Top Items:
Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
Obama on Obama — During a telephone interview Tuesday with President Obama about his speech to Arabs and Muslims in Cairo on Thursday, I got to tell the president my favorite Middle East joke. It gave him a good laugh. It goes like this: — There is this very pious Jew named Goldberg who always dreamed of winning the lottery.
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Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:
Obama Says U.S. Could Be Seen as a Muslim Country, Too — HAHN, Germany — As President Obama prepared to leave Washington to fly to the Middle East, he conducted several television and radio interviews at the White House to frame the goals for a five-day trip, including …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Pajamas Media, Hot Air, The New Republic, Don Surber, Moonbattery, Israpundit, Power Line, Taylor Marsh, Outside The Beltway, Jihad Watch, Right Wing News, Incertus, Debbie Schlussel, blogs.abcnews.com, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Hyscience, Democracy in America, Sweetness & Light, The Corner, Gateway Pundit, Wake up America, Confederate Yankee, Runnin' Scared, Macsmind and Classical Values
Weekly Standard:
Does Obama Speak Arabic? — So Obama showed off a little Arabic in his meeting with the Saudi King: … Obama has said before that he speaks “barely passable Spanish” and “a smattering of Swahili,” as well as some Bahasa from his youth in Indonesia. But Obama has at other times denied speaking …
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly: SELF-PARODY WATCH.... During a visit with Saudi King Abdullah today …
Newt Gingrich / Human Events:
Supreme Court Nominee Sotomayor: You Read, You Decide — Shortly after President Obama nominated her to a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, I read Judge Sonia Sotomayor's now famous words: — “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often …
Discussion:
The Swamp, The Hill, CNN, The Caucus, Washington Post, Ben Smith's Blog, TPMDC, Los Angeles Times, Gawker, Think Progress, Roll Call, The Note, Washington Monthly, Pat Dollard, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Vanity Fair, Black Agenda Report, The Anonymous Liberal, CBS News, Hot Air, Swampland, PoliGazette, The Plum Line, Wonkette, Power Line, Salon, Newsweek Blogs, Firedoglake and The New Republic
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Alex Isenstadt / The Politico:
Graham ‘troubled’ by nomination — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) gave a harsh assessment of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor Wednesday afternoon, criticizing her ideology, questioning her temperament and saying he had little intention of voting for her.
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Breaking: Sotomayor Made Same “Wise Woman” Speech In 1990s — And No One Objected — I've just obtained a speech that Sonia Sotomayor gave in 1994, in which she made a comment virtually identical to the “wise Latina” one from 2001 that has generated so much controversy.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Townhall.com, Washington Monthly, Weekly Standard, Ben Smith's Blog, Bench Memos and Democracy in America
Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Conservative Judges' Gun Ruling in Agreement With Sotomayor
Conservative Judges' Gun Ruling in Agreement With Sotomayor
Discussion:
Bench Memos, Los Angeles Times, The Caucus, The Volokh Conspiracy, ACS Blog, The BLT, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Wonk Room, Law Blog and Lawyers, Guns and Money
Bonnie Erbe / US News:
Playboy Mix of Sex, Hate, and Politics Demeans Conservative Women — By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog. — Yesterday, I was contacted by the executive director of SmartGirlPolitics.org, a conservative women's website, to stand up for conservative women treated despicably by the media.
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Michelle Malkin:
This is what feminism looks like — This is what feminism looks like: Bitter, clingy, and effete. — Oh, sorry, Mizzzz Erbe. Didn't mean to spew my venom all over yours: … Translation: It's not okay to talk about “hatef**king” conservative women...unless they are rowdy …
Jamison Foser / Media Matters for America:
Morning Joe journos can't name a successful unionized company, even though one signs their paychecks — The Morning Joe crew was on an anti-union tear this morning, claiming the union label on a company means “sell.” Mika Brzezinski went so far as to say of unions: “They cripple the system that makes a company work.”
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Sara A. Carter / Washington Times:
EXCLUSIVE: Al Qaeda eyes bio attack from Mexico — Seeks white militias as allies — U.S. counterterrorism officials have authenticated a video by an al Qaeda recruiter threatening to smuggle a biological weapon into the United States via tunnels under the Mexico border …
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CBS News:
New Bin Laden Tape Blasts Obama
New Bin Laden Tape Blasts Obama
Discussion:
Reuters, Little Green Footballs, The Washington Independent, The Lede, The Jawa Report and ATTACKERMAN
Quinnipiac University:
U.S. Voters Disagree 3-1 With Sotomayor On Key Case, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Most Say Abolish Affirmative Action — American voters say 55 - 36 percent that affirmative action should be abolished, and disagree 71 - 19 percent with Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayer's ruling …
Fox News:
Source: More Targets Found on Arkansas Shooting Suspect's Computer — A senior U.S. official tells FOX News that more targets were found on the computer of a man charged in the fatal shooting at a military recruiting center in Arkansas — suggesting the accused gunman may have been part …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard
Charles Mahtesian / The Politico:
Stealth war: Obama sabotages GOP — Tuesday's announcement of Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) as President Barack Obama's nominee for Army secretary makes perfect sense from a policymaking standpoint. It's hard to find a member of Congress who's more well-respected or more steeped …
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Something Is Happening In Iran — I don't know whether you have been reading the various press accounts of the election campaign in Iran. I know that the candidates' list is fixed, but I can also see democratic spirit when it is bang in front of me. There appears to be a genuine fight for votes …
McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Operation Rescue adviser helped Tiller suspect track doctor's court dates — KANSAS CITY — When Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller stood trial in March on charges he violated state law in providing late-term abortions, the man now accused of killing him made a point of attending the hearings.
Discussion:
RHRealityCheck.org, National Review, Los Angeles Times, Runnin' Scared, jillstanek.com, Feministe, American Power and Rising Hegemon
John Koblin / New York Observer:
Newsweek Turns to Tina Tricks: Meet Guest Editor ... Stephen Colbert! — In the two weeks since Newsweek has redesigned, the magazine's editors have sent out a statement that they intend to sever any and all connection to the turgid, dusty newsweekly of yore.
ABCNEWS:
Searchers Find 23-Foot Piece of Airplane in Hunt for Missing Air France Flight — Air France Received a Bomb Threat About a Paris-Bound Flight Days Before Flight 447 Crashed — Searchers hunting for clues in the disappearance of Air France flight 447 found a 23-foot piece of airplane …
Washington Post:
Cheney Led Briefings of Lawmakers To Defend Interrogation Techniques — Former vice president Richard B. Cheney personally oversaw at least four briefings with senior members of Congress about the controversial interrogation program, part of a secretive and forceful defense he mounted throughout 2005 …
Discussion:
VetVoice, Emptywheel, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, This ain't Hell …, The Daily Dish, TPMMuckraker, The Plum Line, Raw Story, Daily Kos and Think Progress
Jamison Foser / Media Matters for America:
MSNBC's continued embrace of Pat Buchanan shows it still hasn't learned from Savage, Imus, Matthews fiascoes — Given Pat Buchanan's history of clear bigotry - most recently demonstrated in his reminder last night that he supported and continues to defend a white supremacist …
Gateway Pundit:
Megyn Kelly Shouts Down Bernie Sanders On Dem-Only Nationalized Health Care Plan (Video) — Megyn Kelly and Bill Hemmer reported on the Democrat-only meeting held yesterday with President Obama on nationalized health care. Dems want to ram this trillion dollar boondoggle through Congress before the August recess.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Commentary, Neptunus Lex, Cassy Fiano, Founding Bloggers and American Power
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke / Board of Governors …:
Testimony — Current economic and financial conditions and the federal budget — Before the Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. — Chairman Spratt, Ranking Member Ryan, and other members of the Committee, I am pleased to have this opportunity to offer …
Discussion:
Financial Times, Ezra Klein, Felix Salmon, New York Times, TIME.com, Associated Press, The Bellows and Economist's View
Ethan Bronner / New York Times:
Israelis Say Bush Officials Agreed to Settlement Building — JERUSALEM — Senior Israeli officials expressed irritation on Wednesday that President Obama had declined to acknowledge what they called clear understandings with the Bush administration that allowed Israel to build West Bank …
Ezra Klein:
Why Health Reform Is Likely to Have a Public Plan — Huffington Post's Ryan Grim has been doing great work covering Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-Neb.) endless flips and flops on the public health insurance plan. A few weeks ago, you might remember that Nelson was talking about forming a …
James Kirchick / Wall Street Journal:
The Religious Right Didn't Kill George Tiller — The left tries to smear ‘Christianists’ as akin to Islamic extremists. — Printer — Friendly — On Sunday, abortion doctor George Tiller was murdered at his church in Wichita, Kan. He was one of a handful of doctors in the U.S …