Top Items:
Michelle Malkin:
KENNEDY UNHINGED: LIVEBLOGGING THE MELTDOWN — ***updated with video link*** — I am watching Sen. Ted Kennedy on C-SPAN unraveling before my eyes. He is screaming. The face is fire-engine red. The fists are waving furiously. Here's my rough transcript of his ongoing diatribe smearing …
RELATED ITEMS:
CNN:
Anti-Alito filibuster soundly defeated — Final confirmation of Supreme Court nominee expected Tuesday — WASHINGTON (CNN) — A Democratic filibuster of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito — led by Massachusetts Democratic Sens. John Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy — was defeated 72-25 Monday …
Fred Barbash / Washington Post:
Senate Ends Alito Filibuster Attempt — 75-25 Vote Virtually Assures Nominee's Confirmation — By a 72-25 vote, the Senate cut off a symbolic filibuster attempt today on the Supreme Court nomination of Samuel A. Alito Jr., all but assuring that the federal appeals court judge will be confirmed Tuesday morning by the Senate.
ReddHedd / firedoglake:
Down to the Wire — Armando is reporting at DKos that the Gang of 14 (according to Ed Henry at CNN) will be voting as a block to prevent a filibuster due to their decision that extraordinary circumstances do not exist on this nomination. More information in Armando's DKos diary here.
Discussion:
TalkLeft, Mark in Mexico, The Next Hurrah, Booman Tribune, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Eschaton
Daily Kos:
Lieberman, Chafee To Hand Political Gifts To Their Opponents — Senators Joe Lieberman and Lincoln Chafee are poised to hand their political rivals great gifts today. They will be energizing the opposition to their continued presence in the Senate. — CNN's Ed Henry reports …
Jane Hamsher / firedoglake:
NARAL Drops the Ball — The announcement this morning that Lincoln Chaffee would vote "no" on Alito but "yes" on cloture was a hollow gesture to NARAL and the pro-choice community he pretends to cultivate. A vote for cloture is a vote for Alito. It's that simple.
Discussion:
Democrat Taylor Marsh …
Thomas Ferraro / Reuters:
Senate clears way for Alito confirmation — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led Senate on Monday soundly defeated a Democratic bid to block Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito — clearing the way for confirmation of the 55-year-old federal judge, who could move the nation's highest court to the right.
Associated Press:
Zawahiri, in New Videotape, Says He Survived Airstrike — CAIRO, Egypt — Al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri said in a videotape aired Monday that President Bush was a "butcher" and a "failure" because of a deadly U.S. airstrike in Pakistan targeting the bin Laden deputy, and he threatened a new attack on the United States.
RELATED ITEMS:
CNN:
Al Qaeda's No. 2 taunts U.S. in new video — Tape seems to prove al-Zawahiri survived missile attack — (CNN) — Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, appeared in a new video Monday, saying he is alive and well just weeks after a U.S. missile strike targeted him in Pakistan.
Walid Phares / The Counterterrorism Blog:
Zawahiri's message: "your -US- assessment is wrong, we're winning" — The new Zawahiri videotape released by al Jazeera today shows a sophistication in the propaganda war waged by the Jihadists worldwide against the US and its allies. Designed to "crumble" the morale of the American public and …
Robert Pear / New York Times:
Budget to Hurt Poor People on Medicaid, Report Says — WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 — Millions of low-income people would have to pay more for health care under a bill worked out by Congress, and some of them would forgo care or drop out of Medicaid because of the higher co-payments and premiums …
Discussion:
Happy Furry Puppy Story …, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Daily Kos, Amygdala, IntoxiNation-News …, Sirotablog, Eschaton, Don Surber and AMERICAblog
New York Times:
Exxon Mobil Posts Largest Annual Profit for U.S. Company — HOUSTON, Jan. 30 — Exxon Mobil, the nation's largest energy company, today reported a 27 percent surge in profits for the fourth quarter as elevated fuel prices gave rise to the most lucrative year ever for an American company …
RELATED ITEM:
Michelle Malkin:
POLITICIZED SCIENCE — So, the Washington Post is hyping a study purporting to show that conservatives are more biased against blacks than liberals. (Hat tip: Tim Graham at Newsbusters, who has more.) — The study, which was presented at a conference held by the Society for Personality …
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org
RELATED ITEM:
Kari Lydersen / Washington Post:
5 States Consider Bans On Protests at Funerals — Proposals Aimed at Anti-Gay Demonstrations — CHICAGO — At least five Midwestern states are considering legislation to ban protests at funerals in response to demonstrations by the Rev. Fred Phelps and members of his Topeka …
John O'Neil / New York Times:
Abbas and Hamas Leader Call for Continuation of Aid — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and a leader of Hamas today both called for a continuation of foreign aid. But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the European Union responded that Hamas must renounce violence and accept Israel's right …
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, Washington Post, PoliBlog, Weapons of Mass Destruction, A Blog For All and The RCP Blog
Wonkette:
Letter From the Editors: Politics Makes Strange Blogfellows — Quick! Guess which one used to be lawyer! (Photo © Nikola Tamindzic/AMBREL.net) — You know what we're sick of? Bylines. That's why as of today there won't be any more little gray words at the ends of posts on Wonkette.
Siobhan Gorman / Baltimore Sun:
System error … A program that was supposed to help the National Security Agency pluck out electronic data crucial to the nation's safety is not up and running more than six years and $1.2 billion after it was launched, according to current and former government officials.
Discussion:
TalkLeft, Politics in the Zeros, The Huffington Post, skippy the bush kangaroo and Eduwonk.com
New York Times:
Lawmakers Urge Bush to Make Abramoff Information Public — WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 — Republican legislators urged President Bush today to make public photographs and information about contacts that he or his top aides had with the lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty to felony charges …
BBC:
EU 'to keep funding Palestinians' — The European Union says it will continue funding the Palestinian Authority so long as its new government is committed to peace with Israel. — EU ministers renewed their call for Hamas to renounce violence and recognise the Jewish state following the militant group's election victory.
Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
Sign Here — Presidential signing statements are more than just executive branch lunacy. — There are two ways President Bush likes to wage war on your civil liberties: He either asks you to surrender your rights directly—as he does when he strengthens and broadens provisions of the Patriot Act.
Bruce Kesler / Democracy Project:
Potty-Mouth Politics II — John Kerry and Ted Kennedy's posts grace DailyKos, leading far-left blog and home to repeated slurs and vulgar language, John Dean fulminates like a drunken Blue redneck, Nancy Pelosi channels Haight-Ashbury, and their Hollywood contributors echo their onscreen filth.
Discussion:
PoliPundit.com
Judd / Think Progress:
Matthews: Bush's Warrantless Domestic Surveillance Is "A Winner Politically" — Today on the Chris Matthews show, Matthews asserted that the President warrantless domestic spying program was "a winner politically": … Three of the most recent polls on the issue paint an completely different picture:
Rob Stein / Washington Post:
Health Workers' Choice Debated — More than a dozen states are considering new laws to protect health workers who do not want to provide care that conflicts with their personal beliefs, a surge of legislation that reflects the intensifying tension between asserting individual religious values and defending patients' rights.
Ezra Klein:
Katrina Throws Down — Yeah, I guess I deserved that. You know what? Never mind. Katrina Vanden Huevel's slap at me for knocking Tim Kaine's appearance while not looking like Brad Pitt purposefully misses my point. In politics, looks matter. That's why the cover of Katrina's new book features her in a leather miniskirt.
Discussion:
TalkLeft, Hullabaloo, Shakespeare's Sister, The Huffington Post, firedoglake, Crooks and Liars and Brainster's Blog
