Top Items:
Doug Stanglin / USA Today:
Fired USDA employee Sherrod to sue conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart — Ousted USDA employee Shirley Sherrod says she will sue conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart, the Associated Press reports. — Sherrod made the announcement Thursday in San Diego at the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention.
Discussion:
Nice Deb, Confederate Yankee, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Right Wing News, Mediaite, DaTechguy's Blog, The Impolitic and Dean's World
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Jesse Washington / Associated Press:
Ousted USDA Employee Sherrod Plans to Sue Blogger — Ousted USDA employee Shirley Sherrod says she will sue conservative blogger over edited video — Ousted Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod said Thursday she will sue a conservative blogger who posted a video edited in a way that made her appear racist.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Little Green Footballs, The BRAD BLOG, newsfeed.time.com and neo-neocon
Sam Youngman / The Hill:
President Obama calls African-Americans a ‘mongrel people’ — NEW YORK — President Obama waded into the national race debate in an unlikely setting and with an unusual choice of words: telling daytime talk show hosts that African-Americans are “sort of a mongrel people.”
Jonathan Martin / Ben Smith's Blog:
Sherrod to sue Breitbart — AP: — Ousted Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod said Thursday she will sue a conservative blogger who posted an edited video of her making racially tinged remarks last week. — The edited video posted by Andrew Breitbart led Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack …
WCBS-TV:
Sources: Rangel Cuts Deal, Avoids Trial — Embattled Representative Reportedly To Admit Ethical Wrongdoing — NEW YORK (CBS) ― New York Congressman Charles Rangel has reportedly cut a deal to admit to ethical wrongdoing and avoid a potentially humiliating public trial.
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Lanny J. Davis / Pundits Blog:
The Rangel case — Lessons from Sherrod? — (This post is being published before the charges against Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) have been published by the House ethics committee subpanel. I will try to update this post after the charges have been published.)
Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
White House proposal would ease FBI access to records of Internet activity — The Obama administration is seeking to make it easier for the FBI to compel companies to turn over records of an individual's Internet activity without a court order if agents deem the information relevant to a terrorism or intelligence investigation.
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Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Even Yet More Warrantless Searches
David S. Hilzenrath / Washington Post:
Poll shows opposition to health care overhaul declining — Opposition to the landmark health care overhaul declined over the past month, to 35 percent from 41 percent, according to the latest results of a tracking poll, reported Thursday. — Fifty percent of the public held a favorable view of the law …
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Richard Stengel / Time:
The Plight of Afghan Women: A Disturbing Picture — Our cover image this week is powerful, shocking and disturbing. It is a portrait of Aisha, a shy 18-year-old Afghan woman who was sentenced by a Taliban commander to have her nose and ears cut off for fleeing her abusive in-laws.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, DaTechguy's Blog, The Nation, Mediaite, Jezebel, sisu, The Awl, The Page, The Long War Journal and The Daily Beast
Michael Grunwald / Time:
The BP Spill: Has the Damage Been Exaggerated? — An extensive network of oil booms surround marsh lands off the coast of Louisiana. July 18, 2010. — Mario Tama / Getty Images — President Obama has called the BP oil spill “the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced,” and so has just about everyone else.
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Graham eyes ‘birthright citizenship’ — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced Wednesday night that he is considering introducing a constitutional amendment that would change existing law to no longer grant citizenship to the children of immigrants born in the United States.
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The Corner on National Review Online:
What Judge Bolton's Injunction Doesn't Say — By: NRO Staff — In enjoining Arizona's landmark immigration law, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton maintains the Obama administration's carefully cultivated fiction: that what concerns the White House regarding S.B. 1070 is its effect on legal, rather than illegal, aliens.
Discussion:
CBS News, The Politico, Left Coast Rebel, Pajamas Media, Jules Crittenden, Washington Wire, Power Line, Time, POWIP, PointOfLaw Forum and Washington Post
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Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
GOP hands Reid second legislative setback of the week — Senate Republicans blocked progress on small-business legislation Thursday morning, handing Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) his second legislative defeat of the week. — A vote to cut off debate on a substitute amendment offered …
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Sewell Chan / New York Times:
Fed Member's Deflation Warning Hints at Policy Shift — WASHINGTON — A subtle but significant shift appears to be occurring within the Federal Reserve over the course of monetary policy amid increasing signs that the economic recovery is weakening. — On Thursday, James Bullard …
Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
Obama Takes On Critics of Education Plan — WASHINGTON — Saying that reforming education is perhaps “the economic issue of our time,” President Obama went before a major civil rights organization on Thursday to defend his main education program against criticisms from some minority and teachers groups.
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Jonathan Strong / The Daily Caller:
Political operatives on Journolist worked to shape news coverage — Despite its name, membership in the liberal online community Journolist wasn't limited to journalists. Present among the bloggers, reporters and editors were a number of professional political operatives …
Discussion:
Hot Air, NewsBusters.org, Flopping Aces, Cold Fury, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Big Journalism and Politics Daily
Julian E. Barnes / Wall Street Journal:
Evidence Ties Manning to Afghan Leaks — WASHINGTON—Investigators have found concrete evidence linking Pfc. Bradley Manning with the leak of classified Afghanistan war reports, a defense official said. — A search of the computers used by Pfc. Manning yielded evidence he had downloaded …
Wall Street Journal:
Taxes: A Defining Issue — Barack Obama knows taxes define worldview. The GOP should offer voters an alternative. — If the Obama presidency didn't exist, we would have to invent it. — At a time when the American people need to make some decisions about the nation's purpose …
Orlando Sentinel:
Grayson bills taxpayers for DVD of term's highlights — WASHINGTON — If U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson were a rock star, his latest PR blitz — a DVD sent to tens of thousands of Central Florida residents — would be called Grayson's Greatest Hits. — The 90-minute disc features video highlights …
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
It's Like Mathematically Unpossible for Republicans to Win the House, or Something — We're introducing a new scale tonight to “reward” polling and strategy memos which are vapid, disingenuous, jargony, or just plain f**king wrong. The scale is dubbed the Pennometer after former Clinton strategist Mark Penn …