Top Items:
New York Times:
Obama Rules Out Large Reduction in Afghan Force — WASHINGTON — President Obama told Congressional leaders on Tuesday that he would not substantially reduce American forces in Afghanistan or shift the mission to just hunting terrorists there, but he indicated that he remained undecided …
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Wall Street Journal:
Battle of Books Rages in Afghan Debate — WASHINGTON — The struggle to set the future course of the Afghan war is becoming a battle of two books — both suddenly popular among White House and Pentagon brain trusts. — The two draw decidedly different lessons from the Vietnam War.
Fred Kaplan / Slate:Should Gen. McChrystal stop speaking publicly about Afghan war strategy?
Discussion:
American Spectator, THE WEEK News & Opinion, marbury, Abu Muqawama, The Opinionator, Washington Post and ATTACKERMAN
Scott Wilson / Washington Post:Afghan Strategy Divides Lawmakers
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Wall Street Journal, CNN, McClatchy Washington Bureau, BLACKFIVE, Hot Air, Raw Story, The Majlis, Guardian, The Hill, Capitol Briefing and The Note
Washington Post:
White House Gets Republican Backing for Bipartisan Reform — Urged by the White House, Republicans Speak Up for Bipartisan Health Fix — Seeking to provide fresh evidence of bipartisan support for health-care reform, the White House is orchestrating a series of endorsements from GOP heavyweights around the country.
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Democratic Strategist, Daily Kos, Prescriptions, SFGate, Blog entry, TPMDC, The Note, Hit & Run and New York Times
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Wall Street Journal:
State-Run Health Plans Garner Support — WASHINGTON — Some influential centrist Democrats in the Senate are warming to a compromise that envisions health-insurance plans run by state governments, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger added his voice Tuesday to a small group …
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TalkLeft, Washington Monthly, Politics Daily, tmccarthy0's Blog, Blog entry, The New Republic and Prescriptions
Anne / BackyardConservative:
Bill Ayers No Dream — There I was, sitting in Reagan National Monday morning, sipping a Starbucks by the United counter before going through security. I had a little time, so I was browsing through the news. Some military guys had borrowed a chair from my table.
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Examiner:
Bill Ayers admits writing ‘Dreams’ to conservative blogger — Last Friday we posted an article on these pages asserting Bill Ayers' authorship of President Barack Obama's ‘Dreams From My Father,’ based on claims made by Obama biographer Christopher Andersen.
Scott / Power Line:
Whose Dreams? — In the run-up to the election, Jack Cashill framed a speculative argument that Bill Ayers wrote Barack Obama's Dreams From My Father. Cashill first ventured his thesis in “Who wrote Dreams From My Father?” Cashill cited Obama's sophomoric stabs at poetry from his days at Occidental.
Frank Newport / Gallup:
Approval of U.S. Congress Falls to 21%, Driven by Democrats — Lowest rating for Congress since January — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' approval of the job Congress is doing is at 21% this month, down significantly from last month's 31% and from the recent high of 39% in March.
Discussion:
The Hill, Hot Air, Salon, TalkLeft, The Swamp, Gawker, Wake up America, Scared Monkeys and Politics Daily
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Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Parties Nearly Tied for Congress in 2010 — Voter preferences for Congress split 46% Democratic vs. 44% Republican — PRINCETON, NJ — Roughly a year before the 2010 midterm elections, Gallup finds the Republican and Democratic Parties nearly tied in the congressional ballot preferences of registered voters.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Plum Line, Taegan Goddard's …, Commentary, RedState and The Hill
Neil King Jr / Wall Street Journal:Jobless Rate Is Key to Fate of Democrats in 2010
Discussion:
QandO
Wall Street Journal:
Fed Frets Over Commercial Real Estate — With Banks Slow to Take Losses, Fears of a Residential-Bust Repeat; ‘More Pain Likely Lies Ahead’ — Banks in the U.S. “are slow” to take losses on their commercial real-estate loans being battered by slumping property values and rental payments …
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Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Deeds points finger at Washington — Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds said in an interview that he was lagging in the polls entering the final weeks of the campaign in part because of voter concerns over his national party's agenda. — “Frankly, a lot of what's …
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, msnbc.com, Washington Post, The Fix, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Hotline On Call, Commentary and Virginia Politics
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Michael Scherer / Swampland:
The Cup of Coffee: White House's David Axelrod Meets With Fox News' Roger Ailes — On a recent visit to New York, White House adviser David Axelrod met over coffee with Roger Ailes, the president of the Fox News network, which President Obama has described as a “television station …
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Mark Preston / CNN:
First on the Ticker: Obama enlists Hollywood in new ad — WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Obama is turning to a handful of Hollywood stars to judge a contest that asks grassroots supporters to create a television commercial promoting health care reform. — Musician Will.I.Am, actor John Cho …
Michael B. Oren / The New Republic:
Deep Denial — Toughened by their frontier ethos, steeled by serial wars, Israelis are not prone to flattery. Most, in fact, eschew using the closest equivalent to the Hebrew word for flattery—chanupa— in favor of the derisive Yiddish-derivative, firgun.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Haaretz, Commentary, Newshoggers.com, The Majlis and Wall Street Journal
William Saletan / Human Nature:
The Beauty of Artificial Virginity — If you're a woman in a conservative Muslim country, you had better bleed on your wedding night. If you don't, your husband or his family will know you aren't a virgin. For that, you could be beaten or killed. — If you're a man, on the other hand …
Jackson Baker / Memphis Flyer:
Finally! A Mayoral Forum With Character(s)! — Of all the mayoral debates and forums that have been held so far this campaign season, perhaps the most bizarre was the one sponsored Tuesday night at the University of Memphis' Rose Theatre by the NAACP. Three of the 12 candidates on stage …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard
Catherine Rampell / New York Times:
Support Builds for Tax Credit to Help Hiring — The idea of a tax credit for companies that create new jobs, something the federal government has not tried since the 1970s, is gaining support among economists and Washington officials grappling with the highest unemployment in a generation.
Discussion:
ProPublica, Greg Mankiw's Blog, Ezra Klein, DailyFinance, Clusterstock, Calculated Risk, Economist's View and Marginal Revolution
Josh McAuliffe / Scranton Times-Tribune:
Former U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson coming to Scranton to discuss war in Afghanistan — The U.S. military's ongoing conflict in Afghanistan is a movie Charlie Wilson has seen before, and he isn't thrilled with where the plot of this one is going. — “I think they're looking at us more and more like occupiers,” he said.
Lee Fang / Think Progress:
Rep. Louie Gohmert: Hate crimes bill will lead to Nazism, legalization of necrophilia, pedophilia, and bestiality. — Led by Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) last night, lawmakers convened for a special session of floor speeches urging a repeal of Don't Act Don't Tell.
Discussion:
Law Dork
Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:
Weak himself, Obama draws strength from Bush — Senior Political Analyst — In trying to understand what is happening in the nation and world, we all employ narratives — story lines that indicate where things are going and what is likely to happen next.
Discussion:
Townhall.com
Amanda Carpenter / Washington Times:
A new mommy tax — When Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus proposed taxing medical devices to raise $40 billion over the next 10 years for his health care plan, opponents started digging in and looking at what would be taxed. It turned out feminine products, like tampons …
Discussion:
Moe Lane
Aunohita Mojumdar / Christian Science Monitor:
‘Code Pink’ rethinks its call for Afghanistan pullout — In Afghanistan, the US women's activist group finds that their Afghan counterparts want US troop presence - as well as more reconstruction. — KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - — When Medea Benjamin stood up in a Kabul meeting hall this weekend …
Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
The Supreme Court mauls the law banning animal-cruelty videos. — Witness the American deputy solicitor general in his natural habitat—the Supreme Court. As Neal Katyal roams softly across the cool marble chamber, he has no idea what awaits him. He is here to protect his tribe …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, New York Times, The Huffington Post, NPR, SCOTUSblog and The Reality-Based Community
Cory Doctorow / Boing Boing:
The criticism that Ralph Lauren doesn't want you to see! — Last month, Xeni blogged about the photoshop disaster that is this Ralph Lauren advertisement, in which a model's proportions appear to have been altered to give her an impossibly skinny body ("Dude, her head's bigger than her pelvis").
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