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Behind the War Between White House and Fox — WASHINGTON — Late last month, the senior White House adviser David Axelrod and Roger Ailes, chairman and chief executive of Fox News, met in an empty Palm steakhouse before it opened for the day, neutral ground secured for a secret tête-à-tê te.
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The Politico, Mediaite, Ben Smith's Blog, Clusterstock, JustOneMinute, Gateway Pundit, New York Times, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hot Air, Scared Monkeys, Prairie Weather, Balkinization, NewsBusters.org, Townhall.com, The Corner on National …, Weasel Zippers, NPR, rubber hose and Washington Monthly
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W.H. attacks worry moderate Dems — A White House effort to undermine conservative critics is generating a backlash on Capitol Hill — and not just from Republicans. — “It's a mistake,” said Rep. Jason Altmire, a moderate Democrat from western Pennsylvania.
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Commentary, protein wisdom, Erick's blog, RedState, Clusterstock, The Foundry, The Opinionator and Jules Crittenden

Deeds should've listened to us, senior Obama officials say — Top Democrats seek to shield Obama in case of election loss — Sensing that victory in the race for Virginia governor is slipping away, Democrats at the national level are laying the groundwork to blame a loss in a key swing state …

Annie Leibovitz takes first family photo — Friends encourage Roger Ailes to seek GOP nom in 2012 — Geithner: ‘A big week’ — Endgame: Look for a trigger in final health bill — Annie Leibovitz takes first family photo — Friends encourage Roger Ailes to seek GOP nom in 2012 — Geithner …
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Think Progress

Media Matters coordinates campaign against ‘lethal’ Fox — An official at a Democratic-leaning organization sends on a memo the group Media Matters is circulating today to progressive groups, calling Fox “a lethal 24/7 partisan political operation” and rallying a coalition of groups to join the White House assault on the network.

It's come to this: White House tries to bar Fox News from interviewing pay czar — Decide for yourself what the most disgraceful aspect of this is. Was it the fact that Gibbs told Jake Tapper explicitly on Monday that the White House wouldn't try to dictate to the press pool …

White House Tactics Go Too Far — WASHINGTON — Rahm Emanuel once sent a dead fish to a live pollster. Now he's put a horse's head in Roger Ailes' bed. — Not very subtle. And not very smart. Ailes doesn't scare easily. — The White House has declared war on Fox News.
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Weekly Standard

Charles Krauthammer on the White House vs. Fox News — The ‘post-partisan’ president makes an enemies list — Rahm Emanuel once sent a dead fish to a live pollster. Now he's put a horse's head in Roger Ailes's bed. — Not very subtle. And not very smart. Ailes doesn't scare easily.


Pelosi lacks votes for most sweeping public option — Speaker Nancy Pelosi counted votes Thursday night and determined she could not pass a “robust public option” — the most aggressive of the three forms of a public option House Democrats have been considering as part of a national overhaul of health care.
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Politics Daily, Firedoglake, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Pundits Blog, Talking Points Memo, TPMDC, Washington Post, Think Progress, Michelle Malkin, Daily Kos, AMERICAblog News, Taegan Goddard's …, Taylor Marsh, Raw Story, The Note, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!, The Huffington Post, Chip Hanlon Blog, The Reaction, Ezra Klein, GayPatriot, YID With LID, Bloomberg, The Reality-Based Community, MyDD, The Plum Line and Neptunus Lex
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Senate Leader Takes Risk Pushing Public Insurance Plan — WASHINGTON — In pushing to include a government-run health insurance plan in the health care bill, the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, is taking a calculated gamble that the 60 members of his caucus could support the plan if it included a way for states to opt out.
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Firedoglake, The Plum Line, CNN, Bloomberg, Washington Monthly, Gawker, Open Left, Wonk Room, The Huffington Post, TPMDC, Washington Post, Prairie Weather, NPR Blogs, marbury and The Politico

URGENT: House 12-15 Short on Medicare +5% Public Option — I am receiving new information tonight that the House DOES NOT have 218 “solid' yes votes for health care reform with a Medicare +5% public option. Representative John Larson's claim earlier today that the House had the votes appear …
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NOW! Blog, Daily Kos, Jack & Jill Politics, Crooks and Liars, The Politico and Riehl World View

Support for public option grows in House and Senate
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Firedoglake, The New Republic, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, The Caucus, The Politico, WSJ.com and The Huffington Post

Whip count shows Democrats lack votes on ‘robust’ public option for healthcare


Morning Fix: Palin Endorses Hoffman — Sarah Palin's decision to endorse the Conservative party candidate over the Republican nominee in a special House election in upstate New York is the latest example that the former Alaska governor's allegiance is to her conservative principles rather than the edicts of the party.
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Pawlenty not backing Republican candidate
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Top of the Ticket, Minnesota Independent, The Washington Independent and Real Clear Politics

Palin backs Hoffman in NY-23
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The Note, WWNY, The Other McCain, TPMDC, Ben Smith's Blog, Daily Kos and LewRockwell.com Blog

Top employees leave financial firms ahead of pay cuts — Grass is greener where bonuses are sky-high — NEW YORK — Even before the Obama administration formally tightened executive compensation at bailed-out companies, the prospect of pay cuts had led some top employees to depart.
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protein wisdom, Clusterstock, QandO, Hullabaloo, Shakesville, Outside The Beltway, Left Coast Rebel, Politics Daily and Cato @ Liberty


Soupy Sales dies at 83; slapstick comic had hit TV show in 1960s — The comedian acquired a cult-like following among adults with a show ostensibly meant for children. His signature routine, which he elevated to an art form, was pie-throwing. — Soupy Sales is embraced backstage …
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The Moderate Voice, CNN, Reuters, protein wisdom, Shakesville, Reelin' in the Years, NY Daily News, Time, Joe. My. God., Riehl World View and EW.com

J Street's Ben-Ami On Zionism and Military Aid to Israel — Jeremy Ben-Ami of the liberal lobbying group J Street is the man of the moment: The group's upcoming conference in Washington has become a source of great controversy for many reasons. I interviewed Ben-Ami yesterday by telephone …
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Suicide bomber strikes suspected nuclear weapons site in Pakistan — ISLAMABAD — A suspected nuclear weapons site in Pakistan was hit by a suicide bomb attack, raising fears about the security of the nuclear arsenal, while two other terrorist blasts made it another bloody day in the country's struggle against extremism.

Bay State liberals shun Barack Obama's visit — President Obama blows into the bluest state today facing a cold shoulder from once true-blue admirers, as gay rights activists, anti-war protesters and vexed environmentalists vow to picket a fund-raiser he's headlining for Gov. Deval Patrick - a marquee event that hasn't even sold out.
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool

Graydon AWOL as Vanity Fair cuts staff — VANITY Fair yesterday took some of the deepest staff cuts at Condé Nast, but Editor — Graydon Carterdidn't deliver the bad news himself. — Although Carter was said to have been at his restaurant, The Monkey Bar last night, he was a no-show at the office during the day.
Discussion:
Gawker

Balloon juice — The Colorado Balloon Boy incident says something about our culture — and our politics. — Richard Heene, who appeared on the reality show “Wife Swap,” reportedly hatched the hoax in hopes of landing a new television contract. In the process, he manipulated the media …
Discussion:
The Politico


The Rachel Maddow Show: Indefensible — As Rachel reports, it looks like the vote taken by 30 Republicans to protect contractors rather than rape victims is not playing very well for them in their local papers. — Jamie Leigh Jones and her attorney joined Rachel to talk about what happened …