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Wall Street Journal:
The President Ties His Own Hands on Terror — The point of interrogation is intelligence, not confession. — The Obama administration has declassified and released opinions of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) given in 2005 and earlier that analyze the legality …
Discussion:
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William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
“On a bright, sunny, safe day in April 2009.” — It wasn't really a surprise that President Obama sided with leftist lawyers in his Justice Department and released, over the objections of the intelligence community, four Office of Legal Counsel memos that concluded certain interrogation techniques used …
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The significance of Obama's decision to release the torture memos — (updated below) — Numerous commentators are objecting to the idea that Barack Obama deserves credit for his release of the OLC torture memos yesterday in light of his accompanying pledge that CIA officials relying in good faith on those memos won't be prosecuted.
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Melinda Henneberger / AOL News:
Palin Says She Considered Abortion — In her first out-of-state political appearance since last fall's presidential election, former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin confided to 3,000 at a right-to-life event here that she had “just for a fleeting moment” contemplated seeking …
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Kate Snow / ABCNEWS:
Sarah Palin: I Had to ‘Walk the Walk’ — At Anti-Abortion Rights Event, Gov. Palin Gets Personal About her Last Pregnancy — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin doesn't get out much. Out of Alaska that is. — Last night, on her second trip outside the state this year, Palin reflected a bit …
Wall Street Journal:
Veterans a Focus of FBI Extremist Probe — WASHINGTON — The Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this year launched a nationwide operation targeting white supremacists and “militia/sovereign-citizen extremist groups,” including a focus on veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan …
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David Neiwert / Crooks and Liars:
Pat Robertson urges his callers to crash Homeland Security hotline
Pat Robertson urges his callers to crash Homeland Security hotline
Discussion:
CBN.com
MSNBC:
U.S. declares warming gases are health threat — Obama administration move is aimed at prodding lawmakers to regulate — This coal-fired power plant is one of some 600 across the United States that together provide half of the country's electricity — and much of its greenhouse gas emissions.
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John M. Broder / New York Times:
E.P.A. to Clear the Way for Regulation of Warming Gases
E.P.A. to Clear the Way for Regulation of Warming Gases
Discussion:
Michael Calderone's Blog
Rasmussen Reports:
In Texas, 31% Say State Has Right to Secede From U.S., But 75% Opt To Stay — Thirty-one percent (31%) of Texas voters say that their state has the right to secede from the United States and form an independent country. — However, the latest Rasmussen Reports poll in the state finds …
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Green Shoots and Glimmers — Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, sees “green shoots.” President Obama sees “glimmers of hope.” And the stock market has been on a tear. — So is it time to sound the all clear? Here are four reasons to be cautious about the economic outlook.
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Max Twain / race42008.com:
One of the most hateful rants in history — http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=jAAHMDpk7Ik — Surprisingly, Olbermann is not the craziest person in this video. That alone puts this into a special category of left-wing vile that stands out as some of the most hateful speech you will ever hear on television.
Brian C. Mooney / Boston Globe:
Dodd faces steep road to reelection — Conn.'s senior senator trails 3 Republicans — HARTFORD - The election is still more than 18 months away, but US Senator Chris Dodd is barnstorming Connecticut this week like an incumbent in trouble. Voters who have supported him for 29 years …
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Jamie Larson / The Register Star Online:
Tedisco asks to be declared winner — COLUMBIA COUNTY — 20th Congressional District candidate Republican Jim Tedisco submitted a petition to the Dutchess County Supreme Court Thursday asking the judge to declare him the winner of the extremely close special election race …
Dafna Linzer / ProPublica:
Newly Released Memo Inadvertently Reveals CIA Held (and Abused) Missing Prisoner — Among the OLC memos released today, one appears to inadvertently reveal that a top al-Qaida suspect captured in northern Iraq in January 2004 was held by the CIA in a secret prison.
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
We Are Now Indonesia — Greenwald points to this nugget: … And this is, in fact, the Bush-Cheney position. Because America did these things, they are not torture. This is also, by the way, the position of the news reporters and editors at the New York Times and the Washington Post.
Discussion:
NO QUARTER, The Peking Duck, Chris Floyd Online, Political Byline, Obsidian Wings and Salon
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Obama Averages 63% Approval in His First Quarter — Highest first-quarter average since 1977 — USA - Government and Politics - Presidential Job Approval - The Presidency - Americas - Northern America — PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama's first quarter in office concludes on Sunday …
Kahrin Deines / Associated Press:
New gun law aimed at asserting sovereignty — Gov. Brian Schweitzer has signed into law a bill that aims to exempt Montana-made guns from federal regulation, adding firepower to a battery of legislative efforts to assert states' rights across the nation. — “It's a gun bill …
Megan McArdle:
Do We Hate Credit Default Swaps for The Wrong Reasons? — There's a lot of crazy ignorant hating on CDSs out there, especially from certain political journalists who displayed no interest in learning about the financial community until they found that pronouncing the words “credit default swaps” …
Yael T. Abouhalkah / Kansas City Star:
Limbaugh's ‘just an entertainer,’ says GOP congressman — U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt of Kansas is a feisty and ardent conservative. But he said something Tuesday that might irritate Rush Limbaugh's ditto-head followers. — Tiahrt was asked by a Kansas City Star Editorial Board member whether Limbaugh …
Abe Greenwald / Commentary:
It Was a Caterpillar — Bug-Gate is bad, folks, really bad. But I remain convinced that the only way we'll ever bring this “dark and painful chapter in our history” to a close is to face the horror of it full on. Only then can we heal as a nation. So steel yourself for what comes next:
Paul Demko / Minnesota Independent:
Tinklenberg v. Bachmann redux? DFLers already eyeing 2010 — Michele Bachmann represents the most Republican-friendly congressional district in Minnesota. John McCain carried the area by eight percentage points in 2008 — the largest spread in the state.
Steven Erlanger / New York Times:
3 Courses With Sarkozy, Skewered Leaders on Side — PARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy is known for his love of action. But he also likes to brag and run down his fellow world leaders in not-so-private gatherings, like a cross-party lunch on Wednesday for 24 members of Parliament engaged in economic issues.
Bruce Bartlett / Forbes:
Tax Tea Party Time, Part Two — A look at today's taxes compared to those in the past. — Last week, I presented data comparing taxation in the United States to other major countries and concluded that Americans are not especially overtaxed. The almost universal reaction to this analysis was, “So what?”
CNN:
Some foreclosed homes too damaged to sell — CNN Special Investigations Unit — NASHUA, New Hampshire (CNN) — The economy in southern New Hampshire is not by any means among the worst in the nation. Still, according to city records, there are 29 foreclosed homes on the books in Nashua — many of which are in deplorable condition.
Joshua Stanton / The New Ledger:
Christopher Hill: Deep Kimchee for Iraq — Of the many things that will be written about North Korea this week, the least likely of these is, “Now there's the kind of diplomacy we need more of.” Consider just the events of the last few days: the missile test itself, which may have hit closer …