International:Give us guns – and troops can go, says Iraqi leader
Nouri al-Maliki said the insurgency had been bloodier and prolonged because Washington had refused to part with equipment. If it released the necessary arms, US forces could “drastically” cut their numbers in three to six months, he told The Times. Read more here. Listen to the interview with Nouri al-Maliki
Chris Matthews not interested in being the ‘big shit.’
He was “against this bullshit war from the very beginning.” Tonight, Hardball host Chris Matthews argued, “If you want America to be a hegemonic power in the Middle East, you’re out of step with the American people. We’re not going to fight it out with Iran for the next 30 years to see who the big shit — I’m sorry — the big name is on the block.”. Watch it here
Senior Bush Official Misled Congress About Oil Industry Payoff
The Interior Department inspector general has issued a report that finds “pervasive problems in the government’s program for ensuring that companies pay the royalties they owe on billions of dollars of oil and gas pumped on federal land and in coastal waters.” The report reveals top Interior Dept. officials knew about the problem for years, but refused to do anything about it.
The AP reports, “The Justice Department, easing a Bush administration policy, said Wednesday it has decided to give an independent body authority to monitor the government’s controversial domestic spying program.” Read the full letter here
D’Souza: F.D.R. ‘Indirectly Responsible’ For September 11
Prominent conservative intellectual Dinesh D’Souza has released a book titled “The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11.”
Last night on The Colbert Report, D’Souza repeated the right-wing attack that President Bill Clinton “did absolutely nothing” to fight global terrorists. Stephen Colbert jokingly asked, “Doesn’t some of it lie at FDR’s doorstep? Doesn’t things like Social Security and Medicare and LBJ’s Great Society, doesn’t some of that send the wrong message to our enemies?”
D’Souza answered, “Indirectly, yes,” explaining that “FDR gave away Eastern Europe through Yalta, and then the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, the Muslims had to fight back and that’s where bin Laden got his start.” Watch it here.
White House counterterrorism official dumps Bush. Todd Hinnen, a counterterrorism adviser on the National Security Council staff, is leaving to become chief counsel for Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) on the Senate Judiciary Committee. A White House ally remarked: “Once again, people on the Bush White House staff turn on him while our soldiers and Marines fight to protect the rest of us.”
The Bush administration last night "declared its opposition to the House Democrats' proposed cutting of student loan interest rates." The House bill to be voted on today cuts interest rates on some college student loans in half and "would help an estimated 5.5 million students who get need-based federal loans."
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) "will join two leading Democrats in introducing a resolution opposing President Bush's buildup of troops in Iraq, putting a bipartisan stamp on the looming Congressional showdown over the war."
"After progress in the early 1990s, the march of global freedom that President Bush advocates has stalled -- from countries of the former Soviet Union to parts of Africa and East Asia," the Freedom House organization declares in a new report, dubbing the trend "freedom stagnation."
One day after the nation observed Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Virginia lawmaker Frank D. Hargrove (R) said that slavery ended nearly 140 years ago with the Civil War and that "our black citizens should get over it." He added, "Are we going to force the Jews to apologize for killing Christ?"
Playing it safe -- perhaps too safe -- at this year's White House Correspondents Association dinner. In contrast to last year's performance by Stephen Colbert, a video of which became "one of the year’s most downloaded," the WHCA has chosen a "less-combative host," Rich Little. Little, 68, last performed at the event in 1985. "You will never please everyone no matter what you do," the group’s president said. "My dad loved (Little), and I know he will appeal to an older generation."
From The Right:
Kathryn Jean Lopez: The Democratic "Vision" I'll be the first conservative to admit it's a depressing time to be one. November hurt. To add insult to injury, San Fran Nan's coronation this month made me a bit woozy. Even so, listening to the liberal Iraq non-strategies, I'd be more depressed if I were a Democrat.
From The Left:
IRIN: Iraq: Disease Alert After Sewage System Collapses Residents of Iraq's capital, Baghdad, are at risk of contracting a range of waterborne diseases as the city's sewage system has collapsed after four days of heavy rain, according to the country's health ministry.
Quote Of The Day:
"the violence in Iraq -- particularly in Baghdad -- overwhelmed the political gains the Iraqis had made"
President George W. Bush
(Sources: Whitehouse website, NationalJournal, FOXNews, NYT, ChristianScienceMonitor, USAToday, SF Chronicle, EditorAndPublisher, YouTube, ThinkProgress, TownHall, TalkingPointsMemo, TheCarpetBaggerReport, DrudgeReport, TimesOnline, InterouteMediaServices, IRIN)
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