memeorandum: Passport checks threaten chaos at airports (David Millward/Telegraph)

7:45 AM ET, June 20, 2007

Top Items:

Sewell Chan / City Room:

Bloomberg Leaving Republican Party — Michael R. Bloomberg, a longtime Democrat who switched to the Republican Party to run for mayor of New York City in 2001, announced this evening that he is changing his party status and registering as an independent. — Mr. Bloomberg maintained that …

Discussion: The Reaction, MyDD, The Moderate Voice, Comments From Left Field, Outside The Beltway, D-Day, The Gun Toting Liberal™, All Spin Zone, The Swamp, Jules Crittenden, The Rachel Maddow Show, Crooks and Liars, ImmigrationProf Blog, The Agonist and Gothamist

Marcia Kramer / WCBS-TV:

Bloomberg Leaves GOP — Now Independent, Will He Run For President? — Reporting — (CBS) NEW YORK New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is leaving the Republican party and will remain unaffiliated with any political party, CBS 2 HD learned Tuesday night.

Discussion: Sister Toldjah, MyDD, Don Surber, A Chequer-Board of Nights …, TIME and Comments From Left Field

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Mike Bloomberg: Registered Independent — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is changing his party affiliation from "Republican" to "unaffiliated", a move certain to fuel talk that he is preparing for an independent run for president in 2008. — "Although my plans for the future haven't changed …

Discussion: Donklephant, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, A Blog For All, State of the Day, Iowa Independent and Central Sanity

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

Bloomberg Switches ... Again — Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire mayor of New York City, announced that he would no longer remain a Republican. This comes six years after he announced that he would no longer remain a Democrat in order to run as Rudy Giuliani's successor in 2001:

Discussion: Hot Air and Macsmind

Azi Paybarah / New York Observer:
Bloomberg No Longer a Republican

Discussion: The Politico

ABCNEWS: Bloomberg Presidential Buzz Grows

Tapscott's Copy Desk: Headlines Say NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg is 'Leaving' the GOP ...

Ann Althouse / Althouse:

The new Hillary Clinton video is a take on the last scene of "The Sopranos." — It's clever, the way the video uses the jukebox business from the last "Sopranos" episode to remind us of Hillary's theme song contest. In case you care, I'll just tell you that the winner is "You and I," …

Discussion: Comments From Left Field, alicublog, D-Day, Shakesville, Washington Times, The Caucus, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, AMERICAN DIGEST, PrezVid, TIME: Swampland, Matt Zeitlin, TalkLeft, The Huffington Post, Done With Mirrors, National Review, Lawyers, Guns and Money, The Swamp and Liberal Values

Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:

Hillary Clinton Spoofs The Last Scene Of The Sopranos — This Hillary Clinton video spoofing the last scene of The Sopranos is a masterful use of American culture. Can you spot the real cast member from The Sopranos? — http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=9BEPcJlz2wE

Discussion: The Democratic Daily

INSTAPUTZ:

Sometimes an Onion Ring is Just an Onion Ring — Ann Althouse looks at the new Hillary Clinton ad and writes … By all means, Ann, let me be the first. — And Ann, so long as you're discussing symbolism: what does your facial expression in the above photo — which is kinda reminiscent …

Discussion: Think Progress, Sadly, No! and Majikthise

Crystal Patterson / HillaryClinton.com:
And the Winner Is..... I LOVE this "Sopranos" spoof video!!!!

Discussion: Dean's World

TRex / Firedoglake:
Late Nite FDL: Because a Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste

Discussion: The Gun Toting Liberal™ and Taylor Marsh

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Digby — From the Take Back America conference — Joe Wilson, Digby, Rick Perlstein. — No Trackbacks to "Ladies and Gentlemen, Digby" — dakine01 says: … SeamusD says: … Joe Klein's conscience says: … Jane Hamsher says:

Discussion: The American Street and NO QUARTER

The State:

State treasurer indicted on drug charges — State Treasurer Thomas Ravenel has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to possess with the intent distribute cocaine, federal and state authorities said at a news conference at SLED headquarters this afternoon.

Discussion: Obsidian Wings, Drinking Liberally …, The Palmetto Scoop, Roger Ailes, Talking Points Memo, AMERICAblog and Cliff Schecter

Nicole Gaouette / Los Angeles Times:

House Republicans introduce their own immigration bill — The measure, a rebuke to Bush, would bar amnesty for illegal immigrants and require legal-status checks for all workers. — WASHINGTON — In a sharp rebuke to President Bush, House Republicans unveiled legislation Tuesday …

Discussion: Comments From Left Field, All Spin Zone, Tammy Bruce, michellemalkin.com, Hot Air and Associated Press

Deb Riechmann / Associated Press:
Bush to veto stem cell bill

Discussion: Democratic Underground …

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:

SiCKO....Andrew Tobias does a movie review today: … It's true that I wish Michael Moore were a wee bit more scrupulous with the facts in his films, but I sometimes wonder if he doesn't insert random distortions into his movies deliberately. With rare exceptions, after all …

Discussion: Andrew Tobias, Redstate and TPMCafe blogs

David Millward / Telegraph:

Passport checks threaten chaos at airports — Holidaymakers were warned yesterday to expect summer holiday travel chaos as the first signs emerged that the Government's new border controls are causing significant delays at airports. — The introduction of sophisticated scanning machinery …

Discussion: Outside The Beltway and Tim Worstall

Associated Press:

Geronimo Great-Grandson Wants Bones Back — SANTA FE, N.M. — Legend has it that Yale University's ultrasecret Skull and Bones society swiped the remains of American Indian leader Geronimo nearly a century ago from an army outpost in Oklahoma, and now Geronimo's great-grandson wants the remains returned.

Guardian:

China overtakes US as world's biggest CO2 emitter — China has overtaken the United States as the world's biggest producer of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas, figures released today show. — The surprising announcement will increase anxiety about China's growing role in driving man …

Discussion: BBC and NewsBusters.org

Bob Cesca / The Huffington Post:

A Real Question For The Candidates — During an AFSCME candidates forum Tuesday, Chris Matthews was heckled for not asking Senator Clinton "a real question." The senator played along, "A question about the real people in this audience." And you know? The senator and the hecklers were right.