Top Items:
The State:
New sex revelations fuel calls for resignation — Latest details tip scales for many — Six of 27 members of the conservative Senate Republican Caucus Tuesday night issued a letter calling on Gov. Mark Sanford to resign. — Two additional senators considered among Sanford's staunchest allies …
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Peter Hamby / CNN:
Call for Sanford resignation grows louder — COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) — South Carolina Republican Party Chairwoman Karen Floyd seemed to suggest Wednesday that the time had come for GOP Gov. Mark Sanford to consider resigning from office. — “For the past two days …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Newsweek Blogs, TPMDC, Connecting.the.Dots, Eye on 2010, Don Surber, The Politico and Truthdig
Michael Barone / AMERICAN.COM:
The GOP's Real Problems for 2012 — The Ensign and Sanford scandals are beside the point. The Republican Party is going to have a hard time coming up with a strong presidential nominee in 2012. — The conventional wisdom, as recorded in the New York Times, is that the Republican party …
The Politico:
S.C. GOP: Sanford must go
S.C. GOP: Sanford must go
Discussion:
Top of the Ticket, Ben Smith's Blog, Salon, The Palmetto Scoop, The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Page, GOP 12 and DownWithTyranny!
Jim Myers / Tulsa World:
Inhofe says climate change bill will be “dead in the water” in Senate — WASHINGTON — U.S. Jim Inhofe, who earlier said a criminal investigation “probably should be” conducted into allegations the EPA suppressed a climate change report, conceded Tuesday he is not qualified to make that determination.
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Media Matters for America:
Fox hosts on Franken victory: “in denial”; Franken and nation crazy; Coleman originally won — SUMMARY: Several Fox News hosts have expressed bewilderment, disappointment, and denial about Al Franken's victory in the Minnesota Senate race. — After Norm Coleman conceded the 2008 Minnesota Senate race …
Wall Street Journal:
The ‘Absentee’ Senator — Franken wins by changing the rules. — Printer — Friendly — The Minnesota Supreme Court yesterday declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of last year's disputed Senate race, and Republican incumbent Norm Coleman's gracious concession at least spares the state any further legal combat.
Discussion:
TPMDC, The Fix, Law Blog, Never Yet Melted, BitsBlog, Flopping Aces, NewsBusters.org, Minnesota Independent, Washington Post, BizzyBlog and Moonbattery
Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
Franken's New Capitol Hill Office Seals Final Victory Over Coleman
Franken's New Capitol Hill Office Seals Final Victory Over Coleman
Discussion:
City Pages
Mary Katharine Ham / Weekly Standard:
Bush's ‘Town Halls’ vs. Obama's Town Halls — The New York Times is covering President Obama's health care town hall-style meeting today in Northern Virginia rather credulously. This is the orchestrated political event that will feature a hand-picked audience and pre-screened questions about Obama's health care plan for the nation.
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RealClearPolitics Video Log:
CBS, Helen Thomas Challenge Gibbs On “Controlled” Town Hall Meeting — CBS' Chip Reid and Helen Thomas double teamed Robert Gibbs today at the daily press briefing on the “tightly controlled” town hall meeting President Obama will hold on health care. Gibbs kept saying lets have this discussion AFTER the meeting.
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Blue on blue: Helen Thomas hammers Gibbs on Obama's phony town hall — Phony, that is, in the sense that the White House knows in advance the questions that'll be asked, which makes the questioners de facto plants of the most transparent administration evah.
Mark Hemingway / The Corner:
Who's the Palin Leaker from the McCain Campaign? — The publication of a Vanity Fair profile of Sarah Palin appears to have opened old wounds in the McCain campaign. At issue is a question that was never resolved following McCain's loss in November: Who in the McCain campaign was secretly trashing Sarah Palin to the press?
Discussion:
The washington times Blogs, Hot Air, Eunomia, AmSpecBlog, Texas for Sarah Palin and Conservatives4Palin.com
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Moe Lane / Moe_Lane's blog:
A friendly suggestion to former McCain campaign staffers. — You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. — Background: Hot Air (Allahpundit), Hot Air (Ed Morrissey), The Weekly Standard, ConsiderThisNews (Pat Hynes), The Politico — Since everybody else is piling on, let me add my own comment to the fray.
Discussion:
GayPatriot, The New Republic, The Daily Dish, Sadly, No!, Salon and Texas for Sarah Palin
Matt Walker / BBC:
Ant mega-colony takes over world — A queen and worker Argentine ant have many, many relatives — A single mega-colony of ants has colonised much of the world, scientists have discovered. — Argentine ants living in vast numbers across Europe, the US and Japan belong to the same interrelated colony …
David Neiwert / Crooks and Liars:
Michael Scheuer on Fox: America's only hope is for another terrorist attack — You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player! — DOWNLOADS: (909) — PLAYS: (3582) — Good God. They really are wishing and hoping for a terrorist attack.
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Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Just Go Be With Her! — In part two of his leave-no-rock-unturned interview with the Associated Press, Mark Sanford says that at least he will “be able to die knowing I had met my soul mate,” as David noted below. And if that's not enough, he says that for all the grief his affair has caused …
Rasmussen Reports:
Public Support for Sotomayor Falls After Supreme Court Reversal — A heavily publicized U.S. Supreme Court reversal of an appeals court ruling by Judge Sonia Sotomayor has at least temporarily diminished public support for President Obama's first Supreme Court nominee.
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Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:
Firefighter case shows seamy side of racial politics
Firefighter case shows seamy side of racial politics
Discussion:
Commentary
Dan Savage / Slog | The Stranger:
Fort Worth Police Chief: That Faggot Had It Coming — Most residents of Fort Worth have never even seen the inside of a gay bar. Fort Worth's police chief Jeff Halstead is counting on that fact—counting on the average person's ignorance about gay bars and certain stereotypes about gay men …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, WFAA-TV, The Bilerico Project, #gay, Pam's House Blend, Instant Tea, AMERICAblog News and Joe. My. God.
Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
We're Getting A Bad Feeling About Our Food — Editor's Note: Gut Check is a new biweekly column on the politics of food. — “Does for the supermarket what ‘Jaws’ did for the beach,” says Variety's John Anderson. “Everyone should see ‘Food, Inc.,’ ” enthuses this newspaper.
Rajiv Chandrasekaran / Washington Post:
U.S. Marines Launch Major Operation in Afghanistan — Thousands of U.S. Marines descended upon the volatile Helmand River valley in helicopters and armored convoys early Thursday morning, mounting an operation that represents the first large-scale test of the U.S. military's new counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan.
Michael F. Cannon / Cato @ Liberty:
Why Wal-Mart Supports an Employer Mandate — A couple of years ago, I shared a cab to the airport with a Wal-Mart lobbyist, who told me that Wal-Mart supports an “employer mandate.” An employer mandate is a legal requirement that employers provide a government-defined package of health benefits to their workers.
Discussion:
Forbes, Townhall.com, Outside The Beltway, TPMDC, James Pethokoukis, On Politics, Washington Examiner and Michelle Malkin
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Chelsea Schilling / WorldNetDaily:
He's back! Guess who's coming to tea parties — Find out which popular patriot is helping take America back this Independence Day — Joe the Plumber is hitting the streets to speak at tea parties and help citizens take America back this Independence Day weekend.
Discussion:
Wilson County News, News-Gazette, Shakesville, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and Think Progress
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Robert Zubrin / Roll Call:
The Costs of the Cap-and-Trade Bill — On June 25, the House passed the Waxman-Markey climate stabilization act, which would institute a cap-and-trade system to restrict Americans' carbon emissions. While proponents of the bill have sought to argue that the costs of such a system would be negligible …
Dennis McLellan / Los Angeles Times:
Karl Malden dies at 97; Oscar-winning actor — Malden starred in TV's ‘The Streets of San Francisco’ and made famous the American Express catchphrase 'Don't leave home without it.' He appeared in more than 50 films over his long career. — Karl Malden, one of Hollywood's strongest …