Top Items:
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:
alicublog, Atlas Shrugs, ATTACKERMAN, Crooks and Liars, BBC, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Sadly, No!, Firedoglake, The Washington Independent, msnbc.com and Israel Matzav
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CNN:
U.S. journalists head home from North Korea — (CNN) — Two U.S. journalists who had been detained by North Korea were traveling back to the United States with former President Clinton hours after being pardoned, a Clinton spokesman said. — “They are en route to Los Angeles [California] …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Guardian, Wellsy's World, CANNONFIRE, Jules Crittenden, DISSENTING JUSTICE, The Confluence, Washington Post, Minnesota Independent, LewRockwell.com Blog, Mashable!, Macsmind, The Moderate Voice, Time, Zandar Versus The Stupid, INSTAPUTZ, PrairiePundit, Patterico's Pontifications, The Reaction and Wonkette
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:
Booman Tribune, Salon, TVNewser, Los Angeles Times, AMERICAblog News, Taylor Marsh, On Deadline, NO QUARTER, BBC and Washington Post
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:
Associated Press, msnbc.com, Wizbang, Mediaite, TechCrunch, MoJo Blog Posts, Reuters and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Agence France Presse:Bill Clinton rewarding NKorea for bad behavior: Bolton
Discussion:
The Washington Note, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, News Hounds, Agence France Presse and ATTACKERMAN
Paul Richter / Los Angeles Times:Talks for secret mission to North Korea began once journalists …
Discussion:
The Swamp
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.
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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.
The Note:
Young GOPers Gaga Over Gingrich — ABC News' Devin Dwyer reports: — Before an energetic and enthusiastic young Republican crowd, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich weighed in today on the upcoming Senate confirmation vote for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor and made predictions for health care reform legislation this fall.
Peter Daou / The Huffington Post: Five Reasons the Health Care Battle Is NOT the Presidential Campaign
Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:Gibbs Blasts “Brooks Brothers Brigade” Disruption Of Dems' Town Hall Events
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The washington times Blogs, AMERICAblog News, Daily Kos and Hullabaloo
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 in recent days, a rare mission that has raised concerns inside the Pentagon and intelligence agencies …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Wellsy's World, Atlas Shrugs, Jules Crittenden, Gawker, Little Green Links, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and JammieWearingFool
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 …
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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.
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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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.
Discussion:
Wellsy's World, Gateway Pundit, Piece of Work In Progress, Politics Daily, Moe_Lane's blog and Wake up America
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Macon Phillips / WhiteHouse.gov Blog:Facts Are Stubborn Things
Discussion:
Blue Crab Boulevard, Boston Globe, The Volokh Conspiracy, NewsBusters.org, JammieWearingFool, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Flopping Aces, Wake up America, JustOneMinute, Stop The ACLU, GayPatriot, Reclusive Leftist, SEIU, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, Sister Toldjah, techPresident, MyDD, Ben Smith's Blog, Hot Air, QandO, NPR Blogs, Michelle Malkin, Matthew Yglesias, Pundit & Pundette, Daily Kos, Political Punch, The Huffington Post, FishBowlDC, Atlas Shrugs, The Next Right, Townhall.com, TigerHawk, The Foundry, Balance of Power, The Jawa Report, Little Green Links, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and Washington Monthly
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.
Haaretz:
AIPAC slams Obama for honoring ‘anti-Israel’ ex-Irish president — The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on Tuesday slammed the Obama administration for its decision to give a former Irish president the presidential Medal of Freedom, saying they were “deeply disappointed” by the move.
Discussion:
TPMCafe
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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:
Philly.com, Real Clear Politics, Commentary, The Campaign Spot, Swing State Project and Moe_Lane's blog
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United States - Department of The Treasury:
Making Home Affordable Program on Pace to Offer Help to Millions of Homeowners Public Release of Data Provides Transparency on Servicer Performance — WASHINGTON - Today, the Obama Administration released its first monthly Servicer Performance Report detailing the progress to date …
Discussion:
New York Times, Felix Salmon, Progress Illinois, naked capitalism, The Atlantic Business Channel and NPR Blogs
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 …
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Disgrace: Gibbs says Ahmadinejad is the elected leader of Iran — Via Breitbart. He could have dodged this question a dozen ways. He could have said the election's irrelevant from our standpoint since we have to play the cards we're dealt; he could have noted, as Obama's often done in the past …
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.
Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
Protestor In Connecticut: “Treat” Dodd With Handful Of Painkillers And Whiskey — Wow, check out these protestors outside a health care event by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) in Hartford (via My Left Nutmeg). What follows are some very direct jokes about Dodd's cancer — and the idea of some sort of euthanasia involving booze and pills:
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