memeorandum: White House Warns of 'P.R. Stunt' (WSJ.com)

7:05 PM ET, April 26, 2007

Top Items:

APRIL 25, 2007: "Buying the War" — BILL MOYERS: Four years ago this spring the Bush administration took leave of reality and plunged our country into a war so poorly planned it soon turned into a disaster. The story of how high officials misled the country has been told.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, WTF Is It Now??, A Tiny Revolution and Big Brass Blog

Brian Montopoli / Public Eye:

Knoller On What Bill Moyers Got Wrong — Last night, PBS aired "Buying The War," "a 90-minute documentary that explores the role of the press in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq." The program, which Tom Shales called "one of the most gripping and important pieces of broadcast journalism so far this year …

Discussion: Unqualified Offerings, The Huffington Post and WIMN's Voices

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Timmeh's Tool Time Redux — Everyone has their favorite moment from the Bill Moyers documentary last night, this was mine: … After sitting in the Libby trial with jaw-dropping incredulity as Russert admitted he'd spilled his guts to the FBI when they first contacted him and then later refused …

Discussion: TalkLeft, cab drollery and Taylor Marsh

Digby / Hullabaloo:
Why Didn't They Call Me? — A little highlight from the Moyers show —

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Daily Howler and A Tiny Revolution

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The Bill Moyers documentary on our failed and barren press

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Daily Kos, The Democratic Daily and Firedoglake

David Sirota / WorkingForChange: Washington Reporters In Meltdown, Damage-Control Freak Out Mode

Paul Begala / The Huffington Post:

David Broder Is a Gasbag — One of the few regrets I have in life is that I allowed Ann Devroy of the Washington Post to talk me into apologizing for calling David Broder "a gasbag" in 1995. My admiration for Devroy trumped my contempt for Broder. Ann, sadly, is gone, but Broder remains.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Jules Crittenden, The Carpetbagger Report, AMERICAblog, TalkLeft, My Left Wing, TAPPED, Pajamas Media and Middle Earth Journal

Bob Geiger:

Senate Passes Emergency Supplemental Bill — Just moments ago, the Senate followed the lead of the House of Representatives by passing the $124 billion supplemental spending bill containing a provision that mandates a withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq by this time next year.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, MyDD, Booman Tribune, Captain's Quarters and The Mahablog

David S. Broder / Washington Post:
The Democrats' Gonzales — Here's a Washington political riddle …

Joe Lieberman / Washington Post:

One Choice in Iraq — Last week a series of coordinated suicide bombings killed more than 170 people. The victims were not soldiers or government officials but civilians — innocent men, women and children indiscriminately murdered on their way home from work and school.

Discussion: Hot Air, PoliPundit.com, Ezra Klein, Booman Tribune, The Washington Note, Shakesville, TalkLeft, Captain's Quarters, The Corner, Matthew Yglesias, The Strata-Sphere, Cliff Schecter, Real Cities, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Blue Crab Boulevard, First Read, Jules Crittenden and Daily Kos

Rich Noyes / NewsBusters.org:

CNN's Ware: Troop Pullout Debate Is 'Delusional,' Would Hand Iraq to al Qaeda — Left-wing blogs loved it when CNN's Michael Ware rebuked Senator John McCain a few weeks ago, after McCain suggested he could safely walk through areas of Baghdad. But this morning on CNN …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Hot Air, Ace of Spades HQ, TAPPED, Donklephant and The Right Angle

MSNBC:

Senate OKs Iraq bill with timetable for pullout — President Bush has vowed to veto $124 billion war funding legislation — April 26: NBC's Chip Reid reports on the Iraq war spending bill, which includes a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. — Today show — INTERACTIVE

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, NION, About U.S. Politics, On Deadline, The Democratic Daily and The Carpetbagger Report

WSJ.com: Washington Wire: White House Warns of 'P.R. Stunt'

Cenk Uygur / The Huffington Post:
The September Compromise

Discussion: News Bloggers Blog and Crooks and Liars

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Senate passes Iraq spending bill; Update: Iraqi spokesman criticizes — Just across on Fox News. On to the White House now for the promised veto, although that won't come until next week. Standby for the roll; it'll probably look almost exactly like this, the roll from the vote a few weeks ago …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Michelle Malkin, CNN Political Ticker, Flopping Aces, Ace of Spades HQ, Dependable Renegade and Wizbang

Associated Press:
Iraqi Spokesman Criticizes Senate Vote

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere

Eli Lake / New York Sun:
For Iraqi Terrorists Inside Iran, Membership Has Its Privileges

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Faster, Please! and Power Line

Rick Moran / Right Wing Nut House:

DID "DAY BY DAY" JUST JUMP THE SHARK? — I love Chris Muir's laconic take on the days events seen through the eyes of two young, hip couples in his Day by Day cartoons. — But today's installment may have crossed a line of good taste. I know many of you will disagree with me, but you decide.

Discussion: Heading Right, The Moderate Voice, Beltway Blogroll, No More Mister Nice Blog and Blue Crab Boulevard

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Day By Day: Crossing A Line?

Discussion: bRight & Early and The Moderate Voice

Jon Swift:
Day By Day's Chris Muir Gives Hillary a Blackface Makeover

Discussion: Pam's House Blend

Associated Press:

Expectations Game Precedes Debate — Prelude To S.C. Democratic Debate Sees Candidates Building Up Their Rivals — (AP) For presidential hopefuls, it's called the Expectations Game. — Here's how it's played: Before a debate, rival campaigns build up the skills of their opponents …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, The Huffington Post and The State

Sam Youngman / The Hill:
Dems walk tightrope in S.C. on guns

Discussion: TIME, DonkeyRising and First Read

Financial Times:

Industry caught in carbon 'smokescreen' — Companies and individuals rushing to go green have been spending millions on "carbon credit" projects that yield few if any environmental benefits. — A Financial Times investigation has uncovered widespread failings in the new markets for greenhouse gases …

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, Washington Times, Secular Blasphemy, Hot Air, Samizdata.net, Althouse, Don Surber, Ace of Spades HQ, Sister Toldjah, Blue Crab Boulevard and European Tribune

CBS News:

Tenet: "Slam Dunk" Comment Misused — Ex-CIA Director Explains Phrase He Says Bush Administration Has Dishonorably Clung To — (CBS) Ex-CIA Director George Tenet says the way the Bush administration has used his now famous "slam dunk" comment — which he admits saying in reference to making …

Discussion: Political Animal

Jihad Unspun:

Islamic State Of Iraq: The Cross Worshippers And Their Henchmen Plans Have Collapsed — The Islamic State of Iraq has issued a statement that speaks to the utter collapse of America's so-called "new security plan" and the upheaval that is taking place in the US Congress over how to extract itself from the Iraqi quagmire.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Hot Air

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

The Fog Of War — A reader writes: … A friend of mine sat me down last night over a glass of wine and made me watch "The Fog of War", the McNamara documentary that won an Oscar a few years ago. What it brought home was how the war in Vietnam became a moving target …

Discussion: Political Animal

Tom Tomorrow / The Huffington Post:

What They Said — I was planning to mark the fourth anniversary of the start of the war by looking back at some of the more remarkable statements pundits made at the time. But I'm a weekly cartoonist, and this month I just had too many other ideas clamoring for my limited space …

Discussion: Lean Left