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911, police tapes key in Gates case — Officials mull release of recorded evidence — Mounting pressure to get to the bottom of the controversial arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. is centering on recorded police tapes that may offer a dose of reality amid all the media and political noise.
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Skip Gates, please sit down — You are suffering from what I call the “Ivy League Effect” … Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home in Cambridge, Mass., in 2008. — The Ivy League is not real life. College in general is not real life, and the Ivy League is a more fantastic version of college.

Obama regrets ‘distraction’ of comment ‘obsession’ — President Obama regrets the distraction that his comments about a police incident in Cambridge, Mass., caused, according to a White House spokesman. — White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday that if the president knew …


Gates Arrest — Case Heats Up As Police Organizations Criticize Obama For Jumping into the Controversy — The police sergeant who arrested Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. last week in his own home may be considering a defamation lawsuit against Gates who has implied his arrest was racially motivated.

The Gates Rorschach — The Boston Herald: “911, police tapes key …
Discussion:
Jules Crittenden, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Boston Globe, Cold Fury, Associated Press and Riehl World View

Palin's Favorability Rating Drops as She Prepares to Leave Office, Poll Finds — As Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin prepares for the next stage of her political career, a majority of Americans hold an unfavorable view of her, and there is broad public doubt about her leadership skills and understanding …
Discussion:
Anchorage Daily News, The Swamp, ABCNEWS, The Daily Dish, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Salon, Right Pundits, The New Republic, Top of the Ticket, skippy the bush kangaroo, Conservatives4Palin.com, The Moderate Voice, Brendan Nyhan, PoliBlog, Indecision Forever, Taylor Marsh, Wonkette, GOP 12, Below The Beltway, Firedoglake, Liberal Values, The Page and MyDD
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Hot Button — More ethics claims — The Associated Press claims …
Discussion:
palingates, Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis, SHANNYN MOORE, Progressive Alaska, The Mudflats and Firedoglake


Why Obamacare Is Sinking — What happened to Obamacare? Rhetoric met reality. As both candidate and president, the master rhetorician could conjure a world in which he bestows upon you health-care nirvana: more coverage, less cost. — But you can't fake it in legislation.
Discussion:
Time, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Little Green Footballs, The Note, Betsy's Page, Political Punch and Mediaite
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Obamacare haunted by unkept promises of stimulus
Discussion:
Media Blog


McCain Campaign Investigated, Dismissed Obama Citizenship Rumors — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) during his presidential campaign (WDCpix) — In the final months of the 2008 presidential race, Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) campaign learned of a lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania that asked the state …
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No, Obama's grandmother didn't say he was born in Kenya — Among those on television who've been covering the sudden public resurgence of the Birther movement — but in a much more responsible way than Lou Dobbs — is MSNBC's Chris Matthews. The other day, he beat up pretty badly on Rep. John Campbell …

Waxman may let health bill skip committee — Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) says there is “no alternative” but to have healthcare legislation bypass his Energy and Commerce Committee if Blue Dog Democrats don't accept a deal worked out Friday. — Waxman is hoping the inclusion of a study …
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Dems mull skipping panel, bringing healthcare to floor
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Washington Post, DownWithTyranny!, Glenn Thrush's Blog, TPMDC and msnbc.com

Costs and Compassion — The talking heads on cable TV panned President Obama's Wednesday press conference. You see, he didn't offer a lot of folksy anecdotes. — Shame on them. The health care system is in crisis. The fate of America's middle class hangs in the balance.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, DailyHowler.com, Washington Monthly, TalkLeft, D-Day, Stop The ACLU, The Treatment and Cafe Hayek


How a Local Rally For Obama's Health Care Proposal Turned Into a Rally Against It — Local MoveOn.org members had penciled in on today's schedule a protest in front of Senator John Cornyn's Spring Valley Road office, during which they had hoped to pressure the senator to support President Barack Obama's public health care legislation.

Election 2010: California Senate — California Senate: Boxer 45%, Fiorina 41% — Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer leads former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina in an early look at California's 2010 race for the U.S. Senate. — The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds …
Discussion:
Money & Politics, Power Line, Scorecard's Blog, Don Surber, RedState, Real Clear Politics, AmSpecBlog, PrairiePundit and Redhot


Common Sense May Sink ObamaCare — It turns out the president misjudged the nation's mood. — Printer — Friendly — This is big, what's happening. President Obama appears to have misstepped on a major initiative and defining issue. He has misjudged the nation's mood …


Obama's Health Expert Gets Political — WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's health-care plan is in jeopardy because of serious concerns that costs will spin out of control. As much as anyone, it's White House budget director Peter Orszag's job to save it.

GOP Not Allowed to Say ‘Government-Run Healthcare’ — Rep. John Carter (R-Texas), the secretary of the House Republican Conference and a former District Court Judge, is having his messages to constituents censored by Democrats on the Franking Commission. Republicans are no longer allowed …


Traders Profit With Computers Set at High Speed — It is the hot new thing on Wall Street, a way for a handful of traders to master the stock market, peek at investors' orders and, critics say, even subtly manipulate share prices. — It is called high-frequency trading …

Obama Complains About the News Cycle but Dominates It, Worrying Some — WASHINGTON — It has become his common lament. Challenged about difficulties with his economic or legislative programs, President Obama complains about the tyranny of “the news cycle,” pronouncing the words with an air …


Graham takes on conservatives — When Sen. Lindsey Graham announced his support for Sonia Sotomayor this week, right-wing radio talk show host Mark Levin said it was a sign that Graham is “unreliable ... as a thinker and a leader.” — Wendy Long, counsel for the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network …


Elizabeth Edwards Shows How to Tell a Liar on Healthcare — In an interview with Rachel Maddow, Elizabeth Edwards dropped this enormously helpful key on when to tell if an opponent to healthcare reform is lying: … Our friends at Sadly, No! take a look at the actual outcomes between the US and Canada.
Discussion:
Sadly, No!


Perry raises possibility of states' rights showdown with White House over healthcare — AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry, raising the specter of a showdown with the Obama administration, suggested Thursday that he would consider invoking states' rights protections under the 10th Amendment to resist …


Wilder cool to W.H. overture in Va. race — The Obama administration dispatched a senior aide to Richmond Wednesday to urge former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder to get behind state Sen. Creigh Deeds, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee. — Patrick Gaspard, the White House political director …