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The Politico:
Biden says avoid planes, subways; puts out clarifying statement — Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that he would not recommend taking any commercial flight or riding in a subway car “at this point” because swine flu virus can spread “in confined places.”
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Xana O'Neill / NBC New York:
Biden: Stay Off Subways During Swine Flu Panic — World Health body raises alert to level 5, one notch short of full pandemic — Vice president Joe Biden said today he would tell his family members not to use subways in the U.S. and implied schools should be shuttered as the swine flu outbreak spread …
Discussion:
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Los Angeles Times:
Scientists see this flu strain as relatively mild — Genetic data indicate this outbreak won't be as deadly as that of 1918, or even the average winter. — As the World Health Organization raised its infectious disease alert level Wednesday and health officials confirmed the first death linked …
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MoJo Blog Posts
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Top Dems rebel on Specter — Senior Senate Democrats are objecting to the deal Majority Leader Harry Reid made with Sen. Arlen Specter, saying they will vote against letting the former Republican shoot to the top of powerful committees after he switches parties.
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New York Times:
G.O.P. Debate: A Broader Party or a Purer One? — WASHINGTON — A fundamental debate broke out among Republicans on Wednesday over how to rebuild the party in the wake of Senator Arlen Specter's departure: Should it purge moderate voices like Mr. Specter and embrace its conservative roots …
Discussion:
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Perry Bacon Jr / Washington Post:
GOP's Big Names Try to Forge New Agenda — Looking to rebrand a struggling Republican Party, a group of party heavyweights including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) are launching a new group that will hold town halls around the country and look to produce GOP ideas on issues like education and health care.
Chris Isidore / CNNMoney.com:
Chrysler to file for bankruptcy — Some lenders refuse offer to reduce debt, leading to likely bankruptcy filing. But Chrysler expected to remain in business and complete deal with Fiat. — NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Chrysler LLC is going to file for bankruptcy, an administration official confirmed to CNN Thursday.
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Micheline Maynard / New York Times:
Chrysler Bankruptcy Plan Is Announced — DETROIT — Chrysler, the third-largest American auto company, will seek bankruptcy protection and enter an alliance with the Italian automaker Fiat, the White House announced Thursday. — The bankruptcy case, which officials envisioned as a swift …
Wall Street Journal:
Administration Official Says Chrysler to Enter Chapter 11; Obama to Speak at Noon
Administration Official Says Chrysler to Enter Chapter 11; Obama to Speak at Noon
Cenk Uygur / The Huffington Post:
Condi Rice Pulls A Nixon: When the President Does It, That Means It is Not Illegal — Condoleezza Rice was recently speaking at Stanford when students asked her an excellent question on waterboarding and torture. They have her answer on tape and it isn't pretty. Condi Rice absolutely pulls a Nixon.
Discussion:
Think Progress, Washington Monthly, The Daily Dish, FP Passport, Emptywheel and Raw Story
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Celeste Katz / NY Daily News:
Elizabeth Edwards write about husband's affair in book … Campaign cad John Edwards' cheating ways made his wife, Elizabeth, sick to her stomach - literally. — After the former presidential hopeful confessed his betrayal, Elizabeth Edwards writes in her new book, “I cried and screamed, I went to the bathroom and threw up.”
Discussion:
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Obama and Churchill — Obama followed Bush last night in using Winston Churchill as his example of a war president: — “I was struck by an article that I was reading the other day talking about the fact that the British during World War II, when London was being bombed to smithereens …
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Eric Zimmermann / The Hill's Blog Briefing Room:
Steele: GOP ‘disingenuous’ criticizing bailouts — RNC chairman Michael Steele says the GOP is being “disingenuous” in blaming Democrats for poor economic performance, since Republicans started the bailout process in the first place. — “Look, we can't go back out and start pointing fingers …
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Washington Monthly
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Gregg Levine / Firedoglake:
Steele: My Bad — Well, they say the first step toward fixing …
Steele: My Bad — Well, they say the first step toward fixing …
Discussion:
Think Progress
Tom Shales / Washington Post:
Obama Deftly Handles Another Prime-Time News Conference — The questions put to Barack Obama at his news conference last night covered nearly every topic but the Craigslist Killer, and if that had come up, Obama probably would have answered it in stride. You ask, he'll answer — earnestly …
Alicia Dennis / People.com:
Sarah Palin to Appear on American Chopper — Turns out the hockey mom is also a motorcycle maven. — Alaska Governor Sarah Palin recently welcomed the crew from Orange County Choppers - whose custom motorcycle business is featured on TLC's American Chopper - to Anchorage …
Discussion:
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Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
EXCLUSIVE: Steele fights back against RNC ‘scheme’ — Exchange spurs feud — The embattled Republican National Committee chairman angrily returned fire in his fight with current and former officers over control of the GOP's purse strings. — Under attack from conservatives since taking office …
Discussion:
MSNBC
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Philip Elliott / Associated Press:
GOP policy group launched outside RNC
GOP policy group launched outside RNC
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The Atlantic Politics Channel
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Top Senate Democrat: bankers “own” the U.S. Congress — Sen. Dick Durbin, on a local Chicago radio station this week, blurted out an obvious truth about Congress that, despite being blindingly obvious, is rarely spoken: “And the banks — hard to believe in a time when we're facing …
Above the Law:
Justice Scalia Responds to Fordham Privacy Invasion! — Last week, we wrote about the Fordham law professor who assigned his information privacy law class to compile a dossier on Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. — The professor had chosen Scalia as the target for privacy invasion …
Michael Goldfarb / Weekly Standard:
Dead Certain — Tonight President Obama said he was “absolutely convinced” that he had made the right decision in putting an end to the use of the harsh interrogation techniques employed by the Bush administration. After eight years of President Bush, it certainly is refreshing to have a leader …
David Espo / Associated Press:
GOP poll shows Dems have advantage on key issues — WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are widely viewed by the public as less competent than Democrats to handle issue ranging from health care to education and energy, according to internal polling presented to top GOP officials in Congress.