment on Kennedy — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON - A Democratic official rebuked conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh on Friday for suggesting a health care proposal will be named in memory of Sen. Edward Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer.
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Byron York / Beltway Confidential:
Limbaugh: My Ratings are Way, Way Up — One side effect …
Limbaugh: My Ratings are Way, Way Up — One side effect …
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool, Riehl World View, The Field on the Narcosphere, Hot Air, PoliBlog and PoliGazette
CNN:
Car-truck crash kills Zimbabwe prime minister's wife, injures him — HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) — Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was in stable condition and recovering from head injuries Friday night after a car wreck that killed his wife, Susan, medical sources told CNN.
Discussion:
JoeTrippi.com
Peter Hartcher / Sydney Morning Herald:
Obama's economic saviour savaged as Keating lets rip — When Barack Obama announced his champion to rescue the world from economic ruin, it was the first time most Americans had ever heard the name Tim Geithner. — The initial impression was good. The stockmarket surged and the pundits swooned.
Reason:
Now at Reason.tv: Rep. Jeff Flake on How the GOP Can Get Its Groove Back — At last November's gala dinner in Los Angeles celebrating 40 years of Reason, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) spoke about why the Republican party was in a shambles—and what it needs to do to stage a comeback.
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Robert Tait / Guardian:
Shoe reportedly thrown at Iranian president Ahmadinejad — Protest allegedly happened as president waved to crowds from an open-top car in the Iranian city of Urumiye — When the Iraqi journalist, Muntazar al-Zaidi, hurled his shoes at the then-US president, George Bush, in December …
Directorblue / Doug Ross:
Meltdown — This is the private switching system, utilized by the Federal Reserve, that performs electronic financial transfers. — This is the vault that holds sixty billion of the taxpayers' dollars, which moved to an account owned by American International Group (AIG).
Discussion:
Gateway Pundit
Kevin Drum / MoJo Blog Posts:
How to Make Cap-and-Trade Into a Bad Joke — Via Gristmill, I see that Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources committee, has decided to preemptively surrender on global warming: … There are lots of bells and whistles that you can add to a cap-and-trade plan …
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Van Helsing / Right Wing News:
Naked Obama On A Unicorn Vs. Naked Palin On A Moose (Bonus: Nude Michelle Obama) — It's the gift that keeps on giving: paintings of a naked Barack Obama on a unicorn. And the paintings keep getting increasingly disturbing. Last time around, there was a painting of a unicorn looking at Barack's back side the same...
Discussion:
The Jawa Report
Drudge Report:
CHAVEZ CALLS ON OBAMA TO FOLLOW PATH OF SOCIALISM — Caracas - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday called upon US President Barack Obama to follow the path to socialism, which he termed as the “only” way out of the global recession. “Come with us, align yourself, come with us on the road to socialism.
Wade Henderson / The Huffington Post:
EFCA Battle Begins: Senate Hearing Set For Tuesday — The Senate health committee is set to host the first hearings of the legislative session on the Employee Free Choice Act this Tuesday, a union official says. It's the truest indication yet that Democrats in Congress are willing to plow forward with the hotly contested measure.
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Sally C. Pipes / Wall Street Journal:
Health ‘Reformers’ Ignore Facts — Debunking the Democratic argument for government-run health care. — The Democrats' case to expand government health care is so full of holes that passing it quickly is their only hope. If Americans slow down and ask questions, they will be hard-put to come up with answers.
Discussion:
Wonk Room
Peter Robinson / Forbes:
Neither Moderate Nor Centrist — How Buckley, Gergen and Brooks finally realized Barack Obama's left leanings. — “To see what is in front of one's nose,” George Orwell famously asserted, “needs a constant struggle.” — Congratulations this week to three journalists who have finally taken …
Ross Douthat:
A Final Word On Rush — Ruffini writes: … I take the point: I originally only meant to take a mild and passing swipe at Rush's CPAC speech, and I somewhat regret wading in deeper. (Such are the perils of blogging ...) But it's also worth remembering that Limbaugh's critics have ended …