memeorandum: Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney Urging the Senate … (aflcio.org)

4:50 PM ET, January 23, 2007

Top Items:

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

Think Progress:

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: Hardblogger, The Carpetbagger Report, DownWithTyranny!, Political Animal, Prairie Weather and The Mahablog

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: Balloon Juice, Democrats.com, Wonkette and Daily Kos

Emptywheel / Firedoglake:

Libby Liveblog: Well's Opening Statement, Part One — Wells up. — As you learned a few days ago, my name is Ted Wells. And I speak for Scooter Libby. Scooter Libby is innocent. Totally innocent. — He is an innocent man and he has been wrongly and unfairly accused.

Discussion: TalkLeft and Booman Tribune

Emptywheel / Firedoglake:

Libby Liveblog: Fitzgerald's Opening Statement — Here goes Fitzgerald... It will be utterly fascinating to see how Fitzgerald operates. I'm most interested, though, in how Fitzgerald will describe the obstruction charge and Libby's motive. What will Fitzgerald say Libby was obstructing, and why?

Matt Apuzzo / Associated Press: Lawyers Paint Libby As Sacrificial Lamb

Emptywheel / Firedoglake:
Libby Liveblog: Wells' Opening Statement, Part Two

Discussion: JustOneMinute and TalkLeft

Ed Morrissey / Examiner:

Richardson could be '08's most dangerous candidate — WASHINGTON - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's entry into the 2008 presidential sweepstakes Sunday garnered little notice, overshadowed as it was by the announcement of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., the day before.

Discussion: TIME, Captain's Quarters and Reason Magazine

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

Discussion: New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The Democratic Daily, Washington Post, The Caucus, Liberal Values and CNN Political Ticker

Michael J. Totten:

Hezbollah Riots in Lebanon — While I was in Lebanon gathering the material I've been publishing, Hezbollah kept threatening to strangle the country by seizing major roads, including the one that leads to the airport. I was worried I might get stuck there, but I didn't.

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

Abu Kais / From Beirut to the Beltway:

Black vs. White in Lebanon — 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, snapped shot and Publius Pundit

Jay Carney / Swampland:

Re: The Clinton Playbook — Amazingly, some Swampland readers seem to think my earlier post about President Bush's State of the Union address was too sympathetic to Bush, which proves nothing but that the left is as full of unthinking Ditto-heads as Limbaugh-land.

Discussion: Personal Democracy Forum blogs and Seeing the Forest

Atrios / Eschaton:
Swampland — In this edition, Jay Carney demonstrates …

Discussion: Swampland, Morning Call and Daily Kos

New York Times:

Bush, at Low Point in Polls, Will Push Domestic Agenda — Carrying some of the worst public approval ratings of any president in a generation, President Bush is heading into his State of the Union address on Tuesday night seeking to revitalize his domestic agenda but facing stiff resistance …

Discussion: Ezra Klein, Washington Post, The Mahablog, Captain's Quarters, Jules Crittenden, Gun Toting Liberal ™, PoliBlog (TM) and Oliver Willis

Michael van der Galien / The Moderate Voice:
Guest Voice: Governor Schwarzenegger's Office on Health Care

Discussion: Polimom Says and Washington Post

Los Angeles Times:

Scant evidence found of Iran-Iraq arms link — U.S. warnings of advanced weaponry crossing the border are overstated, critics say. — BAQUBAH, IRAQ — If there is anywhere Iran could easily stir up trouble in Iraq, it would be in Diyala, a rugged province along the border between the two nations.

Discussion: Think Progress, Democrats.com, TAPPED and The American Street

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 and Blue Crab Boulevard

New York Times:
General Petraeus's Opening Statement

Discussion: Washington Post, INTEL DUMP and The Moderate Voice

Liz Cheney / Washington Post:

Retreat Isn't an Option — Sen. Hillary Clinton declared this weekend, " I'm in to win." Anyone who has watched her remarkable trajectory can have no doubt that she'll do whatever it takes to win the presidency. I wish she felt the same way about the war.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Carpetbagger Report, Think Progress, The American Street, The Reaction, PoliPundit.com, Matthew Yglesias, Gateway Pundit, Political Animal, Don Surber, Armchair Generalist and Blue Crab Boulevard

PJM / Pajamas Media:

The State of the Union is a Disaster: — The Speech George Bush Should Make Tuesday Night — Don't bother standing up or clapping, any of you. I already know who won the election, and I know how you feel. — I come before you tonight not to make amends, not to make it good, curry any favor or find any middle ground.

Discussion: Power Line, The Sundries Shack, Jules Crittenden, The Democratic Daily, Dr. Sanity, Daily Pundit, Blinq, Blogs of War, Ed Driscoll.com, The Glittering Eye, Transterrestrial Musings, BLACKFIVE, Kiko's House and Centerfield

Confederate Yankee:

CRACKDOWN: Iraqi PM Locks Down Official Media Access to Key Government Ministries — An anonymous source from within Baghdad's Green Zone has provided me with a copy of a document issued from the office of Iraqi Prime Minster Nouri Al-Malki, ordering the shutdown of contacts with the world press on …

Discussion: protein wisdom, The Jawa Report and Hot Air

Josephine Hearn / politico.com:

Black Caucus: Whites Not Allowed — Freshman Rep. Stephen I. Cohen, D-Tenn., is not joining the Congressional Black Caucus after several current and former members made it clear that a white lawmaker was not welcome. — "I think they're real happy I'm not going to join," said Cohen …

Discussion: Redstate, Right Wing News, Hot Air and digg

Roger Si / politico.com:

McCain Bashes Cheney Over Iraq Policy — With his presidential hopes tied to an administration whose Iraq policy he supports but cannot control, John McCain for the first time blamed Vice President Cheney for what McCain calls the "witch's brew" of a "terribly mishandled" war in which U.S. forces are on the verge of defeat.