memeorandum: Orbiting Junk, Once a Nuisance, Is Now a Threat (William J. Broad/New York Times)

10:00 PM ET, February 6, 2007

Top Items:

Eric Gorski / Denver Post:

Haggard says he's not gay — The Rev. Ted Haggard emerged from three weeks of intensive counseling convinced he is "completely heterosexual" and told an oversight board that his sexual contact with men was limited to his accuser. — That is according to one of the disgraced pastor's overseers …

Discussion: The Reaction, Taylor Marsh, The Carpetbagger Report, Hot Air, Don Surber and CorrenteWire

Associated Press:

Haggard now "completely heterosexual" — DENVER - One of four ministers who oversaw three weeks of intensive counseling for the Rev. Ted Haggard said the disgraced minister emerged convinced that he is "completely heterosexual." — Haggard also said his sexual contact with men was limited …

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Talking Points Memo and Unqualified Offerings

Pajamas Media:

FLASH: OPERATION BAGHDAD HAS STARTED! — US Army soldiers from the 5-20 Infantry Division take up positions to provide cover for fellow soldiers as part of the launch of Operation Arrowhead Strike Six in the Shaab neighbourhood of northern Baghdad. — EXCLUSIVE From PJM Baghdad Editor Omar @ Iraq the Model @ 11:00 AM, PST

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard and Confederate Yankee

Omar / IRAQ THE MODEL:
Operation Baghdad Has Started!

Discussion: Redstate and alphabet city

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Arab TV: Operations in Baghdad have begun; Update: 2,000 U.S …

Discussion: alphabet city

The Politico:

GOP Views Clinton As Virtually Unbeatable — What many conservatives regard as the nightmare scenario — President Hillary Rodham Clinton — is increasingly seen by veteran Republican politicians and strategists as virtual inevitability. — In GOP circles, the Democratic front-runner is seen as so strong …

Discussion: MyDD and Daily Kos

David S. Broder / Washington Post:
The Other Democrats Weigh In — The good news for the nation's …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Taylor Marsh, The Agonist, PerishtheThought and ArchPundit

Oliver Willis:
David Broder Libels Democrats

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, TIME, Liberal Values, AMERICAblog, TAPPED, skippy the bush kangaroo, Hullabaloo, Seeing the Forest and Daily Kos

Arianna Huffington / The Huffington Post:

My Six-Point Reaction to Joe Klein's Seven-Point Response — I agree with Joe Klein's assessment that there are "far more important things going on in the world" than a clarification of his position on the war in Iraq. But I can't resist reacting to his seven-point response to my post on him:

Discussion: NewsBusters.org

Joe Klein / TIME: Swampland:

Slow News Day? — Arianna Huffington, the doyenne of the Hollywood left, has taken time from her busy schedule to attack me for something I said on Meet the Press three years ago. Since this lone quote has become an article of faith among the take-no-prisoners left, let me respond: — 1. Yes, I said it.

Discussion: Political Animal, The Huffington Post, Ezra Klein, Eschaton and The Daily Dish

Brian C. Ledbetter / snapped shot:

Glorious Jihadi Linkage — Wow, in what's sure to be a first for the history of Snapped Shot, I'm, well, proud to announce that one of the photographs in our cache has officially been included in an online article over at al Jazeera, the Voice of the Jihadis.

Little Green Footballs: It's Sad When Jihadis Hotlink

Swopa / Firedoglake:

Libby Live: Libby Grand Jury Testimony, Three — The jury has returned, so we're back for more Libby grand jury testimony from March 2004. Don't forget the ground rules... NOTES: (1) This is not an official transcript — just a very loose paraphrase, at best — so don't treat it as one.

Discussion: JustOneMinute and Booman Tribune

Washington Post:
Libby Says Cheney 'Disturbed' by Wilson's Claims

Discussion: The Daily Dish

Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:
Libby's Grand Jury Tapes Are Heard in Court

Discussion: JustOneMinute, TPMmuckraker, CBS News, Law Blog and Washington Post

Kevin Drum / Political Animal:

JOHN EDWARDS' HEALTHCARE PLAN....John Edwards' new healthcare proposal is, basically, an individual mandate (everyone is required to get health insurance coverage somehow) combined with community rating (private insurers have to take all comers, regardless of medical condition) and government subsidies …

Discussion: TAPPED, Matthew Yglesias, Washington Post, Liberal Values, Donklephant and TPMCafe blogs

Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:
In defense of vagueness and ambiguities

Discussion: Political Animal, TAPPED and Liberal Values

cbn.com:

FRC President: Giuliani 'Far Outside the Mainstream of Conservative Thought' — This just in to The Brody File. I received the following response from Tony Perkins on what he thinks about Rudy Giuliani's chances to be the next President of the United States. Let me put it this way: he's not thrilled.

Discussion: Hotline On Call, TIME, The Carpetbagger Report, DownWithTyranny!, The Political Pit Bull, CNN Political Ticker and Barone Blog

John Podhoretz / New York Post:
RUDY'S RIGHT STUFF

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Unclaimed Territory, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Corner

Christine Hauser / New York Times:

Astronaut Charged With Attempted Kidnapping — A NASA astronaut who drove hundreds of miles to confront a romantic rival, wearing diapers on the journey so that she would not have to stop to use the restroom, appeared in court today after being arrested on attempted kidnapping and other charges.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Slog and Feministe

Mike Schneider / Associated Press:
Astronaut Charged With Murder Attemp

Discussion: La Shawn Barber's Corner and The Corner

William M. Arkin / Early Warning:

Demonization and Responsibility — I've been making my way through the mail and online comments I've received in response to my columns last week. — The many e-mails I've gotten privately from people serving in the military are, not surprisingly, the most respectful and reflective.

Discussion: Winds of Change.NET, Power Line, Daily Pundit, Done With Mirrors, Little Green Footballs, Ace of Spades HQ and Ed Driscoll.com

San Francisco Chronicle:

NEWSOM TO SEEK HELP FOR ALCOHOL ABUSE — IN WAKE OF SCANDAL: Mayor says he has stopped drinking — won't step down — Just days after disclosing his affair with a staff member married to one of his top political aides, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom admitted Monday he has a drinking problem …

Discussion: TalkLeft, The Carpetbagger Report, CNN Political Ticker and Slog

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:

Reconstruction Official on Iraqi Billions: "What Difference Does It Make?" — What happened to billions in Iraqi funds that were overseen by the Coalition Provisional Authority? That's not "important," according to David Oliver, the former Director of Management and Budget of the agency.

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, The Carpetbagger Report and Hullabaloo

Edward N. Luttwak / New York Times:

To Help Iraq, Let It Fend for Itself — THE sooner President Bush can get his extra troops for a "surge" in Iraq, the sooner he will be able to announce that all American troops are coming home because of the inevitable failure of the Iraqi government to "live up to its side of the bargain."

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Talking Points Memo, FP Passport and Middle Earth Journal

ABCNEWS:

Exclusive: Duke Lacrosse Grand Jurors Speak Out — Grand Juror Says "Would Have Made a Different Decision" If he Knew What he Knows Now — In the spring, a grand jury in Durham, N.C., indicted three Duke University lacrosse players on charges of rape, sexual offense and kidnapping of an exotic dancer.

Discussion: Durham-in-Wonderland, Scared Monkeys and TalkLeft

William J. Broad / New York Times:

Orbiting Junk, Once a Nuisance, Is Now a Threat — For decades, space experts have worried that a speeding bit of orbital debris might one day smash a large spacecraft into hundreds of pieces and start a chain reaction, a slow cascade of collisions that would expand for centuries, spreading chaos through the heavens.

Discussion: Instapundit.com