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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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Firedoglake, The Moderate Voice, Associated Press, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, Townhall.com, Commentary, Hit & Run, Slate, USA Today, Comments from Left Field, The Daily Hurricane, Open Left, Questions and Observations, Outside the Beltway, The Foundry, Political Punch, The Huffington Post, Taylor Marsh, The Agonist, Right Wing News, No More Mister Nice Blog, Informed Comment, Power Line, The Daily Beast, TPMCafe, White House.gov Blog Feed, Political Byline, Newshoggers.com, Weasel Zippers, NewsReal Blog, The Reid Report, Washington Times, Althouse, The Sundries Shack, Gateway Pundit, CNN, The Confluence, Macsmind and Michelle Malkin
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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.
Discussion:
American Power, Moe Lane, The New Republic, Washington Wire, National Review, Swampland, Commentary and The Page

Obama's Speech — Yes, there were some fine parts. How could there not be? — But I really disliked it. Maybe I'm letting other factors poison my take, and I should probably sleep on it before rendering final judgment. But here are a few things that really stuck in my craw.
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Fox News, PostPartisan, RedState, Commentary, The Plum Line, Hot Air and Betsy's Page

Iraq Through the Looking Glass — Most Americans will support President Obama's call for patience in Afghanistan and his policy of continuing the long-planned drawdown in Iraq. — But there was something bizarre about his entire Iraq speech — it was as if it were being delivered …
Discussion:
ATTACKERMAN and Commentary

A Date That Will Live in Oblivion — What President Obama called the end of the combat mission in Iraq is a meaningless milestone, constructed almost entirely out of thin air, and his second Oval Office speech marks a rare moment of dishonesty and disingenuousness on the part of a politician …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, The Nation, The Daily Beast, At War and ATTACKERMAN


Bush-Era Iraq War Architects Emerge To Demand ‘Credit’ For Iraq War ‘Success’
Discussion:
NPR, Commentary and The Caucus

A classless, limp and boring speech
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The Hill and Beltway Confidential

The “nobody-could-have-known” excuse and Iraq
Discussion:
normblog, At War, The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, TalkLeft and Eschaton

Drunkblogging Obama's Iraq Speech
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Instapundit, TigerHawk and Sister Toldjah


Sarah Palin the Sound and the Fury — Even as Sarah Palin's public voice grows louder, she has become increasingly secretive, walling herself off from old friends and associates, and attempting to enforce silence from those around her. Following the former Alaska governor's road show …
Discussion:
TPMMuckraker and Mediaite
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Saying anything about Palin — A former aide to the McCain campaign got in touch with me this morning to cop to being the half-serious progenitor of a story which, embellished almost beyond recognition, appears in Vanity Fair's portrait today of Sarah Palin as monster. — Reports Vanity Fair:
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's …, Weigel and Conservatives4Palin.com


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 …
Discussion:
The Next Right, American Spectator, Pundit & Pundette, The Camp Of The Saints, Associated Press, Gateway Pundit, Freedom's Lighthouse, Swing State Project, Big Government, Hot Air, Sister Toldjah, Left Coast Rebel, Michelle Malkin, Anchorage Daily News, Scared Monkeys, NewsBusters.org, The Other McCain, Wake up America and The Blaze
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Murkowski Concedes Alaska Primary Defeat
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The Atlantic Online, CNN, Washington Wire, FiveThirtyEight, MyDD, Climate Progress, OpenSecrets.org, Wonkette, Right Wing News, SENATUS and New York Magazine

Lisa Murkowski loses, do Democrats sense opportunity?
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Washington Post, GOP 12, Hotline On Call and msnbc.com


Read Between the Lines: Murkowski Doesn't Endorse Miller
Discussion:
Riehl World View and RedState

Americans Give GOP Edge on Most Election Issues — Greatest Republican advantages on terrorism, immigration, federal spending — PRINCETON, NJ — A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds Americans saying the Republicans in Congress would do a better job than the Democrats in Congress of handling seven of nine key election issues.
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The Hill, CNN, Beltway Confidential, Hotline On Call, Hot Air, Washington Post, Club for Growth, NRSC, Politics Daily, Wake up America, Eunomia, Jay Bookman and Don Surber
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No Help On The Horizon For Dems — Labor Day is almost here and Democrats are still waiting for the cavalry to arrive. An exhaustive scan of the horizon reveals no rescuers and none of the things Democrats badly need to save them from tough midterm election losses on Nov. 2.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …


My name is Glenn Beck, and I need help — Despite all the words spilled in evaluating Glenn Beck's tent-less revival last weekend, the real meaning may have been hiding in plain sight. — Beck's “Restoring Honor” gathering on the Mall was right out of the Alcoholics Anonymous playbook.
Discussion:
Don Surber, Liberty Pundits Blog, Achenblog, Right Wing News and NewsBusters.org
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MSNBC Libtalker: I Could EASILY Out-Draw Glenn Beck!
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Weasel Zippers, National Review, American Glob and The Daily Caller

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

Tax Cuts That Make a Difference — It's time to start talking about a tax cut. — The economy is struggling mightily. Some 15 million people remain unemployed. The Federal Reserve has been slow to act and still is not doing much. The Senate has been unable to find the 60 votes needed to pass anything but minor bills.
Discussion:
Jay Bookman, Washington Post, NPR Blogs and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*
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Palin 2012 in Alaska — If Sarah Palin runs for President in 2012 she can't count on a whole lot of support back home. 62% of Alaska Republicans are opposed to her making a White House bid and she gets only 17% in a hypothetical 2012 primary in the state tying for her second with Mike Huckabee behind Mitt Romney.
Discussion:
Freedom's Lighthouse, Conservatives4Palin.com and GOP 12
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Senate candidate indicted for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor — DAYTON — Eric W. Deaton, a Constitution Party candidate for U.S. Senate, was indicted Tuesday, Aug. 31, for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, according to Greg Flannagan, spokesman for Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias H. Heck Jr.
Discussion:
TPMMuckraker, Taegan Goddard's …, IntoxiNation, WHIO-TV, Talking Points Memo and JammieWearingFool

Feingold decries ‘systematic’ effort to ‘destroy’ Obama — Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) decried what he said was a “systematic, conscious” effort by groups to “destroy” President Obama. — Feingold, who's facing a tough reelection effort this fall, blamed coordinated opposition to Obama …
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10 Questions for Russ Feingold
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New York Times, NRSC and Weasel Zippers

Dear Patients: Vote to Repeal ObamaCare — Don't believe Democrats who promise to fix the bill once they're re-elected. — Facing a nationwide backlash, Democratic congressional candidates have a new message for voters: We know you don't like ObamaCare, so we'll fix it.
Discussion:
The New Republic and protein wisdom


MPR News/Humphrey Institute Poll: Voters disapprove of Pawlenty's cross-county politicking — Minnesota voters are unhappy with the political activities of Gov. Tim Pawlenty according to a new MPR News-Humphrey Institute Poll. — The poll — conducted by Minnesota Public Radio News …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, GOP 12 and The Page

Federal spending rises a record 16% in 2009, Census Bureau says — Federal domestic spending increased a record 16 percent to $3.2 trillion in 2009, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday, largely because of a boost in aid to the unemployed and the huge economic stimulus package enacted to rescue the sinking economy.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Gateway Pundit, Commentary and Wake up America

Business groups plan Labor Day blitz against Senate Dems, candidates — Business groups plan to go on offense against vulnerable Senate Democrats in their backyards to mark Monday's Labor Day holiday. — Local groups will target Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Sen. Michael Bennet …
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Prairie Weather