Mother Jones
The Great Persuader
By Kevin Drum
NEWS: Like FDR and Reagan, Obama can move a crowd. But can he do what they did and move the country?
Liberals have been feeling pretty energized about this year's election. And why not? While Barack Obama might not be the "most liberal member of the Senate," as National Journal claimed in January (10th or 12th is more like it), he's still a fairly reliable progressive on this year's key issues of health care, foreign policy, and climate change.
NY Times
For Family in Iraq, Drop in Deaths Is Not Enough
By KATHERINE ZOEPF and SAM DAGHER
The number of military and civilian deaths in Iraq hit the lowest monthly levels since May 2004, but one family’s tragedy is a reminder of the danger that remains.
NY Times
Unrepentant Stevens Finds a Welcome at Home
By WILLIAM YARDLEY
Senator Ted Stevens, who was convicted of failing to disclose more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations, called it “a temporary situation.”
NY Times
THE MAVERICK WEARS PRADA
By Maureen Dowd
In an Ohio hotel suite, two McCain aides ponder how Sarah Palin got away.
The Nation
Palin Plots for 2012
By Ari Berman
A vicious back-and-forth broke out this weekend between advisers to John McCain and Sarah Palin about whether the Alaska Governor is to blame for the McCain campaign's woes.
Huffington Post
Palin A "Whack Job," Top McCain Adviser Says
By Rachel Weiner
One of John McCain's advisers recently called his running mate Sarah Palin a "diva" after she went off-script at a rally, and suggested she was looking after her own political future over the current campaign. Now another adviser ups the ante in a conversation with the Politico's Playbook, labeling Palin a "whack job."
Mother Jones
Palin, Rogue Diva
By Kevin Drum
Sarah Palin is starting to go rogue. Will her handlers stop her?
PALIN-McCAIN: THE SKIRMISHING BEGINS....
NY Times
Where Does the Vice President Belong?
By GLENN HARLAN REYNOLDS
Extensive vice presidential involvement in the executive branch is not only unconstitutional, but also a bad idea.
NY Times
A Makeover With an Ugly Gloss
By MAUREEN DOWD
McCain advisers have been scathing about the “sexism” of critics who dismiss Sarah Palin as Caribou Barbie.
How odd then, to learn that McCain advisers have been treating their own vice presidential candidate like Valentino Barbie, dressing her up in fancy clothes and endlessly playing with her hair.
Palin Testifies to Investigator in Ethics Dispute
- in Abuse-of-Power Probe
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin testified for two hours Friday in an abuse-of-power investigation that has been a distraction to her Republican vice presidential campaign. Palin's leadership was questioned this month in a stinging but largely toothless legislative report that found she violated state ethics laws by letting a family dispute influence her decision-making.
NY Times
Help for Homeowners, at Last?
Congress should give the plan proposed by F.D.I.C. chairwoman Sheila Bair its full backing, and pursue other anti-foreclosure efforts.
NY Times
$150,000 Wardrobe for Palin May Alter Tailor-Made Image
By PATRICK HEALY and MICHAEL LUO
Republicans feared that Gov. Sarah Palin’s “hockey mom” image would fray amid revelations that the Republican Party outfitted her from high-end stores.
NY Times
How to Take American Health Care From Worst to First
By BILLY BEANE, NEWT GINGRICH and JOHN KERRY
Baseball’s numbers-crunchers now routinely use statistics to put better teams on the field for less money. Our health care system needs a similar revolution.
The Nation
Censure Michele Bachmann
By Peter Rothberg
On last night's episode of MSNBC's Hardball, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota charged Barack Obama and other members of Congress with sharing "anti-American" views. Defending the McCain campaign's automated phone calls attacking Obama's judgment and character, Bachmann called for a news media "exposé" of the views of members of Congress.
NY Times
A Showdown, and Some Final Evidence, Before a Senator’s Case Goes to the Jury
By NEIL A. LEWIS
The ethics trial of Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska heads to what should be a dramatic climax on Monday: a courtroom confrontation that will feature a crucial telephone conversation.
NY Times
Iraq Reports Progress on Security Pact
By ALISSA J. RUBIN
Iraqi negotiators believe they have reached an accord on a draft security pact governing the conduct of U.S. forces in Iraq, which includes a timeline for American troop withdrawal.
The Nation
How Sarah Palin Excluded African-Americans in Alaska
By Max Blumenthal
On April 29, 2008, 14 leaders of Alaska's black community met with Gov. Sarah Palin to voice discontent with her minority hiring record. Palin's response, which was first reported by journalist Earl Ofari Hutchinson, only compounded her icy relationship with her African-American constituents.
NY Times
Alaska Inquiry Concludes Palin Abused Powers
By SERGE F. KOVALESKI
Gov. Sarah Palin abused the powers of her office by pressuring subordinates to get her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, fired, an investigation has concluded.
AlterNet
12 New Stomach-Turning Revelations About Sarah Palin
By AlterNet Staff
Palin has taken to smearing Obama. But it's her own record that continues to yield alarming information, undermining her skills and credibility.
NY Times
U.S. Study Is Said to Warn of Crisis in Afghanistan
By MARK MAZZETTI and ERIC SCHMITT
A draft report by U.S. intelligence agencies casts serious doubt on the ability of the Afghan government to stem the Taliban’s rise.
Mother Jones
Palin's (Functional Equivalent of an) Email Cover-up
By David Corn
Palin has used at least two private email accounts in addition to her state account. That posed a serious challenge to the record-keepers in her office: how to find the emails to and from these accounts. The information managers had easy access to the emails she generated and received with her official account. But they did not have access to a Yahoo account she used for official communications and another private account she might have used for state business.
NY
Times
Lipstick
Bungle
By Charles M. Blow
Support
for Sarah Palin among Republicans seems just as superficial as she is.
When asked why they liked her, the answers described a talk-show host,
not a vice president.
NY
Times
Once
Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes
By Jo Becker, Peter S. Goodman and Michael Powell
So when there was a vacancy at the top of the State
Division of Agriculture, she (Palin) appointed a high school classmate,
Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship.
Mother
Jones
Sarah
Palin's Wasilla Emails: Did She Violate State Law?
By David
Corn
"But what was not known at the time was that a year
earlier, Palin had used official resources for her own partisan
purposes. In doing so, Palin, now the governor of Alaska and the
Republican vice presidential nominee, might have run afoul of state law
and the municipal code of Wasilla."
Washington
Times
Palin
Lobbyist Ties Include Oil Firms
By Jennifer Haberkorn
The lobbyists who donated to her campaign represent a range of industries, including oil and gas, tobacco, education and the Native Alaskan community.
