memeorandum: Desperation in the White House (Joseph Galloway/Dallas Star-Telegram)

12:55 AM ET, December 19, 2006

Top Items:

Hillary Clinton Says She Wouldn't Have Voted For Iraq War — ABC News' David Chalian Reports: As Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton continues to assess a possible presidential candidacy and the contours of a Democratic nomination fight, she has taken another step away from her 2002 vote authorizing President Bush …

Discussion: Attytood, Centerfield, Macsmind and Pam's House Blend

Jonathan Alter / Newsweek:

Is America Ready? — Hillary's hair and hemline won't be issues; her tough national-security approach and famous husband will. — It felt like the twilight zone in New Hampshire. The calendar still read 2006, but everything about the surging crowd of 1,500 pumped-up Democrats and 160 ravenous political reporters screamed 2008.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Pollster, Decision '08, The Caucus and The Agonist

Associated Press:
Rangel: I Support Giuliani-Kerik Ticket

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

John Fund / Opinion Journal:
Not So Fast — Why Barack Obama may not run.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Blue Crab Boulevard, Daily Pundit, The Right Angle, Reason Magazine, Power Line, PoliPundit.com and Decision '08

Chris Bowers / MyDD:
An Era of Thoroughly Subjective News

Discussion: Eschaton

Robert Tait / Guardian:

Ahmadinejad in electoral setback — The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, of Iran faced electoral embarrassment today after the apparent failure of his supporters to win control of key local councils and block the political comeback of his most powerful opponent.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Right Wing Nut House, Roger L. Simon, Mensa Barbie Welcomes You, Matthew Yglesias, Outside The Beltway, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, The Moderate Voice, The Jawa Report, Reason Magazine, Truthdig and Midtopia

Nazila Fathi / New York Times:
Election Seen as Setback for Iran's President

Discussion: LiberalOasis, The Remedy and Prairie Weather

Greg Gutfeld / The Huffington Post:

The March to Mecca — HELLO EVERYONE. I know it's been awhile since I've posted, but I've been very busy working on my book and television and web projects. However, after receiving this press release from the Huffington Post, I had no choice but to return.

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and Daily Pundit

Ben Connable / New York Times:

A War That Abhors a Vacuum — THE niceties are up for debate: phased or partial withdrawal from Iraq would entail pulling troops back to their bases across the country, or leapfrogging backward to the nearest international border, or redeploying to bases in nearby countries.

Discussion: Nitpicker, toohotfortnr, Booman Tribune, Prairie Weather and The Corner

Joseph Galloway / Dallas Star-Telegram:

Desperation in the White House — The power brokers in Washington carefully arranged fig leaves and tasteful screens to cover the emperor's nakedness while he was busy pretending to listen hard to everyone with an opinion about Iraq while hearing nothing. — Sometime early in the new year …

Discussion: skippy the bush kangaroo, The Next Hurrah and Middle Earth Journal

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Video: "Open Season"; Update: Video banned from honors at YouTube? — Anti-jihad nu metal. I never thought I'd see the day. — The band is Stuck Mojo from Atlanta. The lyrics are here; the guitarist posted some thoughts about the song on his fan site. You will recognize, and appreciate, the sentiments.

Discussion: Ace of Spades HQ, BLACKFIVE and Townhall.com Blog's …

Matt Stoller / MyDD:

The Bar Fight Primary — When Ronald Reagan announced his Presidential run in 1980, he did it in Philadelphia, Mississippi, the town where three Civil Rights workers were killed. He faced Jimmy Carter in the general, a conservative white evangelical who had built up the military budget …

Discussion: Democrats.com, Seeing the Forest and Andrew Sullivan

Eugene Volokh / The Volokh Conspiracy:

TEN YEARS IN PRISON FOR 17-YEAR-OLD WHO HAD CONSENSUAL ORAL SEX WITH 15-YEAR-OLD: The Georgia Supreme Court just upheld this. The sentence strikes me as unduly harsh even on its own terms, but it seems especially unjustifiable given that: — The age of consent in Georgia is 16.

Discussion: Sentencing Law and Policy, Andrew Sullivan, Riehl World View, The Peking Duck and Legal Fiction

New York Times:

American Apparel to Be Sold to Investment Firm — American Apparel, the casual clothing chain whose socially-conscious manufacturing, sexually-charged advertising and snug-fitting T-shirts have generated a cult-like following, will be sold to a little-known investment firm for $382.5 million, according to people briefed on the matter.

Discussion: THE CUNNING REALIST and Truthdig

Armed Liberal / Winds of Change.NET:

These Are Not The Droids You Are Looking For... [Update: Malkin is retracting her post..murkier and murkier] — OK, folks, this is what open source is about - you put things out there and the rest of the world improves on them - so here it goes. I think we discovered something, but it turns out probably not to have been useful.

Discussion: JunkYardBlog, Confederate Yankee, Patterico's Pontifications, Flopping Aces, Media Blog and The Jawa Report

J. Max Robins / Broadcasting & Cable:

MSNBC's Olbermann Seeks Big Raise — Olbermann and MSNBC are knocking heads over a new contract. The controversial host of Countdown With Keith Olbermann is said to be seeking "north of $4 million" a year, according to an industry source, to re-up on his pact that comes due in April.

Discussion: The Radio Equalizer, PoliBlog (TM) and Romenesko

Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Democrats leave Bono disappointed — Anti-poverty activist gets no promise of funds — Meetings in Washington last Thursday between rock star Bono and Democrats, including Senate leader Harry Reid of Nevada, yielded a nice photo-op but not much else, according to Bono.

Discussion: jules crittenden, Sister Toldjah and Don Surber

White House:

Press Briefing by Tony Snow — White House Conference Center Briefing Room — MR. SNOW: Hello, welcome. I'm ready for questions. — Q Now that you've had a chance to hear more about the NSC meeting today, is there anything you can share with us? — MR. SNOW: It's just a situational briefing.

Discussion: Unclaimed Territory, The Caucus, Media Blog, Bring it On! and New York Times

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:

You're A Mean One... (The Grinch and Elliott Abrams. Separated at birth?) — ***HEADS UP: Per angie in the comments, Flynt Leverett will be on C-Span1 discussing these issues [any time now] [at 12:45 pm ET per C-Span] right this minute, at 12:40 pm ET. Juan Cole has a call to action …

Discussion: Think Progress, Hullabaloo and The Washington Note