memeorandum: NANCY, W & THE PARLIAMENT OF WHORES (Pundit Review Radio/BLACKFIVE)

11:35 PM ET, January 23, 2007

Top Items:

BREAKING: Libby Destroyed Evidence Prior To Testifying, Cheney 'Deeply Involved' — Under oath, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff Scooter Libby told a grand jury that he first learned that Joe Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was a CIA agent from conversations with the media.

Discussion: TalkLeft, The Huffington Post, CNN Political Ticker, The Carpetbagger Report, Hardblogger, JustOneMinute, DownWithTyranny!, Liberal Values, The RBC, Prairie Weather, Political Animal and The Mahablog

MSNBC:

Prosecutor: Libby 'wiped out' Cheney memo — Defense in CIA leak trial counters that White House tried to set up Libby — WASHINGTON - Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald used his opening statement in the CIA leak trial Tuesday to allege that Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff lied …

Discussion: Attytood, Crooks and Liars, The Caucus, The Washington Note, Media Blog, ACSBlog, Washington Post, Outside The Beltway, NO QUARTER, Tennessee Guerilla Women and Democratic Underground

Digby / Hullabaloo:

Holy Moly — Norah O'Donnell is asking Andy Card and Leon Panetta if the president is going to have to ask Dick Cheney to resign as a result of what's being alleged at the Libby Trial. (They both punted.) — If that's the beltway chatter, look for the Republican noise machine to go into high gear.

Discussion: Associated Press, Crooks and Liars, Balloon Juice, Democrats.com, The Impolitic, Daily Kos, Wonkette, Political Animal and Shakespeare's Sister

Washington Post:

Defense Attorney Paints Libby as Scapegoat — I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was "put through the meat grinder" by the White House shortly after the Iraq war began, scapegoated to cloak the leak of a CIA officer's identity to the media by presidential adviser Karl Rove, Libby's lawyer contended today as Libby's perjury trial began.

Discussion: Power Line, TPMmuckraker and Middle Earth Journal

Emptywheel / Firedoglake:

Libby Liveblog: Wells' Opening Statement, Part Two — Picking up after lunch. — To remind you of housekeeping. This is not a transcript. It is as close as I can get. — And I'll timestamp my updates. I'll try to update every 15 minutes. So don't overtax the servers by trying to update every two minutes.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, TAPPED and TalkLeft

Emptywheel / Firedoglake:
Libby Liveblog: Fitzgerald's Opening Statement

Discussion: JustOneMinute

Emptywheel / Firedoglake:
Libby Liveblog: Well's Opening Statement, Part One

Discussion: TalkLeft and Booman Tribune

Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:
Libby a Scapegoat, His Lawyer Tells Jurors

Discussion: Midtopia, On Deadline, whatever already! and Bark Bark Woof Woof

Emptywheel / Firedoglake: Libby Liveblog: Other Issues

Think Progress:

Embargoed: State of the Union Text — We'll start respecting White House embargoes when they start telling the truth. — Embargoed Until Delivery of the State of the Union Address at 9:01 PM EST — January 23, 2007 — STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS — As Prepared For Delivery

Discussion: The Mahablog, CorrenteWire, Angry Bear and No More Mister Nice Blog

Drudge Report:

EXCLUSIVE: FULL STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH — Madam Speaker, Vice President Cheney, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: — This rite of custom brings us together at a defining hour - when decisions are hard and courage is tested.

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, The Political Pit Bull, A Blog For All and The Jawa Report

Robert Mayer / Publius Pundit: DEMOCRACY AS FOREIGN POLICY DYING, BUT NOT DEAD

Drudge Report:

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 8:45pm ET] — Good evening. — I'm Senator Jim Webb, from Virginia, where this year we will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown - an event that marked the first step in the long journey that has made us the greatest and most prosperous nation on earth.

Discussion: Right Voices

Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:

State Of The Union: Live Blog — Show going live now — click the icon below to join! — I'll be live-blogging the State of the Union speech at this link, starting shortly before it commences at 8 PM CT. Be sure to keep checking back here for constant updates during the speech.

Discussion: Beltway Blogroll, Blogs for Bush, The Political Pit Bull and Elocutio

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
State of the Union: The biggest non-event of the year; Update …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Townhall.com Blog's … and Sister Toldjah

Dan / Riehl World View:
Webb's Disappointing Rebuttal

Discussion: Instapundit.com

Abu Kais / From Beirut to the Beltway:

Hizbullah, Aoun unleash terror on Lebanon — continuous updates — Hundreds of masked men are setting fire to tires and dumpsters after filling them with fuel in Beirut and other areas. Eyewitnesses told me that they saw bulldozers assisting the protestors by shoveling dirt and dumping it on some of the roads.

Discussion: Blacksmiths of Lebanon, Gateway Pundit, snapped shot, Publius Pundit and Blue Crab Boulevard

Michael J. Totten:
Hezbollah Riots in Lebanon (Continuously Updated)

Discussion: From Beirut to the Beltway, Blogs of War, Pajamas Media, Blacksmiths of Lebanon, A Blog For All, BBC, Haaretz and Blue Crab Boulevard

New York Times:
Hezbollah Strike Brings Beirut to a Virtual Halt

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Washington Wire:

From the President, a Two-Letter Jab at the Democrats — President Bush departed from the prepared text of his State of the Union address to graciously congratulate Nancy Pelosi on her history-making selection as the first female Speaker of the House. Then he departed from the prepared text …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Angry Bear

Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:

Webb Offers Blunt Challenge to Bush — Va. Senator Urges Change in Direction for Economy, Iraq War — Sen. James Webb (D-Va.) delivered a blistering eight-minute response to President Bush's State of the Union address last night, promising an aggressive challenge to Bush's Iraq …

John Byrne / The Raw Story:

Liberal talk show host trashes Clinton's staff — Fargo's liberal talker Ed Schultz broke out enraged against the staff of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in remarks broadcast Monday — and then met this morning with Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), RAW STORY has learned. A Schultz aide said the meeting was long planned.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Taylor Marsh and The Democratic Daily

Rick Klein / Boston Globe:
As Kerry ponders, Democrats crowd in

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, Washington Post, Liberal Values, The Caucus, politico.com and CNN Political Ticker

Ed Morrissey / Examiner:
Richardson could be '08's most dangerous candidate

Discussion: TIME, Captain's Quarters, Reason Magazine and The Corner

Washington Post:

Petraeus Confident in New Iraq Strategy — Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, President Bush's nominee to become the new top commander in Iraq, painted a grim picture today of the military challenge ahead in what both congressional Democrats and Republicans described as the "last chance" to stabilize the nation.

Discussion: New York Times, Townhall.com Blog's …, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Moderate Voice and State of the Day

Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:
Petraeus Says 'Tough Days' Ahead in Iraq

Discussion: Michelle Malkin

Ynetnews:

Iran: Israel, US will soon die — Ahmadinejad: Be assured that the US and Israel will soon end lives — Israel and the United States will soon be destroyed, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday during a meeting with Syria's foreign minister, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) website said in a report.

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere and Blogs of War