memeorandum: Senate foes of troop buildup join forces (Anne Flaherty/Associated Press)

8:40 AM ET, February 1, 2007

Top Items:

Syndicated columnist Molly Ivins dies at 62 — Best-selling author, sharp-witted Texas liberal succumbs to breast cancer — Syndicated columnist Molly Ivins poses for a portrait at her home Sept. 22 in Austin, Texas. She died Wednesday at 62 after a long battle with breast cancer.

Discussion: Associated Press, skippy the bush kangaroo, The Left Coaster, Happy Furry Puppy Story …, Liberal Values, SteveAudio, The Democratic Daily, Outside The Beltway, The Agonist and Lifelike Pundits

John Moritz / Dallas Star-Telegram:

Columnist Molly Ivins dies — AUSTIN — Molly Ivins, whose biting columns mixed liberal populism with an irreverent Texas wit, died at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at her home in Austin after an up-and-down battle with breast cancer she had waged for seven years. She was 62.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, Dean's World, The Sideshow, Booman Tribune, The Mahablog, The American Street, On Deadline, My Left Nutmeg, Liberty Street, Romenesko and Pharyngula

Joe Holley / Washington Post:

Columnist Molly Ivins, 62; Poked Fun at the Powerful — Molly Ivins, 62, an unabashedly liberal columnist and best-selling author whose wicked wit and good ol' girl-style Texas humor regularly skewered conservative politicians and targeted the pomposities of elected officials regardless of political stripe …

Discussion: Gun Toting Liberal ™ and democracyarsenal.org

New York Times:

Chirac Unfazed by Nuclear Iran, Then Backtracks — President Jacques Chirac said this week that if Iran had one or two nuclear weapons, it would not pose a big danger, and that if Iran were to launch a nuclear weapon against a country like Israel, it would lead to the immediate destruction of Tehran.

Discussion: It Shines For All, Kesher Talk, Andrew Sullivan and Atlas Shrugs

New York Times:

Bullying Iran — Given America's bitter experience in Iraq, one would think that President Bush could finally figure out that threats and brute force aren't a substitute for a reasoned strategy. But Mr. Bush is at it again, this time trying to bully Iran into stopping its meddling inside Iraq.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, QandO and The Political Pit Bull

Associated Press:
U.S.-Iran tensions could trigger war

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, Talking Points Memo, NO QUARTER, The Anonymous Liberal and The Democratic Daily

Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters: Chirac Shrugs At A Nuclear Iran

Pundit Review Radio / BLACKFIVE:

A hearty F*** You to William Arkin — Update: Marc Danziger, the Armed Liberal over at Winds of change is much less hyperbolic about Arkin than I am and check on Fuzzy Bear's stuff too. — Apologies for the F bombs bursting in air, but...well just read on.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Riehl World View, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Blue Crab Boulevard, Andrew Olmsted dot com, Gun Toting Liberal ™, Wizbang and Instapundit.com

Michelle Malkin:

WaPo math: Troops=mercenaries — Here's Washington Post national security reporter/blogger William Arkin's screed against NBC's report, which quoted troops who want Americans to support their mission. An excerpt from Arkin's unhinged diatribe: … Is he auditioning for a Daily Kos diarist spot?

Discussion: Flopping Aces

Hindrocket / Power Line:

THE PERIL OF NEWSPAPER BLOGS... ...is that a reporter might say what he actually thinks before an editor catches up with him and makes him stop. A case in point: William Arkin writes on "national and homeland security" for the Washington Post. Yesterday morning, in his blog titled Early Warning …

Discussion: Redstate, Hang Right Politics and BLACKFIVE

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
WaPo blogger to U.S. troops: Be thankful we don't spit on you, mercenaries

Discussion: Ace of Spades HQ and The Sundries Shack

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:

Biden Unwraps His Bid for '08 With an Oops! — In an era of meticulous political choreography, the staging of the kickoff for this presidential candidacy could hardly have gone worse. — Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, who announced his candidacy on Wednesday with the hope …

Discussion: Washington Post, AMERICAblog, NewsBusters.org, Booman Tribune, Jon Swift and DownWithTyranny!

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:
A Biden Problem: Foot in Mouth

Discussion: The Reaction, TAPPED, Balloon Juice, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and The Caucus

Jason Horowitz / New York Observer:
Biden Unbound: Lays Into Clinton, Obama, Edwards

Discussion: The Politico, Hot Air, newsjournal.com, New York Times, The Jawa Report, Redstate, The Caucus, Political Animal, CNN Political Ticker, The Right Angle, The Impolitic, The Carpetbagger Report, GregsOpinion.com, Macsmind, The Corner and Transterrestrial Musings

Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:

Senate foes of troop buildup join forces — WASHINGTON - Two senators, a Republican and a Democrat, leading separate efforts to put Congress on record against President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq joined forces Wednesday, agreeing on a nonbinding resolution that would oppose the plan and potentially embarrass the White House.

Discussion: Think Progress, New York Times, Donklephant, Crooks and Liars, AMERICAblog, BobGeiger.com, Middle Earth Journal and The Left Coaster

Washington Post:

Senators Unite On Challenge to Bush's Troop Plan — Revised Warner Language That Protects Funds Is Embraced for Bipartisan Appeal — Democratic and Republican opponents of President Bush's troop-buildup plan joined forces last night behind the nonbinding resolution with the broadest bipartisan backing …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Taylor Marsh, DownWithTyranny! and Daily Kos

Rob Hotakainen / Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Franken tells DFLers he's running for Senate — WASHINGTON - Comedian and radio talk show host Al Franken has begun calling Democratic members of Congress and prominent DFLers to tell them he will definitely challenge Republican Sen. Norm Coleman in 2008, the Star Tribune has learned.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Wizbang and Ace of Spades HQ

Frederic J. Frommer / Associated Press:
Comedian Al Franken to Run for Senate

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and All Spin Zone

Kevin Sullivan / Washington Post:

British Police Arrest 9 on Terror Charges — British police arrested nine people Wednesday in the central England city of Birmingham as part of a "major counterterrorism operation," police said. — Police released no immediate details, but British media, citing unnamed security sources …

Discussion: Op For and IraqSlogger.com

Sky News:

Terror Plot: Ninth Arrest — A ninth suspect has been arrested by police investigating an alleged Iraq-style kidnapping and beheading plot in the UK. — It follows the detention of eight people at addresses in Birmingham earlier. — Assistant Chief Constable David Shaw, of West Midlands Police …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Sun, Pajamas Media, The Political Pit Bull, Hyscience, On Deadline, Andrew Sullivan, The Belmont Club, Blue Crab Boulevard, Hang Right Politics, Ace of Spades HQ, Hot Air, Power Line, Daimnation! and Wizbang

WCVB-TV:

TV Network Takes Responsibility For 'Hoax Devices' — BOSTON — Turner Broadcasting plans to take responsibility for the "hoax devices" that were found at several locations in and around Boston Wednesday that forced police bomb units to scramble throughout the area.

Discussion: On Deadline and Reason Magazine

Jeralyn Merritt / Firedoglake:

Who Will Deliver for Fitz? — Wigmore described cross-examination as the "greatest legal invention ever invented for the discovery of truth." (5 J. Wigmore, Evidence §1367 (J. Chadbourn rev. 1974.) Put another way, it's a great tool for ferreting out untruths in the courtroom.

Discussion: whatever already! and JustOneMinute

New York Times:
Reporter Who Was Jailed Testifies in Libby Case

Discussion: Washington Post, JustOneMinute, whatever already! and Firedoglake

Dan Collins / protein wisdom:

Pariah Kerry — I've avoided this topic, but Jeff's post below put me in mind of it. John Kerry at Davos: — "When we walk away from global warming, Kyoto, when we are irresponsibly slow in moving toward AIDS in Africa, when we don't advance and live up to our own rhetoric and standards …

Discussion: Boston Herald and Liberal Values

Julian E. Barnes / Los Angeles Times:

Air Force's role in Iraq could grow — More flights are likely along the Iranian border, sources say. — WASHINGTON — The Air Force is preparing for an expanded role in Iraq that could include aggressive new tactics designed to deter Iranian assistance to Iraqi militants, senior Pentagon officials said.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Armchair Generalist, Lawyers, Guns and Money and TPMCafe blogs

Associated Press:

Sunni Mosques Still Show Damage in Iraq — BAGHDAD, Iraq — Four Sunni mosques attacked in late November in the embattled Hurriyah neighborhood of Baghdad still bear scars from the attacks and all are now either under Shiite Muslim control or closed. — Immediately after the Nov. 24 incidents …

Discussion: Hot Air, Confederate Yankee, Michelle Malkin, Flopping Aces and Patterico's Pontifications

Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:

White House to Release Details on Eavesdropping — Bowing to bipartisan pressure from lawmakers, the Justice Department announced today that it was turning over to select members of Congress secret documents detailing the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping program.

Discussion: Associated Press and Political Animal

USA Today:

General says U.S. has proof Iran arming Iraqi militias — BAGHDAD — Iran is supplying Iraqi militias with a variety of powerful weapons including Katyusha rockets, the No. 2 U.S. general in Iraq said Tuesday. — "We have weapons that we know through serial numbers ... that trace back to Iran …

Discussion: Hot Air and War and Piece

Opinion Journal:

Talking With the President — Excerpts from George W. Bush's conversation with the Journal editorial board. — The following are excerpts from President Bush's meeting yesterday with the Journal's editorial board: — On the new Iraq strategy: — WSJ: Was there a moment in the war …

Discussion: Washington Wire