Top Items:
Jim Tankersley / Los Angeles Times:
‘Top kill’ effort succeeds in blocking oil leak, Coast Guard admiral says — Thad Allen, who is coordinating the government response, says the well still has low pressure, but cement will be used to cap the well permanently as soon as the pressure hits zero.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Firedoglake, The Moderate Voice, Matthew Yglesias, WWL, Townhall.com, Taylor Marsh, Raw Story, Left Coast Rebel, Hot Air, Instapundit, ProPublica, newsfeed.time.com, Another Black Conservative, Washington Monthly, Weekly Standard, Mediaite, The Consumerist, New Orleans Times-Picayune, TPM LiveWire, Guardian, Weasel Zippers, The Oil Drum, Gawker, The Political Carnival, Corrente, Sense of Events, Questions and Observations, Wall Street Journal and MyFox Philadelphia
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USA Today:
Is oil spill becoming Obama's Katrina? — The hurricane that drowned New Orleans and cast George W. Bush as out of touch swept across the Gulf Coast nearly five years ago. Now, as oil laps ashore in the very same region, local officials are asking: Is there another government-Gulf Coast disconnect?
CNN:
Coast Guard admiral: ‘Top kill’ working
Coast Guard admiral: ‘Top kill’ working
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, This Just In, New York Magazine, Shakesville and msnbc.com
Heather / Crooks and Liars:
Sarah Palin Gets a New Neighbor — Keith Olbermann talks to the Washington Post's Dave Weigel who apparently isn't too popular with the right wingers for defending journalist Joe McGinniss who has moved in next door to Sarah Palin while working on an unauthorized biography of the ex-half-term-Governor.
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Political Punch:
Justice Scalia Praises Elena Kagan's Lack of Judicial Experience — ABC News' Teddy Davis reports: — Obama Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan has been criticized by some Republican senators for lacking judicial experience. But Justice Antonin Scalia, the High Court's most outspoken conservative …
Discussion:
Think Progress, The Volokh Conspiracy, Federal Eye, New York Magazine, Washington Post and DISSENTING JUSTICE
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Suzan Clarke / ABCNEWS:
O'Connor Warns Kagan on ‘Dreadful’ Hearings — O'Connor Cautioned Kagan on ‘Dreadful’ Nomination Process — The first woman ever to sit on the nation's highest court has gotten behind Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, but warned her of the “dreadful, unpleasant” nomination process.
Carol E. Lee / The Politico:
Birnbaum forced out of MMS — The head of the Minerals and Management Services has resigned the top post at the agency that has come under fire for lax oversight of offshore drilling amid an increasingly devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, sources with knowledge of the move said Thursday morning.
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Political Punch:
The Presidential Planner — This morning, President Obama will meet with the NCAA men's basketball Ccampion Duke Blue Devils at the White House to honor their 2009-2010 championship season in the Rose Garden. — Keeping up the sports theme, the president and the vice president will take a photo …
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard / Telegraph:
US money supply plunges at 1930s pace as Obama eyes fresh stimulus — The M3 money supply in the United States is contracting at an accelerating rate that now matches the average decline seen from 1929 to 1933, despite near zero interest rates and the biggest fiscal blitz in history.
Donna Miles / American Forces Press Service:
Mullen: Proposed Legislation Retains Prerogative — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday that he's comfortable with proposed legislation that seeks to repeal the law that bans gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military because it includes “very clear language” …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, The Hill, Pam's House Blend, Jules Crittenden, Wonk Room, Towleroad News #gay, AMERICAblog Gay, Joe. My. God. and NO QUARTER
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Fox News:
Counterterror Adviser Defends Jihad as ‘Legitimate Tenet of Islam’ — White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan speaks to reporters in the White House Jan. 7. (AP Photo) — The president's top counterterrorism adviser on Wednesday called jihad a “legitimate tenet of Islam,” …
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Ian Urbina / New York Times:
BP Used Riskier Method to Seal Oil Well Before Blast — WASHINGTON — Several days before the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, BP officials chose, partly for financial reasons, to use a type of casing for the well that the company knew was the riskier of two options, according to a BP document.
Alex Seitz-Wald / Think Progress:
Rove Finally Admits That Bush Really Blew It During Katrina — Today in the Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove pens an op-ed titled: “Yes, the Gulf Spill is Obama's Katrina.” He predictably places blame on Obama for a “lethargic,” “slow,” and “unacceptable” response to the BP oil spill.
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Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
Yes, the Gulf Spill Is Obama's Katrina
Yes, the Gulf Spill Is Obama's Katrina
Discussion:
National Review, The Mahablog, The Corner on National …, Beltway Confidential, JammieWearingFool, Instapundit and ABCNEWS
David Einhorn / New York Times:
Easy Money, Hard Truths — ARE you worried that we are passing our debt on to future generations? Well, you need not worry. — Before this recession it appeared that absent action, the government's long-term commitments would become a problem in a few decades.
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Rasmussen Reports:
Election 2010: Wisconsin Senate — Wisconsin Senate: Feingold 46%, Johnson 44% — Businessman Ron Johnson, endorsed at last weekend's state Republican Convention, is now running virtually even against incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold in Wisconsin's race for the U.S. Senate.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Ballot Box, Weekly Standard, Beltway Confidential, TPMDC, Weasel Zippers, Don Surber and Liberty Pundits Blog
Roger Alford / Associated Press:
Rand Paul faces possible challenge, staff shake-up — FRANKFORT, Ky. — A week after a come-from-behind victory over the GOP's establishment candidate in a Kentucky Senate primary, Rand Paul is facing a possible challenge by the Libertarian Party and is shaking up his staff after comments …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Hit & Run, New York Magazine, Commentary, Left Coast Rebel, The New Republic and Right Now
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Skaus / Stephen Kaus Weblog:
Breaking: Senate Candidate Mickey Kaus Debates Boxer — I will post a full account of my brother Mickey's debate with Barbara Boxer, who failed to appear and was replaced by a cardboard facsimile, after I have finished having dinner with the candidate, or maybe tomorrow.
Discussion:
The Daily Dish
Scott / Power Line:
A thug too far, part 5 — When Nina Easton found a mob of union thugs demonstrating at her neighbor's Chevy Chase house last week, she used her professional skills to ascertain what all the fuss was about. She filed an illuminating report. The mainstream media have avoided the story.
FITSNews:
Witnesses, Evidence Mounting Against Haley — For a campaign employee she claims to have barely known, S.C. Rep. Nikki Haley certainly paid plenty of late night visits to our founding editor's town house in early 2007. — In fact, multiple witnesses are coming forward …
Discussion:
www2.wspa.com, Yahoo! News, Charleston City Paper, Washington Wire, Hot Air, TPMMuckraker, The Daily Caller and The Swamp
Isaac Wood / Sabato's Crystal Ball:
May House Update — GOP Gains Likely, Majority Uncertain — Like many beleaguered sports fans, as the calendar turned to 2010, Republicans across the country were conjuring up the same thought: “This is the year!” After disastrous House elections in 2006 and 2008, Republicans dropped …
Mythili Rao / CNN:
Ads on NYC buses target those wanting to leave Islam — New York (CNN) — “Fatwa on your head?” a new series of provocative ads on New York City buses asks. “Is your community or family threatening you? Leaving Islam?” — The ads, sponsored by an organization called Stop the Islamization of America …