Top Items:
Timothy J. Burger / Time:
Disgraced Congressman 'Wore a Wire' — Sources tell TIME that Duke Cunningham wore a wire after agreeing to cooperate with a graft probe — Washington's power players have always bragged about being well-wired, but for disgraced former congressman Duke Cunningham, "wired" wasn't just a figure of speech.
Sebastian Usher / BBC:
Arab media ponder Sharon legacy — The extensive coverage the Arab media have devoted to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's battle for survival has reflected his key role in the Arab-Israeli conflict over the past 50 years. — Much of the reporting on TV, radio and in the press …
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Fox News:Sharon's Emergency Surgery Ends
Discussion:
Haaretz, ScrappleFace, Right Wing News, Washington Post, The Political Pit Bull and damnum absque injuria
Christopher Hitchens / Slate:What Sharon Did — The Bulldozer's long, brutal career ended better than anyone expected.
Discussion:
worldtribune.com, Austin Bay Blog, Kesher Talk, Decision '08, Yourish.com, Legal Fiction, Boker tov, Boulder! and Air America Radio
National Review:
Murtha Fears a Withdrawal that "Makes It Look Like There's a Victory" — Representative John Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who has come to national prominence since his call for a quick withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, said Thursday night that he worries about "a slow withdrawal which makes it look like there's a victory."
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James Taranto / Opinion Journal:
Best of the Web — Nothing to Fear but Victory Itself — Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, who became a media darling in November by calling for immediate withdrawal from Iraq (though he voted against his own proposal when Republicans brought it to the House floor), elaborated on his views last night …
Michael Moss / New York Times:
Extra Armor Could Have Saved Many Lives, Study Shows — A secret Pentagon study has found that at least 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to their upper body could have survived if they had extra body armor. That armor has been available since 2003 …
Discussion:
NewsHog, Defense Tech, Daily Kos, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Brilliant at Breakfast, Factesque and Pam's House Blend
Glenn Greenwald / Hullabaloo:
Hanging the Messenger — Atrios asked this question yesterday: … I'm not sure exactly what those commentators would say (although I'm sure it would be appropriately balanced and would give due deference to the view that Bush had good arguments for such spying and did so only with the best …
Discussion:
THE ASTUTE BLOGGER, Power Line, Sadly, No!, Unclaimed Territory, Heard Here, AMERICAN FUTURE and The American Thinker
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Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:
Saddam's Terror Training Camps — THE FORMER IRAQI REGIME OF Saddam Hussein trained thousands of radical Islamic terrorists from the region at camps in Iraq over the four years immediately preceding the U.S. invasion, according to documents and photographs recovered by the U.S. military in postwar Iraq.
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Reuters:
Bremer says U.S. did not expect insurgency in Iraq — WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Paul Bremer, who led the U.S. civilian occupation authority in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, has admitted the United States did not anticipate the insurgency in the country, NBC Television said on Friday.
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E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Abramoff and His Vanishing Friends — It almost makes you feel sorry for Jack Abramoff. — Republicans once fell all over themselves to get his "moolah," the term used famously by the disgraced superlobbyist, and to get his advice on dealing with that warm and cuddly entity known as "the lobbying community."
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Hotline On Call:
BREAKING NEWS: HOUSE GOPERS CALL FOR ELECTIONS — The Hotline has learned from three House sources that at least two-dozen House GOPers spanning the ideological spectrum have agreed to sign a letter to House Conference Chair Deborah Pryce (R-OH) requesting new leadership elections in an effort …
Firouz Sedarat / Reuters:
Zawahri says US defeated in Iraq: Jazeera TV — DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri said in a video aired on Friday that President George W. Bush's plans to withdraw troops from Iraq meant Washington had been defeated by the Muslims.
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New York Times:
Report Questions Legal Basis for Bush's Spying Program — WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 - President Bush's rationale for authorizing eavesdropping on American citizens without warrants rests on questionable legal ground and "may represent an exercise of presidential power at its lowest ebb," …
Discussion:
Daily Kos
thenewstribune.com:
IRS tracked taxpayers' political affiliation — WASHINGTON - As it hunted down tax scofflaws, the Internal Revenue Service collected information on the political party affiliations of taxpayers in 20 states. — Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a member of an appropriations subcommittee …
Joe McDonald / Associated Press:
Microsoft Shuts Down Chinese Blog — BEIJING - Microsoft Corp. has shut down the Internet journal of a Chinese blogger that discussed politically sensitive issues, including a recent strike at a Beijing newspaper. — The action came amid criticism by free-speech activists …
Andy Newman / New York Times:
Hold the Mustard, Maybe Forever — The Second Avenue Deli has survived turbulence and tragedy in its 51 years. The decline of the Jewish enclave on the Lower East Side did not kill it. The broad-daylight murder of its beloved founder, Abe Lebewohl, in a robbery in 1996 shut it down but briefly.
National Review:
Raw Deal — Of course, everyone knew that Arnold Schwarzenegger was no Ronald Reagan. But for a while, if one donned the political equivalent of "beer goggles" and squinted hard, Schwarzenegger's pitch about lower taxes, smaller government, and reform seemed pretty darned attractive, especially in California.
Discussion:
Golden State
