The New York Times leads with, and the Los Angeles Times reefers, Bush’s veto of a bill to stop the CIA from using harsh interrogation techniques like water-boarding. (The Washington Post reported the veto yesterday.)
The LAT leads with, and everyone else stuffs, Obama’s 61-38 win in the Wyoming caucus—a result Slate has already pronounced inconsequential. The WP leads with news that Clinton’s wins have persuaded uncommitted superdelegates to reserve judgment till June.
President Bush’s veto kills a bill that would limit CIA interrogation techniques to those approved in the Army field manual. Bush, the CIA director, and—now!—Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., say it’s wrong to apply Army standards to the CIA, since the agency requires more flexibility. The NYT and LAT say the veto underscores Bush’s commitment to expanding the power of the executive branch.
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., won Wyoming by a large margin. The NYT piece on the caucus notes Bill Clinton is openly talking about an “unstoppable” Clinton-Obama ticket.
A WP survey of 80 uncommitted superdelegates reveals that Clinton’s wins last week pushed many to remain undecided till June. If no candidate has a solid lead by then, the supers say they’ll trust their own judgment—with an eye to winning the White House and healing a divided party.
The NYT fronts an installment of its “The Long Run” series examining Obama’s first two years in the Senate. The piece hints at Obama’s dislike of legislative gridlock and his tendency to remain separate from the Senate fray.
The WP fronts a look at Doug Feith’s upcoming “score-settling” memoir, War and Decision. The paper says it’s the first Iraq war book written from the Pentagon’s point of view, and boy, is it exactly as you’d expect. Feith blames the CIA and State for intel failures; slams Bremer and Franks for refusing to adopt his Chalabi-heavy postwar plan; and lauds Donald Rumsfeld.
The NYT goes up top with a piece about how the Fed’s market interventions haven’t yet fixed the economy, playing up the possibility the Fed can’t handle a crisis. In the end, though, the paper acknowledges more rate cuts are in the works, and that—surprise—”we haven’t done away with the business cycle.”
The WP fronts a look at China’s latest industrial boon and environmental disaster. Skyrocketing demand for solar power is driving Chinese firms to double the global output of polysilicon, a key solar panel component. But polysilicon production creates toxic byproducts that Chinese firms don’t know how to recycle—as a result, they’re dumping it in unsuspecting villages.
The NYT fronts news that booming global grain prices are hurting consumers but fueling a revival of U.S. agriculture.
The NYT fronts a look at the upcoming dip in college applicants after 2009. Demographers say competition among high-schoolers will slacken between 2009 and 2015.
GOP internecine war watch: In William F. Buckley’s absence, conservative wise man L. Brent Bozell penned a must-read WP op-ed calling John McCain’s attitude toward movement conservatives “beyond folly. It is political suicide.”
And you think superdelegates have it rough. The WP fronts a piece on the dilemma kids face when friended by their parents on Facebook. TP is accepting bets on how quickly this piece makes the “most e-mailed” list.
