memeorandum: Bush: Bin Laden tried to start Iraq unit (Deb Riechmann/Associated Press)

12:25 PM ET, May 23, 2007

Top Items:

Today's Must Read — An ideologue, yes, but an ideologue acting on orders or on her own? — When Monica Goodling goes before the House Judiciary Committee this morning, that will be the central question. — No one can read the two profiles of Goodling in The Los Angeles Times …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, NO QUARTER, Slate, Eschaton and The Reaction

CNN:
Justice aide who took the Fifth to testify in attorney firings

Discussion: PoliBlog (TM) and TalkLeft

Looseheadprop / Firedoglake: Older and Wiser Heads

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:
Monica Goodling Testimony, Part II

Discussion: JURIST

Lara Jakes Jordan / Associated Press:
Goodling denies major role in firings

Discussion: MSNBC and PoliBlog (TM)

Former Gonzales Aide / Washington Post:
Officials Describe Interference by Former Gonzales Aide

Discussion: Law Blog and Think Progress

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

Democrats Pull Troop Deadline From Iraq Bill — Congressional Democrats relented Tuesday on their insistence that a war spending measure set a date for withdrawing American combat troops from Iraq. Instead, they moved toward a deal with President Bush that would impose new conditions on the Iraqi government.

Discussion: AMERICAblog, MSNBC, The Carpetbagger Report, TIME: Swampland, Chicago Tribune, BAGnewsNotes, Taylor Marsh, rubber hose and Ice Station Tango

Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:

Democrats Relent On Pullout Timetable — Democrats gave up their demand for troop-withdrawal deadlines in an Iraq war spending package yesterday, abandoning their top goal of bringing U.S. troops home and handing President Bush a victory in a debate that has roiled Congress for months.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Informed Comment, All Spin Zone, AMERICAblog, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos, The Atlantic Online, Jules Crittenden, The Heretik, CNN, Guardian, On Deadline, Salon and About U.S. Politics

Elizabeth Williamson / Washington Post:
Democratic Leaders Find House Ethics Bill a Tough Sell

Discussion: Captain's Quarters

Michael Cooper / New York Times:

Political Memo: Giuliani Above the Fray as McCain and Romney Skirmish — The contrast could hardly be more striking. Senator John McCain and Mitt Romney have been mixing it up on the trail with increasing intensity ever since their feisty exchange at the last Republican debate.

Discussion: Dallas Morning News, Boston Globe, MSNBC, The Moderate Voice and TIME

Washington Post:

McCain Turns Focus To His Fundraising — As the Senate debate over immigration raged yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had breakfast, brunch and lunch fundraisers in Houston before heading north to gather money at a supporter's home in Dallas and, later, from young professionals at a gourmet Mexican restaurant.

Discussion: The Politico and The Caucus

Deb Riechmann / Associated Press:

Bush: Bin Laden tried to start Iraq unit — NEW LONDON, Conn. - President Bush, stressing that Americans face an ongoing threat from terrorists, shared intelligence on Wednesday asserting that Osama bin Laden was working in 2005 to set up a unit inside Iraq to hit U.S. targets.

Discussion: CNN, The Carpetbagger Report, Democratic Underground …, The Impolitic, The Reaction, Brilliant at Breakfast, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, AMERICAblog, Republic of Sestakastan and Rising Hegemon

Ed Henry / CNN:

White House: Bin Laden wanted Iraq as a new base … WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush on Tuesday declassified intelligence showing in 2005 Osama bin Laden planned to use Iraq as a base from which to launch attacks in the United States, according to White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Reaction

Alan Cooperman / Washington Post:

Survey: U.S. Muslims Assimilated, Opposed to Extremism — Unlike Muslim minorities in many European countries, U.S. Muslims are highly assimilated, close to parity with other Americans in income and overwhelmingly opposed to Islamic extremism, according to the first major, nationwide random survey of Muslims.

Discussion: Chicago Tribune, Guardian, Unqualified Offerings, Jihad Watch, Counterterrorism Blog, Salon and PewResearch.org

New York Times:

Senate Votes to Keep Temporary Worker Program — A comprehensive immigration bill survived a significant test on Tuesday as the Senate voted to keep a provision that would let hundreds of thousands of temporary foreign workers enter the country each year. — If the guest worker program …

Discussion: Campaign for America's …, JURIST and Hot Air

Elana Schor / The Hill:
Guest-worker program dodges its first bullet

Discussion: Heading Right and Captain's Quarters

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:

DEMOCRATS FIND ETHICS OVERHAUL ELUSIVE IN HOUSE — House Democratic leaders pushing a promised lobbying overhaul are facing resistance from balky lawmakers and fending off accusations that a prominent member is flouting new ethics rules. — The Democratic leaders were forced to scrap …

Discussion: Wonkette, The BLT, Associated Press and Sirotablog

Michael Brady / Keeping the Majority Accountable …:
Freshmen fail first ethics test

Discussion: Washington Post and The Hill

New York Post:

WOLFOWITZ AND GAL PAL SPLIT UP — PAUL Wolfowitz has really had a bad couple of weeks. He not only lost his job, he lost his girlfriend, too. — Wolfowitz, one of the architects of the Iraq war, was pushed out as president of the World Bank over a controversial pay and promotion package …

Discussion: TBogg and Carry on America

Joe Strupp / Editor and Publisher:

McClatchy's D.C. Bureau Claims It's Barred From Defense Secretary Plane — NEW YORK Staffers at McClatchy's Washington, D.C., Bureau — one of the few major news outlets skeptical of intelligence reports during the run-up to the war in Iraq — claims it is now being punished for that coverage.

Discussion: mediabistro.com

CNN:

Body may be shipped to U.S. to see if it's missing soldier … BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — A corpse found floating in the Euphrates River south of Baghdad on Wednesday may have to be shipped to the United States to determine if it is the body of one of three missing U.S. soldiers, according to a U.S. military official.

Discussion: The Fourth Rail, Associated Press and Hot Air

Associated Press:
Iraqis in Hunt for Missing GIs Find Body in U.S. Uniform

Discussion: Jules Crittenden and Pajamas Media

Ann Scott Tyson / Washington Post:

New Strategy for War Stresses Iraqi Politics — U.S. Aims to Oust Sectarians From Key Roles — Top U.S. commanders and diplomats in Iraq are completing a far-reaching campaign plan for a new U.S. strategy, laying out military and political goals and endorsing the selective removal …

Discussion: QandO, The Strata-Sphere, toohotfortnr, Sic Semper Tyrannis 2007, Daily Kos, Democratic Underground …, Middle Earth Journal, Outside The Beltway, The Impolitic and Oliver Willis

Laurie Kellman / Associated Press:

House backs limits on attorney picks — Washington - Congress cleared legislation Tuesday that would curb President Bush's power to appoint prosecutors indefinitely, resolving one controversy linked to the firing of federal prosecutors. — The 306-114 vote gave the House's blessing …

Discussion: Think Progress and PoliBlog (TM)

Henry Fountain / New York Times:

Female Shark Reproduced Without Male DNA, Scientists Say — A hammerhead shark that gave birth in a Nebraska aquarium reproduced without mating, a genetic analysis shows. — This form of asexual reproduction, called parthenogenesis, has been found in other vertebrate species, including some snakes and lizards.

Discussion: AMERICAN DIGEST