Top Items:
The State:
Gov. Sanford not heard from since Thursday — The whereabouts of Gov. Mark Sanford have been unknown to state officials since Thursday, and some state leaders are questioning who is in charge of the executive office. — Neither the governor's office nor the State Law Enforcement Division …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Swamp, WMBF News, Gawker, Salon, Washington Wire, Washington Monthly, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Weekly Standard, Pam's House Blend, Don Surber, Daily Kos, The Awl, Hot Air, Say Anything, PoliBlog, MoJo Blog Posts, Wonkette, TPMDC and The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Where in the World is Mark Sanford? — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford hasn't been heard from in days. Brett Flashnick — AP — UPDATE, 5:05 p.m.: Mark Sanford told his staff where he would be and that he would be “difficult to reach” before setting out last Thursday night to points unknown …
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Health Care Showdown — America's political scene has changed immensely since the last time a Democratic president tried to reform health care. So has the health care picture: with costs soaring and insurance dwindling, nobody can now say with a straight face that the U.S. health care system …
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight, The Huffington Post, The Washington Independent, Examiner, The Fix, About.com US Liberal Politics, The Confluence, Marginal Revolution, BuzzFlash.org, Paul Krugman, theblogprof, PoliGazette, Reason, AmSpecBlog, CNN, Latest Open Salon Blog, John Stossel's Take, First Draft, The Treatment, Concurring Opinions, Balkinization, DownWithTyranny!, Daily Kos, Open Left, NOW! Blog, Left in the West, Balloon Juice, Washington Monthly, The Impolitic, Jack & Jill Politics, Buck Naked Politics, White House Watch, Firedoglake and Whiskey Fire
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Babooph / CBS News:
Democrats May Unite On Public Health Plan — Emboldened By Apparent Public Backing For “Public Option”, Democrats May Drop Attempt To Compromise — (CBS/AP) Emboldened by polls that show public backing for a government health insurance plan, Democrats are moving to make it a politically defining issue …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly, Wonk Room, The Huffington Post, Open Congress and No More Mister Nice Blog
Ross Douthat / New York Times:
The Hard Part — There was one small consolation for Republicans amid …
The Hard Part — There was one small consolation for Republicans amid …
Lee Fang / Think Progress:
Under Misspelled Banner, Buchanan And White Nationalist Brimelow Argue For English-Only Initiatives — On Saturday, Pat Buchanan hosted a conference to discuss how Republicans can regain a majority in America. During one discussion, panelists suggested supporting English-only initiatives …
New York Times:
Iranian Rally Is Dispersed as Voting Errors Are Admitted — TEHRAN — Hours after a warning from the powerful Revolutionary Guards not to return to the streets, about a thousand protesters defiantly gathered in central Tehran on Monday and were quickly dispersed in an overwhelming show of force by police who used clubs and tear gas.
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Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Section 5 survives — With only one Justice voting to strike down Congress's 25-year extension of the Voting Rights Act's controversial Section 5, the Supreme Court on Monday interpreted the law in a way that saves it. The Court said that all local units of government must be given the option …
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Chris Dodd / U.S. Senator Christopher J. Dodd:
Rights, Responsibilities and Love — On Sunday, The Meriden Record-Journal published the following op-ed by Senator Chris Dodd — Public officials aren't supposed to change their minds. But I firmly believe that it's important to keep learning. Last week, while I was in Connecticut meeting …
St. Petersburg Times:
Scientology: The Truth Rundown, Part 1 of 3 in a special report on the Church of Scientology — After L. Ron Hubbard died, David Miscavige became Scientology's leader. Former church executives say Miscavige beat his staff. Church officials say the defectors are lying. — Reuters/Corbis (2006)]
Associated Press:
Sarkozy says burqas are ‘not welcome’ in France … PARIS (AP) - President Nicolas Sarkozy lashed out Monday at the practice of wearing the Muslim burqa, insisting the full-body religious gown is a sign of the “debasement” of women and that it won't be welcome in France.
Discussion:
Pajamas Media
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Christina Hoff Sommers / Weekly Standard:
No Country for Burly Men — How feminist groups skewed the Obama stimulus plan towards women's jobs. — A “man-cession.” That's what some economists are starting to call it. Of the 5.7 million jobs Americans lost between December 2007 and May 2009, nearly 80 percent had been held by men.
CNN:
Iranian protester pleads for U.S., world to intervene — An Iranian student protester in Tehran made a passionate plea for help from the world community this morning in a phone call to CNN's “American Morning.” — For safety reasons, CNN can only identify the student by his first name, Mohammad.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Israel Matzav, Jeffrey Goldberg, Gateway Pundit, AmSpecBlog and Nice Deb
Andy McCarthy / The Corner:
Understanding Obama on Iran — Call me thick, but I continue to be baffled by a lot of the commentary, cited by Rich and others, which gives as the rationale for President Obama's diffidence his purported determination to preserve the opportunity to negotiate with the mullahs on their nuclear program.
Deborah Yao / Associated Press:
FTC plans to monitor blogs for claims, payments — Savvy consumers often go online for independent consumer reviews of products and services, scouring through comments from everyday Joes and Janes to help them find a gem or shun a lemon. — What some fail to realize, though …
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Manu Raju / The Politico:
GOP: no benefit to court fight — Nearly a month after President Barack Obama picked her for the Supreme Court, Republican senators say Sonia Sotomayor isn't serving as the political lightning rod some in their party had hoped she would be. — “She doesn't have the punch out there in terms …
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John Cook / Gawker:
Gawker Says ‘Hi’ to Fox News Stalker; He Drives Away Like a Coward — We finally met Bill O'Reilly's stalker-producer Jesse Watters on Saturday. It was a fleeting and civil encounter—jovial, even—but ultimately unsatisfying. We asked him some questions about his stalking, and then he drove away, because he's a coward.
Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:
White House Changes the Terms of a Campaign Pledge About Posting Bills Online — During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised that once a bill was passed by Congress, the White House would post it online for five days before he signed it. — “When there's a bill that ends …
Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:
Shep Smith responds to right-wing critics: ‘I do belong here’ at Fox News. — On June 10, Fox News anchor Shep Smith made headlines with his response to the shooting by a white supremacist at the Holocaust Memorial Museum. He said the incident showed that the much-maligned DHS report on violent …
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Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Health Care 2009 = Social Security 2005? — The prevailing concern among liberals is that health care reform in 2008 will follow in the footsteps of the 1993 debacle. This is a legitimate concern, and health care reformists would be wise to draw lessons from the Clintons' failure …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
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Rasmussen Reports:
39% Now Blame Bad Economy on Obama's Policies — While most U.S. voters still blame the Bush Administration for the nation's economic problems, a growing number are inclined to blame President Barack Obama. — A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 39% of voters …
Reuters:
President Obama accepts invitation to World Cup — U.S. President Barack Obama has accepted an invitation to attend the opening ceremony of the World Cup finals in South Africa next year, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Monday. — President Obama, whose late father was Kenyan …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog
Jason Straziuso / content.usatoday.net:
New US battle rule: No fighting near Afghan homes — KABUL — The top U.S. general in Afghanistan will soon formally order U.S. and NATO forces to break away from fights with militants hiding in Afghan houses so the battles do not kill civilians, a U.S. official said Monday.
Discussion:
BLACKFIVE
Fouad Ajami / Wall Street Journal:
Obama's Persian Tutorial — The president has to choose between the regime and the people in the streets. — Printer — Friendly — President Barack Obama did not “lose” Iran. This is not a Jimmy Carter moment. But the foreign-policy education of America's 44th president has just begun.
Ron Williams / delawareonline:
Republicans are trying to shoot their own feet — What in name of Pierre S. duPont IV do the Republicans in the State Legislature think they are doing? It's got to be the most ludicrous political strategy ever conceived, certainly in this state. — Republicans want to spare every teacher …
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THEY WERE ONLY OFF BY A FACTOR OF 18.... For several months, whenever the issue of cap-and-trade comes up, GOP policymakers and their allies immediately turn to their favorite talking point: a cap-and-trade proposal would impose, on average, a $3,128 energy burden on the typical American home.