Top Items:
Paul Kane / Capitol Briefing:
Senate Democrats Deny Specter Committee Seniority — The Senate dealt a blow tonight to Sen. Arlen Specter's hold on seniority in several key committees, a week after the Pennsylvanian's party switch placed Democrats on the precipice of a 60-seat majority. — In a unanimous voice vote …
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Bart Jansen / CQ Politics:
Specter Says He 'Misspoke" on Minnesota Senate Race — The political whirlwind that surrounded Sen. Arlen Specter 's switch from the Republican to Democratic party had him forgetting which team he is rooting for in 2010. — But after voicing support for Republican Norm Coleman …
Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Party Switch Costs Specter His Seniority on Senate Committees — The Senate last night stripped Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) of his seniority on committees, a week after the 29-year veteran of the chamber quit the Republican Party to join the Democrats. — In announcing his move across the aisle last week …
Deborah Solomon / New York Times:
Specter Backs Coleman for Senate — I hear you're giving me 10 minutes for this interview, which is some kind of record for shortness. Was that your decision? — No, but it sounds all right to me. — In that case, I must ask that you keep your answers short and try not to filibuster.
John Stanton / Roll Call:
Specter Will Be Junior Democrat on Committees — Despite promises from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) would retain his seniority after switching parties, Specter will be put at the end of the seniority line on all his committees but one under a resolution approved on the floor late Tuesday.
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
WHY DID ARLEN SPECTER BECOME A DEMOCRAT?
WHY DID ARLEN SPECTER BECOME A DEMOCRAT?
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The Huffington Post
WSB-TV:
College Student Shoots, Kills Home Invader — COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — A group of college students said they are lucky to be alive and they're thanking the quick-thinking of one of their own. Police said a fellow student shot and killed one of two masked me who burst into an apartment.
New York Times:
U.S. Says Bank of America Needs Cushion of $33.9 Billion — The government has told Bank of America it needs $33.9 billion in capital to withstand any worsening of the economic downturn, according to an executive at the bank. — If the bank is unable to raise the capital cushion …
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New York Times:
Torture Memos: Inquiry Suggests No Prosecutions — WASHINGTON — An internal Justice Department inquiry has concluded that Bush administration lawyers committed serious lapses of judgment in writing secret memorandums authorizing brutal interrogations but that they should not be prosecuted …
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WorldNetDaily:
Banned by U.K., Savage hits back — Radio talk star blocked from visits, along with terrorists, neo-Nazis — Talk radio host Michael Savage is considering legal action against Britain's top homeland security official after she released today a list grouping him with terrorists …
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Scared Monkeys, New York Times, Agence France Presse, Theo Spark, Maggie's Farm and Crooks and Liars
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Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:
John Edwards's Wife Speaks About His Affair — In often blunt terms, Elizabeth Edwards is going public with her account of how her husband's affair rocked their marriage and left his political career in tatters. — In an interview with Oprah Winfrey and in excerpts from a new book …
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Jim Lindgren / The Volokh Conspiracy:
Chrysler Won't Pay Back Government Money Loaned So Far. Buried in the Chrysler filings was the revelation that US government investments in Chrysler will not be paid back, though the government will probably take an 8% equity interest in Chrysler: … Even the 3.2 billion loaned by the Feds …
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Eli Lake / Washington Times:
EXCLUSIVE: Secret U.S.-Israel nuclear accord in jeopardy — President Obama's efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons threaten to expose and derail a 40-year-old secret U.S. agreement to shield Israel's nuclear weapons from international scrutiny, former and current U.S. and Israeli officials and nuclear specialists say.
William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
MSNBC Hides Obama's Dijon Mustard (aka Dijongate) — MSNBC, Obama's favorite network, reported on Obama's trip with Joe Biden to get a burger. Just two wild and crazy guys out for some red meat. Andrea Mitchell (does she have nothing else to do?) reported that Obama ordered a burger and mustard.
Discussion:
NBC Los Angeles, TBogg, Liberal Values, Gateway Pundit, The TrogloPundit, NewsBusters.org and The Sundries Shack
Cas / Cassy Fiano:
Texas infanticide bill would decriminalize murdering an infant — Is there a more despicable crime than murdering a baby? I mean, really... think hard. Murder is always apalling and deplorable and sickening. But no matter what, murdering a baby would be, in my book, the most disgusting, horrible thing a person could do.
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Gateway Pundit
David Barstow / New York Times:
Inspector at Pentagon Says Report Was Flawed — In a highly unusual reversal, the Defense Department's inspector general's office has withdrawn a report it issued in January exonerating a Pentagon public relations program that made extensive use of retired officers who worked as military analysts for television and radio networks.
Tim Craig / D.C. Wire:
Barry Warns of “Civil War” Over Gay Marriage — D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), the only council member to vote against the bill today to legalize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, predicted today there could be a “civil war” in the District if the Council decides …
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Luntz to GOP: Health reform is popular — Dr. Frank Luntz, a top Republican consultant on the language of politics, is warning the GOP that the American people want health-care reform and that lawmakers need to try to avoid directly opposing President Barack Obama.
Rajiv Chandrasekaran / Washington Post:
Skeptical Administration Keeping Karzai at Arm's Length — Skepticism of Afghan Leader Shapes Policy — Afghan President Hamid Karzai began talking as soon as his luncheon guests had taken their seats in his wood-paneled dining room at the presidential palace in Kabul …
Discussion:
The Note, Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Washington Independent and MSNBC
Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:
Behind the Judicial Blindfold — Should the judge be an umpire or an empathizer? — Chief Justice John Roberts memorably likened the judge to a baseball umpire, dispassionately applying existing rules to call balls and strikes. — President Obama is more, well, touchy-feely.
Eamon Javers / The Politico:
Congress to vote on finance probe — The blue-ribbon panel is a much-maligned Washington cliché — it is said that you appoint one when you don't really want anything to be done. — But sometimes, as with the 9/11 Commission, such bodies actually produce substantive results.
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Birther civil war — The vast, but rather low-impact, movement of people who believe (without evidence) that Barack Obama was born outside the United States appears — in the way of such movements — to have developed its own internal divisions. — In particular, its East Coast faction …