memeorandum: Italian Gun Runners in Biz with Iraqi Ministry (Spencer Ackerman/TPMmuckraker)

5:35 PM ET, August 13, 2007

Top Items:

'The Mark of Rove' — These are the days of Republican doubt, with President Bush fighting an unpopular war, Congress in opposition hands, and a 2008 presidential field trailing Democrats in nearly every poll. But don't tell that to Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's political alter ego …

Wall Street Journal:

Karl Rove to Resign At the End of August — Karl Rove, President Bush's longtime political adviser, is resigning as White House deputy chief of staff effective Aug. 31, and returning to Texas, he said in an interview with Paul Gigot, editor of The Wall Street Journal's editorial page.

New York Times:

Karl Rove, Top Strategist, Is Leaving the White House — Karl Rove, the political adviser who masterminded President George W. Bush's two winning presidential campaigns and secured his own place in history as a political strategist with extraordinary influence within the White House …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Hill, Guardian, CNN Political Ticker, Blogcritics Section, BAGnewsNotes, ACSBlog, Firedoglake and Think Progress

CNN:

Karl Rove to leave White House — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Karl Rove, President Bush's senior political adviser, will voluntarily step down from his White House post at the end of the month, senior administration officials said Monday. — "Obviously it's a big loss to us, said deputy White House press secretary Dana Perino. "

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Burnt Orange Report, BlueOregon, BuzzFlash.org, On Deadline and The Atlantic Online

Emptywheel / The Next Hurrah:

My Guesses on Why Rove Resigned — By now you've heard the news: Rove is stepping down. So here's my treatment of possible reasons why he's leaving, in reverse order of their likelihood: — Time with the Family — As he said to the WSJ, he wants to spend more time with this family.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Crooks and Liars, Washington Wire, The Atlantic Online, The Hill, AlterNet.org, MSNBC, Ezra Klein, Booman Tribune, The Seminal, Prairie Weather, Think Progress, The Lede, Blah3 and The Moderate Voice

Washington Post:

Karl Rove, Adviser to President Bush, to Quit — Karl Rove, chief architect of the Bush presidency and the premier Republican strategist of the last decade, will step down as White House deputy chief of staff Aug. 31. — Rove revealed his plans to the Wall Street Journal …

Discussion: If I Ran the Zoo, Norwegianity and Connecting.the.Dots

Andrew Samwick / Vox Baby:
Rove and Mythology — From the WSJ editorial with Paul Gigot …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and Angry Bear

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
The Rove Legacy — Karl Rove leaves the White House in anything but victory.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Hill, bustardblog, Faux Real and Visible Vote 08

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
EXIT ROVE — So Karl Rove is resigning. I got up in the middle …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Carpetbagger Report and Left in the West

Rasmussen Reports:
Karl Rove: 29% Favorable

Discussion: MSNBC and Hot Air

Real Clear Politics:
On Karl Rove — Before taking my job as director of the Office …

Discussion: Guardian, The Atlantic Online and New York Times

Terence Hunt / Associated Press:
Karl Rove to leave White House

Discussion: democracyarsenal.org

Steve Paulson / Salon:

The religious state of Islamic science — In October, Malaysia's first astronaut will join a Russian crew and blast off into space. The news of a Muslim astronaut was cause for celebration in the Islamic world, but then certain questions started popping up.

Ace / Ace of Spades HQ:
Shocking Article On The State Of Islamic Science At Salon

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy and alicublog

USA Today:

Major attacks decline in Iraq — The number of truck bombs and other large al-Qaeda-style attacks in Iraq have declined nearly 50% since the United States started increasing troop levels in Iraq about six months ago, according to the U.S. military command in Iraq.

Discussion: New York Times, Jules Crittenden, Commentary, Agence France Presse, The Glittering Eye, Bluey Blog, The Captain's Journal, Comments From Left Field, Captain's Quarters, The Strata-Sphere, Hot Air, Think Progress, Iowa Voice, Donklephant, Wake up America and Redstate

Confederate Yankee:

More Easily Debunked Beauchamp Fiction: It Never Ends (Update: Joke?) — Had it not been hidden behind the subscriber firewall, I would have found this example of The New Republic's unwillingness to fact check Scott Beauchamp long ago. — It is already widely know that in Beauchamp's second dispatch …

Discussion: protein wisdom and Weekly Standard

Michael Yon:

Three Marks on the Horizon — Almost everyone (by now) must have heard about the "lazy" Iraqi parliament members who, like so many Neros fiddling while Rome burns around them, are taking a month off. Yet comparatively few Americans will ever hear or read about IA Scorpion Company Commander Captain Baker …

Discussion: Take Our Country Back, Wizbang, Wake up America and The Sundries Shack

The Corner:

Gaza Update — It was less than two months ago, after the violent takeover of Gaza, that Hamas spokesmen took to the op-ed pages of American newspapers to proclaim that despite all the suicide bombings and summary executions, Hamas intends to create a good-government, pragmatic Islamic state in Gaza.

Discussion: The Jawa Report and Agence France Presse

Robert Peach / Commentary:

Boot Interview — Last week we sat down for an interview with Max Boot, a regular contributor to this blog and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Boot talks about "How Not to Get Out of Iraq" (his article in the September issue of COMMENTARY), General Petraeus's September report, the war in Iraq, and more.

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Gina Kolata / New York Times:

The Myth, the Math, the Sex — EVERYONE knows men are promiscuous by nature. It's part of the genetic strategy that evolved to help men spread their genes far and wide. The strategy is different for a woman, who has to go through so much just to have a baby and then nurture it.

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, The Atlantic Online, JustOneMinute, Brian Beutler, Feministe, Vox Popoli and Ezra Klein

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

O'REILLY V. O'REILLY — In case you missed it, fibbing goof Bill O'Reilly goes up against fibbing goof Bill O'Reilly on Fox News' coverage of John Edwards ...

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and Shakespeare's Sister