memeorandum: When I'm Wrong, I'm Wrong — Having given it a bit more thought … (Ryan Sager/Latest Politics)

4:10 PM ET, August 14, 2007

Top Items:

Building a Coalition, Forgetting to Rule — AS a political strategist, Karl Rove offered a brilliant answer to the wrong question. — The question he answered so successfully was a political one: How could Republicans win elections after Bill Clinton steered the Democrats to the center?

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ABCNEWS, Salon, The Atlantic Online, The Mahablog, Guardian, The Carpetbagger Report, Weekly Standard, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, Wall Street Journal, The Volokh Conspiracy and DownWithTyranny!

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Rove Legacy Laden With Protégés

Discussion: Washington Post, Think Progress, ABCNEWS, CNN, Chicago Sun Times, NewsBusters.org, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, All Spin Zone, Dick Polman's American Debate, Washington Wire, MSNBC, The Atlantic Online, Air America Radio, Prairie Weather, Corrente and The Swamp

Matthew Felling / CBS News:
Picking Bush's Brain

Discussion: The Fix, The Carpetbagger Report, Washington Post, White House, Connecting.the.Dots and mediabistro.com

USA Today:
To Dems, Rove 'more dangerous' outside West Wing

Discussion: Pandagon, Washington Post, The Heretik, The Influence Peddler, The American Street and Daniel W. Drezner

Jay Rosen / PressThink:
Karl Rove and the Religion of the Washington Press

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Brendan Nyhan, MoJoBlog, The Atlantic Online, MSNBC, Prairie Weather, Liberal Values and WhirledView

Richard B. Schmitt / Los Angeles Times:

Gonzales could get say in states' executions — Proposed rules would let the attorney general sign off on 'fast tracking' death penalty appeals. — WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is putting the final touches on regulations that could give Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales important …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, TalkLeft, Comments From Left Field, PoliBlog (TM), Les Enragés.org, MSNBC, The Volokh Conspiracy, Daily Kos and Think Progress

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:

Rule Change Shifts Death Penalty Responsibilities to Gonzales — Overwhelming evidence shows that Alberto Gonzales isn't fit to be attorney general. But despite that, his office continues to accrue important powers. Recently, the FISA bill took oversight powers from the Foreign Intelligence …

Discussion: ACSBlog

Pat Milton / Associated Press:

Imus Settles With CBS, May Make Comeback — NEW YORK — Don Imus has reached a settlement with CBS over his multimillion-dollar contract and is negotiating to resume his broadcasting career. — Imus and CBS Radio "have mutually agreed to settle claims that each had against the other regarding …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Think Progress and The Moderate Voice

Associated Press:

Imus and CBS Reach Settlement of Threatened Suit — Don Imus has reached a settlement with CBS over his multimillion-dollar contract after his being fired from his morning talk show and is in negotiations with WABC radio to resume his broadcasting career there, CBS and a person familiar with the negotiations said today.

Discussion: Abovethelaw.com and Althouse

Kevin Landrigan / Nashuatelegraph.com:

Obama leaves some wanting a little more — NASHUA - U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's surging presidential campaign is reaching a critical mass in that voters want to hear more. — As a self-described, "hope monger,'' the Illinois Democrat's optimistic call for systemic change on health care …

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, The Sundries Shack, QandO, theneweditor.com and Instapundit.com

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Are The Wheels Coming Off For Obama?

Discussion: Associated Press, Hot Air, Truth v. The Machine and Blogs of War

Ryan Sager / Latest Politics:

When I'm Wrong, I'm Wrong — Having given it a bit more thought, I think Byron York is right. I should have been clear that Sam Brownback was quoting what Mother Teresa said to him when he said at the Iowa Straw Poll, "All for Jesus. All for Jesus. All for Jesus. All for Jesus."

Discussion: The Corner

Andrew Sullivan / The Atlantic Online:
Brownback and Jesus — I suppose it is worth noting …

Discussion: race42008.com

John Tierney / New York Times:

Our Lives, Controlled From Some Guy's Couch — Until I talked to Nick Bostrom, a philosopher at Oxford University, it never occurred to me that our universe might be somebody else's hobby. I hadn't imagined that the omniscient, omnipotent creator of the heavens and earth could be an advanced version …

Discussion: Boing Boing, Shakespeare's Sister, TPMCafe blogs, Althouse and BeldarBlog

Peter Nicholas / Los Angeles Times:

Clinton's first-lady records locked up — Archivists say the documents at her husband's presidential library won't be released until after the '08 vote. — LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton cites her experience as a compelling reason voters should make her president …

Discussion: Heading Right, Captain's Quarters, Redstate, TIME, Classical Values, Boston Globe, MSNBC, The Volokh Conspiracy, Althouse, JammieWearingFool and New York Times

Washington Times:

Border Patrol to build fencing — The U.S. Border Patrol is asking for volunteers among its agents to help build fences on the U.S.-Mexico border, even as President Bush is withdrawing half the National Guard troops he sent there last year to build fences. — A memo circulated last week …

Discussion: JammieWearingFool, Iowa Voice, Wake up America, PoliPundit.com, Daily Pundit and Townhall.com

John F. Burns / New York Times:

For Top General in Iraq, Role Is a Mixed Blessing — BAGHDAD — Gen. David H. Petraeus looked out from a Black Hawk helicopter at the vistas of Baghdad rushing by 150 feet below on a recent summer evening, pointing at bustling markets, amusement parks and soccer fields scattered through neighborhoods …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Carpetbagger Report, Taylor Marsh, NewsBusters.org and Corrente

CNN Political Ticker:

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Gotham) — WASHINGTON (CNN) - He's a veteran statesman and hard-hitting chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. But Sen. Patrick Leahy is set to leave the marble halls of Washington for the bright lights of Hollywood — at least briefly.

Discussion: The Corner and Wonkette

Michael Saul / NY Daily News:

Richardson can't say no on veep — Tells News 'not interested,' but No.2 job may be hard to resist — Democratic presidential long shot Bill Richardson insists he's "not interested" in the vice presidency but he refused yesterday to rule out the possibility of accepting the No. 2 slot.

Discussion: TalkLeft, TIME, New York Times, The Carpetbagger Report and QandO

John Borland / Wired News:

See Who's Editing Wikipedia - Diebold, the CIA, a Campaign — On November 17th, 2005, an anonymous Wikipedia user deleted 15 paragraphs from an article on e-voting machine-vendor Diebold, excising an entire section critical of the company's machines. While anonymous, such changes typically …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Brave New Films blog, Amygdala, On Deadline, NewsBusters.org and Hot Air

Ed OKeefe / Political Radar:

Elizabeth Edwards Unplugged — ABC News' Sunlen Miller Reports: In an interview in August's edition of The Progressive magazine, Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Senator John Edwards, D-N.C., takes candid shots at the other candidates battling for the Democratic nomination against her husband.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Betsy's Page and Wizbang

Armchair Generalist / American Footprints:

The Air Force "Thinks Creatively" About Counterinsurgency — In DefenseNews (subscription required), Maj Gen Charles Dunlap (AF Deputy Judge Advocate General) has this flash of inspiration on how the Air Force can contribute to the Global War on Terror using its overwhelming air power.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Danger Room and The Atlantic Online