memeorandum: Posing as a Family, Sex Offenders Stun a Town (Jennifer Steinhauer/New York Times)

11:00 AM ET, February 1, 2007

Top Items:

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 …

Hotline On Call:
Biden Calls Obama To Clarify

Discussion: observer.com, Reason Magazine, ABCNEWS, Daily Kos and Michelle Malkin

Ian Bishop / New York Post:
BIDEN BLOWS IT — RACIAL SLAP IN OBAMA 'PRAISE'

Discussion: Blogs of War, NewsBusters.org and Blue Crab Boulevard

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, The Carpetbagger Report, Taylor Marsh, DownWithTyranny!, Daily Pundit, Daily Kos and On Deadline

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, Crooks and Liars, AMERICAblog, Donklephant, BobGeiger.com, The Left Coaster and Middle Earth Journal

Rowan Scarborough / Washington Times:
Speaker pursues military flights

Discussion: Redstate and On Deadline

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
In Fighting Troop Increase, Senator Finds Few Old Allies

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker and AMERICAblog

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: Riehl World View, Captain's Quarters, Confederate Yankee, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Blue Crab Boulevard, Andrew Olmsted dot com, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Gun Toting Liberal ™, Transterrestrial Musings, Wizbang, Hyscience and Instapundit.com

Michelle Malkin:
WaPo math: Troops=mercenaries

Discussion: Redstate and Flopping Aces

Hindrocket / Power Line:
THE PERIL OF NEWSPAPER BLOGS...

Discussion: Early Warning, Redstate, Hang Right Politics and BLACKFIVE

John / Op For:
FALLEN … And with that piece, every frustration that I've felt …

Discussion: Hot Air, QandO, Ace of Spades HQ, Outside The Beltway, FishBowlDC, Little Green Footballs, Brutally Honest, The Sundries Shack, Hang Right Politics and Media Blog

Associated Press:

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, The Left Coaster, The Huffington Post, skippy the bush kangaroo, Happy Furry Puppy Story …, TAPPED, SteveAudio, The Democratic Daily, Liberal Values, 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: New York Times, The American Street, Firedoglake, The Sideshow, Off the Kuff, Booman Tribune, Pharyngula, The Mahablog, On Deadline, My Left Nutmeg, Liberty Street and Romenesko

Joe Holley / Washington Post:
Columnist Molly Ivins, 62; Poked Fun at the Powerful

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: Captain's Quarters, Redstate, Kesher Talk, It Shines For All, FP Passport, 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: Jules Crittenden, The Moderate Voice, QandO, The Political Pit Bull and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

San Francisco Chronicle:

MATIER AND ROSS — AIDE QUITS AS NEWSOM'S AFFAIR WITH HIS WIFE IS REVEALED — Campaign manager confronts mayor, who is 'in shock' — San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's re-election campaign manager resigned Wednesday after confronting the mayor about an affair Newsom had with his wife …

Discussion: Attytood and Hang Right Politics

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Wherever a Senator's Question Leads, Kissinger Gamely Follows — So now it can be told: President Bush has a secret plan to end the war in Iraq. — Henry Kissinger, who as Richard Nixon's secretary of state learned something about secret plans, went before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and Wonkette

Josephine Hearn / The Politico:

Sanchez Accuses Democrat of Calling Her a 'Whore,' Resigns from Hispanic Group — Rep. Loretta Sanchez has quit the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, accusing the chairman, Rep. Joe Baca, of telling people she's a "whore." — Baca denied the charge. — In an interview with The Politico Wednesday …

Discussion: Lifelike Pundits

Austan Goolsbee / New York Times:

Now That a Penny Isn't Worth Much, It's Time to Make It Worth 5 Cents — How dumb do you have to be to mint money at a loss? In the latest only-in-Washington episode, we find that the government may have lost as much as $40 million coining pennies and nickels last year.

Discussion: Economist's View, PoliBlog (TM) and Marginal Revolution

Associated Press:

New York Times Reports 4Q Loss of $648M — NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times Co. posted a $648 million loss for the fourth quarter on Wednesday as it absorbed an $814.4 million charge to write down the value of its struggling New England properties, The Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

Discussion: Houston Chronicle, Don Surber, Hyscience, Sweetness & Light and Atlas Shrugs

Ken Maguire / Associated Press:

Boston publicity ploy leads to 2 arrests — BOSTON - Several illuminated electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. Most of the devices depict a character giving the finger.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Scared Monkeys and Little Green Footballs

Washington Post:

Iraq Restricts Air, Land Passages to Syria, Iran — Iraq indefinitely halted all flights to and from Syria and closed a border crossing with Iran as the government prepares for a security crackdown, a parliament member and an airport official said Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.