White House Postponing Loss of Iraq, Biden Says – washingtonpost.com Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. D-Del., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said yesterday that he believes top officials in the Bush administration have privately concluded they have lost Iraq and are simply trying to postpone disaster so the next president will "be the guy landing helicopters inside the Green Zone, taking people off the roof," in a chaotic withdrawal reminiscent of Vietnam. "I have reached the tentative conclusion that a significant portion of this administration, maybe even including the vice president, believes Iraq is lost," Biden said. "They…
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NPR : Ellison to Use Thomas Jeffersons Quran in Ceremony Newly elected Rep. Keith Ellison announced last month that he planned to take the oath of office with his hand on the Quran. The decision by the Minnesota Democrat, the first Muslim elected to Congress, drew criticism. But now Ellison says he plans to use a copy of the Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson. Michele Norris talks with Mark Dimunation, chief of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress, who helped Ellison locate Jeffersons Quran. You know what? This is all right. All right.…
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Stroger loses private elevator | Chicago Tribune Politics as usual at the Cook County board; "Baby President" Todd (son of the previous long-term incumbent) lost his "private" elevator, because everybody was pointing and laughing too much.
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NPR : Notes on the Real Gerald Ford Just now on MSNBC's coverage of President Ford's funeral, an old Washington pol was trotting out the "Nixon and Ford had a deeper friendship than previously thought" meme. According to DeFranco on NPR this morning, it's utter bunk. Nixon used to say to anyone in hearing that Ford was stupid, while Ford was much, much smarter than anyone gave him credit for. Apparenlty, he's the only President who was able to conduct his own budget briefing, a complicated affair usually left to experts. Bet Bush leaves it to people with higher math skills.…
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Ford attacks Bush over Iraq invasion in message from beyond the grave | Iraq | Guardian Unlimited President George Bush, accustomed to criticism from Republicans of his fathers generation, suffered a rebuke from beyond the grave from the late president Gerald Ford yesterday in published comments calling the war on Iraq a mistake. In an interview with the Washington Posts Bob Woodward, granted on condition that it be published only after Mr Fords death, the late president said he strongly disagreed with Mr Bushs stated justification for the war – that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. He also…
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An Update on Senator Johnson – The Caucus – Politics – New York Times Blog From my conversations with the doctors and based on the progress he has been making, I feel very confident that he is going to be getting back to work sooner rather than later. I've been watching this story out of the corner of my eye since it first broke – didn't want to jinx myself by blathering on without knowing too much. How unbloggerlike of me. Anyway, I hope Sen. Johnson continues to make progress. It's ironic that for the moment, the hopes of progressives…
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Panel: Republicans negligent but broke no rules in Foley case | Chicago Tribune Yeah, no real sanctions, no real consequences, but at least the Ethics Committee actually met.
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The Swamp – Chicago Tribune – Blogs. This is the text of the Democratic Party's radio address (audio link here): "I’m Jim Wallis, author of God’s Politics. I was surprised and grateful when Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid called to say his party wanted to set a new tone and invite, for the first time, a non-partisan religious leader to deliver their weekly radio address and speak about the values that could unite Americans at this critical time. "So, I want to be clear that I am not speaking for the Democratic Party, but as a person of faith who…
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Embittered Insiders Turn Against Bush – washingtonpost.com Poor George! All the powerful friends that propped him up and made him look important and powerful are jumping out of the treehouse.