Top Items:
The Politico:
Under fire, Obama shifts strategy — Aides to President Barack Obama are putting the final touches on a new strategy to help Democrats recover from a brutal August recess by specifying what Obama wants to see in a compromise health care deal and directly confronting other trouble spots, West Wing officials tell POLITICO.
Discussion:
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Ken Boehm / National Legal and Policy Center:
Obama White House Has Secret Plan To Harvest Personal Data From Social Networking Websites — NLPC has uncovered a plan by the White House New Media operation to hire a technology vendor to conduct a massive, secret effort to harvest personal information on millions of Americans from social networking websites.
Vanity Fair:
Levi Johnston: “Me and Mrs. Palin” — Left, photograph by Nigel Parry/CPi Syndication. Right, photograph by Mark Seliger. — Three days after Sarah Palin was announced as the Republican vice-presidential candidate, the McCain campaign released a statement saying that her 17-year-old unwed daughter, Bristol, was pregnant.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Conservatives4Palin.com, The Daily Dish, The Note, Anne Schroeder's Blog, skippy the bush kangaroo, Talking Points Memo, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, Michael Calderone's Blog, TPMCafe, Althouse, Taegan Goddard's …, Perez Hilton, Mediaite, TPMDC, GOP 12, The Other McCain, The Corner on National … and Wonkette
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Mark Halperin / The Page:
Excerpts from Levi Johnston's Vanity Fair Interview
Excerpts from Levi Johnston's Vanity Fair Interview
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Valerie Bauerlein / Wall Street Journal:
Shamed Governor Battles to Save Job — ORANGEBURG, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, stung by political attacks over his extramarital affair with an Argentine woman, said in his first extended interview since June that he no longer wants to “crawl into a cave” and will fight to keep …
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Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
Gov. Sanford says God on his side — Shaken by absence of GOP support — Embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford acknowledged Tuesday that he has been shaken by the failure of a single fellow Republican to back him in his fight to save his job, but vowed to fight on for conservative causes and for …
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Pelosi will let Rangel hold post despite latest allegations — Speaker Nancy Pelosi will let Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) keep his chairmanship despite his failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets on federal disclosure forms, according to Democratic aides.
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Scott Mayerowitz / ABCNEWS:
Charles Gibson to Retire from ‘World News’ — Diane Sawyer Will Replace ‘World News’ Anchor in January — Charles Gibson, who has served as anchor of “World News” since May of 2006, announced this morning that he will step down from the post at the end of this year and retire from full-time employment at ABC News.
Discussion:
New York Post, The Swamp, Mediaite, DailyFinance, NewsBusters.org, NPR Blogs and OK! Magazine
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Pew Research Center:
Congressional Favorability at 24-Year Low — Midterm Voting Intentions Evenly Divided — Americans are extremely displeased with Congress, and there are already some signs that this could take a toll on the Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections. Currently, 37% express a favorable opinion …
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Mark Sherman / Associated Press:
Justice Stevens slows his hiring at high court — WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has hired fewer law clerks than usual, generating speculation that the leader of the court's liberals will retire next year. — If Stevens does step down, he would give President Barack Obama …
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Conservative Democrats Expect a Health Deal — WASHINGTON — Like her colleagues, Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, a South Dakota Democrat and leader of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, has been weathering the summer of health care discontent.
Charles Franklin / Pollster.com:
How Fast Does Approval Fall? — David Brooks commented in his column yesterday “All presidents fall from their honeymoon highs, but in the history of polling, no newly elected American president has fallen this far this fast.” Mostly right, sort of. But some context would help.
Deborah Solomon / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Economy Gets Lift From Stimulus — WASHINGTON — Government efforts to funnel hundreds of billions of dollars into the U.S. economy appear to be helping the U.S. climb out of the worst recession in decades. — But there's little agreement about which programs are having the biggest impact.
Boston Herald:
Pol nabbed on New Hampshire booze run — A Westport lawmaker who voted to hike the state sales and alcohol taxes was spotted brazenly piling booze in his car - adorned with his State House license plate - in the parking lot of a tax-free New Hampshire liquor store, the Herald has learned.
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool
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Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
Taliban Surprising U.S. Forces With Improved Tactics — The Taliban has become a much more potent adversary in Afghanistan by improving its own tactics and finding gaps in the U.S. military playbook, according to senior American military officials who acknowledged that the enemy's resurgence this year has taken them by surprise.
Discussion:
Here and Now, The Washington Independent, At-Largely, New York Times, USA Today, Associated Press and democracyarsenal.org
Peter Baker / New York Times:
A Real Fairy-Tale Wedding — WASHINGTON - Here's a newsflash: Chelsea Clinton did not get married last month in a swank, celebrity-laden wedding on Martha's Vineyard attended by the president of the United States. — For four months, the Clintons have told anyone who would listen …
Discussion:
Michael Calderone's Blog
Julian E. Barnes / Los Angeles Times:
U.S. to boost combat force in Afghanistan — Support units will be replaced by up to 14,000 ‘trigger-pullers,’ and noncombat posts will be contracted out, Defense officials say. The swap will allow the U.S. to keep its troop level unchanged. — U.S. troops patrol in Kunar province.
Discussion:
The Confluence, The Mahablog, PostPartisan, Neptunus Lex, The Page, MoJo Blog Posts, Dennis the Peasant and Washington Post
Washington Post:
McDonnell Tries to Salvage Women's Votes — Republican Turns to Female Backers to Talk Down His Past Views and Promote Economic Plans — Virginia gubernatorial candidate Robert F. McDonnell has been working for months to reach out to female voters, a critical constituency …
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Nissan Ratzlav-Katz / Arutz Sheva:
Ahmadinejad's Imam: Islam Allows Raping, Torturing Prisoners — Follow Israel news on and . — (IsraelNN.com) A highly influential Shi'a religious leader, with whom Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regularly consults, apparently told followers last month that coercion by means of rape …
Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Productivity and Costs, Second Quarter 2009, Revised — Transmission of this material is embargoed until USDL-09-1066 8:30 a.m. (EDT) Wednesday, September 2, 2009 — • www.bls.gov/lpc Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased …