Top Items:
Carrie Johnson / Washington Post:
Holder to Appoint Prosecutor to Investigate CIA Terror Interrogations — Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has decided to appoint a prosecutor to examine nearly a dozen cases in which CIA interrogators and contractors may have violated anti-torture laws and other statutes …
Discussion:
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ABCNEWS:
Obama White House v. CIA; Panetta Threatened to Quit — Tensions Lead to CIA Director's “Screaming Match” at the White House — A “profanity-laced screaming match” at the White House involving CIA Director Leon Panetta, and the expected release today of another damning internal investigation …
David Johnston / New York Times:
Justice Dept. Report Advises Pursuing C.I.A. Abuse Cases — WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's ethics office has recommended reversing the Bush administration and reopening nearly a dozen prisoner-abuse cases, potentially exposing Central Intelligence Agency employees and contractors …
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Spencer Ackerman / The Washington Independent:
The 2004 CIA Inspector General Report on Torture — Classified for years — and still heavily redacted — here is former CIA Inspector General John Helgerson's 2004 report into the CIA's Bush-era interrogations operations. The ACLU sued to obtain the controversial report …
Discussion:
Emptywheel, Raw Story, The Washington Note, The Daily Dish, Wonkette, The Corner on National …, TPMMuckraker and BLACKFIVE
Leon E. Panetta / Fox News:
RAW DATA: Panetta Letter to CIA Staff on Release of Interrogation Report — CIA Director Leon Panetta sent the following note to the agency's workforce Monday on the release of a report on interrogation practices. — FOXNews.com — Message from the Director: Release of Material on Past Detention Practices
Discussion:
Reuters
New York Times:
Rendition of Terror Suspects Will Continue Under Obama — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will continue the Bush administration's practice of sending terror suspects to third countries for detention and interrogation, but will monitor their treatment to insure they are not tortured, administration officials said on Monday.
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
CIA Will Release Torture Docs Cheney Requested; Will Also Release Report On Torture's “Effectiveness” — This had been expected, and I've confirmed it: The CIA today will release the two documents Dick Cheney requested this spring that he claims will prove torture worked.
Discussion:
TPMMuckraker, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Congress Matters and The Washington Independent
Anne E. Kornblut / Washington Post:
Obama Approves New Team to Question Key Terror Suspects — Move Shifts Interrogation Oversight From the CIA to the White House — President Obama has approved the creation of an elite team of interrogators to question key terrorism suspects, part of a broader effort to revamp U.S. policy …
Discussion:
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Matthew Vadum / American Spectator:
Obama's Plan to Desecrate 9/11 — The Obama White House is behind a cynical, coldly calculated political effort to erase the meaning of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks from the American psyche and convert Sept. 11 into a day of leftist celebration and statist idolatry.
Michael S. Steele / Washington Post:
GOP Would Protect Health Care for Seniors — Americans are engaged in a critical debate over reforming our health-care system. While Republicans believe that reforms are necessary, President Obama's plan for a government-run health-care system is the wrong prescription.
Discussion:
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Jim Seckler / Mohave Daily News:
Franks goes on the attack — Congressman critical of Obama's policies — KINGMAN - A big, boisterous crowd largely supported an Arizona Congressman, who lambasted the Democratic president and his policies. — Rep. Trent Franks, a Republican representing Arizona's 2nd Congressional District …
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Glenn Thrush / Glenn Thrush's Blog:
Report: Arizona Rep. considering birther lawsuit UPDATE
Report: Arizona Rep. considering birther lawsuit UPDATE
Discussion:
skippy the bush kangaroo
Robert Pear / New York Times:
Senate Democrats Consider Tactic to Push Through Government Health Plan — WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats said Sunday that they were fleshing out plans to pass health legislation, particularly the option of a new government-run insurance program, with a simple majority …
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Rich Calder / New York Post:
BERNIE ‘DYING’ IN JAIL — ‘20 PILLS FOR CANCER’ — Bernie Madoff had little to lose by confessing to masterminding the world's biggest Ponzi scheme — he's dying of cancer, sources told The Post. — Madoff, who is serving 150 years at a North Carolina federal lockup after pleading guilty …
Discussion:
Don Surber, Law Blog, Gawker, ChattahBox News Blog, Mediaite, DailyFinance, Politics Daily, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Clusterstock and DealBook
Ross Douthat / New York Times:
Don't Blame Obama — Throughout the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama's most loyal constituencies were the national press corps and the left wing of the Democratic Party. — Those on the left loved him because they thought he was one of them. They tolerated all the happy talk about bipartisanship …
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
All the President's Zombies — The debate over the “public option” in health care has been dismaying in many ways. Perhaps the most depressing aspect for progressives, however, has been the extent to which opponents of greater choice in health care have gained traction — in Congress …
David Neiwert / Crooks and Liars:
Now the Birthers are demanding to know: Was Obama circumcised? — The General digs up the, ah, hot tip: … Anyone remember how Republicans wound up obsessing over Bill Clinton's Johnson, ad nauseam, even on TV? I remember Ann Coulter speculating over Paula Jones' claims about the shape …
David Freddoso / Washington Examiner:
UPDATED: Obama's VA pulls so-called ‘Death Book’ from website — Jim Towey wrote last week in the Wall Street Journal that Obama's Veterans' Affairs department had revived a controversial and previously discontinued 53-page pamphlet on end-of-life issues for wounded soldiers.
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Kos / Daily Kos:
TN-05: Natives aren't happy with Blue Dog Jim Cooper — Seriously, cue up a primary challenger. — Research 2000 poll of the Tennessee 5th Congressional District for Daily Kos. 8/17-19. Likely voters. MoE 4% (no trend lines) — Favorable Unfavorable — Jim Cooper 47 41
Discussion:
Scorecard's Blog, Firedoglake, Nashville Scene, MoJo Blog Posts, TalkLeft, SquareState.net and TPMDC
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The Note:
Feingold to Obama: Announce Withdrawal Timetable from Afghanistan — ABC News' David Chalian Reports: — The Obama administration has been keenly aware of discontent among many in its liberal base with regard to its Afghanistan policy and an expected request for additional troops following …
Los Angeles Times:
Healthcare insurers get upper hand — Obama's overhaul fight is being won by the industry, experts say. The end result may be a financial ‘bonanza.’ — Reporting from Washington - Lashed by liberals and threatened with more government regulation, the insurance industry nevertheless rallied …
Mickey Kaus / Kausfiles:
If Not Health Care, What? — The idea of postponing health care reform—until, say, the economy improves— doesn't seem appealing to many Democrats now. ** But it might soon. The problem, as Michael Goodwin's recent column points out, is that the issues waiting in the wings …
Nouriel Roubini / Financial Times:
The risk of a double-dip recession is rising — The global economy is starting to bottom out from the worst recession and financial crisis since the Great Depression. In the fourth quarter of 2008 and first quarter of 2009 the rate at which most advanced economies were contracting was similar …
Discussion:
James Pethokoukis, Economix, DailyFinance, MoJo Blog Posts, Dean's World and The Glittering Eye
Detroit Free Press:
$10B aimed at union retirees — Provision called welfare by some, not enough by others — WASHINGTON — Antilabor forces say it's welfare for the UAW and Democrats' union allies. Labor supporters say it falls short of what's needed as tens of thousands of union members are pushed …