memeorandum: Iraqi parliament speaker slams U.S. officials over criticism … (Associated Press)

11:35 AM ET, May 10, 2007

Top Items:

Bush Told War Is Harming The GOP — House Republican moderates, in a remarkably blunt White House meeting, warned President Bush this week that his pursuit of the war in Iraq is risking the future of the Republican Party and that he cannot count on GOP support for many more months.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Slate, Middle Earth Journal, Instapundit.com and Prairie Weather

New York Times:

G.O.P. Moderates Warn Bush Iraq Must Show Gains — Moderate Republicans gave President Bush a blunt warning on his Iraq policy at a private White House meeting this week, telling the president that conditions needed to improve markedly by fall or more Republicans would desert him on the war.

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

War Support Starting To Crumble — The lack of energy from the Iraqi government of Nouri al-Maliki has added what might be a final straw to Republican discontent about the progress of the war. A delegation of Congressional Republicans met with President Bush last night at the White House …

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere

Washington Post:

House moves new Iraq funding bill — Measure starts cuts to war spending in July — May 10. — ouse Democrats declared yesterday that they will vote on an Iraq spending bill that could cut funding for the war as early as July, defying a threat from President Bush that he would veto the proposal.

Discussion: The Huffington Post

John Aravosis / AMERICAblog:

BREAKING: Conservative Dems expected to vote with GOP to give Bush unfettered blank check on Iraq tomorrow — It's time to replace some conservative Democrats in Washington, DC. I just heard from an impeccable source that there is serious concern on the Hill that conservative Democrats …

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, CorrenteWire, TalkLeft, Gateway Pundit, Booman Tribune, The Impolitic, Wizbang, Riehl World View, MyDD and JammieWearingFool

Qassim Abdul-Zahra / Associated Press:

Iraqi bill demands U.S. troops withdraw — BAGHDAD - A majority of Iraqi lawmakers have endorsed a bill calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops and demanding a freeze on the number of foreign troops already in the country, lawmakers said Thursday.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Hot Air and Heading Right

Politico.com: Bush meets with wavering Republicans

Chicago Tribune:
GOP pressures Bush on war

Discussion: Think Progress, Booman Tribune and Daily Kos

Nico / Think Progress:
NBC: 11 Republicans Berate Bush Over Iraq In Private White House Meeting

Discussion: Shakesville, News Hounds, Balloon Juice, The Moderate Voice, State of the Day, Booman Tribune, Taylor Marsh, Martini Revolution, DownWithTyranny!, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, Daily Kos, Comments From Left Field and The Reaction

Associated Press:
Bush would veto Democrats' new Iraq bill

Discussion: AMERICAblog

Guardian:

Blair quits as prime minister — Matthew Tempest and agencies — Tony Blair today announced he was stepping down after 10 years as prime minister and 13 as Labour leader. — The prime minister told a crowd of supporters in Trimdon Labour club he would stand down as PM on June 27.

Discussion: The Washington Note, The Newshoggers, Outside The Beltway, Associated Press, Sister Toldjah, Iain Dale's Diary, Tim Worstall, Donklephant, The Mahablog and Blue Crab Boulevard

Yahoo! News: World:

Britain's Blair says he is resigning — TRIMDON, England - Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday that he will step down as prime minister on June 27, after a decade in office in which he brokered peace in Northern Ireland and followed the United States to war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Discussion: Redstate and Shakesville

Patrick Wintour / Guardian:

Today, the beginning of the end — Tony Blair speaks during a visit to University College Hospital in London. Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP/Picture montage by Roger Tooth — Tony Blair will today return to Durham's Trimdon Labour Club, and the room where he launched his Labour leadership campaign …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and AMERICAblog

Philip Webster / Times of London:
World tour is PM's way of bidding farewell

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Galloping Beaver

Rick Moran / Right Wing Nut House:
FAREWELL AND ADIEU, TONY

Discussion: Hot Air, Secular Blasphemy, The American Mind and Heading Right

Alan Cowell / NYT > International: Blair Says He Will Leave Office in June

Kevin Sullivan / Washington Post:
Britain's Blair Announces His Resignation

Discussion: Obsidian Wings, MSNBC and Think Progress

Comment is free: Labour's love lost

Washington Post:

Number of Fired Prosecutors Grows — Dismissals Began Earlier Than Justice Dept. Has Said — The former U.S. attorney in Kansas City, Mo., Todd P. Graves, said yesterday that he was asked to step down from his job by a senior Justice Department official in January 2006 …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Firedoglake, New York Times, Shakesville, Norwegianity, TalkLeft and TPMmuckraker

New York Times:

Gonzales Seems Confident He Will Stay, Officials Say — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales appears increasingly confident that he will survive the crisis over the dismissal of federal prosecutors, as White House aides who view him as a liability see little point in trying to persuade President Bush …

Discussion: TPMmuckraker, TalkLeft, The Carpetbagger Report, Los Angeles Times, On Deadline and AMERICAblog

Laura McGann / TPMmuckraker:
Details Emerge on Graves' Firing: DOJ Told Different Stories to Graves and Sen. Bond

Discussion: The Next Hurrah and Talking Points Memo

NYT > National:

Giuliani Plans to Publicly Embrace Abortion Rights — After months of conflicting signals on abortion, Rudolph W. Giuliani is planning to offer a forthright affirmation of his support for abortion rights in public forums, television appearances and interviews in the coming days …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, The Democratic Daily, Balloon Juice, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Townhall.com, The Carpetbagger Report, Chicago Tribune, Right Wing News, Hot Air, Riehl World View, The Atlantic Online, No More Mister Nice Blog, ScrappleFace, theGarance.com, Washington Monthly and TalkLeft

ABCNEWS:

Romney's Wife Gave Money to Planned Parenthood — Republican Abortion Opponent Accused of Shifting His Views — Former Gov. Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, gave an $150 donation to the abortion-rights group Planned Parenthood in 1994, at a time when Romney considered himself effectively "pro-choice," the Romney campaign confirmed today.

Discussion: TIME, GOPProgress.com, Shakesville, Riehl World View, PoliBlog (TM) and Balloon Juice

Associated Press:
Romney: Wife donated to pro-choice group

Discussion: AMERICAblog

Bill Roggio / The Fourth Rail:

The Diyala Salvation Front — Tribal leaders in the troubled province organize against al Qaeda — Map of southern Diyala. Click map to view. — In March, we noted the successful model of the Anbar Salvation Council will very likely be replicated elsewhere in regions where al Qaeda has established bases of operation.

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, The Earth Times Online …, Weekly Standard and Confederate Yankee

Mohammed Fadhil / NY Daily News:
A Baghdad plea: U.S. should stay and fight

Discussion: Redstate

CNN:

Romney: Sharpton remark bigoted … NEW YORK (CNN) — Civil rights activist Al Sharpton, who led the charge to have radio host Don Imus fired for making racially insensitive remarks, is now under fire for a comment about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Mormon faith.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Atlantic Free Press, Jules Crittenden and Gateway Pundit