memeorandum: McCain says he backs no gun control (Calvin Woodward/Associated Press)

6:30 AM ET, April 19, 2007

Top Items:

Full coverage: Virginia Tech massacre — April 18: NBC News releases a picture of Cho Seung-Hui that was in the package the Virginia Tech gunman sent to NBC between the two shootings on Monday. — Photos & audio — Virginia Tech students, faculty come to terms with the horror of the mass shooting at the Blacksburg, Va., school.

Calvin Woodward / Associated Press:

McCain says he backs no gun control — WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate John McCain (news, bio, voting record) declared Wednesday he believes in "no gun control," making the strongest affirmation of support for gun rights in the GOP field since the Virginia Tech massacre.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and theneweditor.com

NBC Nightly / The Daily Nightly:

ONE WORD — This morning, about five miles outside of Roanoke, Va., I watched a Nissan pickup truck merge into traffic in front of us on the interstate. I noticed there was something written on the rear cab window. When we got closer, I was able to read what it was — just one word, written in white shoe polish on the glass: WHY?

Discussion: Threat Level, Dick Polman's American Debate and On Deadline

ABCNEWS:

VT Killer Ruled Mentally Ill by Court; Let Go After Hospital Visit — Harassed Two Female Students; Concerns He Was Suicidal — A Virginia court found that Virginia Tech killer Seung-Hui Cho was "mentally ill" and potentially dangerous. Then the state let him go.

Discussion: Dr. Helen, A Second Hand Conjecture, Leibowitz's Canticle, The Moderate Voice, Liberal Values, Wizbang and Sister Toldjah

Dinesh D'Souza / News Bloggers Blog:
Where Is Atheism When Bad Things Happen?

Discussion: Obsidian Wings, The Democratic Daily, TBogg and Pharyngula

Matt Apuzzo / Associated Press:
Va. Tech gunman sent material to NBC

Discussion: ninemsn, Washington Post, Wake up America and Don Surber

Mike Nizza / The Lede:
Updates on Virginia Tech

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Boing Boing, Redstate, Threat Level and TalkLeft

Ragnar / The Jawa Report:
Down the Memory Hole...

Discussion: Jules Crittenden and Wall Street Journal

Linda Greenhouse / New York Times:

In Reversal, Justices Back Ban on Method of Abortion — The Supreme Court reversed course on abortion on Wednesday, upholding the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in a 5-to-4 decision that promises to reframe the abortion debate and define the young Roberts court.

Discussion: Pacific Views, The Galloping Beaver and Think Progress

Scott Lemieux / Lawyers, Guns and Money:

Four Things To Remember When Reading Gonzales v. Carhart — As an antidote against the inevitable chorus of fake moderates arguing that today's abortion case is no big deal, four things to keep in mind as you ponder today's decision: — Don't take assertions by the Court …

Discussion: Feminist Law Professors, Hullabaloo, Feministing, the talking dog, a bird and a bottle, The Mahablog, LiberalOasis, The Reaction, Wake up America, Matthew Yglesias and Bradford Plumer

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

High Court Upholds Curb on Abortion — 5-4 Vote Affirms Ban on 'Partial-Birth' Procedure — The Supreme Court broke new ground yesterday in upholding federal restrictions on abortion, with President Bush's two appointees joining a court majority that said Congress was exercising its license to …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Daily Dish, CNN, Slate, Right Wing News, Scared Monkeys, Crunchy Con, SCOTUSblog, The Democratic Daily and Daily Kos

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
Father Knows Best

Discussion: My Left Wing, Lawyers, Guns and Money, protein wisdom and a bird and a bottle

LII:
Supreme Court collection

Discussion: Pacific Views

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Commentary: Some consequences of Carhart II

Discussion: About U.S. Politics and The Sideshow

Michael Stokes Paulsen / Balkinization: The Pernicious Doctrine of Stare Decisis

The Hill:

FBI searches Republican lawmaker's home — The FBI searched the Virginia home of Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) last Friday in its investigation into ties between the congressman and his wife, Julie, and disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to law enforcement and other Congressional and K Street sources.

Discussion: On Deadline, DownWithTyranny!, TPMmuckraker and Obsidian Wings

Nico / Think Progress:
Breaking: FBI Raids Rep. Doolittle's Home

Discussion: Washington Post, Calitics, CANNONFIRE, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, Shakesville, The Impolitic and Left in the West

Nico / Think Progress:
Doolittle Throws His Wife Under The Bus

Discussion: Real Cities, Jesus' General, Calitics and The Gun Toting Liberal™

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:
FBI RAIDS DOOLITTLE'S HOME

Discussion: The Newshoggers and Firedoglake

Eric Boehlert / Media Matters for America:

Can conservative bloggers tell the truth? — Here's a simple challenge for John Hinderaker, a writer for the popular conservative blog Power Line who recently revisited the 2004 Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign controversy. Upset by recent media references that suggested …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Power Line, Hullabaloo and Liberal Values

Hindrocket / Power Line: INEFFECTIVE, EVEN FOR A LIBERAL — Eric Boehlert of Media Matters must …

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Video: Carolyn McCarthy doesn't understand her own gun-control legislation — I wish I could show you the bill (H.R. 1859) but the text isn't online at Thomas yet. It's probably identical or nearly identical to this bill, which she introduced in February, to reinstate the assault-weapons ban.

Ian / Hot Air:
Video: Eisner says it's time to get the public "emotional" about gun control

Discussion: Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler

Political Radar:

Fred Thompson 2008: A Matter of When — Not If — ABC News' Teddy Davis Reports: Fred Thompson's top cheerleader on Capitol Hill — Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn. — said Wednesday that the former Republican senator's entrance into the 2008 presidential race is a matter of when — not if.

Discussion: Don Surber and TIME

Hotline On Call:
Tour De Fred Draws 53 Members

Discussion: Redstate, eyeon08.com and The Right's Field

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:

U.S. Says Iranian Arms Seized in Afghanistan — A shipment of Iranian-made weapons bound for the Taliban was recently captured by allied forces in Afghanistan, the Pentagon's top officer said Tuesday. — It was the first time that a senior American official had asserted that Iranian-made weapons were being supplied to the Taliban.

Discussion: democracyarsenal.org, Defense Tech, The Swamp and Michael P.F. van der Galiën

Janet Elder / New York Times:
Young People and the War in Iraq

Discussion: Democracy Project

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Don't Reward Failure By Giving Money to NARAL — I'm sure Nancy Keenan is licking her sweet chops over the latest SCOTUS decision. It is, after all, probably going to be the biggest fundraising opportunity she's had during her tenure at NARAL. Bigger even than Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement.

Discussion: Redstate, Crooks and Liars and The American Street

Nazila Fathi / New York Times:

Iran Exonerates Six Who Killed in Islam's Name — The Iranian Supreme Court has overturned the murder convictions of six members of a prestigious state militia who killed five people they considered "morally corrupt." — The reversal, in an infamous five-year-old case from Kerman …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters

Kirk Semple / New York Times:

Bombings Kill at Least 171 Iraqis in Baghdad — Bombs ravaged Baghdad in five horrific explosions aimed mainly at Shiite crowds on Wednesday, killing at least 169 people in the deadliest day in the capital since the American-led security plan for the city took effect two months ago.

Discussion: Hullabaloo