memeorandum: FBI Chief Disputes Gonzales On Spying (Washington Post)

12:55 PM ET, July 27, 2007

Top Items:

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

Strike Two — For Barack Obama, it was strike two. And this one was a right-down-the-middle question from a YouTuber in Monday night's South Carolina debate: "Would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and eyeon08.com

Washington Post:

For Clinton and Obama, A Debate Point Won't Die — A debate moment that might have quickly come and gone has erupted into the sharpest battle of the Democratic nominating contest, with Sen. Barack Obama yesterday comparing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's position on meeting with the leaders …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Politico, New York Times and MSNBC

Brian Beutler:
Obama vs. Clinton, left vs. right

Discussion: Washington Post, Ezra Klein, The Atlantic Online and The Fix

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters: Krauthammer: Obama Is The New Tom Hagen

Washington Post:

FBI Chief Disputes Gonzales On Spying — FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III yesterday contradicted the sworn testimony of his boss, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, by telling Congress that a prominent warrantless surveillance program was the subject of a dramatic legal debate within the Bush administration.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, New York Times, Dick Polman's American Debate, Los Angeles Times, Norwegianity and TPMmuckraker

Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:
Bedtime for Gonzo — It's way past bedtime for Gonzo.

Discussion: The Corner, The Moderate Voice, New York Times, DownWithTyranny! and The Caucus

New York Times:
F.B.I. Chief Gives Account at Odds With Gonzales's

Discussion: Firedoglake, JustOneMinute, The Heretik, Washington Post, Crooks and Liars, Brilliant at Breakfast, PoliBlog (TM) and Roger Ailes

Opinion Journal:
Wiretap Debacle — How politics has gutted the terrorist surveillance program.

Discussion: Power Line and Betsy's Page

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

Army Private Discloses He Is New Republic's Baghdad Diarist — The New Republic's anonymous "Baghdad Diarist" identified himself yesterday as Scott Thomas Beauchamp, an Army private in Iraq, and disputed as "maddening" accusations that he had invented his accounts of cruelty by American soldiers.

Discussion: Confederate Yankee, Townhall.com, Hot Air, Weekly Standard, Little Green Footballs, Riehl World View, QandO, Balloon Juice, Comments From Left Field, Wake up America, AMERICAblog and Redstate

John Podhoretz / The Corner:
Franklin Foer, Enemy of Ideological Agendas

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Townhall.com and Eschaton

Los Angeles Times:

U.S. drops Baghdad electricity reports — The daily length of time that residents have power has dropped. The figure is considered a key indicator of quality of life. — WASHINGTON — washington — As the Bush administration struggles to convince lawmakers that its Iraq war strategy is working …

Discussion: TPMmuckraker, Informed Comment and Balloon Juice

Fester / The Newshoggers:
Where's the power report

Discussion: American Footprints, The Impolitic and The Atlantic Online

Jon Hurdle / Reuters:

Court throws out city's illegal immigration law — HAZLETON, Pa (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday struck down as unconstitutional a local law designed to crack down on illegal immigration, dealing a blow to similar laws passed by dozens of towns and cities across the country.

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, PoliPundit.com and Outside The Beltway

Darryl Fears / Washington Post:
Judge Blocks City's Ordinances Against Illegal Immigration

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Think Progress, Bluey Blog and Fred File

Peter Elstrom / Business Week:
Small-Town Quarrel, Big Implications

Discussion: The Corner and Daily Kos

Guardian:

Violence won't work: how author of 'jihadists' bible' stirred up a storm — Revisionist message from prison cell shakes al-Qaida colleagues — Ian Black Cairo — The assassination of the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1981 by Islamic militants, a key moment in the development of jihadist groups.

Discussion: Jihad Watch

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Violent Jihad's Author To Recant?

Discussion: USS Neverdock

Matt / thinkprogress.org:

Novak's heaven: A 'place where there are no blogs.' — "I'm 76 years old, and pretty soon I'm going to a place where there are no blogs," said conservative pundit Robert Novak at an American Spectator breakfast on Thursday morning. Speaking of the land beyond, Novak added …

Discussion: The Next Hurrah

Examiner:

Novak Tome Could Have Been 'Bible Length' — Columnist Robert Novak said Thursday morning that the draft manuscript of his recently released autobiography, "Bob Novak and the Deathly Hallows" ... er, sorry, "The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington" (can't get Harry Potter out of our heads), ran to about 1,400 pages.

Jose Antonio Vargas / Washington Post:

But Don't Ask Him on YouTube... Four days after the Democratic debate in Charleston, S.C,. more than 400 questions directed to the GOP presidential field have been uploaded on YouTube — targeted at Republicans scheduled to get their turn at videopopulism on Sept. 17.

David Saltonstall / NY Daily News:
Snowman's chance for a GOP debate

Discussion: MSNBC, National Review and Townhall.com

Martha Mendoza / Associated Press:

AP: New Details on Tillman's Death — SAN FRANCISCO - — Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman's forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player's death amounted to a crime …

Spencer Ackerman / TPMmuckraker:
Today's Must Read

Discussion: Los Angeles Times

Digby / Hullabaloo:

Private Peter Pan — The other day I posted about a pseudonymously written story published in the New Republic by a soldier in the field describing some rather despicable behavior by himself and some of his buddies. It seemed to me that it was plausible, although of course, I have no way of really knowing.

Discussion: Brian Beutler and The Sideshow

Mark Murray / MSNBC:

FOX PRODUCER JOINS TEAM FRED — From NBC's Mike Viqueira — The word spreading all over Capitol Hill today is that longtime Fox senior congressional producer Jim Mills is leaving his booth on the House side to join the Fred Thompson quasi-campaign as spokesman.

Michael Burleigh / Times of London:

Lawyers sap our will to combat terrorism — We lack the toughness of our European neighbours — Many jihadis seek to create a global caliphate, ruled by Sharia. At best, Christians, Hindus, and Jews would live in a state of submission tantamount to second-class citizenship.

Discussion: Tim Worstall

Keith Ervin / Seattle Times:

Felony charges filed against 7 in state's biggest case of voter-registration fraud — King and Pierce County prosecutors filed felony charges today against seven people who allegedly committed the biggest voter-registration fraud in state history. — The defendants, who were paid employees …

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, The Jawa Report, Sister Toldjah, National Review and PoliPundit.com

Judith / Kesher Talk:

Cindy Sheehan in NYC — [ UPDATE: Gathering of Eagles is going to confront the Cindy Brigade in Central Park on Sunday. Info here. and here. ] — Kesher Talk Roving Correspondent Pamela Hall was there when the St Cindy Circus came to town. — Lots of photos and lots of video.

Discussion: The Jawa Report

Todd J. Zywicki / Washington Times:

Junk social science index — No one ever accused Congress of being overly meticulous about the scientific evidence it takes in. But the 110th Congress has been on a binge diet of junk social science. It's no wonder it's been looking sick lately. — Or should we say "sicko?"

Discussion: The Corner