memeorandum: Lieberman, 'Snakes' and the seductive mythology of the blogosphere (Bruce Kluger/USA Today)

3:30 PM ET, August 30, 2006

RELATED ITEMS:

Katie's Extreme Makeover? — "Talk about a waistline touch-up," an e-mailer says: — The left photo is the official first-pic-of-Katie released by CBS at this year's upfront. (TVNewser posted it in May.) The right photo is an edited version of the same photo, from the September issue of Watch magazine, which is owned by CBS.

Discussion: The Heretik, QandO, Scared Monkeys, Pajamas Media, Say Anything, LA Observed, NewsBusters.org and Lost Remote

Don Kaplan / New York Post:
WEIGHING ANCHOR — CBS PHOTO TRICKERY TAKES A LOAD OFF — 'SLIMMER' COURIC

Discussion: Gawker

Fox News:

Kidnapped Journalists Recall Chilling Abduction — Two kidnapped FOX News journalists freed by gunmen last Sunday described in chilling detail how their abductors calmly discussed killing one of them. — "Unfortunately for you, you were with an American," camerman Olaf Wiig said his captors told him.

Discussion: Ms Underestimated, Hot Air, The Jawa Report and GOP Bloggers

Barney Frank / Boston Globe:

Afghanistan ignored — A WAR is missing. Sadly, it is not missing from the physical location in which it is taking place, and people continue to die as it is waged. But it has largely disappeared from our national debate, and that debate has been sorely distorted as a consequence.

Discussion: Liberty and Justice, The Huffington Post and The Democratic Daily

Washington Post:

For Congress in Maryland — Our choices: two worthy incumbents and one fresh face — REP. ALBERT R. WYNN has represented Maryland's 4th Congressional District since 1993, and in that time he has never faced a serious challenger. This year, in Donna Edwards , he does.

Discussion: Firedoglake, MyDD, DownWithTyranny!, Andrew Sullivan, Daily Kos, The News Blog and AMERICAblog

Ynetnews:

Journalists blame Israel for war coverage — International journalists discuss Lebanon war coverage; NYT bureau chief: Israel 'not interested in Lebanese deaths' — Yaakov Lappin — A number of journalists claimed during a convention in Jerusalem Monday evening that Israel and the IDF …

Discussion: EU Referendum, Mere Rhetoric and Little Green Footballs

kaet.asu.edu:

Kyl continues lead over Pederson; — Governor Napolitano is heavy favorite against Republican challengers; — Arizonans support initiative measures that "crack down" on illegal immigration; — Initiative to ban same-sex marriages lacks support — TEMPE, Ariz. - With only two months …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Crosstabs.org and Midterm Madness

Paul J. Gough / Reuters:

CNN sorry for Bush speech gaffe — NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - CNN apologized Tuesday after an open mike transmitted an anchor's bathroom conversation with another woman live over the network as it was carrying President Bush's speech in New Orleans. — "Live From" anchor Kyra Phillips …

Discussion: RightWinged.com, Scared Monkeys and Hot Air

Bruce Kluger / USA Today:

Lieberman, 'Snakes' and the seductive mythology of the blogosphere — If ever America needed a wake-up call about the mythology of blogging, we got it this month. — On Aug. 8, Connecticut businessman Ned Lamont defeated U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman in the Democratic primary …

Discussion: skippy the bush kangaroo, Outside The Beltway, Dohiyi Mir and Crooked Timber

Linda Greenhouse / New York Times:

Women Suddenly Scarce Among Justices' Clerks — Everyone knows that with the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the number of female Supreme Court justices fell by half. The talk of the court this summer, with the arrival of the new crop of law clerks, is that the number of female clerks has fallen even more sharply.

Discussion: Election Law, Georgetown Law Faculty Blog, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Feministe, The Corner, Feministing, The Sideshow, Norwegianity, The Volokh Conspiracy and SCOTUSblog

Mark Tapscott / Tapscott's Copy Desk:

FEC Officially Votes to Silence Political Speech for Last Two Months of 06 Campaign — With a 3-3 vote featuring Democrat commissioners supporting the silencing of political speech against congressional incumbents and Republican commissioners in favoring of allowing it …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Ankle Biting Pundits, Knoxville News-Sentinel, Caerdroia, Dean's World and Blog P.I.

Mark Pazniokas / Hartford Courant:

Lieberman Ad Focuses On The `Good Stuff' — Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman's new media team wants voters to go to their happy place - and think about all that their client has done for them in 18 years in the Senate. — In a commercial that debuted Tuesday, the team Lieberman hired after losing …

Discussion: Sirotablog, Waterbury Republican American and Daily Kos

Alex Beam / Boston Globe:

MIT's inconvenient scientist — Speech codes are rare in the industrialized, Western democracies. In Germany and Austria, for instance, it is forbidden to proselytize Nazi ideology or trivialize the Holocaust. Given those countries' recent histories, that is a restraint on free expression we can live with.

Discussion: Power Line, PoliPundit.com and NewsBusters.org

Justin Rood / TPMmuckraker:

Coburn: Stevens Blocked My Bill — Twelve days ago, at a town meeting in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) accused Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) of obstructing his porkbuster-database bill with an anonymous hold. — That's according to an Aug. 18 article in the Fort Smith (Ark.) Times Record:

Stephen Labaton / New York Times:

Broadcast Chief Misused Office, Inquiry Reports — State Department investigators have found that the head of the agency overseeing most government broadcasts to foreign countries has used his office to run a "horse racing operation" and that he improperly put a friend on the payroll …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Think Progress, Crooks and Liars, Shakespeare's Sister, Freakonomics Blog and Romenesko

BBC:

Venezuela to seize golf courses — The mayor of Venezuela's capital Caracas says he plans to expropriate two exclusive golf courses and use the land for homes for the city's poor. — Mayor Juan Barreto has said playing golf on lavish courses within sight of the city's slums is "shameful".

Brian Williams / MSNBC:

President Bush talks to Brian Williams — An exclusive conversation on the one-year anniversary of Katrina landfall … BRIAN WILLIAMS: You have apologized for the damage, but what about the damage to your presidency? And Mr. President, here's what I mean, most call it your low point.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Crooks and Liars, Wonkette, The Huffington Post and Democrats.com