Top Items:
William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
A Letter to Michael Steele — You are, I know, a patriot. So I ask you to consider, over this July 4 weekend, doing an act of service for the country you love: Resign as chairman of the Republican party. — Your tenure has of course been marked by gaffes and embarrassments …
Discussion:
The Hill, The Huffington Post, CNN, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, The Note, Hotline On Call, FiveThirtyEight, TPMDC, The Swamp, Pundits Blog, Think Progress, The Atlantic Online, Riehl World View, Washington Wire, msnbc.com, The Nation, Mediaite, Hot Air, Politics Daily, AmSpecBlog, Raw Story, The Corner on National …, AMERICAblog News, Weasel Zippers, sisu, BLACKFIVE, Salon, Daily Kos, The Daily Dish, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, FrumForum, Balloon Juice, D.C. Now, Real Clear Politics and Beltway Confidential
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Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
RNC chairman: Obama pursued Afghanistan war ‘trying to be cute’ — Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele was caught on video at a fundraiser in Connecticut on Thursday raising doubts about the war in Afghanistan. — The Democratic National Committee (DNC) pushed out the video …
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Dems say Steele is “rooting for failure.” Really, Dems? — By all means, Dems should go on the attack against Michael Steele for his wild comments about Afghanistan. But do they really think it's a good idea to say he's for cutting and running, is “rooting for failure” and is “betting against our troops”?
Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
Steele Says We Shouldn't Be In Afghanistan; Calls It Obama's War Of Choice — Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele may be misremembering exactly how and when the Afghanistan war began. — At a Republican Party fundraiser in Connecticut on Thursday, Steele declared …
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
How long will the public tolerate Afghan war? — Gen. David Petraeus sailed through Senate confirmation so quickly that few people noticed what he had to say about his new job as top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan. — Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee …
Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:
Michael Steele Must Resign — I have heard Michael Steele's comments regarding Afghanistan and the President. — I have read the RNC's statement on the matter. — The RNC statement is indecipherable in the context of what Michael Steele actually said. — The war in Afghanistan is not a war of Barack Obama's choosing.
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Top Republicans Pile On Steele, Call For His Ouster
Top Republicans Pile On Steele, Call For His Ouster
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hotline On Call, Guardian, CNN, The Stranger …, Daily Kos and AmSpecBlog
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
RNC Chairman Steele tries to stamp out controversial remarks
Alex Seitz-Wald / Think Progress:
RNC Chair Michael Steele Converts Into Anti-War Protester …
RNC Chair Michael Steele Converts Into Anti-War Protester …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Mother Jones, TPMDC, PostPartisan, The Daily Dish and The Stranger …
Charlie Cook / National Journal Online:
Hurricane GOP On The Way — MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT: THERE IS A WAVE OUT THERE, AND FOR DEMOCRATS, THE HOUSE IS, AT BEST, TEETERING ON THE EDGE. — Imagine sitting in Washington's Verizon Center, listening blissfully to Carole King and James Taylor, thanks to a fast-thinking friend who managed to score four floor seats.
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Michael Powell / New York Times:
U.S. Economy Shed 125,000 Jobs in June; Rate Is 9.5% — The United States added just 83,000 private-sector jobs in June, a dishearteningly low number that could add to the growing number of economists who warn that the economic recovery is stalling. — Multimedia
Discussion:
Real Time Economics, MyDD, The Washington Independent, Mother Jones, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Firedoglake, newsfeed.time.com, The Caucus, The Confluence, Outside the Beltway, New York Magazine, Guardian, Wonkette, Truthdig, AMERICAblog News and The Other McCain
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Ezra Klein:
Are Democrats setting themselves up for failure in 2011 by not passing a budget? — The most important job news of the days was not the June jobs numbers. It was a mostly ignored vote in the House of Representatives last night. By a vote of 215 to 210, the House passed a …
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Susan Ferrechio / Washington Examiner:
Dems refuse compromise to extend unemployment benefits
Dems refuse compromise to extend unemployment benefits
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Kagan Reminds Senators: Legislation Is Your Job — WASHINGTON — Supreme Court confirmation hearings are usually designed to probe a nominee's conception of the role of the justices. But this week's questioning of Elena Kagan turned into a tutorial on Congressional responsibility.
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USA Today:
What is the Tea Party? A growing state of mind — WASHINGTON — The “Tea Party” is less a classic political movement than a frustrated state of mind. — A year and a half after the idea of a Tea Party burst into view, three of 10 Americans describe themselves in the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll …
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Frank Newport / Gallup:
Tea Party Supporters Overlap Republican Base
Tea Party Supporters Overlap Republican Base
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Democratic Strategist, PostPartisan, The Plum Line, Daily Kos, Real Clear Politics and Balloon Juice
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
BUY THAT SENATOR A NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION.... I've noticed, from time to time, that Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) seems to be a little slow on the uptake. As the New York Times' Gail Collins noted this week, after the senator tried to talk about Wall Street reform, and demonstrated …
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Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Sharron Angle: I am not a Birther — Earlier today, I spoke exclusively to Sharron Angle, the Republican nominee to challenge Harry Reid for the Senate seat in Nevada. In the past few days, rumors have swirled that Angle is a crypto-Birther. I asked her “flat out” whether she believed Barack Obama …
Marist Poll:
7/2: Don't Know Much About History? — There's good news for American education. About three-quarters of residents — 74% — know the U.S. declared its independence from Great Britain in 1776. The bad news for the academic system — 26% do not. This 26% includes one-fifth who are unsure …
RealClearPolitics Video Log:
Clinton Defends Byrd's KKK Ties: “He Was Trying To Get Elected” — “He once had a fleeting association with the Ku Klux Klan, what does that mean? I'll tell you what it means. He was a country boy from the hills and hollows from West Virginia. He was trying to get elected,” former President Bill Clinton said of Sen. Robert Byrd.
Ron Brynaert / Raw Story:
Exclusive: Washington Post fails to disclose blogger's ties to White House — UPDATE: Washington Post responds, promises it will require full disclosure from all “Leadership” contributors — Kris Coratti, Communications Director of The Washington Post, issued this statement in response to Raw Story's report.
Motoko Rich / New York Times:
Factory Jobs Return, but Employers Find Skills Shortage — BEDFORD, Ohio — Factory owners have been adding jobs slowly but steadily since the beginning of the year, giving a lift to the fragile economic recovery. And because they laid off so many workers — more than two million since the end of 2007 …
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Democracy in America, Economix, FrumForum, The Glittering Eye, Angry Bear, Don Surber, Clusterstock and Eschaton
Carlos Miller / Photography is Not a Crime:
We were permanently banned from the Miami-Dade Metrorail for taking photos — Update: The National Press Photographers Association is protesting the way authorities handled the situation. The Society of Professional Journalists is also looking into the situation. — By Carlos Miller