Top Items:
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:
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.
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 …
Discussion:
FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog, The Campaign Spot, Clusterstock, The Opinionator and MoJo Blog Posts
Jeff Emanuel / Jeff_Emanuel's blog:
Call For Informants: If You Oppose Obamacare, Even in ‘Casual Conversation,’ the White House Wants to Know About It — If you see anybody publicly opposing President Obama's plan to implement a government-centric overhaul of the health care system, the White House wants you to report that person (or persons) ASAP.
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
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:Anti-Reform Group Takes Credit For Helping Gin Up Town Hall Rallies
Discussion:
CNN, TPMDC, Daily Kos, AMERICAblog News, Think Progress, Raw Story, Washington Monthly and Ben Smith's Blog
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 …
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ABCNEWS:
N. Korea State Media Withdraws Claim That Bill Clinton Has Left — 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 who had been jailed …
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Booman Tribune, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Taylor Marsh, TVNewser, Salon, NO QUARTER, On Deadline and AMERICAblog News
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.
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 … Update | 5:21 p.m. According to Reuters, the latest dispatch from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on the departure of President Bill Clinton's delegation says: “They were seen off at the airport by Yang Hyong Sop …
Discussion:
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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.
New York Times:
Russian Subs Patrolling Off East Coast of U.S. — WASHINGTON — A pair of nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines has been patrolling off the eastern seaboard of the United States over recent days, a rare mission that has raised concerns inside the Pentagon and intelligence agencies …
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.
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Martin Ivens / Times of London:
Hezbollah stockpiles 40,000 rockets near Israel border — Richard Beeston on the Israel-Lebanese border and Nicholas Blanford in Beirut — Three years after Israel fought a bloody war in Lebanon against Hezbollah, there are fears that hostilities could erupt again — this time with the militant group better armed than ever.
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, Swing State Project, The Fix, Bench Memos, Hot Air, AmSpecBlog, Scorecard's Blog and MyDD
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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.
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% …
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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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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 …
Paul Krugman:
Hey, Mister Postman — Art Laffer (why is he, of all people, on my TV?) asks what it will be like when the government runs Medicare and Medicaid. — But I'd raise a further question: he warns that when the government takes over these, um, government programs, they'll be like the Post Office and the DMV.
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.
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
More facts behind the GE/Fox deal and a new Olbermann statement — (updated below - Update II) — 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:
Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, Michael Calderone's Blog, NewsBusters.org, Daily Dose, D-Day and Think Progress
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.
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
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
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