Top Items:
The Caucus:
White House Blocks Testimony on Party Crashers — Updated | 10:22 p.m. The White House on Wednesday invoked the separation of powers to keep Desiree Rogers, President Obama's social secretary, from testifying on Capitol Hill about how a couple of aspiring reality television show celebrities crashed …
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CBS News:
White House: July 2011 Is Locked In for Afghanistan Withdrawal — Posted by Chip Reid During the Senate Armed Services hearing today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates was pressed by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. on whether the July 2011 date for beginning to withdrawal troops is “locked in.”
Discussion:
The Politico, Mudville Gazette, Jules Crittenden, The Sundries Shack, Hot Air, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Taegan Goddard's … and USA Today
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Did you hear the one about Washington lecturing Afghans on corruption? — President Obama, who with his latest troop moves has taken ownership of the 8-year-old war in Afghanistan, has based at least part of his ongoing support on the government there erasing corruption as a condition for such expensive American aid.
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David Rogers / The Politico:
Afghanistan plan roils the Hill
Afghanistan plan roils the Hill
Discussion:
The Note, Wall Street Journal, The Caucus, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, Washington Post, New York Magazine and ABCNEWS
New York Times:
Afghanistan and Pakistan Rattled by Plan for Drawdown
Afghanistan and Pakistan Rattled by Plan for Drawdown
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Commentary, Ross Douthat, Prairie Weather, The Page and Washington Post
Tom Hayden / The Nation:
Obama Announces Afghanistan Escalation
Obama Announces Afghanistan Escalation
Discussion:
Salon, Jules Crittenden, Weekly Standard, Hullabaloo, MyDD, Pajamas Media and Spiegel Online
Edmund L. Andrews / New York Times:
Senator Moves to Hold Up Bernanke Confirmation — WASHINGTON — Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont said on Wednesday that he would try to block the Senate from confirming Ben S. Bernanke to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. — The move is unlikely to derail Mr. Bernanke's reappointment …
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U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders:
RELEASE: SANDERS PUTS HOLD ON BERNANKE — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today placed a hold on the nomination of Ben Bernanke for a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. — “The American people overwhelmingly voted last year for a change in our national priorities to put the interests …
Josh Rogin / The Cable:
Exclusive: White House aides insisted F-22 be removed from Obama speech venue — When President Obama spoke to troops at Alaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base last month, the unit there parked a shiny new F-22 fighter plane in the hanger. But according to multiple sources …
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Evan Newmark / Deal Journal:
Mean Street: The Sham of a Mockery of an Obama Jobs Summit — What is it about Thursday's White House “jobs summit” that rubs me the wrong way? — All presidents engage in these sorts of elaborate PR stunts. Why not just dismiss it as another meaningless piece of Washington political theater?
Discussion:
Betsy's Page
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Boxer: Hackers should face criminal probe over ‘Climategate’ — Leaked e-mails allegedly undermining climate change science should be treated as a criminal matter, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said Wednesday afternoon. — Boxer, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee …
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Jonathan Liew / Telegraph:
All men watch porn, scientists find — Scientists at the University of Montreal launched a search for men who had never looked at pornography - but couldn't find any. — Researchers were conducting a study comparing the views of men in their 20s who had never been exposed to pornography with regular users.
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway
Karl Vick / Washington Post:
N.Y. State Senate votes down gay marriage bill by wide margin — NEW YORK — Opponents of gay marriage celebrated a decisive vote in the New York State Senate, where a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage was defeated 38 to 24 on Wednesday. — The unexpectedly wide margin was delivered …
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Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
New York State Senate Votes Down Gay Marriage Bill
New York State Senate Votes Down Gay Marriage Bill
Discussion:
City Room, Joe. My. God., No More Mister Nice Blog, Newsweek Blogs, Another Black Conservative, Syracuse Post-Standard, JammieWearingFool, The Awl, The Reaction, Opinion L.A., The Daily Politics, Capitol Confidential, Gothamist, Prairie Weather, AmSpecBlog, Think Progress, CNN, Hot Air, NY Daily News, nysenate.gov/blog, The Page, Towleroad News #gay, Gawker, Redhot, Lawyers, Guns and Money, msnbc.com, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Truthdig, Indecision Forever, TPM LiveWire, Washington Monthly and Feministe
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Washington Times cuts in staff, coverage cue new era — The Washington Times, which gained a strong foothold in a politically obsessed city as a conservative alternative to much of the mainstream media, is about to become a drastically smaller newspaper. — Nearly three decades …
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P.J. Gladnick / NewsBusters.org:
Huffington Post Suffers ClimateGate Panic Attack — Your humble correspondent has been checking the Huffington Post Green section every day since the ClimateGate scandal exploded. After all, that Green section is pretty much predicated on the theory that the earth is warming dangerously and that Man is the cause of it.
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Katherine Goldstein / The Huffington Post:
ClimateGate: The 7 Biggest Lies About The Supposed “Global Warming Hoax”
ClimateGate: The 7 Biggest Lies About The Supposed “Global Warming Hoax”
Manu Raju / The Politico:
Franken fallout has GOP fuming — Republican senators feel burned by Al Franken — and not by his old jokes. — The Republicans are steamed at Franken because partisans on the left are using a measure he sponsored to paint them as rapist sympathizers — and because Franken isn't doing much to stop them.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Whiskey Fire, Hot Dish Politics, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns and Money, The Political Carnival, Daily Kos and TPMDC
Erin Carlson / Silicon Alley Insider:
Anderson Cooper's Ratings Plummet — Anderson Cooper is fading in the ratings. — The respected CNN anchor has seen his numbers slip significantly through the past year. His 10 p.m. show, “Anderson Cooper 360,” has declined 62% in total viewers and 70% in adults 25-54 from November 2008, according to Nielsen figures.
Discussion:
Riehl World View, Scared Monkeys, Pajamas Media, Real Clear Politics and Another Black Conservative
Michelle Malkin:
Unbelievable update: The crappiest NYTimes column on Obamacare just got crappier; Update: Kristof's disingenuous non-response — Scroll for updates...Kristof non-responds...holes remain... Today, I did something that Pulitzer Prize-winning NYTimes columnist Nick Kristof apparently didn't do …
Lee Davidson / Deseret News:
Utahns growing tired of Bennett — Poll shows most want a change — but rivals trail far behind senator — Two of every three Utahns want to see Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, ousted in his re-election bid next year. — However, all of the challengers seeking to unseat him currently trail far behind …
The Huffington Post:
GOP Senator Pens Obstruction Manual For Health Care — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Sen. Judd Gregg, (R-NH) has penned the equivalent of an obstruction manual — a how-to for holding up health care reform — and has distributed the document to his Republican colleagues.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, White House.gov Blog Feed, Ezra Klein, Raw Story, TPMDC and Washington Monthly
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Kos / Daily Kos:
Sens. Feinstein and Durbins attack on citizen journalism — The Senate is currently considering a media shield law, pushed by media outfits that want federal protection for their journalists. — The legislation originally had a broad definition of “journalist”, but that was curtailed thanks …
Tim Arango / New York Times:
Comcast Gets NBC From G.E., Reshaping the TV Industry — After nearly nine months of negotiations, Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator, finally reached an agreement on Thursday to acquire NBC Universal, from the General Electric Company. — The deal had valued NBC Universal at about $30 billion.
Ezra Klein:
If you give away the public option, what do you get? — Most of the energy in the Senate right now is being directed into a mad rush for compromise proposals on the public option. This reflects the sense that the right compromise on the public option is a compromised public option.
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