memeorandum: Rudy's In, Mostly — Rudy Giuliani ended most of the speculation … (Captain Ed/Captain's Quarters)

6:00 AM ET, February 6, 2007

Top Items:

Republicans block Senate debate on Iraq — WASHINGTON - Republicans blocked a full-fledged Senate debate over Iraq on Monday, but Democrats vowed they would eventually find a way to force President Bush to change course in a war that has claimed the lives of more than 3,000 U.S. troops.

Discussion: BobGeiger.com, BLACKFIVE, workingforchange.com …, The Strata-Sphere and Gateway Pundit

Washington Post:

Iraq Debate Grips Senate — Democrats Struggle to Bring Resolution on Troop Levels to Vote — Senate Democrats, facing a filibuster of a long-awaited debate on President Bush's Iraq policy, were scrambling today to bring a resolution of opposition to the Senate floor.

Discussion: Fox News, Hot Air, AMERICAblog, Obsidian Wings, Flopping Aces, Discourse.net, Gun Toting Liberal ™, The Reaction, The Left Coaster, democracyarsenal.org, PoliBlog (TM), Liberal Values and Associated Press

New York Times:

G.O.P. Senators Block Debate on Iraq Policy — Republicans on Monday blocked Senate debate on a bipartisan resolution opposing President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq, leaving in doubt whether the Senate would render a judgment on what lawmakers of both parties described as the paramount issue of the day.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, The RBC and The Anonymous Liberal

New York Times:
Republican Senators Block Debate on Iraq Resolution

Discussion: The Heretik, The Democratic Daily, The Political Pit Bull and Macsmind

Michael Roston / The Raw Story:
Senate Republicans successfully block debate on Iraq resolution

Discussion: The BRAD BLOG

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Feingold bashes both parties over Iraq

Discussion: The Agonist and Daily Kos

Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
GOP Blocks Cloture On Surge Resolution

Discussion: A Second Hand Conjecture and Blue Crab Boulevard

DownWithTyranny!:
FEINGOLD ON FIRE AFTER REPUBLICANS VOTE TO BLOCK IRAQ DEBATE

Discussion: Firedoglake

Kos / Daily Kos:
Republicans refuse to debate Iraq surge

Discussion: The Right's Field, The Left Coaster and The News Blog

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo: We had our late afternoon editorial meeting here at TPM this afternoon.

Kevin Drum / Political Animal:

HILLARY AND RUDY....I'm with Atrios on this: I don't think it's surprising at all that Hillary Clinton trounced Rudy Giuliani in a recent poll in New York state. It's sort of the flipside of my earlier argument about Hillary being stronger than many people think.

Discussion: Whiskey Fire, The Heretik, All Spin Zone and The Reaction

Liz Sidoti / Associated Press:

Giuliani nearing full-fledged candidacy — WASHINGTON - Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor whose popularity soared after his response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, moved closer to a full-fledged campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on Monday.

Discussion: The American Mind and Dean's World

Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Rudy's In, Mostly — Rudy Giuliani ended most of the speculation …

Discussion: Lonewacko

Henry Pierson Curtis / Orlando Sentinel:

Space shuttle astronaut arrested at OIA on attempted kidnapping, battery charges — A NASA astronaut is charged with attacking her rival for another astronaut's attention early Monday at Orlando International Airport, the Orlando Sentinel has learned. — Lisa Marie Nowak drove from Texas …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Ed Driscoll.com, The Volokh Conspiracy and The Coalition of the Swilling

Jeffrey Goldberg / New Yorker:

THE LORAX — Hillary Rodham Clinton, like many capable politicians, has the ability to arrange her face in such a way as to convey nothing but placidity and benign pity when confronted by a hostile or unpleasant comment. On occasion, though, when her benevolence or, worse, her honor is questioned …

Discussion: Unclaimed Territory, TalkLeft and The Reaction

Digby / Hullabaloo:

"Feels Good!" — We have talked a lot lately about Dick Cheney's delusional behavior and his childlike strategic foreign policy vision. It seems as if even the dunderhead Bush seems less threatening and freakishly out to lunch than Cheney. In fact, it's hard to find any Republicans wearing the fogged-up …

John / AMERICAblog:

Snickers Superbowl Web site promotes violence against gays and lesbians. Bears & Colts players react in disgust, on camera, to gays. — UPDATE: Snickers pulled the Web site containing the homophobic ads and commentary. Still no word from Snickers about the entire affair.

Discussion: Ace of Spades HQ, Blinq, DownWithTyranny!, This Modern World and Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler

Washington Post:

Bush Plan Reins In Domestic Spending — Proposal Aims to Balance Budget And Fund Wars — President Bush took aim yesterday at domestic spending as part of a plan to balance the budget in five years without raising taxes while increasing funding for the Iraq war and permanently expanding the military.

Discussion: Gun Toting Liberal ™, The Corner and The Democratic Daily

Christopher Hitchens / Slate:

Appointment in Mesopotamia — IRAQ'S PROBLEMS EXISTED LONG BEFORE 2003. — Replying to Fareed Zakaria's observation in Newsweek, about Iraq and the Iraqis—that "We did not give them a republic. We gave them a civil war." —Charles Krauthammer, in our common sister paper the Washington Post, expressed a fine contempt:

Discussion: Daily Kos

Nico / Think Progress:

FACT CHECK: Washington Times Publishes False Report On Pelosi's Use Of Military Aircraft — On February 1, the Washington Times published a story titled "Speaker pursues military flights," which claimed that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had been "pressing the Bush administration …

Discussion: Fox News, Talking Points Memo, NewsBusters.org, Outside The Beltway, David Phinney and AMERICAblog

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Video: Diane Sawyer asks Syrian fascist what's on his iPod — From this morning's GMA. Not quite as flirtatious as Wallace's pattycake session with Ahmadinejad, but at least he sprung a few tough questions about Hezbollah and the Holocaust. Sawyer's most probing moment was asking …

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, The Political Pit Bull and Riehl World View

ABCNEWS: Exclusive: Syrian President Says He Can Help Broker Peace If U.S. Will Talk

George F. Will / Newsweek:

Inconvenient Kyoto Truths — Was life better when a sheet of ice a mile thick covered Chicago? Was it worse when Greenland was so warm that Vikings farmed there? — Enough already. It is time to call some bluffs. John Kerry says that one reason America has become an "international pariah" …

Discussion: Canada Free Press, contentions, Jay Currie, GINA COBB, Blue Crab Boulevard, Opinion Journal and One Hand Clapping

CNN:

U.S. military: Iraqi lawmaker is U.S. Embassy bomber … BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — A man sentenced to death in Kuwait for the 1983 bombings of the U.S. and French embassies now sits in Iraq's parliament as a member of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ruling coalition, according to U.S. military intelligence.

Discussion: Demagogue and KnoxViews