memeorandum: U.S. Warns Of Stronger Al-Qaeda (Washington Post)

6:50 AM ET, July 12, 2007

Top Items:

Lady Bird Johnson dies at 94 — AUSTIN, Texas - Lady Bird Johnson, the former first lady who championed conservation and worked tenaciously for the political career of her husband, Lyndon B. Johnson, died Wednesday, a family spokeswoman said. She was 94. — Johnson, who suffered a stroke …

Discussion: Burnt Orange Report, Outside The Beltway, Happy Furry Puppy Story …, Kevin Sullivan and The Democratic Daily

Connecting.the.Dots:

Farewell to a Lady — "My mother," Lynda Bird Johnson once told me, "thinks well of everybody. She's even sure the Devil's been maligned. Just got a bad press." — I got to know the First Lady during the time her daughter worked for me when I was editor of McCalls.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Ann Gerhart / Washington Post:
Lady Bird Johnson Gave America A Big Bouquet

Discussion: commonsense.ourfuture.org, Time, Dyre Portents, Firedoglake and On Deadline

Enid Nemy / New York Times:
Lady Bird Johnson, Former First Lady, Dies at 94

Discussion: The Democratic Daily and Truthdig

Richard B. Schmitt / Los Angeles Times:

Disregard subpoenas, Justice Dept. says — The opinion raises questions over whether Bush officials would be prosecuted for not cooperating in probe of U.S. attorneys firings. — WASHINGTON — In a broadly worded legal opinion, the Justice Department has concluded that President Bush's former top lawyer …

Discussion: Capitol Briefing and ACSBlog

Jesse Lee / The Gavel:
Miers' Attorney Says She Will Not Attend Hearing

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Think Progress, CBS News, Balkinization, New York Times, Crooks and Liars, TPMmuckraker, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos, MoJoBlog, Talking Points Memo, Shakesville, The Carpetbagger Report, The Raw Story and Reuters

The Blotter:
White House, FBI Agents Race to Disrupt 'Summer of '07' Threat

Discussion: Hot Air, ThreatsWatch and WTF Is It Now??

The Huffington Post:
Simon Heller and Vivien Labaton: Muzzled

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money

New York Times:

Bush to Declare Gains in Iraq on Some Fronts — The Bush administration will assert in the next few days that progress in carrying out the new American strategy in Iraq has been satisfactory on nearly half of the 18 benchmarks set by Congress, according to several administration officials.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Rising Hegemon and The Democratic Daily

David Ignatius / Washington Post:
A Consensus Waiting to Happen

Discussion: Washington Monthly

ABCNEWS:
Security Forces Improve in Baghdad, Politics Founder

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and On Deadline

Laura Rozen / MoJoBlog:

Intelligence Briefing on the Hill Today — The top intelligence analysts for the CIA, Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) provided a Global Security Assessment to the full House Armed Services Committee today.

Discussion: CNN, The American Street and At-Largely

Washington Post:
U.S. Warns Of Stronger Al-Qaeda

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Strata-Sphere, Los Angeles Times and ProfessorBainbridge.com ®

Associated Press:
Al-Qaida has rebuilt, U.S. intel warns

Discussion: Scrutiny Hooligans

Elana Schor / The Hill:

Flynt is tracking 20 congressional sex scandal leads — Larry Flynt, the porn-industry magnate who first linked Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) to the escort service of the "D.C. Madam," said Wednesday that his investigators are tracking more than 20 leads on alleged congressional sex scandals.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Wonkette, Scrutiny Hooligans, On Deadline, Crooks and Liars and New York Times

James Taranto / Opinion Journal: Best of the Web — Today's Video on WSJ.com: James Taranto …

David Corn:
Looking for Johns in All the Right Phone Records

Discussion: Kevin Sullivan and Norwegianity

Orlando Sentinel:

Rep. Bob Allen arrested on sex charge — TITUSVILLE - State Rep. Bob Allen was arrested Wednesday afternoon at a local park after offering to perform a sex act on an undercover officer in exchange for $20, police said. — Allen, R-Merritt Island, was booked into the Brevard County jail …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Tallahassee Democrat, Associated Press, Bark Bark Woof Woof and Watching Those We Chose

myfoxorlando.com:

State House Rep. Arrested — Titusville police say they have arrested Florida State Rep. Robert "Bob" Allen, of Merrit Island, on second degree misdemeanor charges for soliciation for prostiution. — Allen, 48, was arrested Wednesday afternoon at Veteran's Memorial Park on East Broad St. in Titusville.

Discussion: Florida Today, DownWithTyranny!, Pam's House Blend, Suburban Guerrilla and Blah3

WCBS-TV:

Firefighters Rip Giuliani, Call Him 'Urban Legend' — New DVD Criticizes Former NYC Mayor — Giuliani's Campaign Calls Video 'Mockumentary' — (CBS) NEW YORK The International Association of Firefighters has gone on the offensive against "America's Mayor" Rudy Giuliani …

Discussion: PrezVid and New York Times

Marc Santora / New York Times:
Video by Firefighters' Union Urges Opposition to Giuliani

Discussion: Riehl World View and Oliver Willis

The Big Trunk / Power Line:

FRED THOMPSON: "A LAWYER WHO IS A PROSPECTIVE CANDIDATE" — Fred Thompson has sent us the following column on the subject of his career in the practice of law. We are delighted to bring it to our readers: … Supplementing Senator Thompson's historical observations …

Discussion: A Chequer-Board of Nights …, Riehl World View and Captain's Quarters

New York Times:

McCain Call Raises an Ethics Question — About 3 p.m. Tuesday, Senator John McCain ducked off the Senate floor, entered the Republican cloakroom and took out his mobile phone. Just hours after accepting the resignation of his two top campaign aides, he was making a conference call …

Discussion: The Politico and Don Surber

Times of London:

British blamed for mysterious Beast of Basra — British forces operating around the southern Iraqi city of Basra are being blamed for the arrival of a plague of vicious badgers that stalk the streets at night, attacking livestock and even humans. — Local farmers have caught and killed several …

Discussion: Outside The Beltway

Karim Jamil / Agence France Presse:
Giant badgers terrorise Iraqi port city

Discussion: The Corner, Little Green Footballs and Blue Crab Boulevard

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Hmmm. A very... FELONY — Hmmm. A very knowledgeable emailer says it's a felony ... I can't vouch for the legal interpretation. But it seems like decent prima facie case and the emailer knows his stuff.

Discussion: At-Largely and The Liberal Avenger

Siun / Firedoglake:

Levin-Lieberman Love Fest - One Step Closer to War on Iran — Right after Sen. Lieberman voted against U.S. troops on the Webb amendment, he launched his new Iran Amendment - cosponsored by pals Kyl, Graham, Collins and Sessions with strong support by McCain - and Senator Levin could not fall …

Discussion: lieberman.senate.gov, My Left Nutmeg, Crooks and Liars, The Agonist and The Carpetbagger Report

CNN Political Ticker:

Thompson eyes August kick-off — WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson is now likely to announce his presidential campaign in August, not mid-July as previously envisioned and will skip the Republican straw poll in Ames, Iowa, people familiar with Thompson's thinking tell CNN.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Hot Air and The Crone Speaks

Bob Woodward / Washington Post:

CIA Said Instability Seemed 'Irreversible' — Early on the morning of Nov. 13, 2006, members of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group gathered around a dark wooden conference table in the windowless Roosevelt Room of the White House. — For more than an hour, they listened to President Bush give …

Discussion: Rising Hegemon and The Reaction