memeorandum: Is Obama Readying TV Ad Blitz? (Hotline On Call)

1:25 PM 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, Neptunus Lex, Slate, MSNBC, Associated Press, Middle Earth Journal, Prairie Weather, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Moderate Voice and Martini Revolution

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: Los Angeles Times and 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: WorkingForChange and Confederate Yankee

Qassim Abdul-Zahra / Associated Press:
Iraqi bill demands U.S. troops withdraw

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

Politico.com:
Bush meets with wavering Republicans

Discussion: Associated Press, Shakesville and Think Progress

New York Times:
G.O.P. Moderates Warn Bush Iraq Must Show Gains

John Aravosis / AMERICAblog:
BREAKING: Conservative Dems expected to vote with GOP to give …

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, Minnesota Monitor, Instapundit.com, CorrenteWire, Gateway Pundit, TalkLeft, Booman Tribune, Wizbang, Balloon Juice, The Impolitic, JammieWearingFool, Riehl World View and MyDD

Chicago Tribune:
GOP pressures Bush on war

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Daily Kos

Faiz / Think Progress:
LaHood: Bush 'Surprised,' 'Sobered' Over GOP Frustration About Iraq

Discussion: CNN

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

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: Times of London, News Bloggers Blog, Redstate, The Moderate Voice and Shakesville

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

Discussion: Hot Air and Booman Tribune

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

Discussion: Obsidian Wings and MSNBC

Patrick Wintour / Guardian:
Today, the beginning of the end

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House, Taylor Marsh, Heading Right and AMERICAblog

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: TalkLeft, TPMmuckraker, Los Angeles Times, The Carpetbagger Report, On Deadline, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, Daily Kos, TIME: Swampland and AMERICAblog

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: Firedoglake, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Shakesville, Think Progress, CorrenteWire, Norwegianity, On Deadline, TalkLeft, TPMmuckraker and www.kansascity.com

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:
Gonzales on Graves — Last night, we reported that Todd Graves …

Discussion: The Next Hurrah and Talking Points Memo

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

Discussion: New York Times, The Next Hurrah and Talking Points Memo

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

Mohammed Fadhil / NY Daily News:

A Baghdad plea: U.S. should stay and fight — Be Our Guest — I wasn't surprised when I saw Al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, appear on Al Jazeera to announce America's defeat last week, not long after U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did.

Discussion: Redstate and Gateway Pundit

Middle East Times:

Hamas TV refuses to axe contested kids cartoon — RAMALLAH, West Bank — A Hamas-run television channel has defied a Palestinian government request to axe a controversial children's cartoon in which a Mickey Mouse look-alike urges resistance against Israel.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Associated Press, Hot Air, Wizbang and Blue Crab Boulevard

Little Green Footballs: Outrage: CNN Covers Up Death Cult Mickey Mouse Video

The Smoking Gun:

Uncle Sam Probes Michael Moore — Treasury Department investigating director's unauthorized Cuba trip — Director Michael Moore is being investigated by the Treasury Department for traveling to Cuba in violation of a U.S. trade embargo. In a May 2 letter, the Office …

Discussion: Debbie Schlussel, Michelle Malkin, Pajamas Media and On Deadline

David Germain / Associated Press:
Michael Moore faces U.S. Treasury probe

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and Hot Air

Hotline On Call:

Is Obama Readying TV Ad Blitz? — Is Sen. Barack Obama thinking about a major television ad blitz? — Democratic media buyers say that Obama's media team asked television stations in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada about available ad time and rates.

A.L. / The Anonymous Liberal:
What Obama Represents

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

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 …

Amanda / Think Progress:

Pentagon Breaks Pledge To Troops, Sends Them Back To Iraq After Just Nine Months At Home — On April 11, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that tours of duty for the Army would be extended from 12 months to 15 months, effective immediately. In exchange for the extensions …

Discussion: Stars & Stripes, The Newshoggers and The Carpetbagger Report

Roger L. Simon / Pajamas Media:

Film Review: "Islam vs. Islamism" — Martyn Burke's documentary "Islam vs. Islamism" (produced with Frank Gaffney and Alex Alexiev) was commissioned by PBS for its "American Crossroads" series, but never shown by the network. Quality control or censorship?

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Classical Values and Townhall.com

John Sullivan / SWJ Blog:

The Missing Mission: Expeditionary Police for Peacekeeping and Transnational Stability — On Wednesday, April 11, 2007 U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg if some of the city's police could be deployed with the U.N. for peacekeeping missions.

Discussion: Thomas P.M. Barnett and INTEL DUMP