Top Items:

Half Dozen Republican Senators To Blast Obama Intel Pick Over Israel Views — Okay, Senate Republicans are officially ratcheting up their war against Chas Freeman, who is taking heavy fire from the pro-Israel lobby and the neocons as Obama's pick to head the National Intelligence Council.
RELATED:

Blair Defends Intelligence Pick From Questions on Foreign Connections — The nation's spy chief is defending his pick to head the National Intelligence Council even as every Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee signaled their qualms about the choice.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs


THE LESSONS OF CHAS FREEMAN.
Discussion:
James Fallows, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Plum Line, Matthew Yglesias, Capital J | JTA and The Daily Dish

Beck: Stem-cell research will lead directly to the search for a new ‘master race.’ — On his radio show today, conservative talker Glenn Beck commented on President Obama overturning the ban on federally funded stem-cell research. Beck argued that funding stem-cell research would lead directly …
RELATED:

Nancy Reagan praises Obama — Under fire from congressional Republicans for lifting restrictions on stem-cell research, President Barack Obama got a powerful endorsement for his move Monday from Nancy Reagan, the former's president's wife. — “I'm very grateful that President Obama …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, March 9, 2009 Remarks of President …
Discussion:
Think Progress, Washington Post, CNN, Liberal Values, MyDD, Salon, JustOneMinute, Wall Street Journal, D-Day and The Corner

Republicans See Their Party As Leaderless — Who's in charge here? — Sixty-eight percent (68%) of Republican voters say their party has no clear leader, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Another 17% are undecided. — Just five percent (5%) …
RELATED:

THE LEADER OF THE PARTY.... Last week, in response to an awkwardly …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog

Snowe, Collins: Ado over Limbaugh reflects struggles of party
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias

Charlie Gasparino Talks to Fallen Wall Street Titan Jimmy Cayne — Blogs and Stories — As the pundit begins a series of national debates this week, Meghan McCain says that having her as the face of the Republican Party is a recipe for disaster. — It is no secret that being a Republican …
RELATED:


Meghan McCain calls Ann Coulter ‘offensive’ and ‘insulting’ — (CNN) - Fresh off public complaints about her own love life, Meghan McCain has a new target for her most recent gripes: conservative commentator Ann Coulter. — In a new blog post for the Daily Beast as Ann Coulter …

GOP Rep: “Our Goal Is To Bring Down Approval Numbers” For Dems — GOP Rep. Patrick McHenry, a key player in helping craft the Republican message, has offered an unusually blunt description of the Republican strategy right now. — McHenry's description is buried in this new article from National Journal (sub. only):

Cramer Takes on the White House, Frank Rich and Jon Stewart — Suddenly, bloggers, opinion people, columnists and, yes, pundits who haven't paid attention to anything I have been saying or writing for the past 18 months are all over me. Suddenly, I find myself in the center of a firestorm …

Don't Rely on Bush's Signing Statements, Obama Orders — WASHINGTON — Calling into question the legitimacy of all the signing statements that former President George W. Bush used to challenge new laws, President Obama on Monday ordered executive officials to consult with Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr …
Discussion:
The Politico, CBS News, The Swamp, Emptywheel, The Raw Story, Washington Monthly, Democracy in America and The Impolitic


The 10 Major Newspapers That Will Either Fold or Go Digital Next — A San Francisco Chronicle newspaper vendor — Over the past few weeks, the U.S. newspaper industry has entered a new period of decline. The parent of the papers in Philadelphia declared bankruptcy, as did the Journal Register chain.


WHAT'S BEHIND BARACK'S BRIT SNIT — PRESIDENT Obama's first hosting of a foreign leader, the UK's Gordon Brown, was a diplomatic disaster. — Obama failed to hold a joint Rose Garden press conference, the usual protocol when a US president and a British prime minister first meet …

Wikipedia Scrubs Dear Leader's Page Clean of Critical Entries — Wikipedia scrubs Obama's entry clean of any critical information that may taint your view of Dear Leader. — Communist tyrany Joseph Stalin routinely air-brushed his enemies out of photographs.
RELATED:


The Hair Fallout — The Washington Post's article last week about the graying of President Obama had barely hit the Web site when New York PR maven Jacqueline Agosta fired off an e-mail news release noting: “Whether it is crow's feet, smile lines or wrinkles on their foreheads …
RELATED:

How I learned to stop worrying and love the f-bomb — Let me begin by noting that this post is not about Rush Limbaugh. — You're welcome. — Now, just to be clear, Mr Limbaugh will appear in the post — and as a character he will be prominently featured — but this post is no more about Rush than …


White House tells China U.S. has right to be in China Sea — Impeccable photo from http://www.msc.navy.mil website. — by Frank James — The Chinese harassment of a U.S. naval surveillance vessel in the South China Sea, the Impeccable, drew a response from the White House at today's daily press briefing.
Discussion:
New York Times
RELATED:

Court rules against minority districts — Dividing 5-4, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that federal voting rights law does not require the creation of a new legislative district when that would include a racial minority group that has less than 50 percent of the population, as a remedy when minority voters' rights have been diluted.


America Is Becoming Less Christian, Less Religious — American Religious Identification Survey Finds Major Denominations Losing Members — America is still a predominantly Christian nation, but it's becoming both less Christian and less religious, according to the results of the new American Religious Identification Survey.

Connecticut moving to regulate the Catholic Church? — According to the First Amendment and the Establishment Clause, the government has no business dictating to religious organizations how they should structure themselves. In Connecticut, though, some lawmakers seem to have skipped over the Constitution.

Some Myths About Banks — Nationalization would undermine confidence in the financial system. — The story of our economic crisis mirrors every great market bubble in history. Clearly, banks were key participants, but they were not alone. Mortgage lenders, borrowers, regulators …
Discussion:
Money & Company