Top Items:
Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
Our One-Party Democracy — Watching both the health care and climate/energy debates in Congress, it is hard not to draw the following conclusion: There is only one thing worse than one-party autocracy, and that is one-party democracy, which is what we have in America today.
Discussion:
Reason, Hot Air, American Power, Power Line, Cato @ Liberty, Jules Crittenden, Sister Toldjah, The Moderate Voice, Cafe Talk Aggregator, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Corner on National …, The League of Ordinary …, Liberal Values, Gawker, The Peking Duck, Neptunus Lex, The Atlanticist, Babalú Blog, Climate Progress, Shot in the Dark, A Conservative Shemale, Pundit & Pundette, Greg's Opinion, Environmental Capital and NewsBusters.org
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Jonah Goldberg / The Corner on National Review Online:
Thomas Friedman is a Liberal Fascist — By: Jonah Goldberg — Mark beat me to it, but I must put in my two cents. Thomas Friedman writes: … So there you have it. If only America could drop its inefficient and antiquated system, designed in the age before globalization and modernity and …
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
FRIEDMAN PONDERS ‘ONE-PARTY DEMOCRACY’.... I'd overlooked Thomas Friedman's NYT column this morning, but after noticing how angry it made conservative bloggers, I figured I should probably take a look. — I'm glad I did. Friedman argues that China's one-party autocracy, despite its …
Discussion:
The League of Ordinary …
Zachary Roth / TPMMuckraker:
GOP Lawmaker's Graphic Sex-Bragging Caught On Tape — We've all seen those stories where a careless politician gets a little too candid when speaking into a hot mic. But this one's really in a whole different league. — [RELATED SLIDESHOW: TPM'S HISTORY OF THE SEX-SCANDALOUS FALL OF THE MODERN CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT]
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Shelby Grad / L.A. Now:
O.C. Assemblyman Duvall resigns amid recorded sexual comments — Orange County Assemblyman Michael Duvall, who was caught on an open mike making sexual comments, resigned today. — “I am deeply saddened that my inappropriate comments have become a major distraction for my colleagues in the Assembly …
Navel Gazing:
OC Assemblyman In Bed With Lobbyist . . . No, Literally In Bed — SACRAMENTO—Freshmen legislators arriving in Sacramento receive advice from veteran politicians about the intricacies of working in California's capital. One of those tips is to remember that microphones broadcasting legislative debates …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Washington Wire, Political Byline, Think Progress, Alas, a blog, JONATHAN TURLEY, The Hinterland Gazette, LA Observed and TPMMuckraker
Jim Newell / Wonkette:
Vulgar CA Assemblyman Caught On Open Mic Bragging About Various …
Vulgar CA Assemblyman Caught On Open Mic Bragging About Various …
Discussion:
pandagon.net
Brad / Think Progress:
‘Family Values’ California Politician Caught Bragging About His …
‘Family Values’ California Politician Caught Bragging About His …
Discussion:
ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES
Penny Starr / CNSNews:
Obama Pitched Universal Health Care to Students in Meeting Prior to His Speech on Education — (CNSNews.com) - Prior to his nationally broadcast speech to students on Tuesday, President Barack Obama made a pitch for health care reform in a discussion with 40 freshmen at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va.
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Wall Street Journal:
Obama to Endorse Public Plan in Speech — WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama, in a high-stakes speech Wednesday to Congress and the nation, will press for a government-run insurance option in a proposed overhaul of the U.S. health-care system that has divided lawmakers and voters for months.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Los Angeles Times, Slate, CNN, Matthew Yglesias, NY Daily News, Firedoglake, Prescriptions, ABCNEWS, The Politico, Associated Press, QandO, Wonkette, Washington Wire, The Note, Hot Air, TPMDC, Townhall.com, The Hill, Think Progress, George's Bottom Line, Pundit & Pundette, Reclusive Leftist and Wake up America
Fox News:
Ahead of Obama Speech, Baucus Says ‘Public Option’ Cannot Pass Senate
Ahead of Obama Speech, Baucus Says ‘Public Option’ Cannot Pass Senate
Discussion:
The Atlantic Business Channel
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Obama will hedge on public option
Obama will hedge on public option
Discussion:
Wonk Room, The Swamp, Daily Kos, RedState, Donklephant, The Plum Line, Patterico's Pontifications and Commentary
The Hill:
Tide turns against public option on eve of President Obama's address
Tide turns against public option on eve of President Obama's address
Discussion:
The Note, Boston Globe, Washington Examiner, The Swamp, The Strata-Sphere, Capitol Briefing and RedState
Sam Youngman / The Hill:
Obama: I was too ambiguous on healthcare reform
Obama: I was too ambiguous on healthcare reform
Discussion:
The Political Carnival
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
White House talking points blast Palin — A source sends on the talking points the White House is circulating to allies in advance of President Obama's speech, most of them reiterating familiar themes of momentum and security. — But the White House has also chosen specifically to focus …
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Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Boehner: GOP leaders haven't met Obama for health talks since April — The ball is in President Obama's court to reach out to Republicans if he wants a bipartisan bill on healthcare reform, House GOP Leader John Boehner (Ohio) said Monday morning. — Boehner told reporters that the president …
Drudge Report:
WHIP COUNT: DEMS LACK THE VOTES — At least 44 more moderate Members of the Democrat Caucus have gone on the record in opposition to the current health care bill in the House, a Hill source claims. Likewise, at least 57 liberal Members of the Democrat Caucus have gone on the record saying …
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Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Analysis: Two precedents in jeopardy — Analysis — If supporters of federal curbs on political campaign spending by corporations were counting on Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., to hesitate to strike down such restrictions, they could take no comfort …
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Eric Boehlert / Media Matters for America:
With one simple sentence, ABC News confirms the death of Beltway journalism — It's from an online report about the Obama school “controversy,” and it's written by Dan Harris. In his piece, Harris notes that conservatives pre-emptively blasted Obama's stay-in-school speech even though conservatives …
Amy Gardner / Washington Post:
After Thesis Uproar, McDonnell's Strongly Worded Comments on Gays Resurface — ‘Homosexual Conduct’ Comments ‘Irrelevant’ to Campaign, He Says — In January 2003, then-Del. Robert F. McDonnell helped gavel in one of the most extraordinary judicial reappointment hearings in Virginia history …
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John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Creigh Deeds in '99: “NO SPECIAL RIGHTS FOR GAYS”
Creigh Deeds in '99: “NO SPECIAL RIGHTS FOR GAYS”
Discussion:
The Daily Dish
Jesse Lee / WhiteHouse.gov Blog:
The Speech Tonight — With all of the TV chatter and bickering, it might be easy to forget what makes health insurance reform such a monumental issue. It is not about the fortunes of one political party or another; it is about the anxiety and insecurity Americans face …
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David Weigel / The Washington Independent:
Attacks on Sunstein Frustrate Conservative Fans — On January 8, The Wall Street Journal broke the news that Harvard Law School Professor Cass Sunstein would be nominated to run the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. It was a surprising choice for a job, created in 1980 …
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The Huffington Post:
GOP Picks One-Time “Birther” To Rebut Obama's Health Care Speech [UPDATED] — UPDATE: An eagle-eyed reader points out that Boustany, after espousing his “Birther” views on camera, below, caved and retracted his statement on a Louisiana KPEL radio show. — Louisiana Rep. Charles Boustany …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Truthdig, Glenn Thrush's Blog, The Washington Independent, AMERICAblog News and Gawker
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The GOP vs Fiscal Conservatism — Charlie Cook and others are predicting a sea-change in public mood, with support for the GOP rising because of deficits. This strikes me as an amazing thing. It makes Charlie Brown, the football and Lucy look like the model of intelligent interaction.
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
FISCAL CONSERVATISM.... David M. Walker, the comptroller general …
FISCAL CONSERVATISM.... David M. Walker, the comptroller general …
Discussion:
Newshoggers.com
Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Less Spocky, More Rocky — As soon as I started covering Barack Obama, I knew he was going to be trouble. — Not Global Trouble, like W. and Dick Cheney. Or Hanky-Panky Trouble, like Bill Clinton and John Edwards. Or Tedious Trouble, like John Kerry and Michael Dukakis.
Camille Paglia / Salon:
Too late for Obama to turn it around? — Plus: The left's visionaries lost their bearings on drugs — but the GOP is led by losers — What a difference a month makes! When my last controversial column posted on Salon in the second week of August, most Democrats seemed frozen in suspended animation …
Jennifer Lebovich / MiamiHerald.com:
11 accused of faking voter registration cards in Miami-Dade — Eleven people hired to register potential voters in Miami-Dade County before last year's presidential election were being sought Wednesday for falsifying hundreds of voter registration cards. — The Miami-Dade State Attorney's …
Gillian Reagan / New York Observer:
Are the Days of Drudge Over? — Just over a month ago, Linda Douglass, a former ABC News correspondent and current communications director for the Obama administration's Health Reform Office, appeared in a video posted on the White House's official blog titled “Facts Are Stubborn Things.”
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
New Revelations Raise Questions About Justice Sotomayor's Temperament — It seems that Sonia Sotomayor celebrated her official ascension to the Supreme Court with a little dance party at the Irish Channel Pub in Chinatown here in DC: — Now as Sommer Mathis notes, this is a terrible bar: