Top Items:
Ross Douthat / New York Times:
Justices Gone Wild — Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings won't happen for over a month, but it's easy to predict how they will go. In a series of preening, long-winded questions, the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will attempt to divine Sotomayor's position on a variety …
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Leader Of Conservative Opposition To Sotomayor Was Nailed For Hacking And Spying On Senate Dems — Manuel Miranda is back! — The New York Times reports that a coalition of heavyweight conservative groups has signed a letter pressuring Senate Republicans to filibuster Sonia Sotomayor.
Discussion:
Think Progress
Manu Raju / The Politico:
Right demands tougher fight — Conservatives are demanding that Senate Republicans take a harder line on Sonia Sotomayor, with new signs of tension between the Hill GOP and elements of the Republican base over the direction the opposition should move in the Supreme Court fight.
Ben Smith / The Politico:
Dems pressure Obama on Israel — As President Barack Obama prepares to depart for his first trip to the Arab world, the administration's escalating pressure on Israel to freeze all growth of its settlements on Palestinian land has begun to stir concern among Israel's numerous allies in both parties on Capitol Hill.
Discussion:
CNN, Ben Smith's Blog, Matthew Yglesias, Commentary, TPMCafe, Political Punch and Weasel Zippers
ABCNEWS:
Recruiter Shooting Suspect Under FBI Investigation — Man Accused of Killing One Recruiter, Wounding Another, Spent Time in Yemen — The suspect arrested in the fatal shooting of one soldier and the critical injury of another at a Little Rock, Ark., Army recruiting booth today …
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William M. Welch / USA Today:
Recruiter shot dead outside Army office — A Muslim convert who said he was opposed to the U.S. military shot two soldiers outside an Arkansas recruiting station, killing one, police said Monday. — “This individual appears to have been upset with the military, the Army in particular …
Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:
O'Reilly Responds To The Tiller Murder: ‘No Backpedaling Here...Every Single Thing We Said About Tiller Was True’ — After yesterday's brutal shooting of George Tiller, a Kansas doctor who administered abortions, many anti-choice groups quickly condemned the murder and attempted to separate themselves from the actions of the killer.
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William Saletan / Slate:
Is it wrong to murder an abortionist?
Is it wrong to murder an abortionist?
Discussion:
Firedoglake, NewsBusters.org, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Julian Sanchez, Shakesville, Feministe, ALL, RHRealityCheck.org and Reason
Carl Hulse / The Caucus:
Obama to Name N.Y. Congressman the Army Secretary — Representative John M. McHugh, a Republican congressman from New York, will be nominated by President Obama to be secretary of the Army, according to officials, as the administration continues to reach into the ranks of the opposition for executive appointments.
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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
McHugh to Be Army Secretary, Special Election Looms — New York Rep. John McHugh is President Obama's choice to be the new secretary of the army, a decision likely to set off an extremely competitive special election for the Republican's 23rd district House seat.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, nycapitolnews.com, The Atlantic Politics Channel and Real Clear Politics
Nancy Zuckerbrod / Associated Press:
Obama says Iran's energy concerns legitimate — LONDON — President Barack Obama suggested that Iran may have some right to nuclear energy _ provided it proves by the end of the year that its aspirations are peaceful. — In a BBC interview broadcast Tuesday, he also restated plans …
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David Gardner / Daily Mail:
How Obamas' romantic £120 trip to Broadway racked up a £45,000 bill — ...that's for three private jets, two helicopter rides, extra planes for security and closing roads for motorcade — It was a campaign pledge that Barack Obama didn't dare break - a promise to take his wife …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Cafe Hayek, US News, NewsBusters.org, Fox News, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, Fausta's Blog, Pat Dollard, GayPatriot and Say Anything
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Blaine Harden / Washington Post:
N. Korean Leader's Youngest Son Named Successor — North Korea's ailing leader has chosen his youngest son — who is just 26, attended a Swiss boarding school and reportedly admires basketball great Michael Jordan — as heir to the family dynasty that rules the secretive state …
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Jeremy P. Jacobs / The Hill's Blog Briefing Room:
Kim Jong Il selects youngest son as successor
Kim Jong Il selects youngest son as successor
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal
Anne Schroeder Mullins / Anne Schroeder's Blog:
Playboy 's “Top 10 Conservative Women We Hate to Love” — The Playboy article linked to on this blog listed 10 conservative women “they love to hate” adding their reasons why. The blog included the link but only used the names of the women listed. But the Playboy article also included …
Discussion:
ActiCons, Michelle Malkin, NewsBusters.org, Daily Dose, Sisyphus Shrugged, Whiskey Fire, Pajamas Media and Moe Lane
RELATED:
Susan Page / USA Today:
Poll: Most oppose closing Gitmo — WASHINGTON — Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to closing the detention center for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay and moving some of the detainees to prisons on U.S. soil, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds. — By more than 2-1, those surveyed say Guantanamo shouldn't be closed.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Fix, MSNBC, Commentary, Real Clear Politics, Fox News, The Strata-Sphere, NewsBusters.org and Moe Lane
New York Times:
Foreclosures: No End in Sight — A continuing steep drop in home prices combined with rising unemployment is powering a new wave of foreclosures. Unfortunately, there's little evidence, so far, that the Obama administration's anti-foreclosure plan will be able to stop it.
Mark Landler / New York Times:
A New Iran Overture, With Hot Dogs — SAN SALVADOR — Having sent the Iranian people a video greeting on their New Year, President Obama is now inviting them to help celebrate a quintessentially American holiday, the Fourth of July. — Last Friday, the State Department sent a cable …
CNN:
CNN Poll: Many Americans hold unfavorable view of Muslim world — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Hours before President Barack Obama departs for a trip to the Middle East, a new national poll suggests that only one in five Americans has a favorable view of Muslim countries.
Wall Street Journal:
Why Obama Voted Against Roberts — ‘He has used his formidable skills on behalf of the strong in opposition to the weak.’ — The following is from then-Sen. Barack Obama's floor statement explaining why he would vote against confirming Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts (September 2005):
Discussion:
Donklephant
David Brooks / New York Times:
The Quagmire Ahead — On Jan. 21, 1988, a General Motors executive named Elmer Johnson wrote a brave and prophetic memo. Its main point was contained in this sentence: “We have vastly underestimated how deeply ingrained are the organizational and cultural rigidities that hamper our ability to execute.”
David Enrich / Wall Street Journal:
Citigroup Is Halting Some Payouts — Bank Tells Executives It Won't Dispense Tens of Millions as Promised — Citigroup Inc. has told about five former top executives that it won't pay them tens of millions of dollars in promised severance payouts, according to people familiar with the matter.