memeorandum: In 2 Pennsylvania Towns, Skepticism and Resignation (Ian Urbina/New York Times)

9:05 AM ET, January 12, 2007

Top Items:

Karolos Grohmann / Reuters:

Attackers fire rocket at U.S. embassy in Athens — ATHENS (Reuters) - Attackers fired a rocket at the U.S. embassy in Athens on Friday but no one was hurt, police and the U.S. embassy said. — Greek anti-terrorist officers were on the scene. — "This was a rocket attack launched from a building across the street.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, PoliBlog (TM), The Jawa Report, Blue Crab Boulevard and Daily Pundit

Nicholas Paphitis / Associated Press:

Blast at U.S. embassy called 'terrorism' — ATHENS, Greece - An anti-tank shell was fired at the U.S. Embassy early Friday, striking the front of the building but causing no injuries. A senior police official said the blast was an act of terrorism, raising fears of a resurgence of far-left Greek militant groups.

Discussion: Tammy Bruce, Outside The Beltway, Secular Blasphemy and No More Mister Nice Blog

CNN:

Blast hits U.S. Embassy compound in Athens — ATHENS, Greece (CNN) — An explosion shook the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece, on Friday morning, an embassy staff member told CNN. No injuries were initially reported. — State-run NET television, quoting police, first reported …

Associated Press:

EXPLOSION ROCKS U.S. EMBASSY IN ATHENS — ATHENS, Greece — Police cordoned off streets around the U.S. Embassy in Athens early Friday after an explosion inside the embassy compound that a senior police official said was an "act of terrorism." — The blast smashed glass in the front …

Discussion: Don Surber

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Breaking: Explosion at U.S. embassy in Athens; Update: Rocket, "terrorism"

Discussion: Agence France Presse, Reuters, RightWinged.com and Done With Mirrors

MSNBC:
Police: U.S. Embassy in Athens attacked

Discussion: The Political Pit Bull and Yahoo! News

James Glanz / New York Times:

G.I.'s in Iraq Raid Iranians' Offices — American troops backed by attack helicopters and armored vehicles raided an Iranian diplomatic office in the dead of night early Thursday and detained as many as six of the Iranians working inside. — The raid was the second surprise seizure …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Blue Crab Boulevard and Talking Points Memo

Christine Hauser / New York Times:
5 Iranians Detained at Consular Office

Discussion: American Prospect and Prairie Weather

Eli Lake / New York Sun:
Bush's Tear For a Hero

Discussion: It Shines For All, Power Line and Atlas Shrugs

MSNBC:

Senate opposition to Bush plan grows — Republican Hagel calls it 'blunder'; Democrats expect to pass resolution — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defends U.S. policy in Iraq at a Senate hearing on Thursday. — NBC VIDEO — Jan. 11: Congressional reaction to President Bush's Iraq plan …

Discussion: Macsmind, The Democratic Daily and Brilliant at Breakfast

Washington Post:

Lawmakers Demand Answers on New Iraq Plan — Top Bush administration officials, pushing the president's case for sending more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq, faced tough grilling on Capitol Hill today as both Republican and Democratic lawmakers demanded specific answers on how the new plan will lead to victory in Iraq.

Discussion: Decision '08

SilentPatriot / Crooks and Liars:
Condi Gets Grilled on Escalation

Discussion: Firedoglake, Associated Press, The Moderate Voice, Think Progress, The Carpetbagger Report, skippy the bush kangaroo, Grasping Reality … and Washington Post

Donald Lambro / Washington Times:

Hillary's status as front-runner slipping in key states — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's popularity in Democratic presidential-preference polls has fallen in the nation's first caucus and primary states in the face of increasing support for her chief rivals for the 2008 nomination.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters

Kenneth R. Bazinet / NY Daily News: Edwards plans MLK speech - on Hillary's turf

Keith Olbermann / MSNBC:

Bush's legacy: The president who cried wolf — Olbermann: Bush's strategy fails because it depends on his credibility — SPECIAL COMMENT — Only this president, only in this time, only with this dangerous, even messianic certitude, could answer a country demanding an exit strategy from Iraq …

Discussion: All Spin Zone

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Special Comment on the President's Address

Discussion: State of the Day

Newsweek:

Bush's Best Democratic Buddy — Joe Lieberman gives the president a pass on Katrina. — Sen. Joe Lieberman, the only Democrat to endorse President Bush's new plan for Iraq, has quietly backed away from his pre-election demands that the White House turn over potentially embarrassing documents relating …

Discussion: Brilliant at Breakfast and The Mahablog

Steve Clemons / The Washington Note:

Did the President Declare "Secret War" Against Syria and Iran? — Washington intelligence, military and foreign policy circles are abuzz today with speculation that the President, yesterday or in recent days, sent a secret Executive Order to the Secretary of Defense and to the Director …

Charles Hurt / Washington Times:

GOP hits Pelosi's 'hypocrisy' on wage bill — House Republicans yesterday declared "something fishy" about the major tuna company in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco district being exempted from the minimum-wage increase that Democrats approved this week.

Discussion: Iowa Voice and Don Surber

Geoff Earle / New York Post:

RANGEL RANKLED BY FELLOW DEM PELOSI — Powerhouse New York Rep. Charles Rangel is butting heads with fellow Democrat Nancy Pelosi just a week into the new Congress controlled by their party, The Post has learned. — Rangel yesterday swatted down a tax hike that Pelosi has floated …

Elizabeth Williamson / Washington Post:

Jewish Membership in Congress at All-Time High — While Democrats celebrated the election of the House's first female speaker, another milestone passed more quietly: The 110th Congress includes more Jewish lawmakers than any other in history, and all but four are Democrats.

New York Times:

In Baghdad, Bush Policy Is Met With Resentment — Iraq's Shiite-led government offered only a grudging endorsement on Thursday of President Bush's proposal to deploy more than 20,000 additional troops in an effort to curb sectarian violence and regain control of Baghdad.

Discussion: The RBC, TIME and The Reaction