Top Items:
Laura Rozen / The Cable:
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.
Discussion:
Hot Air, JTA, Commentary, CANNONFIRE, James Fallows, Media Blog, Capital J | JTA, Israel Matzav, Fox News, Power Line, The Corner, Political Punch, Macsmind, Swampland, Eunomia, Sandbox, The Peking Duck, Ben Smith's Blogs, The New Republic, Winds of Change.NET, The Washington Independent, Democracy in America, Pajamas Media and Weekly Standard
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
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:
The Cable, TBogg, Taylor Marsh, The Washington Independent, Mondoweiss, Commentary and Think Progress
Ben Smith / The Politico:
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.
Walter Pincus / Washington Post:
Impartiality Questioned, Intelligence Pick Pulls Out — Charles W. Freeman Jr. withdrew yesterday from his appointment as chairman of the National Intelligence Council after questions about his impartiality were raised among members of Congress and with White House officials.
Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:
Nominee Ends Bid for Key Job in Intelligence — WASHINGTON — Charles W. Freeman Jr., the Obama administration's choice for a major intelligence post, withdrew his name on Tuesday and blamed pro-Israel lobbying groups, saying they had distorted his record and campaigned against him.
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Charles Freeman fails the loyalty test
Charles Freeman fails the loyalty test
Discussion:
TalkLeft, The Reaction, Mondoweiss, Commentary, Capital J | JTA, The New Republic, The Plum Line, Needlenose, Booman Tribune, Power Line, The Daily Dish and TPMCafe
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Controversial intelligence pick withdraws
Controversial intelligence pick withdraws
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs, Buck Naked Politics, The Politico, Michelle Malkin, Mondoweiss and The Strata-Sphere
Huma Khan / Political Punch:
Blair Defends Chas Freeman to Lieberman
Blair Defends Chas Freeman to Lieberman
Discussion:
The Plum Line, American Thinker, Israel Matzav, Mondoweiss, Atlas Shrugs and Weekly Standard
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The Freeman Precedent — There are a couple of things worth noting …
The Freeman Precedent — There are a couple of things worth noting …
Discussion:
Real Clear Politics
Camille Paglia / Salon:
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!
Discussion:
Don Surber, Cafe Hayek, Babalú Blog, alicublog, TBogg, The Other McCain, GINA COBB, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and American Power
RELATED:
Howard Fineman / Newsweek:
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 …
Discussion:
Macsmind, Buck Naked Politics, NewsBusters.org, Babalú Blog, Whiskey Fire, Firedoglake and Jules Crittenden
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
ZOMBIE LIES THAT WILL NOT DIE. — We're not even going to talk about the tendentious Matrix analogy laced into this column Amity Shlaes wrote for Bloomberg. Not. Even. Going. To. Talk. About. It. I already read the thing for you. I refuse to relive it.
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Martina Stewart / CNN:
S.C. gov wants to use some stimulus funds to pay down debt — (CNN) - South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford plans to ask President Obama for permission to use part of his state's stimulus money to pay down its debt, not on new spending, according to a letter he sent state legislators Tuesday.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
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Mike Allen / The Politico:
No quit: the campaign to boost Bush — The defense never rests. When President Barack Obama released his own policy this week on former President George W. Bush's practice of attaching controversial signing statements to legislation, a reporter quickly got a tip from a Bush loyalist …
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Brian Faler / Bloomberg:
Congress Sends $410 Billion Spending Bill to Obama for Signing — The U.S. Congress gave final approval to a $410 billion bill that will boost domestic spending, loosen the trade embargo on Cuba and fund thousands of congressional pet projects known as earmarks.
RELATED:
Alan Greenspan / Wall Street Journal:
The Fed Didn't Cause the Housing Bubble — Any new regulations should help direct savings toward productive investments. — We are in the midst of a global crisis that will unquestionably rank as the most virulent since the 1930s. It will eventually subside and pass into history.
Judicial Watch:
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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Ben Smith / The Politico:
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:
The Foundry, Hot Air, Wizbang, Kausfiles, CANNONFIRE, Commentary and No More Mister Nice Blog
RELATED:
Ali Frick / Think Progress:
Specter on Steele: 'I wouldn't pay a whole lot of attention to him.'
Specter on Steele: 'I wouldn't pay a whole lot of attention to him.'
Discussion:
Salon
Capital Commerce:
Putting Obama on the Couch — “So, like, do you think Obama is just mean or something?” That is how a twentysomething television booker recently responded to my critique to her of the president's stimulus package and banking bailout plans. Actually, I think Team Obama is filled with dedicated …
BBC:
US Congress eases curbs on Cuba — The US Congress has voted to lift restrictions on relations with Cuba imposed by the Bush administration. — Cuban-Americans will be allowed to travel to the island once a year and send more money to relatives there. — Curbs on sending medicines and food have also been eased.
Discussion:
PoliBlog
John Bresnahan / The Politico:
Inside Murtha's ‘earmark factory’ — Over the course of the past decade, Rep. John P. Murtha has earmarked millions of dollars for the Electro-Optics Center at Penn State University — money that has, in turn, gone to clients of the PMA Group, the Murtha-linked lobbying shop that was raided …
Discussion:
Instapundit
José M. Guardia / Barcepundit:
IN MEMORIAM, 5 YEARS AFTER — Eva Belén Abad Quijada, Spain, 30 years old — Óscar Abril Alegre, Spain, 19 years old — Liliana Guillermina Acero Ushiña, Ecuador, 26 years old — Florencio Aguado Rojano, Spain, 60 years old — Juan Alberto Alonso Rodríguez, Spain, 38 years old
Discussion:
Jules Crittenden