memeorandum: KUMBAYA — Palestinian children on the West Bank have been … (Hindrocket/Power Line)

5:35 PM ET, June 16, 2007

Top Items:

Iran Strategy Stirs Debate at White House — A year after President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced a new strategy toward Iran, a behind-the-scenes debate has broken out within the administration over whether the approach has any hope of reining in Iran's nuclear program …

Discussion: Townhall.com, Corrente, CANNONFIRE and The Heretik

Robin Wright / Washington Post:

Iran Curtails Freedom In Throwback to 1979 — Iran is in the midst of a sweeping crackdown that both Iranians and U.S. analysts compare to a cultural revolution in its attempt to steer the oil-rich theocracy back to the rigid strictures of the 1979 revolution.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Captain's Quarters, The Moderate Voice, Blue Crab Boulevard, Jules Crittenden, TigerHawk and GINA COBB

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The NYT on the administration's "debate" over whether to attack Iran

Discussion: The Newshoggers

Cernig / The Newshoggers:
Judy In Drag Strikes Again

Discussion: Middle Earth Journal

The Atlantic Online: Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran — Serious leakage in The New York Times …

Duff Wilson / New York Times:

Prosecutor in Duke Rape Case Found Guilty of Ethics Breaches — A disciplinary hearing panel found Michael B. Nifong, the Durham County district attorney, guilty today of ethical violations arising from his pretrial statements and handling of DNA evidence while pressing a false accusation …

Discussion: Hot Air

ABCNEWS:

N.C. State Bar: Nifong Guilty of Ethics Violations — Panel Reaches Verdict as Exonerated Duke Players Watch — Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong has been found guilty by the North Carolina State Bar for a battery of ethics violations in the Duke Lacrosse case.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and Patterico's Pontifications

Duff Wilson / New York Times:
Facing Sanction, Duke Prosecutor Plans to Resign

Discussion: Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Captain's Quarters, Associated Press and TalkLeft

KC Johnson / Durham-in-Wonderland:
Nifong Trial, Day Four

Discussion: The Belmont Club

Daniel Levy / Prospects for Peace:

What Next on Palestine: Time to Get Real — Hamas is now in control of Gaza after a cruel, if somewhat surprisingly easy, military victory over Fatah. The images coming out of the Palestinian territories have been harsh to say the least and neither side looks good to put it mildly.

Discussion: American Footprints, The Atlantic Online, Conflict Blotter and A Blog For All

Little Green Footballs:
Palestinians Flee to Israel

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Dean's World

Opinion Journal:
Arafat's Children — Gaza's mayhem is the bitter fruit of terror as statecraft.

Discussion: Michael J. Totten and Conflict Blotter

Haaretz: An overpowering reality — By Aluf Benn ? (Jerusalem?) and Shmuel Rosner ?

Nico / Think Progress:

Special Counsel Probe Into Rove's Politicization Of Government Advances

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Daniel Pulliam / Tech Insider:

Agencies Asked to Preserve Electronic Info — Eighteen agencies have been asked by the Office of Special Counsel to preserve electronic information dating back to January 2001 as part of its governmentwide investigation into alleged violations of the law that limits political activity in federal agencies.

Discussion: The Next Hurrah

Steve Fainaru / Washington Post:

Iraq Contractors Face Growing Parallel War — As Security Work Increases, So Do Casualties — BAGHDAD — Private security companies, funded by billions of dollars in U.S. military and State Department contracts, are fighting insurgents on a widening scale in Iraq, enduring daily attacks …

Discussion: IraqSlogger.com, Talking Points Memo, Big Brass Blog, The Carpetbagger Report, The Moderate Voice, Norwegianity, Prairie Weather and Needlenose

Fox News:

Hispanic Leaders Blast Schwarzenegger's Advice to Turn Off Spanish TV — Some Hispanic leaders lashed out Friday at California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's advice that immigrants should "turn off the Spanish television set" to better learn how to speak English.

Discussion: Gates of Vienna, QandO and DownWithTyranny!

Amanda Marcotte / Pandagon:
Ah-nuld holds forth on the dangers of knowing Spanish

Discussion: Eschaton, First Draft and Hot Air

Jose Antonio Vargas / Washington Post:

An Also-Ran in the GOP Polls, Ron Paul Is Huge on the Web — On Technorati, which offers a real-time glimpse of the blogosphere, the most frequently searched term this week was "YouTube." — Then comes "Ron Paul." — The presence of the obscure Republican congressman from Texas on a list …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Hot Air, Liberal Values, A Blog For All, The Caucus, Donklephant and Reason

Mark Leibovich / New York Times:

Polished and Upbeat, Romney Tries to Connect — WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Mitt Romney loves the word "great." As in, "Have a great day," "Things are going great," "I'm feeling great." Mr. Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, also looks great, sounds great and smells great, like shaving cream.

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, Daily Kos, The Palmetto Scoop and Balloon Juice

Alan Wirzbicki / Boston Globe:
From sidelines, Kerry rips GOP field over foreign policy

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Liberal Values

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:

Hannity's new BFF is Tim Russert... Tim Russert appeared on H&C the other night and repeated Roger Ailes talking points on the Democratic Party's refusal to debate on the propaganda network. — Download (2001) | Play (1553) Download (1275) | Play (914) … Roger Ailes:

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Hullabaloo, The Carpetbagger Report and TalkLeft

Atrios / Eschaton:
Timmeh — Could The Nation team up with Air America and offer …

Discussion: Think Progress

Washington Post:

Justice Dept. Official To Quit — A fifth senior Justice Department official announced his resignation yesterday in the wake of the controversy over the firings of nine U.S. attorneys last year. — Michael J. Elston, chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty …

Discussion: All Spin Zone, The Carpetbagger Report and TPMmuckraker

David Johnston / New York Times: Another Justice Dept. Official Resigns

Emily Wax / Washington Post:

A Sacred River Left in Peril by Global Warming — VARANASI, India — With her eyes sealed, Ramedi cupped the murky water of the Ganges River in her hands, lifted them toward the sun, and prayed for her husband, her 15 grandchildren and her bad hip. She, like India's other 800 million Hindus …

Laura Rozen / American Prospect:

The group blog of The American Prospect — SHADOW GOVERNMENT IN WAITING. The Bush administration had the American Enterprise Institute as its ideological brain trust and frequent employment agency. The next White House will likely have the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

Tparty / My Left Nutmeg:

Lieberman Smacks Harry Reid, Again — Here's Joe on the Ray and Diane show from yesterday morning (mp3), in just his latest attack on Democrats - and Harry Reid in particular: … This isn't the first time Joe has gone after Reid by reinforcing a right-wing attack. Take this, from April:

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and Booman Tribune

John Timmer / Ars Technica:

Inability to meet "grand challenges" of physics likely to hurt US competitiveness — The National Academies of Science produces regular reports on the state of scientific research in the US. Their latest effort along these lines has just been released, and the academy has put the spotlight …

Discussion: Instapundit.com