memeorandum

Political Web, page A1 … for 10:10 AM ET, December 23, 2005
Current Politics Page     Also:   Tech

Top Items:

Tom Daschle / Washington Post:
Power We Didn't Grant  —  In the face of mounting questions about news stories saying that President Bush approved a program to wiretap American citizens without getting warrants, the White House argues that Congress granted it authority for such surveillance in the 2001 legislation authorizing the use of force against al Qaeda.
RELATED ITEMS:
Barton Gellman / Washington Post:
Daschle: Congress Denied Bush War Powers in U.S.  —  The Bush administration requested, and Congress rejected, war-making authority "in the United States" in negotiations over the joint resolution passed days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to an opinion article …
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Impeachment Nonsense  —  2005 was already the year of the demagogue …
New York Times:
Postponing Debate, Congress Extends Terror Law 5 Weeks  —  WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 - In a frantic finish before adjourning for the year, Congress extended on Thursday the broad antiterrorism bill known as the USA Patriot Act by five weeks after the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee balked at a longer extension.
RELATED ITEMS:
New York Times:
House Approves 5-Week Extension of Patriot Act
Discussion: Decision '08 and CorrenteWire
Washington Post:
House Passes One-Month Extension of Patriot Act
Discussion: Discourse.net and The Heretik
Mark / Decision '08:
The Wonderful World of Kos  —  Lots of buzz (just check out Memeorandum) over this Washington Monthly profile of our ol' buddy Markos Moulitsas Zuniga.  Some highlights and lowlights: … Psbbbbtt!  Patently false; 3.7 million visitors a week is not really 3.7 million visitors …
RELATED ITEM:
Edward Cody / Washington Post:
China Vows Peaceful Use Of Its Power  —  White Paper Tries to Ease Fears of Growing Strength  —  BEIJING, Dec. 22 — The Chinese government, responding to doubts in the United States and neighboring Asian countries, made what it called a "solemn promise" Thursday that its growing power will never become a threat to other nations.
Discussion: The Peking Duck
RELATED ITEM:
Asia Times:   China: We're just big, warm and cuddly
Associated Press:
Top Sunni, Shiite groups call vote 'fraudulent'  —  Bodies threaten to boycott Iraq parliament if complaints aren't addressed  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - Dozens of Sunni Arab and secular Shiite groups threatened Thursday to boycott Iraq's new legislature if complaints about tainted voting are not reviewed by an international body.
RELATED ITEM:
Toni Locy / Associated Press:
Bush Administration Defends Spying Program  —  WASHINGTON - The Bush administration formally defended its domestic spying program in a letter to Congress late Thursday saying the nation's security outweighs privacy concerns of individuals who are monitored.  —  In a letter to the chairs …
Discussion: The Left Coaster and AMERICAblog
RELATED ITEM:
Jack Kelly / realclearpolitics.com:
The Valerie Plame Precedent
Amanda / Think Progress:
UPDATE: Fox Carolina Reporter Active On White Supremacist Website  —  Tami Birckner, the Fox Carolina reporter who ran the one-sided fluff piece on StormFront.org, a popular hub for white supremacists and anti-Semites, was an active participant in the website's chat forums.
RELATED ITEM:
Tim Golden / New York Times:
A Midlevel Aide Had a Big Role in Terror Policy  —  Moments after planes crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, lawyers in the Justice Department's elite Office of Legal Counsel began crowding into the office of one of the agency's newest deputies, John C. Yoo, to watch the horror unfold on his television set.
Laura / War and Piece:
Where Are the Arrests?  —  Perhaps I'm a little slow, but there's something else that doesn't make sense about spygate.  Since October 2001, Bush has authorized 30 times - every 45 days - warrantless NSA domestic surveillance of what I have heard estimated of approximately 1,000 US persons a year.
Ben Macintyre / Times of London:
Mullahs versus the bloggers  —  The explosive growth of youthful, irreverent online diaries has alarmed Iran's hardline Government  —  THE MUSIC OF Eric Clapton was banned in Iran this week.  Broadcasters were ordered to cease playing "decadent" western songs and stick to "fine Iranian music".
Discussion: USS Neverdock
Dafna Linzer / Washington Post:
GOP Blocks Action on Senate Intelligence Authorization Bill  —  Senate Republicans late Wednesday blocked the authorization bill that guides the country's intelligence programs.  It was the first time in 27 years that the bill had failed to pass before the end of the calendar year.
Josh White / Washington Post:
Unable to End 'Unlawful' Detention, Judge Says  —  A federal judge in Washington ruled yesterday that the continued detention of two ethnic Uighurs at the U.S. prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is "unlawful," but he decided he had no authority to order their release.
Lawrence Kudlow / Human Events:
2005 Man of the Year: Rep. Mike Pence  —  If the Republican majority in the Senate and House can somehow stave off a newly energized Democratic assault in the mid-term elections next November and preserve their governing status, they may well have Indiana congressman Mike Pence to thank.
Washington Post:
Brown's Turf Wars Sapped FEMA's Strength  —  Director Who Came to Symbolize Incompetence in Katrina Predicted Agency Would Fail  —  On Sept. 15, 2003, one of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge's deputies lobbed a bureaucratic hand grenade across his desk.
Discussion: The Mahablog
Edward M. Kennedy / Boston Globe:
On wiretapping, Bush isn't listening to the Constitution  —  THE PRESIDENT is not above the law; he is not King George.  Yet, with sorrow, we are now learning that in this great land we have an administration that has refused to follow well-crafted, longstanding procedures that require …
Amy Wellborn / National Review:
A Sword Will Pierce Your Heart  —  About a year ago, my husband and I traveled across the chilly cornfields of Indiana to the frigid cornfields of Ohio to have our younger son baptized.  —  It was not quite, but almost, spur of the moment.  A bishop, an old friend of my husband's …

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More Items:

New York Times:
Jury Rules Wal-Mart Must Pay $172 Million Over Meal Breaks
Duncan Gardham / Telegraph:
Muslim planned revenge attack on hero soldier
Discussion: USS Neverdock
Robert Burns / Associated Press:
Rumsfeld Says U.S. to Cut Iraq Troop Levels
Peter Daou / The Huffington Post:
How Far Will Bush Supporters Go?
Maura Reynolds / Los Angeles Times:
Cheney Defends Domestic Spying
James Bone / Times of London:
Oil-for-Food questions UN has still not answered . . .
Michael Powell / Washington Post:
Advocates of 'Intelligent Design' Vow to Continue Despite Ruling
Rachel Sylvester / Telegraph:
Letwin: We will redistribute wealth

Earlier Picks:

Media Matters for America:
Toensing "called in" …
William M. Arkin / Early Warning:
The Pentagon Breaks the Law
MB Williams / Wampum:
One last desperate plea...  Although I thought I acted …
Discussion: Sisyphus Shrugged
Max / MaxSpeak:
WONK THIS WAY  —  Some people are saying that in an adverse …
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
Be Careful What You Wish For  —  On the topic of the NY Times leak …
Discussion: Decision '08
David Sirota / Sirotablog:
New Yorkers Learn a Lesson About Supply & Demand
Newsweek:
Where's the Outrage?  —  Bush's defense of his phone-spying program …
Discussion: AMERICAN FUTURE
Atrios / Eschaton:
Wonk Off  —  Garance and Kevin, responding tolWaMo profile …
 
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