memeorandum: Disfavor for Bush Hits Rare Heights (Peter Baker/Washington Post)

7:55 PM ET, July 25, 2007

Top Items:

House Democrats pass contempt citation — WASHINGTON - The House Judiciary Committee approved a contempt of Congress citation Wednesday against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and one-time Counsel Harriet Miers, setting up a constitutional confrontation over the firings of federal prosecutors.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, DownWithTyranny!, All Spin Zone, Three Wise Men, The Carpetbagger Report, Outside The Beltway, Mathew Gross, Pam's House Blend and Taylor Marsh

Peter Baker / Washington Post:

Disfavor for Bush Hits Rare Heights — In Modern Era, Only Nixon Scored Worse, And Only Truman Was Down for So Long — President Bush is a competitive guy. But this is one contest he would rather lose. With 18 months left in office, he is in the running for most unpopular president in the history of modern polling.

Discussion: TPMmuckraker, Captain's Quarters, Open Left, The New Republic, Donklephant, DownWithTyranny!, Comments From Left Field, Corrente, WTF Is It Now??, Attytood, The Reaction, Pollster.com and Sadly, No!

Washington Post:

House Panel Votes for Contempt Charges in Firings Case — The House Judiciary Committee voted today to issue contempt citations for two of President Bush's most trusted aides, taking its most dramatic step yet towards a constitutional showdown with the White House over the Justice Department's dismissal of nine U.S. attorneys.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Wonkette, TalkLeft and Balloon Juice

John Bresnahan / The Politico:

House Judiciary Committee approves contempt resolution against Bolten and Miers — The House Judiciary Committee, in a straight party-line vote, approved a contempt resolution against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers, setting …

Discussion: CNN and The Hill

Elana Schor / The Hill:
Sens. say Gonzales lied — The Senate veered closer …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Heading Right, Captain's Quarters, Time, Talking Points Memo, CNN, Media Matters for America, Middle Earth Journal, The American Mind and Shakespeare's Sister

Amy Goldstein / Washington Post:
Report Suggests Laws Broken in Attorney Firings

Discussion: Firedoglake, Comments From Left Field, Macsmind, TPMmuckraker, Think Progress, Balkinization, The Raw Story, Associated Press, The Carpetbagger Report, The Gavel and Cliff Schecter

Jesse Lee / The Gavel:
Judiciary Committee Meeting on Contempt

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, CommonDreams.org, Booman Tribune, On Deadline and TPMmuckraker

James Rowley / Bloomberg:
House Panel Cites Bush Aides for Contempt of Congress

Discussion: Sirotablog, Captain's Quarters and MyDD

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:
House Committee Approves Contempt Citation

Discussion: The Newshoggers

David Stout / New York Times:
Panel Holds Two Bush Aides in Contempt

Discussion: Prairie Weather and Daily Kos

John Aravosis / AMERICAblog:

Bill O'Reilly's Web site threatens Hillary's life — FOX News' Bill O'Reilly has been attacking the liberal blog Daily Kos, and liberal blogs in general, over some extreme comments left by some of our visitors. It's interesting therefore that O'Reilly's own Web site contains some of the most hideous hate you've ever seen.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Comments From Left Field, Think Progress, Outside The Beltway, Wake up America and Seeing the Forest

News For The Left:

Bill O'Reily.com being investigated by Secret Service — After seeing this post by John Aravosis on AmericaBlog, I was incensed and concerned at the same time. Here is the comment on O'Reilly's blog that crossed the line: … So, I did what a responsible person should do when they see something like this on a blog.

Discussion: Salon, Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars, Pam's House Blend, AMERICAblog, The Carpetbagger Report, Taylor Marsh and Riehl World View

The Raw Story:

National Intelligence Estimate claim over Iran-linked threat unsupported, CIA sources say — Current and former intelligence officials say the Bush Administration's National Intelligence Estimate regarding terrorist threats to the United States does not provide evidence to support its assertions …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Comments From Left Field and Booman Tribune

Will Marshall / Ideas Primary:
Changing Course in Iraq

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Strategist and Salon

The Atlantic Online:

Another Resignation From Team Thompson — The day after his would-be campaign manager was replaced, Ex-Sen. Fred Thompson has another senior staff position to refill. — J.T. Mastranadi was hired just a week and a half ago to be the campaign's director of research. He resigned this morning, a friend of his said.

Discussion: MSNBC, Hot Air, The Caucus, National Review, The Corner, The Carpetbagger Report, Reuters, The Fix and TIME

CNN Political Ticker:
Protester removed from Fred Thompson event

Discussion: theneweditor.com, Boston Globe and DownWithTyranny!

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:

Exclusive First Read: Obama hits Clinton - harder — From NBC's Andrea Mitchell — Sen. Obama has ESCALATED his criticism of Hillary Clinton — taking it to political defcon three — in an exclusive on-camera interview with NBC News. — It is a lot tougher than what he said in the debate …

Discussion: Liberal Values, Comments From Left Field, Wake up America, Riehl World View and Inside Long Island Politics

Michelle Malkin:

Document drop: A new critique of the 2004 Lancet Iraq death toll study — One of the most useful roles of the blogosphere is its service as an open-source intelligence-gathering medium. You can draw on the expertise of people around the world at the touch of a button.

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House, Cox & Forkum, Chicago Boyz and Little Green Footballs

Jim Nichols / Cleveland Metro News:

Michigan Young Republican pleads guilty in sex case — The former head of the Michigan Federation of Young Republicans admitted today that he sexually abused a colleague during a national convention here last summer. — Michael Flory, a 32-year-old attorney from Jackson, Mich. …

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, All Spin Zone, Buckeye State Blog, Alternate Brain, Roger Ailes, Shakespeare's Sister, Wonkette, Don Surber and skippy the bush kangaroo

Carrie Budoff / The Politico:

Specter to probe Supreme Court decisions — Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) plans to review the Senate testimony of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel J. Alito to determine if their reversal of several long-standing opinions conflicts with promises they made to senators to win confirmation.

Discussion: Firedoglake, TalkLeft, A Chequer-Board of Nights …, Outside The Beltway, Concurring Opinions, SCOTUSblog, Macsmind, The Gun Toting Liberal™, rubber hose and ACSBlog

Karina / The Gavel:

House Votes to Ban Permanent Bases in Iraq — "The Democratic Congress will go on record - every day if necessary - to register a judgment in opposition to the course of action that the President is taking in Iraq. The Democratic Congress will go on record - every day if necessary …

Discussion: Think Progress, DownWithTyranny! and The Carpetbagger Report

Associated Press:

Queen guitarist to complete doctorate — LONDON - Brian May is completing his doctorate in astrophysics, more than 30 years after he abandoned his studies to form the rock group Queen. — The 60-year-old guitarist and songwriter said he plans to submit his thesis, "Radial Velocities …

Discussion: The Crone Speaks

Manu Raju / The Hill:

Conservatives call for Bush to emphasize 'leaving Iraq' — Some conservative activist leaders, fearing voter anger with the Iraq war, want President Bush and GOP leaders to begin emphasizing that U.S. troops will be "leaving Iraq" to give Republicans cover as they head into a tough political landscape in 2008.

Discussion: Eye on Williamson, The Carpetbagger Report, Think Progress, Taylor Marsh and Balloon Juice