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Political Web, page A1 … for 3:55 AM ET, December 16, 2005
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Top Items:

Borzou Daragahi / Los Angeles Times:
Polls Close After Iraqi Voters Turn Out in Droves  —  BAGHDAD — Iraqis across ethnic, sectarian and religious divides voted in droves today in a high-stakes election that could determine the course of the nation and the success or failure of the U.S. effort to bring Western-style democracy to the Arab Middle East.
RELATED ITEMS:
CNN:
Iraqi polls extend hours as turnout high  —  'It's the beginning of our new life' … BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Iraqis turned out in droves Thursday to elect their first full-term parliament since the ouster of Saddam Hussein.  —  Turnout was so heavy across the country that the Independent …
Hugh Sykes / BBC:
'This is stability, at last'  —  There was a traffic jam inside the polling station at Badr al-Kobra school - a traffic jam of people, as hundreds of voters flocked into the station.  —  Inside scrutineers and election officials sat rather awkwardly at small school desks handing out ballot forms.
Reuters:
Big turnout in Iraq election as Sunnis vote  —  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Undeterred by scattered violence, Iraqis voted in overwhelming numbers in an election on Thursday, with minority Sunni Arabs who boycotted the last poll determined not to miss out on power again.
Kevin / SoCalPundit:
Liberal Blogs Choose Silence On Iraq Elections
Discussion: The Peking Duck and Roger L. Simon
New York Times:
Bush Secretly Lifted Some Limits on Spying in U.S. After 9/11, Officials Say  —  WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 ­- Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence …
Washington Post:
White House, McCain Agree on Torture Ban  —  Measure Proposed Would Limit Interrogation Tactics  —  The White House and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) reached agreement today on a measure that would ban torture and limit interrogation tactics in U.S. detention facilities, a provision …
RELATED ITEMS:
Dwight Meredith / Wampum:
The 2005 Koufax Awards — Nominations Are Open  —  Nominations are now open for the 2005 Koufax Awards.  This is the fourth year of the awards, which in internet time, makes us old and venerable (or perhaps decrepit).  The 2002 winners may be found here.  The 2003 winners are listed here, and the 2004 winners are here.
ReddHedd / firedoglake:
No Comment...Except to Tamper with the Jury Pool  —  Okay, now I'm pissed.  For months and months, we've had to deal with the stonewalling from McClellan, the Preznit and everyone at the WH that they can't comment on anything regarding the Traitorgate case because it is an ongoing criminal matter.
RELATED ITEMS:
Richard W. Stevenson / New York Times:
Bush Expresses a Belief in DeLay's Innocence
Hilary Bok / The Washington Monthly:
They Do Comedy Too!  —  Some recent comedic gems from the Bush administration:
Discussion: The Heretik
njdc.org:
Breaking News: GOP House Top Priority?  Christmas Vote!  —  War in Iraq, war against terrorism, war in Afghanistan, move over — today, House GOP leaders have decided there is a more pressing war to attend to: the fictional war against Christmas, which apparently requires protection for Christmas symbols.
RELATED ITEMS:
Zoe Kentucky / Demagogue:
Political Poetry  —  Last night Congressman John Dingell …
Discussion: The Reaction
CNN:
Official: Al-Zarqawi caught, released  —  Authorities didn't realize prisoner was terrorist mastermind  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Iraqi security forces caught the most wanted man in the country last year, but released him because they didn't know who he was, the Iraqi deputy minister of interior said Thursday.
Jonathan S. Landay / Knight Ridder:
Congress doesn't see same intelligence as president, report finds  —  WASHINGTON - President Bush and top administration officials have access to a much broader ranger of intelligence reports than members of Congress do, a nonpartisan congressional research agency said in a report Thursday …
Laurie Kellman / Associated Press:
Feingold Now Has Numbers on His Side  —  WASHINGTON - In Congress, where numbers are everything, the math on the Patriot Act suddenly seems to be moving in favor of Sen. Russell Feingold.  —  He was a minority of one four years ago, when the Wisconsin Democrat cast the lone Senate vote …
Discussion: MyDD
RELATED ITEM:
Daily Kos:   Feingold Has the Votes to Stop PATRIOT Act
George F. Will / Washington Post:
Our Fake Drilling Debate  —  In 1986 Gale Norton was 32 and working for the secretary of the interior on matters pertaining to the proposal to open a small portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — area 1002 — to drilling for oil and natural gas, a proposal that then had already been a bone of contention for several years.
Nathan Burchfiel / CNSNews:
Statistics Suggest Race Not a Factor in Katrina Deaths  —  (CNSNews.com) - Statistics released by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals suggest that fewer than half of the victims of Hurricane Katrina were black, and that whites died at the highest rate of all races in New Orleans.
Discussion: NewsBusters.org
Peter Savodnik / The Hill:
Dean still gives Dems heartburn  —  Democrats are voicing concern that Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Howard Dean is compromising his party's political prospects by straying on to controversial policy turf such as the Iraq war and Social Security reform.
Bloomberg:
FCC Member Urges Bill to Curtail Cable Indecency  —  Legislation is needed even after a promise of family channel lineups, Michael Copps says.  —  Congress should consider a bill to curb sex and obscenity on television even after cable TV companies Monday said they planned to offer packages …
Discussion: BuzzMachine and SpeakSpeak News

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More Items:

CBS News:
Morgan Freeman Defies Labels
Timothy P. Carney / Human Events:
Corporate Foundations Bankroll Anti-Alito Coalition
Burt Prelutsky / Townhall.com:
The Christmas Grinch revisited
BBC:
Wikipedia survives research test
Peggy Noonan / Opinion Journal:
It's Not About Bush  —  Has America turned a corner on Iraq?
feingold.senate.gov:
Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold From the Senate Floor
Andrew Taylor / Associated Press:
Congress Cuts Research, Education Spending

Earlier Picks:

Gardiner Harris / New York Times:
Restrictions on Meth Ingredients Are Sought
Hotline On Call:
The Cole Burrrrr Report
Discussion: Nitpicker
NY Daily News:
Pirro told to zip it
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Bush's Path Forward Has Many Ifs
Ron Hutcheson / Knight Ridder:
Bush defends Iraq invasion, acknowledges faulty prewar intelligence
Dan Froomkin / Washington Post:
Where the President Isn't  —  Here's a problem with following …
 
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