Top Items:
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Online:
The Night Beat: Obama Borrows the Military Back — Good evening. — THE PRESIDENT'S POINT: Beginning in the early afternoon, a cadre of military and civilian soldiers loyal to Gen. Stanley McChrystal began to spread rumors throughout the capital city: that ground commanders in Afghanistan …
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Mark Landler / New York Times:
For Obama, Decision to Remove General Came Quickly — WASHINGTON — By the time he woke up Wednesday morning, President Obama had made up his mind. — During the 36 frenetic hours since he had been handed an article from the coming issue of Rolling Stone ominously headlined “The Runaway General …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Politico, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Right Wing News, Indecision Forever, Room for Debate, The Daily Beast, Weasel Zippers, Taylor Marsh, Hot Air, www.thetakeaway.org, The Washington Independent, Slate, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, No More Mister Nice Blog, Outside the Beltway, Balloon Juice, msnbc.com, European Tribune, Emptywheel, American Spectator, Guardian, THEROOT.COM, Pajamas Media, Ben Smith's Blog and Prairie Weather
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Gates advocated keeping McChrystal, source says — Washington (CNN) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates backed keeping Gen. Stanley McChrystal on the job because he was vital to the war effort in Afghanistan, but Gates was overruled, a senior Pentagon official told CNN's Barbara Starr.
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
GOP POISED TO KILL TAX-EXTENDERS BILL.... For weeks, Senate Democrats have tried to pass what's called the “tax-extenders bill” — a key economic package that extends unemployment benefits, maintains popular tax breaks, protects doctors from Medicare cuts, and boosts state aid to prevent massive job layoffs in the states.
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The Huffington Post:
Sheldon Whitehouse: Thank ‘Republican Debt Orgy’ For Current Deficit
Sheldon Whitehouse: Thank ‘Republican Debt Orgy’ For Current Deficit
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars
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Senate Republicans Team Up With Ben Nelson to Strangle Economic Recovery
The Smoking Gun:
Al Gore A “Crazed Sex Poodle?” — Masseuse's claims read like R-rated vice presidential fan fiction — In a bizarre statement to police, the Oregon woman who claims that Al Gore fondled and groped her during a massage session described the former Vice President as a giggling “crazed sex poodle” …
Discussion:
Power Line, The Politico, Hot Air, Althouse, Moonbattery, Flopping Aces, Gateway Pundit, Riehl World View and Left Coast Rebel
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Prosecutor: Al Gore was focus of sex crime inquiry in Portland
Discussion:
Syracuse Post-Standard, Associated Press, National Enquirer, TalkLeft, Big Journalism, RedState, Talking Points Memo, Runnin' Scared, JammieWearingFool, JustOneMinute, Outside the Beltway, TPMMuckraker, The Portland Tribune, KGW-TV, Beltway Confidential, Wonkette, Weasel Zippers, Blogs of War, Marbury, Scared Monkeys, Pajamas Media, Gawker, IMAO, Don Surber, Ben Smith's Blog, Althouse, The Jawa Report, Wizbang and POWIP
Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Oregon investigated sex-assault accusation against Al Gore; case was closed
Oregon investigated sex-assault accusation against Al Gore; case was closed
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, NewsBusters.org, Shakesville, The Caucus, National Enquirer, The Corner on National … and The Page
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Justices Limit Use of ‘Honest Services’ Law Against Fraud — WASHINGTON — Ruling for two prominent corporate executives in prison for fraud, the Supreme Court on Thursday dramatically narrowed the scope of a law often used by federal prosecutors in corruption cases.
Discussion:
Prairie Weather
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Josh Gerstein / Josh Gerstein's Blog:
Supreme Court, 8-1, upholds petition disclosure
Supreme Court, 8-1, upholds petition disclosure
Discussion:
Pam's House Blend
Emily Goodin / Ballot Box:
Harry Reid's son leaves last name out of first campaign ad — Nevada gubernatorial candidate Rory Reid (D) is on the air with his first campaign ad and it's missing one thing: his last name. — Reid, the son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), doesn't say his name at any point during the ad …
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Video-Rep. Kanjorski: ‘Finance bill will help good Americans, not minorities or defective people’ — Connie Hair at Human Events has posted this shocking video of Rep. Paul Kanjorski, Pennsylvania Democrat, at a Wednesday conference committee hearing to merge the House and Senate versions …
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Connie Hair / Human Events:
Democratic Congressman: 'Finance Bill will Help Good Americans …
Democratic Congressman: 'Finance Bill will Help Good Americans …
Discussion:
Washington Post
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Dem Rep says “minorities, defective[s]” not “average, good American people”
Dem Rep says “minorities, defective[s]” not “average, good American people”
Discussion:
National Review
The Hill:
Liberal Dems' battle to cut defense spending reaches a turning point — A growing number of centrist Democrats say they're open to trimming Pentagon spending in the face of record budget deficits and mounting public debt. — Liberal Democrats for years have called for cuts to the massive defense budget to no avail.
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Harris: Obama knew of Blagojevich plot — A top aide to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich said he believed Barack Obama knew of Blagojevich's plot to win himself a presidential Cabinet post in exchange for appointing Valerie Jarrett to the U.S. Senate. — John Harris, Blagojevich's former chief of staff …
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Key House Republican: If gaffes were reason to resign, Biden would be gone — If gaffes were a legitimate reason to resign, Vice President Joe Biden would already be out of office, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor said Thursday. — The second-ranking House Republican appeared on MSNBC's …
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Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Harkin hints ‘card-check’ bill could move during lame-duck session of Congress — Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) suggested Thursday that Democrats might attempt to move “card-check” legislation this year, perhaps during a lame-duck session. — Harkin, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education …
Discussion:
Beltway Confidential
Ian Swanson / The Hill:
U.S. isolated on spending at G-20 — The U.S. will be isolated at the G-20 summit on the subject of stimulus spending. — In the days ahead of this weekend's summit, President Barack Obama and his economic team have pressed Europe and Congress alike on the need for more spending to drive economic growth.
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Tim Fernholz / American Prospect:
Germany and the International Austerity Debate.
Germany and the International Austerity Debate.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal
Ben White / The Politico:
Bank execs panic over proposed change to orderly liquidation authority — Dodd unhappy with Brown — Zero hour arrives as derivatives, ‘Volcker rule’ remain unresolved — Presented by Merchants Payments Coalition — DOUBLE SIREN EXCLUSIVE - Bank executives were panicking last night …
CNN:
Judge denies administration request to maintain drilling ban — (CNN) - A federal judge has denied the Obama administration's request to stay his ruling lifting a moratorium on offshore drilling moratorium until an appeals court could review the case. — In an emergency hearing Thursday …
Discussion:
The Page
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Michael Senatore / Congress Blog:
A ruling on the side of wrong
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BP Is Pursuing Alaska Drilling Some Call Risky — The future of BP's offshore oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico has been thrown into doubt by the recent drilling disaster and court wrangling over a moratorium. — But about three miles off the coast of Alaska, BP is moving ahead …
Jack Dolan / Los Angeles Times:
California welfare cards can be used in many casino ATMs — Times review finds that in more than half of the state's casinos and gaming rooms, welfare recipients can get cash from state-issued EBT cards. Officials say they're moving to block such transactions.
Kirsten Grieshaber / Associated Press:
Group of youths attack Jewish dance group — BERLIN - A Jewish dance group was attacked with stones by a group of children and teenagers during a performance at a street festival in the Germany city of Hannover, police said Thursday. One dancer suffered a leg injury and the group then canceled their performance.
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Focus U.S.A. / ‘The U.S. will have to confront Iran or give up the Middle East’ — Amitai Etzioni, professor of International Relations at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., believes the only option available to contain Iran's atomic ambitions is a series of assaults on its non-nuclear facilities.
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Confidence Wanes in Obama, U.S. Outlook — Americans are more pessimistic about the state of the country and less confident in President Barack Obama's leadership than at any point since Mr. Obama entered the White House, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.