Top Items:
Jamie Stiehm / Washington Post:
Oval Office rug gets history wrong — A mistake has been made in the Oval Office makeover that goes beyond the beige. — President Obama's new presidential rug seemed beyond reproach, with quotations from Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy …
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
In defense of Alan Simpson — The President's Deficit Commission is designed to be as anti-democratic and un-transparent as possible. Its work is done in total secrecy. It is filled with behind-the-scenes political and corporate operatives who steadfastly refuse to talk to the public about what they're doing.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Agonist, Firedoglake and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*
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Digby / Hullabaloo:
Loving Their Grandkids To Death — sacrificing them to the Market Gods — Loving Their Grandkids To Death — Howie has a great post up today about the social security con game which you should in full. I just wanted to riff on one little piece of it because it struck me that we haven't been clear about what's going on.
Discussion:
Open Left and Suburban Guerrilla
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
America has a cow over Alan Simpson's candor on deficits — There was a time, not too long ago, when a politician could talk about tits in public. — In 1992, Sen. Alan Simpson, a Wyoming Republican, complained in a speech to the National Conference of State Legislatures about how Social Security …
Discussion:
Firedoglake and Hullabaloo
Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:
Democrats add fiscal austerity as a campaign issue — The candidate was outraged - just outraged - at the country's sorry fiscal state. — “We have managed to acquire $13 trillion of debt on our balance sheet,” he fumed to a roomful of voters. “In my view, we have nothing to show for it.”
Discussion:
Hot Air, Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, Pundit & Pundette and Liberty Pundits Blog
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Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
On Economy, Democrats Face a Lack of Unity — WASHINGTON — Democrats are entering the fall sprint to the midterm elections lacking a unifying message to address the lackluster economy, scrambling to come up with further job-creating remedies and out of time to show substantial results before voters go to the polls.
Discussion:
American Power and Balloon Juice
Gail Collins / New York Times:
The Ungreat Debate — We do not generally look to gubernatorial debates for excitement. But this week there was a fascinating one in Arizona, where Gov. Jan Brewer gave a bad performance of epic proportions. Really, Richard Nixon in 1960 was Demosthenes in Athens compared with this one.
Discussion:
Prairie Weather
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New York Times:
30 False Fronts Won Contracts for Blackwater — WASHINGTON — Blackwater Worldwide created a web of more than 30 shell companies or subsidiaries in part to obtain millions of dollars in American government contracts after the security company came under intense criticism for reckless conduct in Iraq …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Hill, Prairie Weather and FrumForum
Paul Krugman:
Rahmism — Jon Cohn's post about what the administration may be considering, and what it isn't considering, makes we want to cry. — Look: early on the administration had a political theory: it would win bipartisan legislative victories, and each success would make Republicans who voted no feel left out …
Discussion:
DownWithTyranny! and Grasping Reality …
Aharding / CNN:
Tea Party candidate sparks backlash in Delaware — The Tea Party Express launched new ads supporting Delaware Republican primary Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell. — Washington (CNN) - Fresh on the heels of Joe Miller's surprising win over Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Alaska Republican Senate primary …
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog, Riehl World View, Outside the Beltway, The Other McCain and minx.cc
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Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Sen. Graham reaches out to Tea Party
Sen. Graham reaches out to Tea Party
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Gateway Pundit and FrumForum
CQ-Roll Call / The Eye:
Alaska: Miller Getting Serious About Fundraising
Alaska: Miller Getting Serious About Fundraising
Discussion:
The Mudflats, The Huffington Post and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
CNN:
Salahi in Playboy? Just ‘another rumor.’ — Michaele Salahi (right) has not received an offer to appear in Playboy, her spokesman told CNN on Saturday. — (CNN) - A spokesman for Michaele Salahi of White House party-crasher fame batted down on Saturday morning a story that claims the …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, American Power and PopEater
New York Times:
Endorsements for New York — Like voters around the country, New Yorkers are angry at people in office, and they tend to be most peeved at anybody who works in Albany. — That bad mood has even touched two veteran Democratic congressmen who normally coast to re-election in November.
Discussion:
The Daily Politics, Capital Tonight and Fire Andrea Mitchell!
BBC:
Radical Islam is world's greatest threat - Tony Blair — Tony Blair has been making the rounds following the publication of his memoirs — Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has described radical Islam as the greatest threat facing the world today. — He made the remark in a BBC interview marking the publication of his memoirs.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Libertarian Republican and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS
Kathleen Lucadamo / NY Daily News:
Embattled Rep. Charles Rangel's legal tab is $1.8 million and rising — The party's over for Charlie Rangel, but not the legal bills. — The embattled Harlem Democrat has forked over $111,170 to lawyers since July from his campaign stash, federal filings released Friday show.
Discussion:
The Hill and JammieWearingFool