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President Obama's Oval Office speech on Iraq — text — Oval Office Remarks by President Obama, as provided by the White House — Good evening. Tonight, I'd like to talk to you about the end of our combat mission in Iraq, the ongoing security challenges we face, and the need to rebuild our nation here at home.
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Instapundit, Informed Comment, Michelle Malkin, Political Punch, Commentary, Associated Press, White House.gov Blog Feed, Weasel Zippers, TPMCafe, The Agonist, Right Wing News, Newshoggers.com, Hot Air, Political Byline, Macsmind, The Foundry, CNN, The Reid Report, The Sundries Shack, New York Times, Gateway Pundit, Politics Daily and Pajamas Media
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Humility and Honesty About Iraq Can Inspire Trust — Later today, President Obama will speak to the American people about Iraq. No doubt he will laud the “end of major combat operations” by the date he randomly selected some 18 months ago. His press secretary Robert Gibbs also gave us …

The “nobody-could-have-known” excuse and Iraq — (updated below - Update II) — The predominant attribute of American elites is a refusal to take responsibility for any failures. The favored tactic for accomplishing this evasion is the “nobody-could-have-known” excuse.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, At War, The Huffington Post and TalkLeft

Drunkblogging Obama's Iraq Speech — One way or another, Absolut Victory will be declared tonight. — 4:53PM Tonight, after 18 tumultuous months in office, President Obama faces his toughest challenge yet: To claim credit in Iraq without driving a thankful nation to laughter and tears, but mostly laughter.
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TigerHawk and Sister Toldjah

A Note to My Fellow Hawks — President Obama opposed the war in Iraq. He still thinks it was a mistake. It's therefore unrealistic for supporters of the war to expect the president to give the speech John McCain would have given, or to expect President Obama to put the war in the context we would put it in.
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National Review and Swampland


Iraq: What Did We Win, And What Did It Cost?
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democracyarsenal.org, Hullabaloo, Salon, New York Magazine, ATTACKERMAN, Reuters, The Atlantic Online and Washington Post

Obama Says Iraq Combat Mission Is Over
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Washington Times, The Caucus, Theo Spark, Daily Kos, Right Wing News, The Talking Dog, The Blaze, Althouse, Guardian and CNN

Obama declares it's time to turn page on U.S. mission in Iraq
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Gawker, CNN and The Reaction

Oval Office gets a makeover
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The Politico, The Confluence, CNN, Politics, Althouse, Ben Smith's Blog, Runnin' Scared, D.C. Now and The Caucus


Murkowski Concedes Alaska Primary Race to Tea Party Candidate — In a major upset, Sen. Lisa Murkowski has conceded her GOP Senate primary race to Tea Party Express favorite Joe Miller, who had the backing of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. — “I don't see a scenario in which the primary …
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Left Coast Rebel, Scared Monkeys, Wake up America, The Blaze and FoxNews.com
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Murkowski Concedes Alaska Primary Defeat — ANCHORAGE — Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska conceded late Tuesday in her Republican primary race against Joe Miller, a lawyer from Fairbanks who was backed by Tea Party activists, Sarah Palin and other conservatives.
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Washington Wire, OpenSecrets.org, MyDD, Right Wing News and New York Magazine


Murkowski concedes GOP Senate race to Miller — Incumbent Lisa Murkowski has conceded to challenger Joe Miller in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. — Speaking at a news conference broadcast on live television from her campaign headquarters in Anchorage, Murkowski said …
Discussion:
TPMDC


Counting of absentee ballots begins — From Sean Cockerham at the Alaska Division of Elections office in Anchorage — Joe Miller's lead over Lisa Murkowski just grew slighly with absentee and questioned ballots from the Mat-Su. — Miller now leads Mukowski by 1,460 votes.
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Tammy Bruce, Jumping in Pools, Associated Press, Weekly Standard, Hot Air, Hotline On Call, Weigel, The Politico, Daily Kos and The Other McCain


Joe Miller Set to Win Alaska Senate Primary
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Gateway Pundit and Washington Wire

Murkowski Concedes Alaska Primary Race
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Salon, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Eye

Murkowski campaign: We could know tonight
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The Politico, The Note and Liberty Pundits Blog

CNN: Murkowski considering conceding Alaska race? …
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The Daily Caller

Murkowski concedes GOP Senate race in Alaska
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Macsmind and iOwnTheWorld.com

AK-Sen: The Latest Count
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The Fix, The Mudflats, The Politico, msnbc.com and C-SPAN Recent Video

Lisa Murkowski Faces Her Fate
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The Atlantic Online, Liberty Pundits Blog and Riehl World View

Glenn Beck “Restoring Honor” Rally Crowd Estimate Explained — As part of our coverage of Glenn Beck's “Restoring Honor” rally Saturday, CBS News commissioned the company AirPhotosLive.com to offer an independent estimate of how many people showed up for the event.
Discussion:
Fulbright in Portugal, The Daily Dish, TPMDC, Glenn Beck, The Atlantic Online and The Blotter
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In Sean Hannity's World, There Was No Glenn Beck Restoring Honor Rally — Bill O'Reilly spent his entire show Monday night talking about Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally. Fox & Friends talked about it. So did Megyn Kelly, and Bret Baier, and Greta Van Susteren. But Sean Hannity didn't mention it.
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RedState, Riehl World View and TPM LiveWire, more at Mediagazer »


MSNBC Libtalker: I Could EASILY Out-Draw Glenn Beck!
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Weasel Zippers, American Glob and Hot Air

Ed Schultz: I could draw 300,000 people to the Mall like Beck did
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Patterico's Pontifications

Glenn Beck Is Not Malcolm X.
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Balloon Juice, Blogcritics and Philly.com

How Did Democrats Get Here? — We talked this morning about the Democrats' poor electoral position — already shaky, it is probably now deteriorating further — but we haven't talked as much about why they're in this predicament. This is for a good reason: once you get past the premise …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Don Surber, Left Coast Rebel, Talking Points Memo and The Atlantic Online
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Pawlenty forgoes $850,000 in federal sex ed funds for strings-attached abstinence dollars — Tim Pawlenty. Photo: Facebook — Reproductive rights groups chastised Gov. Tim Pawlenty Monday for refusing federal money for comprehensive sex education in exchange for abstinence-education funds …
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The Huffington Post, Think Progress, Salon, The Note, Virginia Politics Blog and Wonkette
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HALPERIN'S TAKE: Pawlenty's Efforts to “Limit” ObamaCare in Minnesota
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Hot Dish Politics, Hit & Run, Business Week, Hot Air, Ben Smith's Blog, Creative Minority Report, GOP 12 and Wonkette

Busted! Fox's Carlson Catches Gibbs In A Naked Lie—Asks 6 Times If Obama Will Credit Bush Tonight — Gibbs's lie was so deep, I had to freeze frame so you could see exactly what Obama said about the surge in 2007. He's one smug, flippant jerk too.
Discussion:
Left Coast Rebel, Villainous Company, Patterico's Pontifications, Hot Air, Beltway Confidential and The Blast


John Cusack Calls for ‘Satanic Death’ of Fox News, GOP Leaders — During the 2008 election, Cusack spoke out against John McCain for MoveOn.org. — Actor John Cusack went on a caustic Twitter rampage Sunday evening, attacking former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Fox News.
Discussion:
iOwnTheWorld.com, Freedom's Lighthouse, GayPatriot and Gawker

Steve Schmidt, Former McCain Campaign Chief, On Mehlman Fundraiser: Same-Sex Marriage Becoming Conservative Cause — What's Your Reaction: … A major same-sex marriage fundraiser hosted by former RNC chairman Ken Mehlman and other Republicans provides one of the sharpest illustrations …
Discussion:
Pam's House Blend, The Daily Dish, Wonk Room, Towleroad News #gay and Ben Smith's Blog


Policy tools that could lower interest rates further — Even though the overnight interest rate has been stuck near zero for 20 months, are there options available to the Federal Reserve or the U.S. Treasury to bring longer-term yields down further? I have been looking into this question with Cynthia Wu …
Discussion:
EconLog, naked capitalism and Economist's View