Top Items:
Alan Cowell / New York Times:
More European Papers Print Cartoons of Muhammad, Fueling Dispute With Muslims — COPENHAGEN, Feb. 1 — Broadening a debate that has set Europe against the Islamic world, several European newspapers on Wednesday reprinted cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in an unflattering light …
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Molly Moore / Washington Post:Offending Cartoons Reprinted
Discussion:
Rantingprofs, The Politburo Diktat, UPI, All Things Beautiful, ParaPundit, ¡No Pasarán! and The Anchoress
Petula Dvorak / Washington Post:
The Capitol's Tempest in a T-Shirt — Chief Apologizes for Ejections at State of Union — Two T-shirts — one black, the other heather gray — spotted in the House gallery the night of the president's State of the Union speech caused a major ruckus on Capitol Hill.
Discussion:
IntoxiNation-News …, Wonkette, Running Scared, SpeakSpeak News, Below The Beltway and Atlas Shrugs
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ReddHedd / firedoglake:Not So Free Speech — In the kabuki theatre world of GWB Productions …
Discussion:
The Mahablog, The American Street, The Carpetbagger Report, AMERICAblog and THE BRAD BLOG
Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
Lobbying Changes Divide House GOP — Just two weeks after House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) pledged to pass far-reaching changes to the rules of lobbying on Capitol Hill, House Republican members pushed back hard against those proposals yesterday, charging that their leaders are overreacting to a growing corruption scandal.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, RedState, IntoxiNation-News …, AMERICAblog, TalkLeft and Just a Bump in the Beltway
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Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
Budget Cuts Pass By a Slim Margin — Poor, Elderly and Students to Feel Pinch — The House yesterday narrowly approved a contentious budget-cutting package that would save nearly $40 billion over five years by imposing substantial changes on programs including Medicaid, welfare, child support and student lending.
Discussion:
Cafe Hayek, The Carpetbagger Report, The Democratic Daily Blog, the talking dog and Angry Bear
New York Times:
House Approves Budget Cutbacks of $39.5 Billion — WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 — House Republicans eked out a victory on a $39.5 billion budget-cutting package on Wednesday, with a handful of skittish Republicans switching their votes at the last minute in opposition to reductions in spending on health and education programs.
Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
Bush's Goals on Energy Quickly Find Obstacles — WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 — The energy proposals set out on Tuesday by President Bush quickly ran into obstacles on Wednesday, showing how difficult it will be to take even the limited steps he supports to reduce the nation's reliance on foreign oil.
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Kevin G. Hall / Knight Ridder:
Administration backs off Bush's vow to reduce Mideast oil imports — WASHINGTON - One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn't mean it literally.
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Joint Chiefs Fire At Toles Cartoon On Strained Army — In a protest with an unusual number of high-level signatures, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and each of its five members have fired off a letter assailing a Washington Post cartoon as "beyond tasteless."
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Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
Senate Panel Rebuffed on Documents on U.S. Spying — WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 — The Bush administration is rebuffing requests from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee for its classified legal opinions on President Bush's domestic spying program, setting up a confrontation in advance …
Jon Henke / qando.net:
HOW REPUBLICANS CAN GET THEIR GROOVE BACK — I wrote this overview and analysis of the House Majority Leader Race just a couple days ago, hoping to get it placed where it might do some good. Unfortunately, with the vote today, it's too late to get it placed.
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Gina Holland / Associated Press:
Alito Splits With Conservatives on Inmate — WASHINGTON - New Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito split with the court's conservatives Wednesday night, refusing to let Missouri execute a death-row inmate contesting lethal injection. — Alito, handling his first case, sided with inmate Michael Taylor …
CNN:
Jimmy Carter: Give Hamas a chance — Former president says U.S. should not cut off aid to Palestinians — (CNN) — Hamas deserves to be recognized by the international community, and despite the group's militant history, there is a chance the soon-to-be Palestinian leaders could turn away from violence …
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Washington Post:
Republicans Were Masters In the Race to Paint Alito — Democrats' Portrayal Failed to Sway the Public — On the night of Sunday, Oct. 30, the White House team charged with getting Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s nomination through the Senate got a first look at the nominee.
Toni Locy / Associated Press:
Ex-Aide Libby Wants Classified Materials — WASHINGTON — Lawyers for a former top White House aide want access to classified intelligence briefings to show that he had more pressing matters on his mind than lying about leaking the identity of a CIA operative to get even with her husband for criticizing President Bush.
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Neela Banerjee / New York Times:
Evangelical Filmmakers Criticized for Hiring Gay Actor — WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 — Christian ministers were enthusiastic at the early private screenings of "End of the Spear," made by Every Tribe Entertainment, an evangelical film company. But days before the film's premiere …
Peter Slevin / Washington Post:
'St. Jack' and the Bullies in the Pulpit — John Danforth Says It's Time the GOP Center Took On The Christian Right — Jack Danforth wishes the Republican right would step down from its pulpit. Instead, he sees a constant flow of religion into national politics.
MSNBC:
Scoring SCOTUS — Alito and the Democrats — Judge Sam Alito was confirmed today, as expected. The final vote was 58 to 42. The voting list is here. — This past weekend saw a unified effort in the blogosphere to engage readers in a call to action.
