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Richard Holbrooke dies: Veteran U.S. diplomat brokered Dayton peace accords — Longtime U.S. diplomat Richard C. Holbrooke, whose relentless prodding and deft maneuvering yielded the 1995 Dayton peace accords that ended the war in Bosnia - a success he hoped to repeat as President Obama's chief envoy …
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Strong American Voice in Diplomacy and Crisis — Richard C. Holbrooke, the Obama administration's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan since 2009 and a diplomatic troubleshooter who worked for every Democratic president since the late 1960s and oversaw the negotiations that ended …

Richard Holbrooke Has Died — ABC News has learned that Richard Holbrooke, the US Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, has died. — On Friday, Holbrooke was rushed to the hospital with a torn aorta. He went through more than 20 hours of surgery.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Weasel Zippers and Firedoglake


Family members said his last words before he headed into surgery …
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Pat Dollard and AmSpecBlog

Holbrooke dies days after aorta tear
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Mediaite, The Stir By CafeMom and Parker Spitzer

Judge Voids Key Element of Obama Health Care Law — A federal district judge in Virginia ruled on Monday that the keystone provision in the Obama health care law is unconstitutional, becoming the first court in the country to invalidate any part of the sprawling act and ensuring that appellate courts …
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Open Left, And So it Goes in Shreveport, White House.gov Blog Feed, The Politico, Online NewsHour, Firedoglake, The Daily Beast, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Reaction, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Guardian, SCOTUSblog, ACS Blog, Politics Daily, Liberal Values, The Powers That Be, The New Republic, Mother Jones, OpenMarket.org, Washington Monthly, Ballot Box, Wonk Room, ThinkProgress, Israel Matzav, No More Mister Nice Blog, Examiner, The Mahablog, Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway, Suburban Guerrilla, Michelle Malkin, Viking Pundit, Above the Law, The Foundry, Althouse, The Other McCain, Crooks and Liars, The Huffington Post, Pajamas Media, The American Independent, Riehl World View, Bloomberg, Hot Air, Fox News, JustOneMinute, National Review, Joe. My. God., Balloon Juice, Law Librarian Blog, Wizbang, Questions and Observations, Rasmussen Reports and theblogprof
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Amazing — A year ago, no one took seriously the idea that a federal health care mandate was unconstitutional. And the idea that buying health care coverage does not amount to “economic activity” seems preposterous on its face. But the decision that just came down from the federal judgment in Virginia …

Years of Wrangling Lie Ahead for Health Law — By contradicting two prior opinions, Monday's court ruling in Virginia against the Obama health care law highlighted both the novelty of the constitutional issues and the difficulty of forging consensus among judges who bring differences in experience …
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Online NewsHour, Pirate's Cove, Washington Post and Maggie's Farm

Health reform will survive its legal fight
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Scared Monkeys, The Democratic Daily, National Review, PostPartisan and The Page

CHEERING A VICTORY OVER THEIR OWN IDEA.... Many on the right are …


Judge Who Ruled Health Care Reform Unconstitutional Owns Piece …
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TPMMuckraker, Prairie Weather, Right Wing Watch, Capital Tonight, Washington Wire, TPMDC, Crooks and Liars, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Salon

The Significant Error in Judge Hudson's Opinion
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Balkinization, TalkLeft, Daily Kos, NewsBusters.org blogs, Liberty Pundits Blog, Weasel Zippers, Power Line and protein wisdom

The Radicalism of Judge Hudson's Health Care Law Decision
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Concurring Opinions, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Plum Line, NationalJournal.com and The Smoking Gun


No Labels and Other Ripped Off Designs — Brooklyn-based artist Thomas Porostocky's friends and fans have been tipping off NY media that his art has been used without permission by the bi-partisan political group No Labels. — Porostocky designed star-spangled giraffes …
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The Daily Caller, The Enterprise Blog, The Note and Raw Story
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Designer: No Labels lifted penguins of bipartisanship — Gothamist reports that No Labels wonderful, kooky logo was taken from a New York graphic designer who knew nothing of the group. — The designer, Thomas Porostocky, tells the site: — I'm still a little stunned at the blatant plagiarism. …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and Moe Lane

New nonpartisan “No Labels” group has its own “anthem” by Akon for some reason
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Washington Examiner, New York Times, Althouse, The Other McCain, The Politico, Washington Times and Weasel Zippers


In ‘a New Way of Looking,’ Something Familiar
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Verum Serum, Mother Jones, Ben Smith's Blog, Gawker and Yglesias

No Labels: No Specifics, No Coherence, No Point.
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Nice Deb and The Sundries Shack

Did No Labels Rip Off Design From More Party Animals?
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Washington Post, CBS New York, USA Today and The Agonist

Huge Senate majority votes to advance $858B tax package — President Obama's $858 billion tax package won a huge bipartisan majority in the Senate Monday evening, setting it up for a contentious debate in the House. — In a 83-15 vote, the Senate quashed a filibuster by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Va.).
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The Politico, The Plum Line, The Other McCain, The Sundries Shack, The Nation, The Democratic Daily, Michelle Malkin, The Note, Hot Air and FrumForum
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Tax Cut Deal Wildly Popular — ABC News and the Washington Post have the first poll out about public reaction to the Obama tax cut deal. ABC created a colorful chart of the results, so I'll link to them: — Support for the overall package was extremely high: 68% among Democrats and Independents and 75% among Republicans.
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ABCNEWS, Dennis the Peasant, Sky Dancing, The Atlantic Online, Washington Post and Daily Kos

Senate Advances Tax Cut Package
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Wonkette, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos and Washington Monthly

WITNESS STATEMENT OF MICHAEL MOORE — WITNESS STATEMENT — (CJ Act 1967, s.9 MC Act 1980, ss.5A(3)(a) and 5B; — Criminal Procedure Rules 2010, Rule 27) — This statement (consisting of 2 pages each signed by me) is true to the best of my knowledge and belief and I make it knowing that …
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The Huffington Post, Foreign Policy, Weasel Zippers and Raw Story
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WikiLeaks latest and Julian Assange's court appeal: live updates
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Guardian, The Nation, The Gateway Pundit, Runnin' Scared, YID With LID, BlogPost and Foreign Policy


Atheist Ads on Buses Rattle Fort Worth — FORT WORTH — Stand on a corner in this city and you might get a case of theological whiplash. — A public bus rolls by with an atheist message on its side: “Millions of people are good without God.” Seconds later, a van follows bearing a riposte: “I still love you.
Discussion:
Vox Popoli and Joe. My. God.

Hoyer expected to file 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal bill Tuesday — House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) are expected to introduce standalone “don't ask, don't tell” repeal legislation on Tuesday, three sources actively involved in repeal discussions told POLITICO Monday.
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Washington Monthly, TPMDC, Weigel, AMERICAblog Gay and National Review


TRENDING: Steele admits stumbles, announces re-election bid — Washington (CNN) - Michael Steele broke a weeks-long silence Monday night and announced that he will seek a second term as chairman of the Republican National Committee. — Steele revealed his intentions in a lengthy private conference call …
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Washington Monthly, The Politico, The Note and ABCNEWS
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Steele Seeks Second Term As RNC Chair
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FrumForum, Sister Toldjah, Hotline On Call, Firedoglake, DownWithTyranny!, The Note, National Review, Ballot Box, Hot Air, The American Independent, Gawker and msnbc.com


Linda McMahon Plans Meeting With NRSC — In case there was any doubt, Linda McMahon's political career may not be over. — The former wrestling executive turned Connecticut GOP Senate candidate has scheduled a personal meeting with National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) on Capitol Hill.
Discussion:
The Politico


Brain Oddities: Spelling is Irrelevant to Comprehension — In trying to make sense of the world around us, our brains have evolved to do some very odd things. The more we learn about our cognitive processes, the more it seems we have inherited a very weird wetware set, filled with bizarre and misleading foibles.


Governor Mark Sanford talks about future — Governor Mark Sanford will be out of job next month. He's served as South Carolina's head of state since 2003. — NewsChannel 15's Tim McGinnis interviewed Sanford on Monday. Sanford spoke about his tenure, including the effect the admission …