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Charles Hurt / Washington Times:
Carter allowed surveillance in 1977 — Former President Jimmy Carter, who publicly rebuked President Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program this week during the funeral of Coretta Scott King and at a campaign event, used similar surveillance against suspected spies.
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Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Carter Spied, And Then He Lied — Despite former President Jimmy Carter's pointed jabs at the Bush administration over the NSA surveillance program this past week, it turns out that Carter has more familiarity with warrantless eavesdropping than he let on. Today's Washington Times reports …
Al Franken / The Huffington Post:
Reflections on the Wellstone Memorial and the King Funeral — I think a little more perspective is needed when addressing the comparison that right-wing bloggers and now some mainstream journalists (Howard Kurtz) have been making between the Wellstone Memorial and the Coretta Scott King Funeral.
Alexandra von Maltzan / All Things Beautiful:
America's Useful Idiots — Giuseppe Cesari, 'The Betrayal of Christ' 1596-97 Galleria Borghese, Rome — Glenn Greenwald posits that the Bush administration is exaggerating al Qaeda's threat to the United States for purely partisan gain. Now "Al Qaeda has a good friend in the White House" …
Discussion:
The Dumb Ox
Time:
First Photo of Bush and Abramoff — White House had initially said there was no record of disgraced lobbyist at 2001 meeting … Just how close was the relationship between the White House and disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff? The Bush Administration again faced questions about those ties …
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New York Times:
Photograph Shows Lobbyist at Bush Meeting With Legislators — President Bush shaking hands in 2001 with Chief Raul Garza of the Kickapoo tribe of Texas. In the background at left is the lobbyist Jack Abramoff; Karl Rove, the president's top adviser, is at the right.
David Johnston / New York Times:
Inquiry Into Wiretapping Article Widens — WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 — Federal agents have interviewed officials at several of the country's law enforcement and national security agencies in a rapidly expanding criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding a New York Times article published …
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Stephanie Simon / Los Angeles Times:
Their Own Version of a Big Bang — Those who believe in creationism — children and adults — are being taught to challenge evolution's tenets in an in-your-face way. — WAYNE, N.J. — Evangelist Ken Ham smiled at the 2,300 elementary students packed into pews, their faces rapt.
Martin Kettle / Guardian:
When it was no longer sweet or noble to kill for the cause — In 1956, the mirror in which the left saw itself was shattered. But its self-deception lives on — If the great history lesson of the 20th century is that socialism does not work then the watershed event in that tragic enlightenment …
Rick Moran / Right Wing Nut House:
HOW CAN YOU TOP "OVER THE TOP?" — Ann Coulter is in trouble again. — The most unpredictable mouth in America has once again proved that idiocy is not a mental state confined to the left wing in American politics. Calling Arabs "ragheads" while joking about her "ethical dilemma" …
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Diana Jean Schemo / New York Times:
In Small Town, 'Grease' Ignites a Culture War — FULTON, Mo. — When Wendy DeVore, the drama teacher at Fulton High here, staged the musical "Grease," about high school students in the 1950's, she carefully changed the script to avoid causing offense in this small town.
Associated Press:
Starr accused of sending fake clemency pleas — Prosecutors: Ex-independent counsel fabricated letters on inmate's behalf — SAN FRANCISCO - Lawyers for a death row inmate, including former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr, sent fake letters from jurors asking California's governor …
Alan Cooperman / Washington Post:
Air Force Eases Rules on Religion — New Guidelines Reflect Evangelicals' Criticism, General Says — The Air Force, under pressure from evangelical Christian groups and members of Congress, softened its guidelines on religious expression yesterday to emphasize that superior officers …
Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:
Censorship Is Alleged at NOAA — Scientists Afraid to Speak Out, NASA Climate Expert Reports — NEW YORK, Feb. 10 — James E. Hansen, the NASA climate scientist who sparked an uproar last month by accusing the Bush administration of keeping scientific information from reaching the public …
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Abdullah Shiri / Associated Press:
Saudi Cleric Demands Trial Over Drawings — RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia's top cleric called on the world's Muslims to reject apologies for the "slanderous" caricatures of Islam's Prophet Mohammed and demanded the authors and publishers of the cartoons be tried and punished, Saudi newspapers reported Saturday.
Los Angeles Times:
Abramoff's Charity Began at Home — The lobbyist admits he used nonprofits to evade taxes, pad his pockets and bribe officials. — WASHINGTON — In his own way, disgraced super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff engaged in many charitable endeavors over the course of his decade-long career as a Washington insider.
New York Times:
Republican Speaks Up, Leading Others to Challenge Wiretaps — WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 — When Representative Heather A. Wilson broke ranks with President Bush on Tuesday to declare her "serious concerns" about domestic eavesdropping, she gave voice to what some fellow Republicans were thinking, if not saying.
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