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WaPo cancels lobbyist event — Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth said today she was canceling plans for an exclusive “salon” at her home where for as much as $250,000, the Post offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record access to “those powerful few” …
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No Sheeples Here!, The Hill's Pundits Blog, The Jawa Report, Washington Monthly, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Hot Air, Michael Calderone's Blog, Ben Smith's Blog, Politics Daily, Washington Post, MoJo Blog Posts, The Daley Gator, Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Huffington Post, Michelle Malkin, No More Mister Nice Blog, ATTACKERMAN, Blue Crab Boulevard, Silicon Alley Insider, Outside The Beltway, Atlantic Correspondents, Ezra Klein, Conservative Political Report, The Impolitic, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo, Sister Toldjah, Majikthise, Newshoggers.com, Neptunus Lex, BitsBlog, Prairie Weather, Gawker and Raw Story
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Post Publisher Cancels Plans for Off-the-Record ‘Salons’ — Washington Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth today canceled plans for a series of policy dinners at her home after learning that marketing fliers offered lobbyists access to Obama administration officials, members of Congress …


Black Reporters on the Beat of Michelle Obama
Discussion:
Daily Kos, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Wonkette, NewsBusters.org, Think Progress and Michael Calderone's Blog

The Pressitutes: Obama's Lewinsky
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And So it Goes in Shreveport, The TrogloPundit, theblogprof, lalate news and Piece of Work In Progress

Things That Make You Go Hmmm — John Schwenkler was kind enough to engage Andrew once again over the origins of Trig: — [Is] it still possible to think that the Palins might have pulled off the greatest con in American political history by pretending to be the parents of a Downs Syndrome baby …
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Krauthammer: Palin isn't a serious candidate for president — Oh yes, he went there. We've been having a running debate on Twitter this afternoon about Sarahcuda and my contention that criticism of her is verboten among righty blog readers, HA's included. This thread will be an interesting test case.

Why They Hate Her, the Angelina Jolie of Politics — Tuesday night on Hugh's program, we discussed the Vanity Fair article about Sarah Palin and why, eight months after the election, Palin still arouses such fury amongst liberals and so many rank-and-file Democrats.

Palin, Vanity Fair, Envy, and Hate — Just about a year ago in this space, I endeavored to defend Bill Clinton against a highly suspect and agenda driven attack launched at him from the pages of Vanity Fair. Now, I will attempt to do the same for Governor Sarah Palin knowing that such a defense …
Discussion:
GOP 12


Sanford's mental state questioned — Gov. Mark Sanford is acting like a love-struck teenager. — Or, maybe he has a deeper personality disorder, some experts speculate. — As the saga of Sanford and his Argentine lover continues, the public, the governor's political rivals and some allies …
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Sanford book deal falls through — (CNN) - Gov. Mark Sanford and his publisher have parted ways. — “Sentinel has agreed to release Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina from his contract to write a book about fiscal conservatism, which was to be called WITHIN OUR MEANS and was scheduled …


Jenny Sanford: I'm Willing to Forgive Mark
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland

New GOP ad: The stimulus isn't working — From Boehner's office, an odd, hokey first effort at pushing a meme that could deliver the House to the GOP if it's still true next November. There's too much in the way here to focus on the message — split-screen, soundtrack, cornpone narrator …
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Oh Frabjous Day!! Unemployment Rate Increases by Only 0.1%!! — Finally. Finally the slowing of the unemployment rate increase has arrived. We've been waiting for months for unemployment to show signs of topping out, and it looks like it may be happening at last.

U.S. Job Losses Rise in June as Unemployment Reaches 9.5%
Discussion:
The Washington Note, The Huffington Post, Hot Air, Financial Times, Gateway Pundit, Calculated Risk, msnbc.com, Guardian, Michelle Malkin, Ezra Klein, Matthew Yglesias, Hotline On Call, Economix, Tom Watson, Gawker, DealBook, QandO, The Caucus, Washington Post, Truthdig, DailyFinance, Womenstake, The Opinionator, Commentary, Top of the Ticket, The Jawa Report, Wonkette, The Confluence, Clusterstock, Atlantic Correspondents, TIME.com, The Campaign Spot, The Strata-Sphere, Don Surber and The Agonist


McKinney held in Israel, to be returned to U.S. — JERUSALEM (CNN) — Former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney — who was aboard a ship the Israeli navy intercepted this week — is in a detention center and will be returned to the United States, the U.S. Embassy said.
Discussion:
Truthdig
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A ‘coup’ in Honduras? Nonsense. — Don't believe the myth. The arrest of President Zelaya represents the triumph of the rule of law. — TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS - — Sometimes, the whole world prefers a lie to the truth. The White House, the United Nations, the Organization of American States …
Discussion:
Alterdestiny, Fausta's Blog, Power Line, Winds of Change.NET, Associated Press and Reuters
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Honduran Democracy Protesters Bash Obama & CNN — Thousands of Hondurans protested in support of democracy, the military and the Micheletti government this week in Honduras. — The US media has been ignoring these protests. — Tens of thousands of Hondurans demonstrated in support …

New CBO Score for the Affordable Health Choices Act: $611 Billion Over 10 Years — HELP Committee Democrats Release New Cost Estimate, Strong Public Option & Provision on Employer Responsibility — Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) …
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Time for an Israeli Strike? — With Iran's hard-line mullahs and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps unmistakably back in control, Israel's decision of whether to use military force against Tehran's nuclear weapons program is more urgent than ever. — Iran's nuclear threat was never …
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California Starting to Pay With I.O.U.'s — LOS ANGELES — Its budget gap growing and its political process for addressing the gap unhinged, California will begin Thursday to pay vendors and taxpayers with i.o.u.'s, only the second time the state has adopted the emergency payment method since the Great Depression.
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Saddam Hussein Said WMD Talk Helped Him Look Strong to Iran — Saddam Hussein told an FBI interviewer before he was hanged that he allowed the world to believe he had weapons of mass destruction because he was worried about appearing weak to Iran, according to declassified accounts of the interviews released yesterday.
Discussion:
Times of London, Hot Air, Power Line, Achenblog, Think Progress, Raw Story, Israel Matzav and Wonk Room
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Michael Scheuer: Obama Doesn't Care ‘About Protecting This Country’
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Judge tentatively dismisses case in MySpace hoax that led to teenage girl's suicide — A federal judge tentatively decided today to dismiss the case against a Missouri woman who had been convicted of computer fraud stemming from an Internet hoax that prompted a teenage girl to commit suicide.
Discussion:
On Deadline
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Now they want Reagan's name off the airport — At Wednesday's Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board meeting, chairman H.R. Crawford - a former District Council member and Marion Barry confidante - told fellow Board members that he has heard talk on Capitol Hill …

Obama Administration to Involve NSA in Defending Civilian Agency Networks — The Obama administration will proceed with a Bush-era plan to use National Security Agency assistance in screening government computer traffic on private-sector networks, with AT&T as the likely test site …

Agreements must be honored — Dov Weissglass slams Obama Administration's denial of Israeli agreement with Bush — On May 1 and 16, 2003, during discussions of Israel's reservations in respect to the Road Map initiative, it was agreed that there will be no construction at Jewish communities in Judea …


BREAKING: Obama Administration Wants CIA Torture Report Withheld Until August 31 — Word's coming now that the Obama administration is seeking to withhold the CIA's 2004 inspector-general report on the implementation of its former “enhanced interrogation regime” until August 31.