Top Items:
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Live-Blogging West Point — 8.35 pm. “Not the deepest of fears but the highest of hopes.” — I confess I do not feel those highest hopes. I do not share his confidence in American military and civilian power to turn the roiling region of Afghanistan and Pakistan into something less threatening.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, Politics Daily, The Politico, Opinionator, AMERICAblog News and The Reaction
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Obama's Afghan policy speech at West Point — Following is the transcript of President Obama's speech Tuesday at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. (The Post's report on the president's address is here.) — Thank you. Please be seated. — Good evening.
Discussion:
Top of the Ticket, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Ben Smith's Blog, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, Betsy's Page and SWJ Blog
CNN:
Just In: Key Obama speech excerpts released — (CNN) - The White House just released excerpts of President Obama's prime-time televised speech where he will outline his strategy on Afghanistan.
Spencer Ackerman / The Washington Independent:
McChrystal Praises Obama, Strategy Review — So much for the “dithering” critique. Here is a statement just released by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, expressing full support and confidence in President Obama and the weeks-long strategy review.
New York Times:
Pullout From Afghanistan to Begin in 2011, Officials Say — WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to announce Tuesday night that he will begin to transition American forces out of Afghanistan beginning in July 2011, setting the first time frame to wind down the war there nearly a decade …
Discussion:
CNN, Townhall.com, TPMDC, The Caucus, The Corner on National …, TPMMuckraker, VetVoice, Michael Calderone's Blog, Think Progress, Guardian, NO QUARTER, democracyarsenal.org, About.com Conservative …, Commentary, TPM LiveWire, At War, Wonk Room, Boston Globe, Hot Air, Left Coast Rebel, Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, Associated Press, Erick's blog, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Swampland, Ben Smith's Blog, The Foundry, Politics Daily, RedState, Wall Street Journal, Michelle Malkin, Neptunus Lex, Cato @ Liberty and msnbc.com
Paul / Power Line:
What I heard tonight — Earlier today I wondered whether President Obama's speech about Afghanistan would sound more like a description of a war plan or a structured settlement of a legal dispute. What I heard tonight tilted decidedly in the latter direction.
David Stout / New York Times:
Obama Vows to Fight Al Qaeda ‘Cancer’ — WASHINGTON — President Obama announced Tuesday night that he will begin to draw American forces out of Afghanistan in July 2011, even after sending some 30,000 more United States troops there by mid-2010 because “it is in our vital national interest” …
James Fallows:
In praise of George W. Bush — Since the results of the 2008 election became clear, the 43rd President of the United States has behaved in a way that brings honor to him, his family, his office, and his country. By all reports he did what he could to smooth the transition to his successor …
Discussion:
The Politico, pandagon.net, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Daniel W. Drezner and Daily Kos
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The Politico:
Cheney slams Obama for projecting ‘weakness’ — MCLEAN, Va. — On the eve of the unveiling of the nation's new Afghanistan policy, former Vice President Dick Cheney slammed President Barack Obama for projecting “weakness” to adversaries and warned that more workaday Afghans will side …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Moderate Voice, The Washington Independent, The Swamp, James Fallows, Laura Rozen's Blog, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Bloomberg, CNN, Washington Monthly, Coop's Corner, Daily Kos, Hot Air, Salon, Washington Wire, The Awl, Another Black Conservative, The Caucus, The Hill, The Greenroom, Washington Post, Weekly Standard, The New Republic, ABCNEWS, Politics Daily, The Lonely Conservative, At-Largely, Megan McArdle, msnbc.com, The Political Carnival, Wonkette and democracyarsenal.org
Associated Press:
UK climate scientist to temporarily step down — LONDON — Britain's University of East Anglia says the director of its prestigious Climatic Research Unit is stepping down pending an investigation into allegations that he overstated the case for man-made climate change.
Discussion:
The Paper Trail, Commentary, EU Referendum, Climate Progress, NewsBusters.org, The Jawa Report and Doug Ross
RELATED:
John Tierney / New York Times:
E-Mail Fracas Shows Peril of Trying to Spin Science
E-Mail Fracas Shows Peril of Trying to Spin Science
Discussion:
Dot Earth, Washington Post, The New Republic, Hot Air, Big Government, NewsBusters.org, Pajamas Media, Left in the West and Stop The ACLU
Douglas J. Keenan / Pajamas Media:
The Fraud Is Everywhere: SUNY Albany and Queens University Belfast …
The Fraud Is Everywhere: SUNY Albany and Queens University Belfast …
John Cook / Gawker:
A Bravo Contract Delivered White House Gatecrashers to the Today Show — NBC News didn't pay the Salahis for their exclusive Today appearance this morning. They didn't have to: According to rival bookers trying to land the Salahis, they already have a contract with Bravo preventing them from talking to anyone else.
RELATED:
Christopher Soghoian / slight paranoia:
8 Million Reasons for Real Surveillance Oversight — Disclaimer: The information presented here has been gathered and analyzed in my capacity as a graduate student at Indiana University. This data was gathered and analyzed on my own time, without using federal government resources.
The Hill:
New public option plan — A new measure on the public option will be unveiled next week, which Senate Democratic leaders hope will break the logjam on healthcare reform. — Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), who has been tapped by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to come up with a Plan B approach …
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Derek / pipeline.corante.com:
Climategate and Scientific Conduct — Everyone has heard about the “Climategate” scandal by now. Someone leaked hundreds of megabytes of information from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit, and the material (which appears to be authentic) is most interesting.
RELATED:
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Leaving the Right — It's an odd formulation in some ways as “the right” is not really a single entity. But in so far as it means the dominant mode of discourse among the institutions and blogs and magazines and newspapers and journals that support the GOP, Charles Johnson is absolutely right …
Michael Calderone / Michael Calderone's Blog:
Obama lunches with top political writers — On the day of his major Afghanistan speech, President Obama had lunch with a group of top political writers at the White House, according to a source familiar with the lunch. — There were some attendees today who write extensively on foreign policy …
Hotline On Call:
Tanner To Retire — Rep. John Tanner (D-TN), a leading Blue Dog Dem, will retire at the end of his current term, Dem sources tell Hotline OnCall. — Tanner has begun informing key House Dems of his decision — one that will make his seat a prime pickup opportunity for GOPers.
Wall Street Journal:
FTC to Examine Possible Support of News Organizations — WASHINGTON -The head of the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday the agency will study whether government should aid struggling news organizations, which are suffering from a collapse in advertising revenues as the internet upends their centuries-old business model.
RELATED:
Arianna Huffington / The Huffington Post:
Journalism 2009: Desperate Metaphors, Desperate Revenue Models …
Journalism 2009: Desperate Metaphors, Desperate Revenue Models …
Eric Zimmermann / The Hill:
Palin blasts media for bus tour stories — Sarah Palin fired back at the media today for a series of stories on her travel arrangements. — Over the last few days, several outlets have picked up on the story that Palin actually flew to some of the stops on her “bus tour.” (Here, here, and here, for example.)
Max Blumenthal / Mondoweiss:
Gutsy progressive congressman Alan Grayson leads a double life — Since defeating an incumbent in Florida's Republican-heavy 8th congressional district last year, Rep. Alan Grayson has emerged as one of the progressive movement's most vocal champions. His attacks on Republican obstruction …
Bob / Capitol Ideas with John L. Micek:
The Worst Kind Of Scheduling Conflict. — President Barack Obama ... ... is slated to deliver a prime-time address on Tuesday night in which he'll lay out his plans for the American war in Afghanistan. — The address before the United States Military Academy at West Point on Tuesday night …
Ben Armbruster / Think Progress:
Grassley: 'I've lived off the public tit' as a congressman. — On C-SPAN's Washington Journal this morning, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) was asked if he thought the health care reform bill before the Senate amounted to socialism. “No,” Grassley said, but he then attacked the public option aspect of the bill, calling it “socialism.”
Charlie Martin / Pajamas Media:
Climategate: Imminent Demise of Glaciers Due to ... a Typo! — The IPCC has been claiming Himalayan glaciers could be gone by 2035. The research paper they used concluded 2350. — “Climategate” is now more than the massive misconduct of one research institution.