memeorandum: McCain Bashes Cheney Over Iraq Policy (Roger Si/politico.com)

3:05 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: Crooks and Liars, The Washington Note, Attytood, NO QUARTER, Outside The Beltway, 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: Democrats.com, Balloon Juice and Daily Kos

Matt Apuzzo / Associated Press:

Lawyers Paint Libby As Sacrificial Lamb — WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorneys for former White House aide ``Scooter'' Libby said Tuesday that Bush administration officials tried to blame him for the leak of a CIA operative's name to cover up for Bush political adviser Karl Rove's own disclosures.

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

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.

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

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, The Glittering Eye, Kiko's House, BLACKFIVE and Centerfield

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, Gun Toting Liberal ™, PoliBlog (TM), Captain's Quarters, Jules Crittenden 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

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

Discussion: Morning Call and Daily Kos

Jay Carney / Swampland:
The Clinton Playbook — When George W. Bush takes the podium …

Discussion: The Caucus

Jay Carney / Swampland:
Re: The Clinton Playbook

Discussion: Personal Democracy Forum blogs and Seeing the Forest

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

Fox News:

WEB SITE KICKS SAND IN FACES OF GIS IN IRAQ ASKING FOR MATS TO EASE HARDSHIP OF SLEEPING ON GROUND — An American GI assigned to one of the harshest posts in Iraq had a simple request last week for a Wisconsin mattress company: send some floor mats to help ease the hardship of sleeping on the cold, bug-infested ground.

Discussion: Andrew Olmsted dot com, NewsBusters.org, The Strata-Sphere, digg and Atlas Shrugs

Annysa Johnson / JSOnline:
E-mail to soldier spurs outrage

Discussion: BLACKFIVE, Hot Air and On Deadline

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, The American Street and State of the Day

Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
Investigating, rather than reciting, Bush claims re: Iran

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, The Carpetbagger Report, rubber hose, NO QUARTER and Gideon Rachman

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: Right Wing News, Redstate, Hot Air and digg

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

New York Times:
General Petraeus's Opening Statement

Discussion: Washington Post

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.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Middle Earth Journal, DownWithTyranny!, The Heretik, Reason Magazine, Kiko's House and Andrew Sullivan

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 Carpetbagger Report, The Reaction, The American Street, Gateway Pundit, Matthew Yglesias, Political Animal, Don Surber, Armchair Generalist and Blue Crab Boulevard

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, Hot Air and The Jawa Report

USA Today:

Lawmakers have loved ones in combat zone — WASHINGTON — Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., lost his nephew, Philip, in Iraq. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., says his son, Alan, had two close calls: one from an improvised explosive device, the other from a sniper. — Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo. …

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, The Caucus and Sister Toldjah