Top Items:
New York Times:
Obama Is Considering Strategy Shift in Afghan War — WASHINGTON — President Obama is exploring alternatives to a major troop increase in Afghanistan, including a plan advocated by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to scale back American forces and focus more on rooting out Al Qaeda there and in Pakistan, officials said Tuesday.
Discussion:
Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Note, The Moderate Voice, Think Progress, Associated Press, Obsidian Wings, BLACKFIVE, Wall Street Journal, Taylor Marsh, DownWithTyranny!, Neptunus Lex, National Review Online, MyDD, Informed Comment, EU Referendum, The Plum Line, The Page, Jules Crittenden, marbury, ATTACKERMAN, Reuters, McClatchy Washington Bureau, The Lede and The Washington Independent
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Fred Kaplan / Slate:
It's Not About the Troops — Only a legitimate Afghan government can beat the Taliban. — The push is on for President Barack Obama to send more troops to Afghanistan, perhaps as many as 40,000 more. Boxing in Obama was almost certainly the aim of whoever gave the Washington Post's Bob Woodward …
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
President Constant — Even the NY Times cannot fail to notice that Obama is wrestling with himself on Afghanistan: — WASHINGTON — President Obama is exploring alternatives to a major troop increase in Afghanistan, including a plan advocated by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to scale …
BREITBART.COM:
Palin slams Obama's spending in debut speech in Asia — Former US vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin said the US government was wasting taxpayers' money and could aggravate poverty, said delegates at her first speech outside North America on Wednesday. — Palin, the former governor of Alaska …
Discussion:
Don Surber
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Mark McDonald / New York Times:
Palin Speaks to Investors in Hong Kong — HONG KONG — Sarah Palin, in what was billed as her first speech overseas, spoke on Wednesday to Asian bankers, investors and fund managers. — A number of people who heard the speech in a packed a hotel ballroom, which was closed to the media …
Discussion:
Riehl World View
Bloomberg:
Palin Attacks Fed on Hong Kong Visit, Wants ‘Responsible China’ — Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) — Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin used her first trip to Asia to attack the Federal Reserve for creating asset bubbles and encouraging excessive risk-taking that hurt working-class Americans.
The Huffington Post:
Conservatives Turn Their Sights On Health Care Reform's Most Obvious Provision — Democrats are bracing themselves for a new line of conservative attack against a provision in the health care legislation once considered so non-controversial that it was endorsed by several major Republican officials.
RELATED:
Jeffrey Young / The Hill:
Finance work on healthcare begins with rhetoric, attacks
Finance work on healthcare begins with rhetoric, attacks
Discussion:
msnbc.com
Mike Soraghan / The Hill:
Pelosi backs away from deal with Blue Dogs — Speaker Pelosi is backing away from a deal she cut with centrists to advance health reform, said a source familiar with talks. — Pelosi's decision to move away from the agreement that was made with a group of Blue Dogs to get the bill …
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Erica Werner / Associated Press:
Budget chief contradicts Obama on Medicare costs — WASHINGTON — Congress' chief budget officer is contradicting President Barack Obama's oft-stated claim that seniors wouldn't see their Medicare benefits cut under a health care overhaul. — The head of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office …
Discussion:
Villainous Company, Hot Air, Wonk Room, cms.hhs.gov, The Foundry, The Politico, Michelle Malkin and Betsy's Page
Alexander Zaitchik / Salon:
Glenn Beck becomes damaged goods — Editor's note: This is Part 2 in a three-part series on Glenn Beck's roots. Read Part 1 here. — Glenn Beck, foreground. In the background, the scene in Tripoli, Libya, on April 15, 1986, after an American attack. — Sept. 22, 2009 |
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Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:
Can't all conservatives at least agree that Glenn Beck is not the enemy?
Can't all conservatives at least agree that Glenn Beck is not the enemy?
Discussion:
American Spectator, Little Green Footballs, PoliGazette, Right Wing Nut House, Vox Popoli and American Power
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Justice Dept. to Limit Use of State Secrets Privilege — WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is preparing to impose new limits on the government assertion of the state secrets privilege used to block lawsuits for national security reasons. The practice was a major flashpoint in the debate …
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Carrie Johnson / Washington Post:
Obama to Set Higher Bar For Keeping State Secrets — New Policy May Affect Wiretap, Torture Suits — The Obama administration will announce a new policy Wednesday making it much more difficult for the government to claim that it is protecting state secrets when it hides details …
Discussion:
Law Blog, The Washington Independent, The BLT, The Volokh Conspiracy, Political Punch, MoJo Blog Posts and The Page
Rasmussen Reports:
Election 2010: Missouri Senate — 2010 Missouri Senate: Blunt 46%, Carnahan 46% — Democrat Robin Carnahan and Republican Roy Blunt are dead even in the first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 survey of the hotly contested race for the U.S. Senate in Missouri.
Washington Post:
A Mideast Handshake — THE SUMMIT President Obama convened Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fell well short of the administration's hopes. Mr. Obama had wanted to announce agreement on the opening of talks on the creation of a Palestinian state …
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Nile Gardiner / Telegraph:
The UN loves Barack Obama because he is weak — It is not hard to see why a standing ovation awaits Barack Obama when he addresses the United Nations General Assembly today, writes Nile Gardiner. — Barack Obama's Gallup approval rating of 52 percent may well be lower at this stage …
Mark Murray / msnbc.com:
Poll: Public pessimistic about Afghanistan — NBC/WSJ survey: Nearly six in 10 less confident about fate of war — WASHINGTON - As President Barack Obama weighs sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that Americans are concerned about the progress of the conflict there.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
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Jonathan Weisman / Wall Street Journal:
Poll Reflects Afghan War Doubts
Poll Reflects Afghan War Doubts
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Washington Post, The Fix, msnbc.com, Salon, Hot Air, Gateway Pundit, American Power and Flopping Aces
BBC:
Honduras leader ‘willing to talk’ — Honduran interim leader Roberto Micheletti says he is willing to talk to deposed president Manuel Zelaya, barricaded in the Brazilian embassy. — But Mr Micheletti said Mr Zelaya must first accept presidential elections scheduled for November.
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Creigh Deeds / Washington Post:
My Road to Smoother Transportation in Virginia — The first job of the next governor of Virginia is to restore confidence in our economy, and the best way to do that is through fixing our state transportation system. — Our transportation infrastructure is crumbling around us.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, National Review Online, Scorecard's Blog, Richmond Times-Dispatch and Virginia Politics
The Huffington Post:
Whoops: Anti-ACORN Bill Ropes In Defense Contractors, Others Charged With Fraud — Going after ACORN may be like shooting fish in a barrel lately — but jumpy lawmakers used a bazooka to do it last week and may have blown up some of their longtime allies in the process.
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
At Pentagon's Request, Washington Post Delayed Story on Afghanistan Report — To Bob Woodward, it was the modern-day equivalent of the Pentagon Papers. But to Obama administration officials, the classified assessment of the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, if disclosed by The Washington Post …
Ashley Womble / Cosmopolitan.com Conversation Starters …:
Senator Is the Centerfold — Long before he was a politician, the Republican candidate vying for Ted Kennedy's U.S. Senate seat posed nude for the centerfold of Cosmo. Scott Brown won our “America's Sexiest Man” contest and appeared in the June 1982 issue.