Top Items:
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Obama: Cambridge police acted ‘stupidly’ — After spending most of an hour patiently reiterating his arguments for changing the health insurance system, President Barack Obama turned his press conference sharply toward an iconic moment in American race relations: The arrest …
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William Kristol / PostPartisan:
Obama Attacks Docs and Cops — President Obama spent most of his press conference tonight denying what President Kennedy famously affirmed — that to govern is to choose. Obama promised us health care this is at once better and cheaper, with both more regulation and more freedom to choose …
ABCNEWS:
Obama's Comments on Gates Arrest Stir Reaction — The Cop Who Arrested The Harvard Professor Says He Will Not Apologize — President Obama's comments about the arrest of prominent Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates has added fuel to the story that has dominated national headlines …
Boston Herald:
Officer in Henry Gates flap tried to save Reggie Lewis — Denies he's a racist, won't apologize — The Cambridge cop prominent Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. claims is a racist gave a dying Reggie Lewis mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in a desperate bid to save the Celtics …
Ben Smith / The Politico:
At big moment, Obama goes small — President Barack Obama came alive about 50 minutes into Wednesday night's news conference — when somebody finally changed the subject. — The president's remarks on his chosen subject, health care, were cautious and choreographed, hemmed in on one side …
Discussion:
Time, The Huffington Post, ABCNEWS, The Note, Commentary, Indecision Forever, Wall Street Journal and Political Punch
Helene Cooper / New York Times:
Obama Criticizes Arrest of Harvard Professor — WASHINGTON — President Obama bluntly accused the police of acting “stupidly” in arresting the Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. last week after an officer had established that Mr. Gates had not broken into his own home in Cambridge, Mass.
Discussion:
Blogs and Stories, New York Magazine, Shakesville, Outside The Beltway, The Moderate Voice, TalkLeft, New York Times and The Nation
Tom Shales / Washington Post:
Obama Goes Off-Topic, Clearly
Obama Goes Off-Topic, Clearly
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, msnbc.com, Los Angeles Times, Taegan Goddard's …, The Fix, David Corn, Salon, FishBowlDC and The Campaign Spot
New York Times:
Obama's Fifth News Conference — Following is a transcript of President Obama's fifth news conference, the fourth given in prime-time, as provided by Federal News Service. — PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good evening. Please be seated. — Before I take your questions, I want to talk for a few minutes …
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Mickey Kaus / Kausfiles:
Obama's Overreach — Obama Presser: Instant[ reaction] rant: … He's still in the thrall of Orszagism! Here we're dramatically changing insurance (no more “preexisting conditions") and insuring the uninsured and creating a health care exchange and promoting a public option …
Steven Pearlstein / Washington Post:
Imperfect Health Reform Still Beats the Status Quo
Imperfect Health Reform Still Beats the Status Quo
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Wall Street Journal, The Mahablog, New York Post, TPMDC, D-Day, Newshoggers.com, Ezra Klein and CNN
Jonathan Cohn / The Treatment:
Obama Has a Grown-Up Talk With America (Gulp)
Obama Has a Grown-Up Talk With America (Gulp)
Discussion:
MoJo Blog Posts, Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, Salon and AMERICAblog News
The Hill:
Pelosi: I have the votes to pass health bill — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday there is “no question” that she has the votes to pass healthcare reform legislation even as key Democrats retreated from their predictions of progress. — But Democratic opponents of the bill …
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J. Taylor Rushing / The Hill:
Durbin: No pre-recess vote on healthcare
Durbin: No pre-recess vote on healthcare
Discussion:
Political Punch, Top of the Ticket, The Obama Experiment, Washington Post, Scared Monkeys, Open Left, Weekly Standard, TPMDC, The Politico, Wizbang, Feministing, Macsmind, Hot Air, D-Day, Capitol Briefing, Roll Call, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Stop The ACLU, Donklephant, Salon, Pundit & Pundette and Commentary
Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
N. Korea Escalates War of Words, Calls Clinton Vulgar, Unintelligent — The war of words between North Korea and the United States escalated Thursday, with North Korea's Foreign Ministry lashing out at Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in unusually personal terms for “vulgar remarks” …
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Agence France Presse:
Biden says Guantanamo will close by January — LONDON — The Guantanamo Bay detention camp will close by next January, Vice-President Joe Biden said Thursday, adding that decisions on all inmates were likely “well before January.” — In an interview with the BBC, he insisted Washington …
Discussion:
The Jawa Report
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Quinnipiac University:
Dodd In Slump In Connecticut Reelection Bid, Quinnipiac University Connecticut Poll Finds; Obama Approval Down 8 Points — Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd trails former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, a likely Republican challenger 48 - 39 percent in the 2010 Senate race, but he is inching …
Time:
Bush and Cheney's Final Days — Hours before they were to leave office after eight troubled years, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney had one final and painful piece of business to conclude. For over a month Cheney had been pleading, cajoling, even pestering Bush to pardon …
Tomoeh Murakami Tse / Washington Post:
On Wall Street, Compensation Is Rocketing Back to Pre-Crisis Levels — Lawmakers Warn Against Return to Pre-Crisis Levels — Wall Street's biggest banks are setting aside billions of dollars more to pay their executives and other employees just months after these firms were rescued …
Discussion:
Zandar Versus The Stupid, TPMCafe, ProPublica, AMERICAblog News, Associated Press and MoJo Blog Posts
Mary Louise Kelly / NPR:
Bin Laden Son Reported Killed In Pakistan — · U.S. officials believe Saad bin Laden — a son of Osama bin Laden — has been killed by an American missile in Pakistan. — Saad bin Laden reportedly spent years under house arrest in Iran before traveling last year to Pakistan …
Discussion:
Fox News, On Deadline, The Jawa Report, TalkLeft, Gateway Pundit and Outside The Beltway
Rasmussen Reports:
Mother Knows Best — A Commentary By Susan Estrich — The president is “not familiar” with the bill. No one can explain how it will work yet, as Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., told a contentious town meeting. There are various plans, and negotiations are still in the early stages.
Discussion:
Moe Lane
Jackie Kucinich / Roll Call:
Democrats Block GOP Health Care Mailing — Democrats are preventing Republican House Members from sending their constituents a mailing that is critical of the majority's health care reform plan, blocking the mailing by alleging that it is inaccurate. — House Republicans are crying foul …
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Obama: Greedy doctors are coming after your tonsils or something — Gee, I'm really sorry I decided to skip this for “Ghost Hunters.” Watching The One explain how the medical industry has designs on your body parts would have been much better in hindsight.
Josh Gerstein / Josh Gerstein's Blog:
WH discloses health-care execs' visits — The Secret Service had earlier rejected a request for the same information, asserting executive privilege. The issue could have been an embarassment for Obama at the presser in light of his promises during the campaign to make public White House visitors …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Michelle Malkin, Liberal Values, Taylor Marsh, Political Byline, Outside The Beltway and Emptywheel