memeorandum: All Scandals Are Not Created Equal (Digby/Hullabaloo)

9:40 PM ET, March 23, 2007

Top Items:

President Bush Discusses Iraq War Emergency Supplemental — THE PRESIDENT: Today I'm joined here at the White House by veterans, family members of people serving in combat, family members of those who have sacrificed. I am honored that they have joined me here today.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Power Line, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, alphabet city and First Draft

CNN:

House passes spending bill with Iraq deadline … WASHINGTON (CNN) — The House of Representatives on Friday voted 218-212 to approve a spending bill that includes a firm deadline — August 31, 2008 — for combat troops to leave Iraq. — President Bush, who already has said he would veto the bill …

Discussion: Democratic Underground, Liberal Values, The Moderate Voice, QandO, Macsmind, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, The Reaction and Left in the West

Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:

House OKs Timetable for Troops in Iraq — WASHINGTON (AP) - A sharply divided House voted Friday to order President Bush to bring combat troops home from Iraq next year, a victory for Democrats in an epic war-powers struggle and Congress' boldest challenge yet to the administration's policy.

Discussion: Don Surber, Austin Bay Blog, Facing South, Taylor Marsh, Roger L. Simon, Wizbang, PoliPundit.com and Clayton Cramer's BLOG

William Branigin / Washington Post:

House OKs Timetable for Troops in Iraq — $124B Emergency Bill Sets Binding Benchmarks for Progress in Iraq — The House of Representatives today passed a $124 billion emergency spending bill that sets binding benchmarks for progress in Iraq, establishes tough readiness standards …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, TalkLeft, Booman Tribune, INTEL DUMP, Obsidian Wings, The Strata-Sphere and Reason Magazine

MSNBC:

House approves 2008 deadline for war pullout — Bush calls it 'political theater' and vows to veto bill — WASHINGTON - A sharply divided House voted Friday to order President Bush to bring combat troops home from Iraq next year, but the president reiterated his vow to veto the bill …

Discussion: Oliver Willis and Hoffmania!

Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:

House Dems more confident on Iraq vote — WASHINGTON - House Democrats are increasingly confident they have the votes to pass legislation designed to force an end to the war in Iraq next year. — Several party members dropped their opposition to the bill following days of wrangling within a deeply divided caucus.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Donklephant, Skeptical Brotha, Little Green Footballs and TIME: Swampland

New York Times:
House Narrowly Backs Iraq Timetable

Discussion: Firedoglake, DownWithTyranny!, My Left Wing and MSNBC

John W. Dean / FindLaw's Writ:

New Developments in the U.S. Attorney Controversy: — Why Bush Refuses to Allow Karl Rove and Harriet Miers to Testify Before Congress, and What Role New White House Counsel Fred Fielding May Play — At the outset of this column — which discusses Bush's new White House Counsel …

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Firedoglake, The Impolitic and At-Largely

Beth Nolan / Washington Post:

Executive Overreach — The White House Is Taking Privilege Too Far — The Framers of our Constitution envisioned that in the exercise of their authorities, the two political branches would assert their prerogatives against each other. A process of negotiation and accommodation between the branches is what one would expect.

Discussion: News Bloggers Blog, Washington Wire, The Impolitic and ACSBlog

Digby / Hullabaloo:
All Scandals Are Not Created Equal

Discussion: Grasping Reality … and Talking Points Memo

MSNBC:

U.K. says 15 soldiers detained by Iranian navy — Ministry summons Iranian ambassador, seeks immediate return of troops — The HMS Cornwall on patrol in the North Arabian Gulf earlier this month. — NBC VIDEO — March 23: Fifteen British sailors have been detained by Iranian vessels.

Discussion: The Washington Note, The Reaction, alphabet city and NewsHog

Robert Barr / Associated Press:
Iran nabs British sailors in Iraq waters

Discussion: Guardian, Sky News, The Jawa Report, New York Times, Counterterrorism Blog, The Strata-Sphere, GINA COBB, Scotsman, NO QUARTER, Gateway Pundit, Riehl World View, Atlas Shrugs, Jules Crittenden, TigerHawk and Blue Crab Boulevard

CNN:
Iran 'seizes' 15 British sailors

Discussion: Telegraph, Hot Air, New Pairodimes, Ace of Spades HQ, Political Discontent and Outside The Beltway

Jennifer Loven / Associated Press:

White House Spokesman to Undergo Surgery — WASHINGTON (AP) - Presidential spokesman Tony Snow is undergoing surgery Monday to remove a growth in his lower abdomen, a procedure he said was being done "out of an aggressive sense of caution" because he had colon cancer two years ago.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Captain's Quarters, shotinthedark.info/wp …, The Corner, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Wonkette

Pew Research Center:

Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007 — Political Landscape More Favorable To Democrats — Summary of Findings — View the complete report in pdf format — Increased public support for the social safety net, signs of growing public concern about income inequality …

Discussion: MyDD, Pollster, The Carpetbagger Report, DownWithTyranny!, Middle Earth Journal and Just a Bump in the Beltway

Kevin Drum / Political Animal:
THE MYTH OF THE PERMANENT MAJORITY....The Pew survey I linked …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and All Spin Zone

Real Cities:

Justice's new U.S. attorneys have partisan records — WASHINGTON - Under President Bush, the Justice Department has backed tougher state voter identification laws and steered U.S. attorneys toward investigating voter fraud _ policies that critics say have been intended to suppress Democratic votes.

Discussion: Hullabaloo and DownWithTyranny!

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Unnecessary Scandal

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, TPMCafe blogs, Captain's Quarters, The Strata-Sphere and Sadly, No!

Mary Katharine Ham / Townhall.com:

HamNation: Better Living Through Lefty Activism — Today, an instructional video on how to love the earth the lefty way. You know, through high-volume carbon offsets and killing polar bears. And, what with Gore in town refusing to take any binding Earth-saving pledges, it's a good week for this lesson.

Discussion: protein wisdom, Op For and Right Wing News

Peter Beinart / Time:

Why the Dems Should Go for It — Since the Democrats won control of Congress last fall, they've been besieged with warnings against acting too aggressively on Iraq. Such "moves carry clear risks for a party that suffered politically for pushing to end an unpopular war in Vietnam," suggested the Washington Post in January.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, TalkLeft, The Corner, Multi Medium and TAPPED

Matthew Mosk / Washington Post:

FEC Democrats Say Bush Violated Limits — The three Democrats on the Federal Election Commission revealed yesterday that they strongly believe President Bush exceeded legal spending limits during the 2004 presidential contest and that his campaign owes the government $40 million.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and The Mahablog