memeorandum: A New Owner — Rupert Murdoch's courtship of the Bancroft … (Wall Street Journal)

6:55 PM ET, August 1, 2007

Top Items:

Remarks of Senator Obama: The War We Need to Win — Thank you Lee, for hosting me here at the Wilson Center, and for your leadership of both the 9/11 Commission and the Iraq Study Group. You have been a steady voice of reason in an unsteady time. — Let me also say that my thoughts …

Discussion: The Corner, Hot Air, Election Central, The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly, Done With Mirrors, Weekly Standard, rubber hose, AMERICAblog, democracyarsenal.org, National Review, Open Left and Flopping Aces

Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:

Obama might send troops into Pakistan — WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday that he would possibly send troops into Pakistan to hunt down terrorists, an attempt to show strength when his chief rival has described his foreign policy skills as naive.

Discussion: Telegraph, Althouse, Agence France Presse, Texas Rainmaker, Liberal Values, Comments From Left Field, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, JustOneMinute, Classical Values, National Review, Connecting.the.Dots, Confederate Yankee, Riehl World View, rubber hose, VodkaPundit and baldilocks

ABCNEWS:

Obama to Deliver Bold Speech About War on Terror — Presidential Candidate to Push Aggressive Stance Toward Pakistan — In a strikingly bold speech about terrorism scheduled for this morning, Democratic presidential candidate Illinois Sen. Barack Obama will call not only for a withdrawal …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Hennessy's View, QandO, Spectator, Right Wing Nut House, CNN Political Ticker, Wake up America, D-Day, Don Surber, The Carpetbagger Report and Oliver Willis

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Obama's speech: No mention of "war on terror" — Barack Obama was among those raising his hands in a recent debate to indicate that he believes there is a "war on terror," but his speech today — and read the whole thing — marks a really sharp departure from policies past …

Discussion: democracyarsenal.org

Michelle Malkin:

Barack Obama: Macho man — Scroll down for updates...Via Obama's website, here are the full prepared remarks of his Macho Speech...you'll be able to watch the speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center here. — Looks like the laughingstock Democrat presidential candidates have been eating their Wheaties.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Sister Toldjah, TBogg, Volunteer Opinion Journal, The Democratic Daily and Iowa Voice

Oliver Willis / The Huffington Post:
Barack Obama Vows To Kill Bin Laden, Conservatives (and Some Liberals) Cry Foul

Discussion: MyDD and The Atlantic Online

Bryan / Hot Air:

Breaking: CAIR threatens Young America's Foundation, seeks to stifle Robert Spencer — Noted author, Hot Air contributor/host and jihad watcher Robert Spencer is scheduled to speak before a gathering of the Young America's Foundation in Washington on Thursday.

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, Captain's Quarters, Jihad Watch, The Sundries Shack, Little Green Footballs, Clayton Cramer's BLOG, Solomonia, Sister Toldjah and Wizbang

Robert / Jihad Watch:

CAIR threatens Young America's Foundation over my talk tomorrow — Note the personal smears, the attempt to bully and intimidate, and the non-specificity of the charges against me (they can't be specific, because I don't say anything inaccurate about them — or about Islam or jihad).

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

New York Times:

Violence Rages in Iraq as Sunni Bloc Leaves Cabinet — Three bomb attacks in Baghdad today killed more than 65 people, as sectarian and militant violence continued to rage in Iraq. — The Shiite-led government that is trying to cope with the violence, meanwhile, suffered a political setback today …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Next Hurrah, Balloon Juice and Daily Kos

Abu Aardvark:
Sunni bloc withdrawal

Discussion: Associated Press, The Carpetbagger Report, Shakespeare's Sister and Washington Monthly

Wall Street Journal:

Murdoch Wins His Bid for Dow Jones — Bancroft Family Agrees — To $5 Billion Offer — After Deal on Fees — A New Owner for Journal — A century of Bancroft-family ownership at Dow Jones & Co. is over. — Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. sealed a $5 billion agreement to purchase …

Discussion: Scott Rosenberg's Wordyard, Wake up America, Booman Tribune, NewsBusters.org, New York Magazine, mediabistro.com and paidContent.org

L. Gordon Crovitz / Opinion Journal:
A Report to Our Readers — The same standards of accuracy …

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard

Josephine Hearn / The Politico:

Pelosi gives nod to Gonzales impeachment inquiry — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) welcomed a resolution by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) to begin an impeachment inquiry of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. — "Of course it's merited," Pelosi said. "I've called for the resignation of the attorney general.

Discussion: Comments From Left Field

Harold Meyerson / Washington Post:
The Speaker In Charge — This is one of those odd weeks when Congress may actually work.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

Robert J. Samuelson / Washington Post:

Making the Think Tanks Think — Just in case you haven't noticed, the major presidential candidates — Republican and Democratic — are dodging one of the thorniest problems they would face if elected: the huge budget costs of aging baby boomers. In last week's CNN-YouTube debate …

Discussion: The Corner, Bluey Blog, Blue Crab Boulevard and Cato-at-liberty

Mark Thoma / Economist's View:
Robert Samuelson's Three Beliefs

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Brendan Nyhan

Marc Santora / New York Times:

Giuliani Seeks to Transform U.S. Health Care Coverage — Rudolph W. Giuliani on Tuesday called for transforming the way health care coverage is provided in the United States, advocating a voluntary move from the current employer-based system to one that would grant substantial tax benefits to people who buy their own insurance.

Discussion: The Hill, Comments From Left Field, bustardblog, NewsBusters.org, TIME: Swampland, The Carpetbagger Report, TIME, DownWithTyranny!, Donklephant and Left in the West

Zogby:

UPI/Zogby Poll: 54% Lack Confidence in Bush's Ability As Commander in Chief — Survey shows just 3% of Americans approve of how Congress is handling the war in Iraq; 24% say the same for the President — A majority of American adults (54%) lack confidence in President Bush's ability …

Discussion: Don Surber, All Spin Zone, Wake up America and Blue Crab Boulevard

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

Mayor Takes the Subway — by Way of S.U.V. — He is public transportation's loudest cheerleader, boasting that he takes the subway "virtually every day." He has told residents who complain about overcrowded trains to "get real" and he constantly encourages New Yorkers to follow his environmentally friendly example.

Discussion: MSNBC, New York Magazine and Hot Air

Andrew Roth / Club for Growth:

1,028 Economists Oppose Protectionist Policies — In 1930, Congress passed and President Hoover signed into law the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. At the time, this protectionist measure was vigorously opposed by 1,028 of the nation's top economists. They rightly predicted the tariffs would devastate the economy.

Discussion: The Corner, Washington Post, Grasping Reality …, MaxSpeak, Beltway Blogroll and Wall Street Journal

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:

Gordon Brown for president — Effective today, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is the leader of the free world and the voice of hope and change that offers the first true answer of freedom to the heinous crimes of Sept. 11, 2001. — In his brilliant and comprehensive comments at Camp David …

Discussion: The Newshoggers