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:
Angry Bear, Firedoglake, Don Surber, Suitably Flip, The World Wide Rant, PoliBlog (TM), Wot Is It Good 4 and Prairie Weather
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.
Kevin Drum / Political Animal:
RUMSFELD ON IRAQ....A couple of days before he got fired, it turns out that Donald Rumsfeld wrote a memo outlining a bunch of possible options for the war in Iraq. The full text is here. — "In my view it is time for a major adjustment," the memo says, before listing a wide range …
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, Liberty Street, CorrenteWire, Macsmind 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, Power Line and Macsmind
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:
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 …
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 …
Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
Afghanistan Opium Crop Sets Record — U.S.-Backed Efforts At Eradication Fail — Opium production in Afghanistan, which provides more than 90 percent of the world's heroin, broke all records in 2006, reaching a historic high despite ongoing U.S.-sponsored eradication efforts, the Bush administration reported yesterday.
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 …