Top Items:
Boston Globe:
Gates caller says she didn't cite race — Woman laments media accounts — The woman whose report of a possible house break-in led to the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. said she never mentioned race during her 911 call and is “personally devastated” …
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Radley Balko / Reason:
The Henry Louis Gates “Teaching Moment” — The arrest of Harvard African-American Studies Professor Henry Louis Gates has certainly got everyone talking. Unfortunately, everyone's talking about the wrong issue. — Responding to a 911 call from a woman who observed Gates prying open …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, The Agitator, Scared Monkeys, Cold Fury, Moe Lane, Hullabaloo, Balloon Juice and And So it Goes in Shreveport
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
A Straw In The Wind In Favor Of Gates — Interesting - the 911 caller asserts, and the Cambridge Police confirm, that she didn't mention the race of the suspected in-breakers when she made the 911 call. Gates had made a similar claim to the effect that the caller could not have seen …
Discussion:
ParaPundit
The Politico:
GOP headache: The birther issue — When lawmakers return home for recess in August, they can expect to hear tough questions from constituents on the economy, health care and government spending. — But Republicans are preparing for something else: the birthers.
Discussion:
D-Day, PoliGazette, Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, Salon and Democracy in America
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The Politico:
GOP headache: The birther issue — So far, Hoekstra hasn't faced any such questions. — “When you're in a state with 15.2 percent unemployment,” he said, “most people have other things on their mind than this.” — But as if to illustrate the touchiness of the subject, Hoekstra quickly added: “Not that this isn't important.”
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
The hidden hand — The wave of publicity for the Birther movement hasn't yet crested, with the dentist who's the movement's leading legal light, Orly Taitz, saying she's taping the Colbert Report tomorrow, and popping up elsewhere in the mainstream media. — This isn't necessarily a bad thing …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Inhofe Clarifies Claim That Birthers “Have A Point,” Blames White House — As you've already seen, Senator Jim Inhofe made a big splash today by telling the Politico that the birthers “have a point,” adding that he doesn't “discourage” their movement. — But he's now clarifying his claim …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Washington Monthly, The Political Carnival and The Washington Independent
CBS News:
Palin's “Mad as Hell” Speech — Outgoing Alaska Governor Lashes Out at Media in Resignation Address, But Will It Work in the Long Term? — (CBS) This story was written by CBS News digital journalist Scott Conroy and director of political coverage Steve Chaggaris.
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AKMuckraker / The Huffington Post:
Sarah Palin's Farewell Address - Full Transcript
Sarah Palin's Farewell Address - Full Transcript
Discussion:
Swampland
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
An Incoherent Truth — Right now the fate of health care reform seems to rest in the hands of relatively conservative Democrats — mainly members of the Blue Dog Coalition, created in 1995. And you might be tempted to say that President Obama needs to give those Democrats what they want.
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Carrie Johnson / Washington Post:
Amid New Scrutiny, John Yoo Rebuts Critics of Detainee Memos — Quietly but Forcefully, Author of Detainee Memos Rebuts Critics — Some public figures, if their judgment and ethics come under fire, retreat into solitude. Then there is John C. Yoo. — The former Justice Department official …
Discussion:
Emptywheel, The Washington Independent, Law Blog, The BLT, Newshoggers.com, Reason and Neptunus Lex
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Jennifer Agiesta / Behind the Numbers:
Biden's Watchdog Role May Have Bite
Biden's Watchdog Role May Have Bite
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Hot Air, Politics Nation, KeithHennessey.com, The Foundry and The Political Carnival
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Mike Stark on Capitol Hill: Know Your Birthers — Mike Stark has been up on the Hill all week whipping Democrats to hold fast on the public plan, and in his spare time, he decided to ask Republicans if Barack Obama was born in the United States. Not only do they not want to answer — they run.
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Wen Stephenson / WBUR and NPR:
The Fury of the ‘Birthers’ — A detail of President Barack …
The Fury of the ‘Birthers’ — A detail of President Barack …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Media Matters for America, JustOneMinute, Political Punch, NewsBusters.org and Prairie Weather
Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Pelosi unpopular? 'I don't care' — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is one of the most despised political figures in the country. — And, frankly, she doesn't give a damn. — “No, I don't care,” Pelosi told POLITICO last Thursday, laughing heartily as she walked beneath the Capitol dome and plunged into a crowd of tourists.
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Eric Boehlert / Media Matters for America:
UPDATED: Because Politico is really just a GOP bulletin board
UPDATED: Because Politico is really just a GOP bulletin board
Discussion:
Campaign Silo
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
ALL THE WAY TO THE WHITE HOUSE.... I suppose it was bound to happen eventually, though I'd hoped it wouldn't. Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, during an official press briefing, was actually asked about the Birther conspiracy nuts. — I'm fairly certain it was Bill Press …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
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Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:
Gibbs: Birther conspiracy theory is ‘made-up, fictional nonsense.’
Gibbs: Birther conspiracy theory is ‘made-up, fictional nonsense.’
Discussion:
The Plum Line
The Daily Beast:
Finally, Action on Gay Soldiers — Blogs and Stories — The Daily Beast has learned that the Senate, prompted by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, will hold hearings on “Don't Ask, Don't Tell”—a first since 1993, despite Obama's campaign promises. — After determining she didn't have enough votes …
Michael O'Brien / The Hill's Blog Briefing Room:
Van Hollen: Senate may need to ‘pull the plug’ on bipartisan health talks — Senate leaders may need to “pull the plug” on bipartisan negotiations on healthcare reform legislation, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Monday. — Van Hollen, the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee …
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Washington Post:
Pelosi Vows Passage of Health-Care Overhaul
Pelosi Vows Passage of Health-Care Overhaul
Discussion:
The Fix, New York Times, Time, The Plum Line, Ezra Klein, Bloomberg, Washington Times, The Politico, The Nation, Angry Bear, WSJ.com, The Confluence, Swampland, Commentary, CNN, The Caucus, USA Today, The Note, TPMDC, msnbc.com and George's Bottom Line
Michelle Malkin:
What the NYT's 8,100-word Valerie Jarrett profile didn't tell you — Here is a perfect example of why I wrote Culture of Corruption (officially out today — I'll be launching on Hannity radio and TV.) — Over the weekend, the New York Times published a massive, 8,100-word profile …
Joanna Weiss / Boston Globe:
It's Shepard Smith time — With his ratings soaring, the Fox News anchor enjoys his moment - and becomes a lightning rod — NEW YORK - Commercial break. The cameras have stopped rolling on the set of “Studio B,” the 3 p.m. newscast on the Fox News Channel.
Discussion:
Inside Cable News
Ross Douthat / New York Times:
The War We'd Like to Forget — It was the kind of symbolic moment that George W. Bush must have yearned for during the Iraq war's darkest days. Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, the prime minister of a sovereign (sort of), stable (up to a point) and democratic (within limits) Republic of Iraq came …
Nicholas Ballasy / CNSNews:
Conyers Sees No Point in Members Reading 1,000-Page Health Care Bill—Unless They Have 2 Lawyers to Interpret It for Them — (CNSNews.com) - During his speech at a National Press Club luncheon, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Democratic Congressman John Conyers (D-Mich.) …