Top Items:
New York Times:
Rumsfeld Memo Proposed 'Major Adjustment' in Iraq — Two days before he resigned as defense secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld submitted a classified memo to the White House that acknowledged that the Bush administration's strategy in Iraq was not working and called for a major course correction.
Discussion:
Don Surber, Angry Bear, Firedoglake, Macsmind, Suitably Flip, The World Wide Rant, PoliBlog (TM), Prairie Weather and Wot Is It Good 4
RELATED:
New York Times:
Rumsfeld's Memo of Options for Iraq War — Following is the text of a classified Nov. 6 memorandum that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld sent to the White House suggesting new options in Iraq. The memorandum was sent one day before the midterm Congressional elections and two days before Mr. Rumsfeld resigned.
Digby / Hullabaloo:
Corruption, Cronyism and Incompetence — I sincerely hope that the Democrats in the House and Senate, no matter how much pressure they get to do otherwise from the "centrist" Mandarins and callow Kewl Kidz, go hard after the Bush administration on war profiteering, cronyism, corruption and waste.
Spocko / First Draft:
Re: This could kill New Orleans (Score: 1) — I have multiple ideas. I'm thinking about official leverage, unofficial leverage. Public PR and underground PR. — Also Counterintuitive across the crazysphere reaching — Official Public PR Leverage. Someone who is a press darling needs to say something strong.
Discussion:
Majikthise
RELATED:
Rebecca Mowbray / New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Commercial insurer to pull out of area — Businesses fear Travelers' move will put the brakes on recovery — St. Paul Travelers Cos. Inc., Louisiana's largest commercial insurance provider, plans to cancel all its commercial property policies in the New Orleans area next year …
Eric Foner / Washington Post:
He's The Worst Ever — Ever since 1948, when Harvard professor Arthur Schlesinger Sr. asked 55 historians to rank U.S. presidents on a scale from "great" to "failure," such polls have been a favorite pastime for those of us who study the American past. — Changes in presidential rankings reflect shifts in how we view history.
Discussion:
The Mahablog, Shakespeare's Sister, Middle Earth Journal, CorrenteWire, Macsmind, Liberty Street and Lean Left
RELATED:
Richard Miniter / New York Post:
ABOUT THOSE IMAMS — WHY U.S. AIRWAYS KICKED 'EM OFF FLIGHT — THE notorious case of U.S. Airways Flight 300 gets stranger by the minute, as more facts emerge about why six traveling Muslim clerics were asked to deplane. — A passenger on that flight - I'll call her "Pauline" …
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Clayton Cramer's BLOG, NewsBusters.org, The Moderate Voice, Macsmind and Power Line
RELATED:
Rick Klein / Boston Globe:
Kerry to postpone decision on '08 run — Associates say 'joke' fallout stunned him — WASHINGTON — Senator John F. Kerry's election-eve "botched joke" about the war in Iraq — and the fierce denunciations his comments drew from fellow Democrats — has led him to reevaluate whether to mount …
RELATED:
Elizabeth Mehren / Los Angeles Times:
Workers a thorny issue for Romney — The Massachusetts governor's lawn crew included illegal immigrants, a newspaper reports. — BOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a 2008 GOP presidential aspirant and an outspoken critic of illegal immigration, apparently employed undocumented landscape workers at his home near Boston.
Discussion:
Power Line
RELATED:
John Podhoretz / New York Post:
WITLESS 'WISDOM' — BAKER'S WORTHLESS IRAQ ADVICE — YES, it's been quite a week for the 10 members of the Iraq Study Group, the committee formed last spring to offer recommendations on a path forward in Iraq. — They had a wonderfully invigorating leak session the other day with The New York Times …
Discussion:
Blue Crab Boulevard
RELATED:
New York Times:
Next Chairman for Intelligence Opposed War — Representative Nancy Pelosi, the incoming House speaker, sent a strong new signal on Friday that Democrats intend to confront the White House by naming a Texas congressman who opposed the war in Iraq as the next chairman of the House intelligence committee.
RELATED:
New York Times:
Bush to Meet With Head of Iraq Shiite Party — The White House said Friday that President Bush would meet next week with Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the head of one of the most powerful Shiite parties in Iraq, the latest step in a burst of new administration attempts to try different approaches to bolstering the fragile Iraqi government.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
RELATED:
Frederic J. Frommer / Associated Press:
Congressman faulted for Quran at oath — WASHINGTON (AP) — Keith Ellison, who will become the first Muslim member of Congress next month, has offended some conservatives with his plan to use the Quran during his ceremonial swearing-in. The decision by Ellison, D-Minn. …
RELATED:
Eleanor Clift / Newsweek:
No Pandering Here — Virginia Senator-elect Jim Webb is the rare Washington figure who doesn't suck up to power. — Every so often a politician comes along who doesn't pander to the president. Fresh off a nasty campaign that centered on the war in Iraq, Virginia Senator-elect Jim Webb …
Bernd Debusmann / Reuters:
In U.S., fear and distrust of Muslims runs deep — WASHINGTON (Reuters)- When radio host Jerry Klein suggested that all Muslims in the United States should be identified with a crescent-shape tattoo or a distinctive arm band, the phone lines jammed instantly.
Associated Press:
Castro Absent From Cuban Military Parade — Fidel Castro Remains Absent From Military Parade Marking 50th Anniversary of Cuban Revolution — HAVANA Dec 2, 2006 (AP)— A military parade marking the 50th anniversary of the date Fidel Castro and fellow rebels landed in Cuba to launch …