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Sanford met in Atlanta after returning from South America — Governor says he never hiked Appalachian Trail; says he cruised along the coast of Buenos Aires to unwind after stressful legislative session — ATLANTA — Gov. Mark Sanford arrived in the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport this morning …
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Michelle Malkin, The New Republic, The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Note, The Moderate Voice, Think Progress, Matthew Yglesias, Politics Daily, The Swamp, Talking Points Memo, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Associated Press, Salon, New York Post, TPMMuckraker, Wonkette, Gawker, AmSpecBlog, The Caucus, The Impolitic, Wizbang, AMERICAblog News, msnbc.com, rubber hose, Facing South, The Plum Line, PoliBlog, The Daily Dish, pandagon.net, On Deadline, Media Matters for America, Shakesville and Swampland
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Sources Question Governor's Story — Gov. Mark Sanford Says He Disappeared To Go Hiking — GREENVILLE, S.C. — WYFF News 4 has received exclusive information from sources who say they have information about Gov. Mark Sanford's whereabouts during a mysterious absence over the past several days.
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Washington Monthly, The State, The Fix, Runnin' Scared, Taegan Goddard's …, The Reaction, FiveThirtyEight, CNN, TPMMuckraker, msnbc.com, The Mahablog, Indecision Forever, Gawker, The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, The Palmetto Scoop, Salon, Think Progress, Brilliant at Breakfast and SteveAudio


Car believed to be Sanford's found at South Carolina airport — COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) - The black Chevy Suburban believed to have been used by South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford to leave town has been found in the parking lot of Columbia Metropolitan Airport.

FIRST THOUGHTS: SANFORD'S TANGO — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg — *** Sanford's tango: Well, it turns out that South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) wasn't hiking the Appalachian Trail after all. Instead, he was in — get this — Buenos Aires, Argentina.


Sanford was in South America — A mystery has turned into a fiasco for South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who now says he was in South America — not on the Appalachian Trail, as his staff had said on the record in official statements when his whereabouts became the subject of global news coverage.


Report: S.C. governor says he was in Argentina — COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford did not spend the last five days hiking the Appalachian Trail — as his staff indicated — but instead was in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he told The State newspaper.
Discussion:
skippy the bush kangaroo

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. contacted Iran's ayatollah before election — Administration overture to Khamenei ridiculed in sermon — Prior to this month's disputed presidential election in Iran, the Obama administration sent a letter to the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei …
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Clerics join Iran's anti-government protests — CNN Senior Editor, Middle East Affairs — (CNN) — A photo showing Iranian clerics prominently participating in an anti-government protest speaks volumes about the new face of Iran's opposition movement. — In a blatant act of defiance …

The End of the Beginning — TEHRAN — Iran's 1979 revolution took a full year to gestate.


Stay Tuned for More of ‘The Obama Show’ — In his first daytime news conference yesterday, President Obama preempted “All My Children,” “Days of Our Lives” and “The Young and the Restless.” But the soap viewers shouldn't have been disappointed: The president had arranged some prepackaged entertainment for them.
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Media Playground: Obama Calls on HuffPost, Michael Calderone Pouts …
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Washington Post, Michael Calderone's Blog, Outside The Beltway, The Nation and Balloon Juice


McCain Won't Say Obama Is On Iran Reformers' Side — Either Sen. John McCain didn't hear Joe Klein tell him to “be quiet” or he doesn't care, because the former presidential candidate went right back at his ex-rival Tuesday afternoon for President Obama's decision not to insert himself into the Iranian crisis.
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In case you wondered: John McCain bows out of 2012 GOP race
Discussion:
The Huffington Post


He Thinks You're Stupid — In his press conference today, President Obama talked about the cap-and-trade energy tax that the Democrats are trying to ram through Congress. Obama's nose grew a couple of inches as he uttered this howler: … The idea that the energy tax will come to rest with …
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What the frak is going on with the Cap and Trade bill?
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Confederate Yankee, Open Left, Commentary, Betsy's Page, New York Times, The Other McCain, Open Congress and Moe_Lane's blog

Tapes Reveal Nixon's View of Abortion — WASHINGTON — On Jan. 23, 1973, when the Supreme Court struck down state criminal abortion laws in Roe v. Wade, President Richard M. Nixon made no public statement. But privately, newly released tapes reveal, he expressed ambivalence.
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Climate Bill Set for Vote After Deal Is Reached — WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has scheduled a vote Friday on a sprawling climate-change bill, signaling the Democratic leadership's confidence that it can overcome objections from Farm Belt Democrats.
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Democrats cut deal on climate bill
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Climate Progress, Swampland, Commentary, The New Republic, Open Left and MoJo Blog Posts


A Republican comeback? — For the first time since their 2006 election drubbing, top Republicans see signs — however faint — of a political resurgence over the next year. — At first blush, this sounds absurd. After all, polls show the GOP more unpopular than ever …


Romney's Image Improves; Palin Well Regarded by Republican Base — Favorability of Leading Republicans — Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has seen his favorability ratings improve and now enjoys a positive balance of opinion among the general public: 40% rate him favorably, 28% unfavorably.
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Indecision Forever, The Plum Line and Conservatives4Palin.com


Documents Back Saudi Link to Extremists — WASHINGTON — Documents gathered by lawyers for the families of Sept. 11 victims provide new evidence of extensive financial support for Al Qaeda and other extremist groups by members of the Saudi royal family, but the material may never find …
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Obama Open to Compromise as Senators Balk at Public Health Plan — President Barack Obama's push to create a public health-care program to compete with private insurers is meeting so much resistance from Republicans and even some members of his own party that he's signaling a willingness to compromise.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, New York Times, Think Progress, Corrente, NewsBusters.org, The Plum Line, The Caucus and TPMDC
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Most Americans Want Health Reform but Worry About Costs, Quality — A majority of Americans see government action as critical to controlling runaway health-care costs, but there is broad public anxiety about the potential impact of reform legislation and conflicting views about the types …