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

10:25 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 Washington Note, The Caucus, Washington Post, Media Blog, ACSBlog, 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: Crooks and Liars, Balloon Juice, Democrats.com, The Impolitic, Political Animal, Daily Kos, Wonkette 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: 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?

Discussion: JustOneMinute

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

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

Emptywheel / Firedoglake: Libby Liveblog: Other Issues

Richard B. Schmitt / Los Angeles Times:
Opening statements in Libby trial paint different portraits

Discussion: Bench Conference

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

Digby / Hullabaloo:
Boot Scooter Boogie

Discussion: CorrenteWire

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 and Angry Bear

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: Publius Pundit, Michelle Malkin, Gateway Pundit, A Blog For All and The Jawa Report

Rick Klein / Boston Globe:

As Kerry ponders, Democrats crowd in — '04 nominee resisting push to decide on '08 — WASHINGTON — With the 2008 Democratic presidential field taking shape fast, Senator John F. Kerry still hasn't decided whether to join the race, and maintains that the early announcements from other candidates …

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

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

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

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

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) — 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, Pajamas Media, A Blog For All, BBC, Blacksmiths of Lebanon, Haaretz and Blue Crab Boulevard

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

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Dean Barnett / Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog:

FAQ - The State of the Union Address! — 1) So what's going to happen tonight? — The only thing we can really know for sure is that Peggy Noonan will hate the speech. Unless of course she wrote it. Then she'll like it. Except for the delivery. — 2) Surely we know more about what's to come than that.

Discussion: Blogs of War

John Hawkins / Right Wing News:
A Teleconference With Tony Snow, White House Press Secretary …

Discussion: Townhall.com Blog's …, Lonewacko, Wizbang and Captain's Quarters

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 …, The Moderate Voice and Blue Crab Boulevard

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: Blogs of War