Top Items:
New York Times:
Sotomayor's Sharp Tongue Raises Issue of Temperament — WASHINGTON — Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, has a blunt and even testy side, and it was on display in December at an argument before the full federal appeals court in New York.
Discussion:
Christy Hardin Smith, Wall Street Journal, The Politico, Althouse, TPMDC, Los Angeles Times, Talking Points Memo, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Sisyphus Shrugged, Taylor Marsh, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Macsmind, ImmigrationProf Blog, Commentary, Election Law, Washington Post, TalkLeft, How Appealing, The Volokh Conspiracy and McClatchy Washington Bureau
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Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Top Republican calls Limbaugh, Gingrich comments ‘terrible’ — (CNN) — A top Senate Republican is taking aim at recent statements from conservative commentators Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich suggesting Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is a “racist.”
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Balloon Juice, Wonkette, Taylor Marsh, The Reaction and DownWithTyranny!
Wall Street Journal:
Republicans, Let's Play Grown-Up — Sotomayor's hearings are an opportunity for serious debate. — Printer — Friendly — “Let's play grown-up.” When I was a child, that's what we said when we ran out of things to do like playing potsie or throwing rocks in the vacant lot.
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
A Republican Response to Sonia Sotomayor: Criticize, Then Confirm — Sonia Sotomayor has a classic American story. So does Frank Ricci. — Ricci is a New Haven firefighter stationed seven blocks from where Sotomayor went to law school (Yale). Raised in blue-collar Wallingford, Conn. …
Matt Corley / Think Progress:
Barnes: Sotomayor ‘benefited’ from affirmative action ‘tremendously.’ — On MSNBC yesterday, Pat Buchanan repeatedly attacked Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor as an “affirmative action candidate,” echoing right-wing claims that she has “been the recipient of preferential treatment for most of her life.”
David Brooks / New York Times:
The Empathy Issue — The American legal system is based on a useful falsehood. It's based on the falsehood that this is a nation of laws, not men; that in rendering decisions, disembodied, objective judges are able to put aside emotion and unruly passion and issue opinions on the basis of pure reason.
NPR:
Senators Offer Competing Views Of Sotomayor — · Judge Sonia Sotomayor is expected to begin making courtesy visits next week to Senate leaders and members of the Judiciary Committee who will conduct hearings on her nomination to the Supreme Court. — NPR talked with two committee members …
Ben Smith / The Politico:
Princeton key to knowing Sotomayor — Princeton University, Michelle Obama wrote in her 1985 college thesis, was “infamous for being racially the most conservative of the Ivy League universities.” — But for the second time in the Obama era, the stodgy Ivy League academy has emerged …
Washington Post:
White House Tries to Quell Abortion Rights Supporters' Fears About Sotomayor
White House Tries to Quell Abortion Rights Supporters' Fears About Sotomayor
Discussion:
Think Progress, Washington Examiner, NY Daily News, Townhall.com, The Brody File, Washington Times, The Politico and MSNBC
Ali Frick / Think Progress:
Tancredo: Sotomayor Is A Member Of The ‘Latino KKK Without The Hoods Or The Nooses’
Tancredo: Sotomayor Is A Member Of The ‘Latino KKK Without The Hoods Or The Nooses’
Peter Hamby / CNN:
Bush: ‘The information we got saved lives’ — BENTON HARBOR, Michigan (CNN) - Former President George W. Bush on Thursday repeated Dick Cheney's assertion that their enhanced interrogation program was legal and garnered valuable information that prevented future terrorist attacks.
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Peter Hamby / CNN:
Interrogations saved U.S. lives, Bush says — BENTON HARBOR, Michigan (CNN) — Former President George W. Bush on Thursday repeated Dick Cheney's assertion that the administration's enhanced interrogation program, which included controversial techniques such as waterboarding …
Christina Hoag / NBC Los Angeles:
Kicking & Screaming: Journo Dragged From Near AF1 — A reporter for a small newspaper was forcibly removed from a press area near Air Force One shortly before President Barack Obama arrived at Los Angeles International Airport to depart California early Thursday.
Discussion:
Moe Lane, Newsbroke, FishBowlDC, Joe. My. God., Hot Air, American Power, Raw Story, Stop The ACLU, Riehl World View and INSTAPUTZ
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The Huffington Post:
Brenda Lee, Reporter, Dragged Kicking And Screaming From Near Air Force One — LOS ANGELES — A writer for a small Georgia newspaper who wanted to give President Barack Obama a letter was forcibly removed from a press area near Air Force One on Thursday shortly before he arrived at the airport.
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
The Big Inflation Scare — Suddenly it seems as if everyone is talking about inflation. Stern opinion pieces warn that hyperinflation is just around the corner. And markets may be heeding these warnings: Interest rates on long-term government bonds are up, with fear of future inflation …
Jeremy Page / Times of London:
Calls for war crimes inquiry over 20,000 civilian deaths in Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka faced new calls for a war crimes inquiry today after an investigation by The Times revealed that more than 20,000 civilians were killed - mostly by the army - in the latter stages of the war against the Tamil Tigers.
Discussion:
Guardian
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Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Video: O'Reilly apologizes to Hot Air, sort of — Yes, he concedes, the quote last night should have been specifically attributed to a commenter, not to the site itself — but that's what we get for letting stuff like that be posted, now isn't it? Do a better job of moderating comments and we won't have this problem.
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John Derbyshire / The Corner:
Give Montana Girls a Chance — A reader vents: Derb — I've been hoping that someone might be bold enough to rain on the Sotomayor “compelling life story” parade. The woman grew up in the capital of the world, went to two Ivy League schools, and was blessed by Providence …
Laura Rozen / The Cable:
Netanyahu: “What the hell do they want from me?” — Last night, shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told journalists that the Obama administration “wants to see a stop to settlements — not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a confidante.
RELATED:
Bridget Johnson / The Hill:
Obama chides Israel on settlements in Abbas meeting
Obama chides Israel on settlements in Abbas meeting
Discussion:
The Politico
New York Times:
Inflating the Guantánamo Threat — ABDULLAH GHULAM RASOUL and Said Ali al-Shihri may be the two best arguments for why releasing detainees from Guantánamo Bay poses a real risk to America. Mr. Rasoul, who was transferred to Afghanistan in 2007 and then released by the Kabul government …