Top Items:

911, police tapes key in Gates case — Officials mull release of recorded evidence — Mounting pressure to get to the bottom of the controversial arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. is centering on recorded police tapes that may offer a dose of reality amid all the media and political noise.
Discussion:
The Hill's Pundits Blog, sara in italy, Taylor Marsh, Wizbang, The Confluence, Gateway Pundit, Boston Globe, VDARE.com and Macsmind
RELATED:


Skip Gates, please sit down — You are suffering from what I call the “Ivy League Effect” … Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home in Cambridge, Mass., in 2008. — The Ivy League is not real life. College in general is not real life, and the Ivy League is a more fantastic version of college.
Discussion:
The Opinionator, The Daily Dish, Patterico's Pontifications, Pam's House Blend, Taylor Marsh and The Jawa Report


Gates Arrest — Case Heats Up As Police Organizations Criticize Obama For Jumping into the Controversy — The police sergeant who arrested Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. last week in his own home may be considering a defamation lawsuit against Gates who has implied his arrest was racially motivated.

Obama regrets ‘distraction’ of comment ‘obsession’ — President Obama regrets the distraction that his comments about a police incident in Cambridge, Mass., caused, according to a White House spokesman. — White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday that if the president knew …

The Gates Rorschach — The Boston Herald: “911, police tapes key …
Discussion:
Jules Crittenden, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Boston Globe, Cold Fury, Associated Press and Riehl World View

Palin's Favorability Rating Drops as She Prepares to Leave Office, Poll Finds — As Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin prepares for the next stage of her political career, a majority of Americans hold an unfavorable view of her, and there is broad public doubt about her leadership skills and understanding …
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Anchorage Daily News, ABCNEWS, The Daily Dish, The Swamp, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Salon, Right Pundits, Top of the Ticket, The New Republic, skippy the bush kangaroo, Brendan Nyhan, PoliBlog, Conservatives4Palin.com, The Moderate Voice, Indecision Forever, Wonkette, GOP 12, Taylor Marsh, Below The Beltway, Firedoglake, Liberal Values, The Page and MyDD
RELATED:

Hot Button — More ethics claims — The Associated Press claims …
Discussion:
palingates, Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis, Progressive Alaska, SHANNYN MOORE, The Mudflats and Firedoglake

Waxman may let health bill skip committee — Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) says there is “no alternative” but to have healthcare legislation bypass his Energy and Commerce Committee if Blue Dog Democrats don't accept a deal worked out Friday. — Waxman is hoping the inclusion of a study …
RELATED:


McCain Campaign Investigated, Dismissed Obama Citizenship Rumors — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) during his presidential campaign (WDCpix) — In the final months of the 2008 presidential race, Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) campaign learned of a lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania that asked the state …
RELATED:

No, Obama's grandmother didn't say he was born in Kenya — Among those on television who've been covering the sudden public resurgence of the Birther movement — but in a much more responsible way than Lou Dobbs — is MSNBC's Chris Matthews. The other day, he beat up pretty badly on Rep. John Campbell …


Why Obamacare Is Sinking — What happened to Obamacare? Rhetoric met reality. As both candidate and president, the master rhetorician could conjure a world in which he bestows upon you health-care nirvana: more coverage, less cost. — But you can't fake it in legislation.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Time, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Little Green Footballs, The Note, Betsy's Page, Political Punch and Mediaite
RELATED:

Costs and Compassion — The talking heads on cable TV panned President Obama's Wednesday press conference. You see, he didn't offer a lot of folksy anecdotes. — Shame on them. The health care system is in crisis. The fate of America's middle class hangs in the balance.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, DailyHowler.com, Washington Monthly, TalkLeft, D-Day, Stop The ACLU, The Treatment and Cafe Hayek


How a Local Rally For Obama's Health Care Proposal Turned Into a Rally Against It — Local MoveOn.org members had penciled in on today's schedule a protest in front of Senator John Cornyn's Spring Valley Road office, during which they had hoped to pressure the senator to support President Barack Obama's public health care legislation.

Election 2010: California Senate — California Senate: Boxer 45%, Fiorina 41% — Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer leads former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina in an early look at California's 2010 race for the U.S. Senate. — The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds …
Discussion:
Money & Politics, Power Line, Scorecard's Blog, RedState, Don Surber, Real Clear Politics, AmSpecBlog, PrairiePundit and Redhot

GOP Not Allowed to Say ‘Government-Run Healthcare’ — Rep. John Carter (R-Texas), the secretary of the House Republican Conference and a former District Court Judge, is having his messages to constituents censored by Democrats on the Franking Commission. Republicans are no longer allowed …


Common Sense May Sink ObamaCare — It turns out the president misjudged the nation's mood. — Printer — Friendly — This is big, what's happening. President Obama appears to have misstepped on a major initiative and defining issue. He has misjudged the nation's mood …


Obama's Health Expert Gets Political — WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's health-care plan is in jeopardy because of serious concerns that costs will spin out of control. As much as anyone, it's White House budget director Peter Orszag's job to save it.


Traders Profit With Computers Set at High Speed — It is the hot new thing on Wall Street, a way for a handful of traders to master the stock market, peek at investors' orders and, critics say, even subtly manipulate share prices. — It is called high-frequency trading …

Obama Complains About the News Cycle but Dominates It, Worrying Some — WASHINGTON — It has become his common lament. Challenged about difficulties with his economic or legislative programs, President Obama complains about the tyranny of “the news cycle,” pronouncing the words with an air …


Graham takes on conservatives — When Sen. Lindsey Graham announced his support for Sonia Sotomayor this week, right-wing radio talk show host Mark Levin said it was a sign that Graham is “unreliable ... as a thinker and a leader.” — Wendy Long, counsel for the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network …


Perry raises possibility of states' rights showdown with White House over healthcare — AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry, raising the specter of a showdown with the Obama administration, suggested Thursday that he would consider invoking states' rights protections under the 10th Amendment to resist …


Elizabeth Edwards Shows How to Tell a Liar on Healthcare — In an interview with Rachel Maddow, Elizabeth Edwards dropped this enormously helpful key on when to tell if an opponent to healthcare reform is lying: … Our friends at Sadly, No! take a look at the actual outcomes between the US and Canada.
Discussion:
Sadly, No!


Wilder cool to W.H. overture in Va. race — The Obama administration dispatched a senior aide to Richmond Wednesday to urge former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder to get behind state Sen. Creigh Deeds, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee. — Patrick Gaspard, the White House political director …