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Amit R. Paley / Washington Post:
Heralded Iraq Police Academy a 'Disaster' — A $75 million project to build the largest police academy in Iraq has been so grossly mismanaged that the campus now poses health risks to recruits and might need to be partially demolished, U.S. investigators have found.
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Patrick Quinn / Associated Press:
Iraq terror leader recruits scientists — CAIRO, Egypt - In a new audio message Thursday, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq called for explosives experts and nuclear scientists to join his group's holy war against the West. He also said that more than 4,000 foreign insurgent fighters …
Bryan Bender / Boston Globe:
Cost of Iraq war nearly $2b a week — WASHINGTON — A new congressional analysis shows the Iraq war is now costing taxpayers almost $2 billion a week — nearly twice as much as in the first year of the conflict three years ago and 20 percent more than last year — as the Pentagon spends …
Barry Schweid / Associated Press:Poll: Iraqis back attacks on U.S. troops
Discussion:
QandO, TAPPED, Gateway Pundit, All Spin Zone, The Moderate Voice, Decision '08, Democracy Project and Flopping Aces
New York Times:
Senate Rejects Measure on Detainees — The Senate today rejected an amendment to a bill creating a new system for interrogating and trying terror suspects that would have guaranteed such suspects access to the courts to challenge their imprisonment. — The vote was 51 to 48 against the amendment …
Discussion:
Andrew Sullivan, Balloon Juice, Liberal Values, Norwegianity, Booman Tribune, Shakespeare's Sister and Balkinization
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Dan Froomkin / Washington Post:
Bush Rules — Today's Senate vote on President Bush's detainee legislation, after House approval yesterday, marks a defining moment for this nation. — How far from our historic and Constitutional values are we willing to stray? How mercilessly are we willing to treat those we suspect to be our enemies?
New York Times:
Rushing Off a Cliff — Here's what happens when this irresponsible Congress railroads a profoundly important bill to serve the mindless politics of a midterm election: The Bush administration uses Republicans' fear of losing their majority to push through ghastly ideas about antiterrorism …
Discussion:
Eschaton, Confederate Yankee, The Carpetbagger Report, The American Street, Hullabaloo, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, The Next Hurrah, Big Brass Blog, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, The Smirking Chimp, Democrats.com, The Strata-Sphere, Bring it On!, Preemptive Karma, Don Surber, TalkLeft, Obsidian Wings, The Democratic Daily, Balkinization, Think Progress, DownWithTyranny!, The RBC, Crooks and Liars, Bark Bark Woof Woof and Jesus' General
Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:
Webb Denies Ever Using Word as Epithet — Racial Slur Overshadowing All Else in Contest — Democratic Senate candidate James Webb on Wednesday sought to explain remarks he had made a day earlier, in which he refused to say whether he had used the "N-word," but he insisted he has never used it as a racial epithet aimed at anyone.
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, The Allen Blog, Right Wing News, Swords Crossed, Sister Toldjah, Wonkette and Virginia Centrist
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Chris Borowski / Seattle Times:
Court to hear case over politics, union fees — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear a Washington state case that will decide whether labor unions can spend bargaining fees from nonmembers on political causes without their explicit permission.
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Bruce Ackerman / Los Angeles Times:
The White House Warden — Congress may give the president the power to lock up almost anyone he thinks is a terror threat. — BURIED IN THE complex Senate compromise on detainee treatment is a real shocker, reaching far beyond the legal struggles about foreign terrorist suspects in the Guantanamo Bay fortress.
Pamela Leavey / The Democratic Daily:
John Kerry: 'This Bill Permits Torture' — Yesterday the House rushed through Bush's 'torture bill' and today as the Senate is in the midst of debate on the bill it is clear there is no stopping this travesty of justice. The N.Y. Times reports that "House Democrats were prevented from offering …
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CBS News:
Bob Woodward: Bush Misleads On Iraq — Tells 60 Minutes' Wallace That Kissinger Is Regular Visitor To White House — (CBS) Veteran Washington reporter Bob Woodward tells Mike Wallace that the Bush administration has not told the truth regarding the level of violence, especially against U.S. troops, in Iraq.
John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Keith Olbermann takes a "look back" at Bush's first months in office leading up to 9/11 — Keith Olbermann responds to Bush's non-response to Bill Clinton. He goes over his first months in office leading up to 9/11. It's not a pretty picture. — Video -WMP Video -QT — (rough transcript)
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Sabrina Tavernise / New York Times:
Cleric Said to Lose Reins of Parts of Iraqi Militia — The radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr has lost control of portions of his Mahdi Army militia that are splintering off into freelance death squads and criminal gangs, a senior coalition intelligence official said Wednesday.
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, The RBC, Global Guerrillas, ParaPundit, Times of London and A Chequer-Board of Nights …
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White House:
Press Briefing by Tony Snow — White House Conference Center Briefing Room — MR. SNOW: Good morning. Welcome. A couple of opening notes. The President, today, or this evening, will be making brief remarks on the way to dinner. I know a lot of you are interested in what's going to be happening.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, Bring it On!, First Draft, Angry Bear and Needlenose
Associated Press:
Poll: Lieberman Leads Lamont in Conn. — HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) - Sen. Joe Lieberman has a 10-point advantage over Democrat Ned Lamont among likely Connecticut voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday. — Lieberman, a three-term Democrat running as an independent …
Discussion:
Classical Values, Roger L. Simon, Blue Crab Boulevard, Redstate, Riehl World View, The Strata-Sphere and Pajamas Media
The Blotter:
Sixteen-Year-Old Capitol Hill Page Concerned About E-mail Exchange with Congressman — Rhonda Schwartz and Maddy Sauer Report: — A 16-year-old male congressional page concerned about the appropriateness of an e-mail exchange with a congressman alerted Capitol Hill staffers to the communication.
Discussion:
AMERICAblog
Patricia Lopez / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Wooing both parties was bipartisan effort that paid off — How'd the Twin Cities land the 2008 GOP convention? Personal connections, a chance ride to the airport and rivals overcoming their differences. — In the end, personal connections, a chance ride to the airport and rivals overcoming …
Zogby:
Bush Job Approval Climbs to 42% — New Reuters/Zogby poll shows Republicans, weekly WalMart shoppers, Catholics, and men help buoy the President, but Democrats retain edge in battle for Congress — With control of Congress at stake in the crucial midterm elections six weeks away …
Keith Olbermann / MSNBC:
Threatening letter no joke — Keith Olbermann responds to the New York Post's report — The Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper, The New York Post, may have just impeded an FBI investigation into terroristic threats. — I know this because I was a recipient.
George F. Will / Washington Post:
Checkout for an Undemocratic Checkoff — Unalloyed good news is rare, so rejoice: The foremost achievement of the political speech regulators — a.k.a. campaign finance "reformers" — is collapsing. Taxpayer financing of presidential campaigns, which was in parlous condition in 2004, will die in 2008.
Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Dispute on Intelligence Report Disrupts Republicans' Game Plan — Vice President Dick Cheney with Republican senators Wednesday at the Capitol. Republicans want to focus political debate on national security. — The dispute over a newly disclosed National Intelligence Estimate has threatened …
Discussion:
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David S. Broder / Washington Post:
Arnold's Turnaround — A GOP Governor Finds the Key: Independence — SACRAMENTO — The Terminator has rescued himself from political ruin by reinventing his approach to government, thus demonstrating in the most dramatic way possible the value of political independence.
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