memeorandum: A Mile From Cheney, Afghan Bomber Kills at Least 23 (New York Times)

6:25 AM ET, February 28, 2007

Top Items:

Carl Levin Calls for Attacks On Syria. Admits Al-Qaeda In Iraq & Troops Need to Stay — UPDATE: The video is here. — Get ready for Carl Levin to get shot by Cindy Sheehan or some other angry lefty. I'm not sure what happened to him, but he's making sense right now.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, A Blog For All, Wizbang, The Political Pit Bull, QandO, Sister Toldjah and PoliPundit.com

Associated Press:

Rice: U.S. joining Iraq in inviting Iran, Syria to 'neighbors meeting' — The United States and the Iraqi government are launching a new diplomatic initiative to invite Iran and Syria to a neighbors meeting on stabilizing Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Riehl World View, TPMCafe blogs, Donklephant and Jules Crittenden

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

U.S. Will Join Talks With Iran And Syria — Rice Announces Policy Shift as Iraq Plans Conferences — The United States agreed yesterday to join high-level talks with Iran and Syria on the future of Iraq, an abrupt shift in policy that opens the door to diplomatic dealings the White House …

Discussion: Decision '08

Bonddad / The Bonddad Blog:

What the Hell Happened Today — OK. The markets are closed. Let's take a breath and look at what happened. — A big drop in China started it off: … Here's more from Bloomberg: … I can't speak to the practices these proposed regulations are supposed to curb.

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Taylor Marsh, The Agonist, Crooks and Liars, Secular Blasphemy and skippy the bush kangaroo

Agence France Presse:

Asia-Pacific stocks fall on China plunge — Stock markets around the Asia-Pacific region opened sharply lower Wednesday after a dizzying sell-off in China sent global markets into a tailspin. — Japanese share prices tumbled 3.56 percent in morning trade Wednesday, tracking a rout …

Discussion: The Gun Toting Liberal ™ and QandO

Madlen Read / Associated Press:

Stocks have worst day since 9/11 attacks — NEW YORK - Stocks had their worst day of trading since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks Tuesday, hurtling the Dow Jones industrials down more than 400 points on a worldwide tide of concern that the U.S. and Chinese economies are stumbling and that share prices have become overinflated.

Discussion: New York Times and The Democratic Daily

Pajamas Media:

REWRITING HERSTORY: HUFFPO EXPUNGES, EDITS 100S OF COMMENTS AT THE CHENEY HATE FESTIVAL — Over the last few hours, the more than 400 comments appended to the Huffington Post's news item on the attack in Afghanistan on a base being visited by Vice-President Dick Cheney have been expunged from the site.

Discussion: The Reaction, ABCNEWS, Redstate, Blue Collar Heresy, Michelle Malkin, Liberal Values, TBogg, The Gun Toting Liberal ™, Atlas Shrugs, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Indepundit, Riehl World View, The Radio Equalizer and Macsmind

Patterico / Patterico's Pontifications:

Glenn Greenwald, Thomas Ellers, and Rick Ellensburg: The Three Most Hypocritical Men on the Planet — A suicide bomber apparently tried to kill Dick Cheney, and many commenters at the Huffington Post lamented his lack of success. The offending comments have been removed from the post in question, but you can read some of them here.

Discussion: Blogs of War, Flopping Aces, Ace of Spades HQ, protein wisdom and seanet.com

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
A hallmark of idiocy — (updated below - updated again)

Discussion: protein wisdom, Ace of Spades HQ, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, WILLisms.com, Webloggin, Crooks and Liars, Media Matters for America, New York Times, TIME: Swampland and The Democratic Daily

Washington Post:

African American Voters Shift Support to Obama — The opening stages of the campaign for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination have produced a noticeable shift in sentiment among African American voters, who little more than a month ago heavily supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton …

Discussion: CNN, The Huffington Post, The Nation, The Moderate Voice, Brilliant at Breakfast, Oliver Willis, The Daily Background, Donklephant, Riehl World View, Taegan Goddard's … and Decision '08

Chris Bowers / MyDD:
New National Polls — Two new national polls out today.

Discussion: Booman Tribune

David E. Sanger / New York Times:

Afghan Bombing Sends a Danger Signal to U.S. — The audacity of a suicide-bomb attack on Tuesday at the gates of the main American base in Afghanistan during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney underscores why President Bush sent him there — a deepening American concern that the Taliban and Al Qaeda are resurgent.

Discussion: Brilliant at Breakfast and Cliff Schecter

New York Times:

A Mile From Cheney, Afghan Bomber Kills at Least 23 — A suicide bomber blew himself up on Tuesday morning outside the gate of the United States air base near Kabul where Vice President Dick Cheney was staying, killing at least 23 people. The vice president heard the blast from a mile away.

Discussion: the talking dog and The Agonist

Jeff Goldstein / protein wisdom:
Informed Comment (UPDATED)

Discussion: Jules Crittenden

Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:

Democrats Back Away From War Fund Plan — WASHINGTON — House Democratic leaders are backing away from a plan to scale back U.S. involvement in the Iraq war by using Congress' most powerful tool _ withholding money in the budget. — Instead, party officials said Tuesday …

Discussion: LiberalOasis, Daily Kos and Macsmind

Washington Post:
Iraq Bill Vexes Democrats

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Dana Bash / CNN:
Senate Democrats may be splintering on Iraq

Discussion: Dick Polman's American Debate

Nico / Think Progress:

Glenn Beck Claims Olbermann Is 'Killing...The World's Democracy,' 'Smacks Of...McCarthyism' — MSNBC host Keith Olbermann is profiled in this month's issue of Rolling Stone. In the piece, Olbermann shares his thoughts on right-wing CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck:

Glenn Beck / CNN: Former CIA Operative Weighs in on Afghan War; Kerik Weighs …

The Media Mob / The New York Observer Media Mob:

CanWest Buys out the New Republic — Just days after purchasing the shares from money men Roger Hertog and Michael Steinhardt, Canadian media giant Can West has completely bought out the New Republic. — The Observer first reported in Dec. 2006 (2nd item) that CanWest was taking a majority stake in the company.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money

NewDonkey.com:
New Republic? — One of the odd but revealing bits …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

Yochi J. Dreazen / Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Find Stokes Fears Of Iraqis' Bomb-Making Ability — BAGHDAD, Iraq — An American military raid in southern Iraq uncovered a makeshift factory used to construct advanced roadside bombs that the U.S. had thought were made only in Iran. The find raises fears that Shiite Muslim insurgents across Iraq …

Kevin Drum / Political Animal:
EFP UPDATE....On Monday the U.S. Army discovered a new cache …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and TPMmuckraker

Extreme Mortman:

Gin! Rummy! — Oh, the duck. Oh, the risotto. Oh the crepes sporting raspberry and strawberry filling. — Tonight we treated the entire Extreme Mortman staff to a rare night out on the town, or, more accurately, an hour in the basement of the Willard Hotel.

Jerusalem Post:

Gang rapes Jewish women as 'revenge' — A gang of serial rapists has been prowling the North, raping Jewish women as revenge for IDF actions in the West Bank, police revealed Tuesday after arresting six suspects. — "We are raping Jews because of what the IDF is doing to the Palestinians …

Discussion: The Jawa Report

James Pethokoukis / US News:

Did the Drudge Report Help Tank the Stock Market? — Here's a headline sure to spook any investor or economist: "Greenspan warns of likely U.S. recession." That was the headline right near the top of the widely surfed Drudge Report yesterday afternoon and this morning …

Discussion: The Jawa Report