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 …
Discussion:
The Hill's Pundits Blog, Hot Air, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Wizbang, Commentary, rubber hose, Riehl World View, pourmecoffee's posterous, PoliGazette, Buck Naked Politics, American Prospect, Raw Story, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Betsy's Page, The Sundries Shack, The Politico and The Huffington Post
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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 …
Discussion:
The Note, Outside The Beltway, The Washington Independent, SENATUS, AmSpecBlog and Taylor Marsh
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 …
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.
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Dan Williams / Reuters:
Israel would inform, not ask U.S. before hitting Iran — TEL AVIV (Reuters) - When he first got word of Israel's sneak attack on the Iraqi atomic reactor in 1981, U.S. President Ronald Reagan privately shrugged it off, telling his national security adviser: “Boys will be boys!”
Discussion:
Jihad Watch
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.
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, Confederate Yankee, Clayton Cramer's BLOG, Moe Lane, Pundit & Pundette, QandO, Michelle Malkin and Cold Fury
Philip Johnston / Philip Johnston's blog listings:
Should we be banning this US ‘shock jock’? — The Home Office has issued the latest list of people it believes should not come to the country because they hold extremist opinions. — It is a state's prerogative to decide who it wants to come to its country. That is, after all, what a visa system is for.
Discussion:
Don Surber
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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 …
Discussion:
Felix Salmon, Clusterstock, Bronte Capital, Washington Post, MoJo Blog Posts, The Big Picture and Wall Street Journal
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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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Chris Isidore / CNNMoney.com:
Chrysler won't repay bailout money — An administration official confirms that a $4 billion bridge loan and $3.2 billion in bankruptcy financing won't be paid back by Chrysler following bankruptcy. — NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Chrysler LLC will not repay U.S. taxpayers more than $7 billion …
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Michael Barone / www.washingtonexaminer.com:
White House puts UAW ahead of property rights — Last Friday, the day after Chrysler filed for bankruptcy, I drove past the company's headquarters on Interstate 75 in Auburn Hills, Mich. — As I glanced at the pentagram logo I felt myself tearing up a little bit.
Discussion:
Power Line
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 …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Think Progress, Law Blog, Stop The ACLU, The Plum Line, The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Politico, Obsidian Wings, RebelReports, Congress Matters, New York Times, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Huffington Post, Prairie Weather, KIKO'S HOUSE, George's Bottom Line, The Page, Balkinization, The Daily Dish and Hullabaloo
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.
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:
Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Independent and MSNBC
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Who Will “Sister Souljah” Them? — It's time to reclaim conservatism from Coulter and O'Reilly and Limbaugh and Hannity. Reihan: … Take yours truly. I'm not a Democrat and if pushed, I'd have to say right now I'm a libertarian independent. I'm uneasy about Obama's long-term debt …
Discussion:
American Power
David M. Halbfinger / New York Times:
Corzine Allies Plan Attack in G.O.P. Primary — Allies of New Jersey's Democratic governor, Jon S. Corzine, are so worried about his re-election prospects that they are going to start spending and advertising heavily — in the Republican primary. — Mr. Corzine's allies plan to attack …
Washington Post:
Obama Relies on Inner Circle in Looking for Souter's Supreme Court Successor — President Obama's first selection of a Supreme Court justice is being managed by a small group of senior advisers, and the process will last at least into next week before producing a candidate who the administration hopes …
The Center for Public Integrity:
Key Findings — The top subprime lenders whose loans are largely blamed for triggering the global economic meltdown were owned or backed by giant banks now collecting billions of dollars in bailout money — including several that have paid huge fines to settle predatory lending charges.
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.
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.
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.
Discussion:
Gateway Pundit
Federal Eye:
The Ex-Journalists Now Working for Obama — CNN Senior Producer Sasha Johnson announced Monday she's leaving journalism to serve as press secretary at the Department of Transportation, meaning yet another member of the Fourth Estate has left to join the Obama administration.