Top Items:
White House:
President's Address to the Nation — THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Three days ago, in large numbers, Iraqis went to the polls to choose their own leaders — a landmark day in the history of liberty. In the coming weeks, the ballots will be counted, a new government formed …
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Think Progress:
EMBARGOED TEXT: Bush's Prime Time Speech on Iraq — [Ed note: We'll start respecting embargoes when they start telling the truth.] — THE WHITE HOUSE — Office of the Press Secretary — EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY December 18, 2005 — ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT TO THE NATION
Discussion:
Pam's House Blend, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, The Washington Monthly and The Liberal Avenger
Michelle Malkin:
THE BUSH SPEECH: NO CUT AND RUN — Tonight. 9pm EST. President Bush addresses the nation on Iraq. Preview: … The White House website will have a live webcast here. The White House Renewal in Iraq page is here. — TV Newser has details of tonight's MSM coverage: … 0902pm EST.
Discussion:
California Conservative
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Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit.com:
BUSH DOUBLES DOWN: I just watched Bush's speech. Nothing new there for anyone who's been paying attention to the speeches he's been giving over the past couple of weeks. But one big thing struck me: In this national televised speech, Bush went out of his way to take responsibility for the war.
Discussion:
Let Freedom Ring, In the Bullpen, PunditGuy, Solomonia, Ed Driscoll.com and Viking Pundit
Lorie Byrd / PoliPundit.com:
The Iraq Address To The Nation — Good speech. President Bush did a much better job than usual in the Oval Office format (except for some of the hand motions) and he covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time. He didn't point to many specifics, but did a great job at making many points including the following:
Washington Post:
Spying on Americans — IN THE WAKE of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the New York Times reported last week, President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to conduct electronic surveillance of hundreds of U.S. citizens and residents suspected of contact with al Qaeda figures …
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Associated Press:
Reid Calls for Probe of Domestic Spying by Bush administration — Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid called Sunday for congressional hearings and investigations into President Bush's authorization of domestic spying as part of the war on terror. — "This Congress has done very little oversight …
Discussion:
THE ASTUTE BLOGGER
David Sirota / The Huffington Post:The Most Important Question of All in Bush's Domestic Spying Scandal
Judd / Think Progress:January 2005: Gonzales Said Bush Did Not …
Discussion:
Obsidian Wings, Sirotablog, Wizbang, AMERICAblog, Brad DeLong's Semi …, The Liberal Avenger and Talking Points Memo
Michelle Malkin:
TIME'S LAME CHOICES — Okay. I don't question that the rock star and the world's biggest philanthropists are doing good for the world. (Interesting, isn't it, that Bill Gates didn't deserve the honor when he was actually creating something, but only earns Time magazine's highest praise when he's giving his money away.
Discussion:
AMERICAN DIGEST, JunkYardBlog, Ed Driscoll.com, TalkLeft, The Daily Brief, The Political Pit Bull and BizzyBlog.com
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MSNBC:
Transcript for December 18 — MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this is Sunday: the Iraqi people vote in large numbers. What now for their country and for our men and women in Iraq? With us, the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice. And for the Democrats, the ranking member …
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Noahmax / Defense Tech:
NEW TECH BEHIND NSA SNOOP CASE? — There's more to the NSA domestic spying case than the current storyline — that much is clear. The idea that the Bush Administration needed to bypass the courts to get wiretaps quickly makes no sense; under the current system, you can start eavesdropping, and get a warrant later.
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Jerusalem Post:
PM Sharon suffers light stroke, rushed to hospital — Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was rushed to the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem at 7:50 p.m. Sunday evening. — The prime minister, who will be 78 in February, suffered a light stroke and was taken directly to the VIP section of the hospital's trauma room.
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Jodi Wilgoren / New York Times:
Red District, Blue Candidate, Purple Heart — CHICAGO, Dec. 16 - During 13 months of rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, Maj. L. Tammy Duckworth says, she did a lot of reading about American schoolchildren "losing our competitive advantage" with China.
Los Angeles Times:
Katrina Killed Across Class Lines — The well-to-do died along with the poor, an analysis of data shows. The findings counter common beliefs that disadvantaged blacks bore the brunt. — The bodies of New Orleans residents killed by Hurricane Katrina were almost as likely to be recovered …
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org
Michael Barone / US News:
Lessons of 25 Years — At year's end, it is often useful to look back at the year past and seek to learn its lessons. But it's more useful now, I think, to look back at the past quarter century. Twenty-five years ago, in December 1980, Jimmy Carter was serving his last full month in office and Ronald Reagan was president-elect.
Discussion:
Ed Driscoll.com
Vladimir Bukovsky / Washington Post:
Torture's Long Shadow — One nasty morning Comrade Stalin discovered that his favorite pipe was missing. Naturally, he called in his henchman, Lavrenti Beria, and instructed him to find the pipe. A few hours later, Stalin found it in his desk and called off the search.
