Top Items:
Jaketapper / DownAndDirty:
CAP smear? — WASHINGTON DC — For Alito, it's all over but the votin'....It does not appear that the Democrats inflicted any real damage on the Supreme Court nominee, excepting of course his wife's mascara. — AP photo — Probing the debate over Alito's having said he was a member …
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Economist:
The brainbox and the blowhards — Samuel Alito, George Bush's latest pick for the Supreme Court, faces a tough and dirty battle for confirmation. But he looks as though he'll win — Getty Images — TED KENNEDY is deeply troubled by the ethics of the Supreme Court nominee.
Robin Givhan / Washington Post:
The Alitos: Well Suited, And Dressed For Duress — Martha-Ann Alito sat in the row of supporters directly behind her husband, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. One tried not to stare at her clothes. But while Alito was attired in Washington's equivalent of battlefield camouflage, his wife was in exuberant parade dress.
Fred Barbash / Campaign for the Supreme Court:Outside the Hearing Room: Bork on Alito On Bork
Discussion:
Left in the West
Charles Lane / Washington Post:A Right Cautious Nominee
Discussion:
New York Times, firedoglake, The Heretik, Manufacturers Blog, Simianbrain, Now What?! and Macsmind
National Review:
The Multilateral Moment? — "Multilateralism good; preemption and unilateralism bad." — For four years we have heard these Orwellian commandments as if they were inscribed above the door of Farmer Jones's big barn. Now we will learn their real currency, since the Americans …
Discussion:
New York Times, ShrinkWrapped, Dr. Sanity, Sigmund, Carl and Alfred, soxblog, AMERICAN FUTURE, Roger L. Simon and The Officers' Club
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John Dickerson / Slate:
Bush in the Briar Patch — Why the president wants hearings on spying. — George Bush wants congressional hearings to look into his administration's domestic eavesdropping. At first he wasn't so keen on the idea, but yesterday he said they'd be "good for democracy."
Kevin Drum / The Washington Monthly:
NATIONAL SECURITY....John Dickerson says in Slate that the president's sudden enthusiasm for a congressional investigation into the NSA's surveillance program is probably bad for the country: … That's exactly right. Marshall Wittman, who I think is dangerously complacent …
The Truth Laid Bear:
An Appeal from Center-Right Bloggers — I'm pleased to present the following statement on behalf of the undersigned bloggers. —N.Z. — An Appeal from Center-Right Bloggers — We are bloggers with boatloads of opinions, and none of us come close to agreeing with any other one of us all of the time.
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Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit.com:PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Here's a joint statement by a number of bloggers …
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters
Jim VandeHei / Washington Post:
GOP Contest Guided by Lessons of Battles Past — Money Talks, but Maybe In a Whisper This Time — When the House speaker's job opened up in 1998, Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) — a telegenic policy intellectual from the nation's most populous state — seemed like a logical candidate.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
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Michelle Malkin:
WE ARE ALL HOMELAND SECURITY AGENTS — Picture this: You're a retail store clerk. It's the busy Christmas season. A half-dozen men of Middle Eastern/South Asian descent walk into the store. They want to buy between 60-150 disposable cell phones—you know, the kind that can't be traced.
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AJStrata / The Strata-Sphere:NY Times Leak Is Damaging Our Defenses
Discussion:
Macsmind, Chris Christner's Blog, NewsHog, PSoTD, RIGHTWINGSPARKLE, In the Bullpen, ABCNEWS and The American Thinker
Jason Leopold / truthout.org:
Bush Authorized Domestic Spying Before 9/11 — The National Security Agency advised President Bush in early 2001 that it had been eavesdropping on Americans during the course of its work monitoring suspected terrorists and foreigners believed to have ties to terrorist groups, according to a declassified document.
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Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
A Nation of Jonah Goldbergs — There is a widespread, tacit assumption that no matter how apathetic and inattentive Americans become, there is still some line which they will not allow the Government to cross when it comes to exceeding or abusing the limits of government power.
Discussion:
Eschaton, The Heretik, The Strata-Sphere, The Corner on National … and Lawyers, Guns and Money
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Sen. Harry Reid / Houston Chronicle:
If we can beat mob, we can fight DeLay-style politics — Experience in Las Vegas similar to D.C. corruption — In 1977, I was appointed chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission. It was a difficult time for the gaming industry and Las Vegas, which were being overrun by organized crime.
NY Daily News:
Steamed about Rice, Russian pol unleashes rant — Condoleezza Rice might want to see if there's room in one of those "black site" terror-suspect prisons for Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky. — The wacko leader of Russia's Liberal and Democratic Party has surpassed his earlier screeds …
John Wagner / Washington Post:
Md. Senate Overrides Veto on 'Wal-Mart Bill' — Maryland lawmakers bucked the will of the state's Republican governor and the nation's largest retailer yesterday, voting to become the first state to effectively require that Wal-Mart spend more on employee health care.
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Robert B. Bluey / Human Events:
Al Gore, Republican to Attack Bush 'Police State' — Former Vice President Al Gore will attack President Bush's domestic eavesdropping program at a Washington, D.C., speech on Martin Luther King Day—with a Republican by his side. — Gore is teaming up with former Rep. Bob Barr, a Republican …
Johanna Neuman / Los Angeles Times:
Former 'Nightline' Reporter Joins English-Language Al Jazeera — WASHINGTON — The Arab news network Al Jazeera announced Thursday that Dave Marash, an award-winning former correspondent for ABC News' "Nightline," is joining its 24-hour English-language network, to be launched this spring.
CNSNews:
Murtha's War Hero Status Called Into Question — Read Article About Murtha's Links to Abscam — (CNSNews.com) - Having ascended to the national stage as one of the most vocal critics of President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman John Murtha …
