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Alito Likely To Become A Justice — Liberals See Slim Chance Of Blocking Confirmation — Samuel A. Alito Jr., an appellate judge who could shift the Supreme Court significantly to the right, appeared headed for the high court yesterday after completing three days of interrogation without a serious misstep.
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This Is How It's Done — It is remarkably frustrating to blog the Alito hearings, feel the righteous indignation of people in the comments sections all over the blogosphere that the supreme court is in danger of making a major lurch to the extreme right with the potential appointment of a bigoted …

A WOMAN THE DEMS DON'T WANT TO HEAR — This is U.S. Appeals Court Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, a Clinton appointee who gave a glowing endorsement of her colleague, Sam Alito, earlier today, along with six other judges from the appeals court who appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to support Alito.

Kennedy belongs to exclusive university club of his own — Sen. Edward M. Kennedy belongs to a social club for Harvard students and alumni that was evicted from campus nearly 20 years ago after refusing to allow female members. — According to the online membership directory of the Owl Club …

Best of the Web — Roberts Without the Charm — That seems to be the consensus about Justice-designate Sam Alito. "In the first day of his confirmation hearings, Samuel Alito displayed none of the dexterity and charm of Bush's newly minted chief justice—and may face a rougher ride later this week," wrote Salon's Michael Scherer:

Sen. Biden Suggests Scrapping Hearings
Discussion:
The Left Coaster, RedState, Associated Press, The Moderate Voice, News Blog, Boston Globe, Now What?!, Viking Pundit, The Strata-Sphere, Stop The ACLU, The Heretik, Thoughts of an Average Woman, The American Mind, BrothersJudd Blog, The Democratic Daily Blog, WTF Is It Now??, True Blue Liberal and BlondeSense

Alito roundup: Ted Kennedy tramples on freedom of speech and association
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, The Strata-Sphere, Decision '08, Betsy's Page, Power Line and Pajamas Media

Knight Ridder's Alito story: Factual and fair
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice

NOXIOUS FUMES — In a feeble attempt to draw attention to itself before it sinks into the briny deep under the dead weight of its founders Charles Johnson and Roger L. Simon and its undistinguished blogroll, Pajamas Media showcases an attack on me by Michael Fumento, and seldom has a writer been more aptly named.
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Rook's Rant
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The Plot to Shush Rush and O'Reilly — Talk radio, cable news, and the blogosphere freed U.S. political discourse. The Left wants to rein it in again. — The rise of alternative media—political talk radio in the eighties, cable news in the nineties, and the blogosphere in the new millennium …

The controversy following revelations that U.S. intelligence agencies have monitored suspected terrorist related communications since 9/11 reflects a severe case of selective amnesia by the New York Times and other media opponents of President Bush. They certainly didn't show the same outrage …

AMERICAblog just bought General Wesley Clark's cell phone records for $89.95 — I reported the other day that your cell phone records are on sale online for anyone to buy, without your permission. Well, this morning AMERICAblog bought former presidential candidate, and former Supreme Allied Commander …
Discussion:
Democrats.com, Daily Kos, Middle Earth Journal, ACSBlog, Eschaton and ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

Surge in Sale of Disposable Cell Phones May Have Terror Link — Phones Can Be Difficult or Impossible to Track; Large Quantities Purchased in California, Texas — Jan. 12, 2006 — Federal agents have launched an investigation into a surge in the purchase of large quantities of disposable cell phones …

Deficit Could Top $400 Billion — Driven by the cost of hurricane relief, the federal budget deficit is expected to balloon back above $400 billion for the fiscal year that ends in September, reversing the improvements of 2005, a White House official told reporters yesterday.

THE (Broken) TRIANGLE: Progressive Bloggers in the Wilderness — "This, then, is the reality: progressive bloggers and online activists — positioned on the front lines of a cold civil war — face a thankless and daunting task: battle the Bush administration and its legions of online and offline apologists …

Europeans Want U.N. to Act on Iran's Nuclear Program — BERLIN, Jan. 12 - The leading nations of Europe joined with the United States today to declare an end, for now, to negotiations with Iran over dismantling its suspected nuclear weapons program and to demand that Iran be referred …

DNA Tests Confirm Guilt of Executed Man — DNA tests released this afternoon confirmed the guilt of a Virginia man who had proclaimed his innocence in a slaying and rape even as he was strapped into the state's electric chair in 1992. — Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) …