Top Items:
Ross Douthat / New York Times:
Palin and Her Enemies — If Sarah Palin's political career ended last Friday, 10 tumultuous months after she was introduced as the Republican Party's vice-presidential nominee, those five words will be its epitaph. — Had she refused John McCain, Palin would still be a popular female governor …
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New York Times:
Legal Bills Swayed Palin, Official Says — Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell of Alaska said Sunday that Gov. Sarah Palin's decision to resign was largely prompted by the personal legal costs of the ethics investigations against her. — Ms. Palin announced on Friday that she would quit her job near …
Discussion:
The Mudflats, The New Ledger, Atlantic Correspondents, Raw Story and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard:
Palin's Prospects — She dashed her chances of winning the 2012 nomination, but a path to the presidency remains open to Sarah Palin. — Forget about Sarah Palin as the Republican presidential candidate in 2012 and probably ever. She may have no interest in seeking the GOP nomination.
Violet / Reclusive Leftist:
Feminists and the mystery of Sarah Palin
Feminists and the mystery of Sarah Palin
Discussion:
Wake up America, The Mahablog, Flopping Aces, YID With LID, AMERICAN DIGEST, Brutally Honest, Corrente, American Power and New York Times
Indira A.R. Lakshmanan / Bloomberg:
Carville to Advise Karzai Challenger in Afghan Election Contest — Democratic strategist James Carville, who ran Bill Clinton's presidential bid in 1992, is helping another challenger: a U.S.-educated rival of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. — Carville, who has close ties to Secretary …
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Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
A chill in air for Obama in Russia
A chill in air for Obama in Russia
Discussion:
The Note, Political Punch, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Associated Press, Time and New York Times
Andy McCarthy / The Corner:
Obama: Student Radical — During the campaign, I wrote a piece called “Why Won't Obama Talk About Columbia? — The years he won't discuss may explain the Ayers tie he keeps lying about.” So now, nearly six months into the Obama presidency, the mainstream media has finally done a bit …
Tim Weiner / New York Times:
Ex-Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara Dies at 93 — Robert S. McNamara, perhaps the most influential defense secretary of the 20th century, who helped lead the nation into the maelstrom of Vietnam and spent the rest of his life wrestling with the war's moral consequences …
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Thomas W. Lippman / Washington Post:
Robert McNamara, Architect of Vietnam War, Dies at 93 — Robert Strange McNamara, the former secretary of defense whose record as a leading executive of industry and a chieftain of foreign financial aid was all but erased from public memory by his reputation as the primary architect …
Discussion:
Mudville Gazette, Firedoglake, Paul Kedrosky's …, AmSpecBlog and Lawyers, Guns and Money
Kevin Hassett / Bloomberg:
California's Nightmare Will Kill Obamanomics: Kevin Hassett — Last week, we discovered that the state of California will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today. — With California mired in a budget crisis, largely the result of a political impasse that makes spending cuts …
Discussion:
Donklephant, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Confederate Yankee, Don Surber and Shot in the Dark
Marc Lynch:
Say it ain't so, Joe — It's hard to tell exactly what Joe Biden was trying to say this morning on “This Week” with George Stephanopolous. But his remarks are being widely interpreted as a green light for an Israeli strike on Iran. If that isn't the case, Biden needs to issue a strong clarification immediately.
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Washington Post:
Former Lawmakers and Congressional Staffers Hired to Lobby on Health Care — Firms Are Enlisting Ex-Lawmakers, Aides — The nation's largest insurers, hospitals and medical groups have hired more than 350 former government staff members and retired members of Congress in hopes of influencing …
Jeffrey Young / The Hill:
Schumer promises public option in healthcare bill — The healthcare reform bill that emerges from Congress this year will include a government-run public health insurance option, regardless of the bipartisan negotiations seeking a compromise in the Senate, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Sunday.
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Matthew Goldstein / Commentaries:
A Goldman trading scandal? — Did someone try to steal Goldman Sachs' secret sauce? — While most in the US were celebrating the 4th of July, a Russian immigrant living in New Jersey was being held on federal charges of stealing top-secret computer trading codes from a major …
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Paul Krugman / New York Times:
HELP Is on the Way — The Congressional Budget Office has looked at the future of American health insurance, and it works. — A few weeks ago there was a furor when the budget office “scored” two incomplete Senate health reform proposals — that is, estimated their costs and likely impacts over the next 10 years.
Wall Street Journal:
Scores Reported Dead After Unrest in China — SHANGHAI — The official death toll in riots in China's northwestern Xinjiang region rose sharply Monday, with the government saying that 140 had been killed in what appears to be one of the deadliest episodes of unrest in China in decades.
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Just the Messenger — Mediaite.com Focuses on Celebrity of Journalism — Few would quarrel with the notion of Oprah Winfrey as the most influential television host, with Bill O'Reilly coming in second. — But Elisabeth Hasselbeck at No. 4 and Jon Stewart at No. 15 — ahead of Bob Schieffer …
Discussion:
TalkLeft
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Michael Calderone / Michael Calderone's Blog:
Dan Abrams' Mediaite launches
Dan Abrams' Mediaite launches
Discussion:
Clusterstock
Nadia Gilani / Times of London:
Wife blows MI6 chief's cover on Facebook — The wife of the new head of MI6 has caused a major security breach and left his family exposed after publishing photographs and personal details on Facebook. — Sir John Sawers is due to take over as chief of the Secret Intelligence Service in November …
William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Reuters Runs Staged Photo Of Bloody Honduran Protester — Reuters has run photo of a bloodied Honduran protester (below) dramatizing the bloodshed at protests for Manuel Zelaya. (h/t) Problem is, this photo appears to be staged. — Blogger Hunter Smith, who recently finished …
Ben Armbruster / Think Progress:
Bush Library Foundation President: Saddam's Gun A Symbol That Bush ‘Disarmed Him Literally’ — The New York Times reports today that when President Bush opens his library at Southern Methodist University in 2013, “visitors will most likely get to see one of his most treasured items: Saddam Hussein's pistol.”
Discussion:
New York Times