memeorandum: Will a Disruptive Technology Mothball Therapeutic Cloning? (Michael Cook/TCS Daily)

2:15 PM ET, June 20, 2007

Top Items:

Hillary Clinton Booed Again — Sen. Hillary Clinton was booed again this morning at the Take Back America conference, sponsored by the lefty activist group Campaign for America's Future here in Washington. At this same conference last year, Sen. Clinton was booed for her position on the war in Iraq.

Discussion: Seeing the Forest and Wizbang

Patrick Healy / The Caucus:

Clinton Gets Better Reception on Iraq — Here's a totally unscientific but not unimportant measure of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's evolution from Iraq war supporter to antiwar partisan in the last year: She was booed more lightly and gently at this morning's Take Back America gathering of liberal activists than she was a year ago.

Discussion: Wonkette, Reason Magazine, AMERICAN DIGEST and Ian Schwartz

Bill Scher / commonsense.ourfuture.org:

What The Boos Were About — Sen. Hillary Clinton being booed during her remarks is likely to be the big story coming out of Day 3 of Take Back America. What the boos were actually about is likely to be misreported. — Byron York at the National Review writes that the boos began after Clinton said …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Carpetbagger Report, Hot Air and JammieWearingFool

David Segal / Washington Post:
Carl Bernstein, Back on the Beat

Discussion: mediabistro.com and Romenesko

New York Times:

Bloomberg Severs G.O.P. Ties, Fueling Talk of '08 Bid — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced Tuesday that he was dropping his Republican affiliation, a step that could clear the way for him to make an independent bid for the presidency. — The announcement was released during …

Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:

N.Y. Mayor Bloomberg Leaves GOP — Move Fuels Speculation About Independent Bid for the White House — New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg abruptly left the Republican Party yesterday, declaring himself free of a "rigid adherence" to ideology and stoking speculation that he will use …

Discussion: Boston Globe, New York Post, Washington Monthly, City Room, Dick Polman's American Debate, The Politico and New York Times

Ahmed Yousef / New York Times:

What Hamas Wants — THE events in Gaza over the last few days have been described in the West as a coup. In essence, they have been the opposite. Eighteen months ago, our Hamas Party won the Palestinian parliamentary elections and entered office under Prime Minister Ismail Haniya …

Discussion: A Blog For All, CNN, FP Passport and Michael P.F. van der Galiën

Little Green Footballs:
New York Times Shills for Hamas (Again)

Discussion: Pajamas Media and The Jawa Report

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

What "truly motivates" George W. Bush? — Salon this morning has published a somewhat lengthy excerpt from my new book, A Tragic Legacy. The excerpt is here, and it concerns the root premises which have led this country so explicitly to embrace the very policies and practices …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, DownWithTyranny!, Corrente and Firedoglake

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
A tragic legacy — How a good vs. evil mentality destroyed the Bush presidency.

Discussion: The Mahablog

Michael Cook / TCS Daily:

Will a Disruptive Technology Mothball Therapeutic Cloning? — The global grandees of therapeutic cloning recently gathered in sun-soaked Cairns, the gateway to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, for their annual conference. They have serious strategic issues to deal with along …

Discussion: Clayton Cramer's BLOG

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Bush Will Pair Veto With New Cell Initiative

Discussion: The Gavel, Redstate and Washington Post

Alan Finder / New York Times:

Some Colleges to Drop Out of U.S. News Rankings — The presidents of dozens of liberal arts colleges have decided to stop participating in the annual college rankings by U.S. News and World Report. — The decision was announced Tuesday at the end of an annual meeting of the Annapolis Group …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Inside Higher Ed, The Quick and the Ed, Althouse and The RBC

Quinnipiac University News and Events:

June 20, 2007 - Clinton Tops Giuliani, Bloomberg In New York State, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Thompson Tops McCain Among Republicans — In a hypothetical all-New York presidential race, Sen. Hillary Clinton wins with 43 percent of voters statewide, followed by former …

Discussion: The Swamp, culturekitchen, City Room and TIME

Agence France Presse:

French officials want their BlackBerrys despite security warning — Top French government officials are ignoring warnings to ditch their cherished BlackBerrys — smartphones with e-mail capacity — despite warnings their messages may be intercepted by US spy agencies, a report said Tuesday.

Discussion: Roger L. Simon, Say Anything and Pajamas Media

Ronald Brownstein / Los Angeles Times:

Newt's lesson for Pelosi — The speaker should value loyalty, not longevity, for House leadership posts to keep Democrats in line. — HOUSE DEMOCRATS avoided a full-scale meltdown over their top domestic priority Monday when Speaker Nancy Pelosi forced Michigan Rep. John D. Dingell to shelve …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and The Carpetbagger Report

James V. Grimaldi / Washington Post:

Report Slams Small's Tenure — Former Smithsonian secretary Lawrence M. Small took nearly 10 weeks of vacation a year during seven years running the vast museum complex and was absent from his job 550 workdays while earning $5.7 million on outside work, according to an independent commission report to be released today.

Discussion: DownWithTyranny! and Wonkette

Steven Erlanger / New York Times:

Gazans Adjust to Power Shift as New Rulers Revel — Muhammad al-Borniah, 23, shook a little on Tuesday as he showed off the tiny cell, No. 13, where he spent five days in January as a prisoner of the Palestinian Preventive Security, the elite Fatah force that dealt with subversion.

Discussion: Michael P.F. van der Galiën and The American Mind

Editor and Publisher:

GALLUP: 7 in 10 Americans Say Economy Is 'Getting Worse' — NEW YORK A new Gallup Poll will only reinforce those who claim that while the rich get richer most Americans don't feel they are sharing in the growth in our economy. The stock market may be climbing and the unemployment remains relatively low …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and All Spin Zone

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:

U.S. Seeks to Block Exits for Iraq Insurgents — In more than four years in Iraq, American forces have been confounded by insurgents who have often slipped away only to fight another day. The war in Iraq has been likened to the arcade game of whack-a-mole, where as soon as you knock down one mole another pops up.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money, The Atlantic Online, The Strata-Sphere, American Footprints, The Heretik, The Swamp and Kiko's House

Ryan Lizza / The New Republic:

RICHARDSON'S LATEST: — Yesterday at the Take Back America conference Bill Richardson attacked his Democratic primary opponents for supporting recent legislation on Iraq. Said Richardson: … What is the nefarious legislation Richardson's opponents supported?

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Transterrestrial Musings and The Atlantic Online

David Weigel / Reason Magazine:

A Spoiler Passes the Torch — Last night New York Mayor (and noted ubermensch) Michael Bloomberg skunked his GOP registration card and became an independent, presumably setting up a 2008 run for president. As luck would have it I had talked with 1996/2000/2004 Green Party/independent …

Discussion: Time, CNN Political Ticker, Lawyers, Guns and Money and blogs.usatoday.com

Sam Youngman / The Hill:

Former Sen. Allen supports Fred Thompson's candidacy — Former Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) is adjusting to life after the Senate, starting a political action committee (PAC) and finding other ways to stay busy. — So busy, in fact, Allen said this week he has no interest in running for chairman …

Discussion: Power Line

National Lampoon Humor Network:

National Lampoon's 72 Virgins — Two idiot college students unwittingly join an Al Qaeda cell in order to get the 72 virgins promised to terrorists when they die. From the makers of Animal House, Van Wilder, and the Vacation movies. Join the Jihad at NationalLampoon.com!

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Little Green Footballs

Norm / normblog:

Rushdie, Self and Berlins — I don't know if Will Self's words as given here (scroll down) are complete, or accurate to what he said to the Guardian, but if they are, then they do him no credit: … Self allows an ambiguity: should Rushdie not have accepted the honour just because honours …

Discussion: alicublog and Ed Driscoll.com

Maddy Sauer Reports / The Blotter:

New Taliban Leader Had Been in Afghan Custody; Released in Hostage Deal — Maddy Sauer Reports: — The Taliban military commander who led the "graduation ceremony" for 300 suicide bombers was one of five men released from an Afghanistan prison earlier this year in exchange for a kidnapped Italian journalist.

Discussion: AMERICAblog