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Freeman speaks out on his exit — Retired Amb. Chas Freeman, who said today that he no longer accepts an offer to chair the National Intelligence Council, has just sent this message: … More to come.
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Freeman hits ‘Israel lobby’ on way out — President Barack Obama's controversial pick for a top intelligence post blasted the “Israel lobby” on his way out the door Tuesday, intensifying a debate on the role Israel's allies played in the latest failed Obama appointment.
Discussion:
In From the Cold, RedState, The Volokh Conspiracy, Outside The Beltway and Jules Crittenden
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Schumer Takes Credit For Getting Chas Freeman Ousted — Chuck Schumer's office sends over a statement from the Senator himself, saying he's the one who got Chas Freeman dumped from the post of National Intelligence Council chief: … As I reported the other day, Schumer had privately communicated …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, The Washington Independent, Think Progress, Taylor Marsh, Mondoweiss, TBogg, Newshoggers.com and Commentary
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Controversial intelligence pick withdraws — Charles Freeman, the Obama administration's choice to head the National Intelligence Council, has withdrawn from consideration after facing strong opposition from Senate Republicans. — Freeman is the latest in a string of Obama administration appointees …
Discussion:
The Politico, Michelle Malkin, The Strata-Sphere, Ben Smith's Blogs and Buck Naked Politics
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Charles Freeman fails the loyalty test — Obviously, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt are rabid, hateful paranoids — total bigots and anti-Semites — for having suggested that there are powerful domestic political forces in the U.S. which enforce Israel-centric orthodoxies …
Discussion:
Commentary, Mondoweiss, Blogs and Stories, Capital J | JTA, Booman Tribune, The Plum Line, The Daily Dish and Needlenose
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The Freeman Precedent — There are a couple of things worth noting about this minor, yet major, Washington spat. The first is that the MSM has barely covered it as a news story, and the entire debate occurred in the blogosphere. I don't know why. But that would be a very useful line of inquiry for a media journalist.
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The Most Dishonest Freeman Defense
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American Thinker, Boston Globe, Washington Post, The Raw Story, Commentary and LobeLog.com
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Intelligence Pick Derailed by Critics
Discussion:
Gates of Vienna
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Heads should roll — President Obama's clumsy, smirky staff is sinking him — and resurrecting a deflated GOP! Plus: Lay off Rush! And a Brazilian diva, up close and electric — View a slide show of Daniela Mercury at the 2009 carnival in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. — Free Barack!
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The new left-wing conspiracy — The vast new left-wing conspiracy sets its tone every morning at 8:45 a.m., when officials from more than 20 labor, environmental and other Democratic-leaning groups dial into a private conference call hosted by two left-leaning Washington organizations.
Discussion:
Wizbang, Commentary, CANNONFIRE, No More Mister Nice Blog and Patterico's Pontifications
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Specter on Steele: 'I wouldn't pay a whole lot of attention to him.'
Discussion:
Salon
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Pelosi Made Repeated Requests for Military Aircraft, Documents Show — Representatives for Judicial Watch, which obtained e-mails and other documents showing the requests, say House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has treated the Air Force as her “personal airline.” — FOXNews.com
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Judicial Watch Uncovers Documents Detailing Pelosi's Repeated Requests for Military Travel — House Speaker Issued Unprecedented Demands for Military Aircraft and Wasted Taxpayer Resources with Last Minute Cancellations — Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates …
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Obama Seeks to Delay Tanker, Cancel Bomber
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Defense Tech, RedState, DoD Buzz, Danger Room, MSNBC, Weekly Standard, Lawyers, Guns and Money and FP Passport
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Can America be saved? — So I read this: … and I wonder if this country can handle the crisis we're in. Remember, John Boehner is, in effect, the second-most influential member of the GDP (after Rush Limbaugh). And while Democrats hold a majority, it's not enough of a majority to make the minority party irrelevant.
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News
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The Chamber Mobilizes — I'm probably not breaking any news …
Discussion:
Washington Post
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Obama gets omnibus and earmark fight — A $409.6 billion omnibus appropriations bill cleared Congress Tuesday even as the White House pursued new steps to try to pare back the level of parochial spending projects attached to the budget each year. — President Barack Obama is poised to sign …
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A Turning Tide? — Obama still has the approval of the people, but the establishment is beginning to mumble that the president may not have what it takes. — Surfer that he is, President Obama should know a riptide when he's in one. The center usually is the safest, most productive place in politics …
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S.C. Guv to Obama: Thanks, But No Thanks — ABC News' Teddy Davis reports: — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) has completed his review of the recently enacted stimulus package and will be sending President Obama a letter in the next few days asking for permission to apply a quarter …
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S.C. Rep. Brown to get big-name primary challenger
Discussion:
Scorecard's Blogs
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Conrad: Obama budget lacks votes — Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said Tuesday that President Obama's budget plan doesn't have enough support from lawmakers right now to win approval. — Conrad said that he has spoken to enough colleagues with reservations …
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McCain Prepping ‘Contract With America’ Style Economic Plan — Sen. John McCain is putting together a major economic plan that will be structured, in some ways, off of Newt Gingrich's famous Contract With America. — In an email obtained by the Huffington Post, the Arizona Republican's chief of staff …
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Tea Party Conservatives vs. Dinner Party Conservatives — Forget the “liberalterian” or “moderates vs. conservatives” manamana being bantered about recently. What we have today is a scism, and it's between the Tea Party Conservatives and Dinner Party Conservatives.
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Is Obama Doing Too Much Too Soon? — President Has Taken Action on Almost Every Major Policy Issue in His First 50 Days — It was just five months ago that President Obama, the then-junior senator from Illinois was rallying across the country, campaigning for one of the world's most influential seats.