Top Items:
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Sotomayor Confirmed by Senate, 68-31 — WASHINGTON — Voting largely along party lines, the Senate on Thursday confirmed Judge Sonia Sotomayor as the 111th justice of the Supreme Court. She will be the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve on the court.
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The Huffington Post:
Unions To Take On Conservative Groups Health Care Town Halls — The nation's largest federation of labor organizations has promised to directly engage with boisterous conservative protesters at Democratic town halls during the August recess. — In a memo sent out on Thursday …
Discussion:
QandO, TPMDC, Gateway Pundit, The Caucus, Macsmind, Erick's blog, RealClearPolitics Video Log, The Plum Line, Daily Kos, Blue Crab Boulevard, On Deadline, Burnt Orange Report, Gathering of Eagles: NY, Politicususa.com, The TrogloPundit, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, msnbc.com, Atlas Shrugs and Maggie's Farm
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Moe Lane / Moe_Lane's blog:
Behold those scary, scary swastika-bearing astroturfers. — (Brief summary for those lacking video: Dallas AARP meeting went wrong for organizers when participants refused to sit down, shut up, and applaud Democratic talking points. Organizers then left; meeting continued.)
Discussion:
And So it Goes in Shreveport, American Nihilist, Atlas Shrugs, American Power and Cato @ Liberty
Steve / Sweetness & Light:Was Pelosi So Wrong About Swastikas?
Discussion:
Salon, Top of the Ticket, Political Byline, Dr. Sanity, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, The Daily Dish and Newsweek Blogs
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:Say, isn't this Astroturfing? — The White House and its allies …
Discussion:
Now! Hampshire, American Power, thedanashow.wordpress.com, RedState and The Sundries Shack
Adam Smith / St. Petersburg Times:
Protesters drown out Tampa health care summit — TAMPA - Bitter divisions over reforming America's health care system exploded Thursday night in Tampa amid cat calls, jeering and shoving at a town hall meeting. — “Tyranny! Tyranny! Tyranny!” dozens of people shouted as U.S …
Discussion:
Think Progress, The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Buzz, The BRAD BLOG and Zandar Versus The Stupid
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David Weigel / The Washington Independent:
‘Punkin’ the Birthers: Priceless' — It's looking more and more like the forged “Kenyan birth certificate” released by Orly Taitz on Sunday was a prank by a supporter of President Obama. Politijab points to an anonymous blogger at FearlessBlogging, who has uploaded four photos of the original forgery and a mocking declaration:
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Little Green Footballs:
Punkin' the Nirthers — That “Kenyan birth certificate” promoted by World Net Daily, Orly Taitz, Free Republic, and quite a few bloggers turns out to have been a deliberate prank on the Nirthers. They were well and truly punk'd. — The first words I wrote immediately after seeing the latest incarnation of the Nirth Certifikit:
Discussion:
The Jawa Report
The Huffington Post:
Anti-Obama Protester Compares President To Nazi In Swastika Sign — In championing the protests being staged at Democratic town halls, the Republican Party faces the obvious danger of becoming defined by the crazier elements of the crowd. So it's hard to imagine GOP higher-ups feeling …
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Alex Isenstadt / The Politico:
Reid: GOP ‘run by a talk show host’ — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid launched his harshest attack on the Republican Party in months, claiming the GOP is “being run by a talk show host.” — Reid, armed with a patch of Astroturf, slammed Republicans for sponsoring town hall attacks …
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John Lyon / Arkansas News:
Lincoln retracts description of health care protests as ‘un-American’ — LITTLE ROCK — Efforts to disrupt town hall meetings on health care reform are un-American, U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., said today, though she later issued a statement retracting the remark.
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Washington Times:
White House: ‘War on terrorism’ is over — ‘Jihadists’ and ‘global war’ no longer acceptable terms — It's official. The U.S. is no longer engaged in a “war on terrorism.” Neither is it fighting “jihadists” or in a “global war.” — President Obama's top homeland security …
Discussion:
CNN, RealClearWorld, Jules Crittenden, The Jawa Report, Pajamas Media, Atlas Shrugs, Jihad Watch and Shot in the Dark
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Philip Kennicott / Washington Post:
Obama as The Joker: Racial Fear's Ugly Face — ‘Political’ Poster Turns On Violent Symbolism — Between Jack Nicholson's 1989 portrayal of the Joker in “Batman” and Heath Ledger's 2008 characterization in “The Dark Knight,” something sinister happened to the villain's iconic makeup.
Rachel Slajda / Talking Points Memo:
CNN Anchor Rips Into Health Care CEO Who's Funding Anti-Reform Effort — A CNN anchor today tore down Rick Scott, the founder of an organization that's been funding anti-health care reform protests and the former CEO of a hospital company that, as Sanchez pointed out, paid $1.7 billion …
ABCNEWS:
U.S. Official: ‘Strong Indications’ Pakistani Taliban Leader Baitullah Mehsud is Dead — U.S., Pakistani Officials Awaiting DNA Tests for “100 Percent” Confirmation — “There is strong indication” that Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a CIA drone strike that targeted …
Discussion:
The Long War Journal, Don Surber, FP Passport, The Lede, Hot Air, The Washington Independent, ATTACKERMAN and PrairiePundit
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
The Health Care Generation Gap — It's certainly interesting that older Americans are disproportionately likely to be hostile to Barack Obama's plans for health care reform and also the case that most older Americans already benefit from a Canadian-style program of universal Medicare.
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Michelle Malkin:
Revolt against AARP in Dallas: “Do you work for us or do we work for you?” — Watch the senior citizen “hooligans” and “civic vigilantes” in Dallas question a condescending AARP representative about Obamacare. Dues-paying members are speaking up about the organization's sellout of its members — and the AARP brass is not happy.
Tom Bevan / Real Clear Politics:
After 6 Months, More View Obama's Presidency as a ‘Failure’ Than Bush's — A rather surprising finding from the newly released CNN poll. Question three on the national survey of 1,136 adults (which includes an oversample of African-Americans) asks, “Do you consider the first six months …
Business Week:
The Health Insurers Have Already Won — How UnitedHealth and rival carriers, maneuvering behind the scenes in Washington, shaped health-care reform for their own benefit — As the health reform fight shifts this month from a vacationing Washington to congressional districts and local airwaves around …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Pat Saperstein / Variety:
Director John Hughes dies at 59 — ‘Breakfast Club’ helmer died of a heart attack — John Hughes, who captured the zeitgeist of 1980s teen life as writer-director of “The Breakfast Club” and “Sixteen Candles” and produced and scripted family hits such as “Home Alone,” died Thursday of a heart attack in Manhattan while taking a walk.
Pew Research Center:
Many Fault Media Coverage of Health Care Debate — Partisan Divide Over Coverage of “Birther” Allegations — As the fight in Washington over health care reform continues to dominate public attention and media coverage, most Americans are critical of the way news organizations are explaining key elements of the debate.
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