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Macon Phillips / WhiteHouse.gov Blog:
Facts Are Stubborn Things — Opponents of health insurance reform may find the truth a little inconvenient, but as our second president famously said, “facts are stubborn things.” — Scary chain emails and videos are starting to percolate on the internet, breathlessly claiming, for example …
Discussion:
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Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
White House Strategy: Ridicule The Angry Republicans — The White House and Democratic officials, surprised by the angry words thrown at Democratic lawmakers in their first weekend of August town hall meetings, are scrambling to put together a strategy to minimize the effects …
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Shocked. SHOCKED. Astoturfing Exists. ... Now What? — In eight years of writing about politics, nothing gets people angrier than when I try to make the case that most activists and most journalists practice politics differently, have different worldviews, and are both forces for good in the democracy.
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Obama vs. Drudge — The White House on Tuesday posted a three-minute video punching back at an old clip of President Barack Obama that was featured on the Drudge Report with the headline, “Uncovered Video: Obama Explains How His Health Care Plan Will ‘Eliminate’ Private Insurance.”
The Huffington Post:
Obama And DNC Try Turning Angry Mobs And Drudge Into Benefits — The White House and allied Democrats are ramping up efforts to make belligerent anti-Obama town hall crowds — and the media outlets that feed their resentment — the face of opposition to the president's health care agenda, aides tell the Huffington Post.
The Huffington Post:
Durbin, Schumer: Town Hall Protesters Are “Birthers” “Tea Baggers,” And “Fringe” — The angry-mob style protesters who have infiltrated town halls around the country are the non-organic product of “tea-baggers,” “birthers,” and the conservative fringe, two Senate Democratic leaders said Tuesday.
Peter Daou / The Huffington Post:Five Reasons the Health Care Battle Is NOT the Presidential Campaign
Discussion:
Zandar Versus The Stupid
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:Anti-Reform Group Takes Credit For Helping Gin Up Town Hall Rallies
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CNN, TPMDC, Think Progress, AMERICAblog News, Hullabaloo, Raw Story, Washington Monthly and Ben Smith's Blog
Pat Bailey / WKTV-TV:House Majority Leader's high-speed rail talk turns into high-speed ruckus
Discussion:
TPMDC
CNN:
U.S. journalists reportedly pardoned in N. Korea — (CNN) — North Korean President Kim Jong Il has pardoned and ordered the release of two U.S. journalists, state-run news agency KCNA said Wednesday. — The announcement came after former U.S. President Bill Clinton met with top North Korean officials …
Discussion:
Time, The Moderate Voice, Wonk Room, The Confluence, FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog and Mashable!
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John R. Bolton / Washington Post:
Clinton's Unwise Trip to North Korea — The Obama administration characterized Bill Clinton's unexpected visit to Pyongyang to secure the release of two American reporters, held unjustifiably by North Korea for nearly five months, as a private, humanitarian mission.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Atlas Shrugs, ATTACKERMAN, Sadly, No!, Jules Crittenden, The Washington Independent, The BLT, Israel Matzav and The Plank
ABCNEWS:
Former President Clinton Headed Home from North Korea with Journalists — Clinton Spokesman Says Former President Homebound, with Ling and Lee Onboard — Former President Bill Clinton ended his surprise trip to North Korea today, bringing home the two Asian-American journalists …
Discussion:
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Ben Armbruster / Think Progress:
Even After North Korea Frees American Journalists, Bolton Insists Clinton Trip Was A Mistake — Reports emerged yesterday that President Clinton — along with Center for American Progress President and CEO John Podesta — was traveling to North Korea to negotiate the release of two imprisoned American journalists.
Robert Mackey / The Lede:Bill Clinton Leaves North Korea With Two Freed American Journalists
Discussion:
Mediaite, Wizbang, Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, Jezebel, Boston Globe, MoJo Blog Posts and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Josh Gerstein / Josh Gerstein's Blog:Podesta joins Bill Clinton in N. Korea
Discussion:
ATTACKERMAN
Chuck Norris from Creators Syndicate:
What Obama and My Wife Have in Common — Dear Mr. President: — First, happy birthday. I do hope today is an enjoyable day for you and your family. Coincidentally, I also will be celebrating this week the birth of someone dear to me, my beloved wife, Gena, whose birthday is Aug. 9.
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Jeremy Scahill / The Nation:
Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder — A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a security operative for the company have made a series of explosive allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in Virginia.
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
McDonnell leads by 14 — Bob McDonnell has opened up a 51-37 lead over Creigh Deeds in the race to be Virginia's next Governor, up from a 49-43 advantage four weeks ago. — The movement in the race likely has more to do with national trends than anything actually going on in Virginia.
Discussion:
Real Clear Politics, Commentary, Moe_Lane's blog, The Campaign Spot and Below The Beltway
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Rasmussen Reports:
Clinton 51%, Palin 39% — If America elects a woman president soon, right now her name appears to be Hillary Clinton. — In a hypothetical match-up between the two most formidable female candidates in their respective parties, Clinton defeats former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin 51% to 39% …
Discussion:
FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog
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New York Post:
HONORING AN AMERICA-HATER — THE Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor. Past recipients include John Wayne, Norman Rockwell and Vaclav Havel. This year, one of the 16 recipients President Obama selected (along with such worthies as Sen. Edward Kennedy and the late Jack Kemp) …
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Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
More facts behind the GE/Fox deal and a new Olbermann statement — (updated below) — On Saturday, I wrote a post under the headline: “GE's silencing of Olbermann and MSNBC's sleazy use of Richard Wolffe.” In it, I wrote: “now we have an example of GE's forcibly silencing …
Discussion:
Open Left, Firedoglake, D-Day, NewsBusters.org, The Huffington Post, Think Progress and Mediaite
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ABC News:
Adelaide man caught up in bid to oust Obama — A self-described ‘grey-haired guy in a corner of little old Adelaide’ has been unwittingly implicated in a conspiracy to oust the 44th President of the United States from office. Unbeknown to David Bomford, a group called the Birthers have used …
Evan Perez / Wall Street Journal:
White House Counsel's Job Is at Stake — WASHINGTON — Obama administration officials are holding discussions that could result in White House counsel Gregory Craig leaving his post, following a rocky tenure, people familiar with the matter said. — Mr. Craig, the top lawyer at the White House …
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis:
PERSONAL INCOME AND OUTLAYS: JUNE 2009 REVISED ESTIMATES: 1929 THROUGH MAY 2009 — Personal income decreased $159.8 billion, or 1.3 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) decreased $143.8 billion, or 1.3 percent, in June, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Pat Toomey / Philly.com:
Sotomayor: Qualified, mainstream — Judicial confirmation hearings weren't always ideological witch hunts. — When John Roberts and Samuel Alito were nominated to the Supreme Court, Republicans argued that they should be confirmed based on their impeccable qualifications and mainstream jurisprudence.
Discussion:
The Campaign Spot, Hot Air, Bench Memos, The Fix, DownWithTyranny!, AmSpecBlog, Scorecard's Blog and TalkLeft
Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Obama's birthday: Turning the candles — President Barack Obama, born 48 years ago today in Honolulu, Hawaii, celebrated his first birthday in the White House with a family breakfast in the private residence, a birthday song at lunch sung by senators in the State Dining Room and a song …
Discussion:
The Politico
Solomon Moore / New York Times:
California Prisons Must Cut Inmate Population — LOS ANGELES — A panel of federal judges ordered the California prison system on Tuesday to reduce its inmate population of 150,000 by 40,000 — roughly 27 percent — within two years. — The judges said that reducing prison crowding …
The Huffington Post:
For The Modern GOP, It's A Return To The “White Voter Strategy” — With Republican party leaders so constrained by ideological blinders that none of their positions is likely to produce gains among non-white minorities, especially Hispanics, the GOP is finding it has no real alternative but to revert to a “white voter” strategy.
Indira A.R. Lakshmanan / Bloomberg:
Senators, Advisers Urge Obama to Double Afghan Forces — Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama and top U.S. military commanders are under pressure from senators and civilian advisers to double the size of Afghan security forces, a commitment that would cost billions of dollars.
Discussion:
Zandar Versus The Stupid
CNN:
CNN Poll: Did Obama act stupidly in Gates arrest comments? — WASHINGTON (CNN) - A new national poll indicates that white and black Americans don't see eye to eye on last month's arrest of Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates. The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey …
Discussion:
The Fix
Michael Joseph Gross / Advocate:
Hope and History — As a candidate Obama promised us a lot; as president he's delivered very little — and many gay people are getting impatient. Does the outcry unmask this president's indifference, or reveal our own impotence as a movement? — He looked like a hero, and that was the problem.
The Huffington Post:
Obama's Birthday Cards From Birthers (PICS) — It's the president's birthday! And what better way to celebrate than to give the birther movement even more media attention. Of course, we don't really know that Obama was born on August 4th, because he refuses to show his birth certificate …
Discussion:
The Caucus
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