memeorandum: Sub-Standard — IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE that, not so long ago … (Jonathan Chait/The New Republic)

2:30 PM ET, August 22, 2007

Top Items:

Democrats Refocus Message on Iraq After Military Gains — Democratic leaders in Congress had planned to use August recess to raise the heat on Republicans to break with President Bush on the Iraq war. Instead, Democrats have been forced to recalibrate their own message in the face …

CNN:

Bush to invoke Vietnam in arguing against Iraq pullout — WASHINGTON (CNN) — As he awaits a crucial progress report on Iraq, President Bush will try to put a twist on comparisons of the war to Vietnam by invoking the historical lessons of that conflict to argue against pulling out.

Discussion: New York Times, Crooks and Liars, Jules Crittenden, PERRspectives Blog, William K. Wolfrum, Balloon Juice, The Heretik, The Carpetbagger Report, Big Brass Blog, The Van Der Galiën Gazette and New York Magazine

White House:

President Bush Attends Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention, Discusses War on Terror — Kansas City Convention and Entertainment Center — THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Please be seated. It's good to be with you again. I understand you haven't had much of a problem attracting speakers.

Discussion: The Swamp, The Carpetbagger Report and Hoffmania!

Los Angeles Times:

Bush to cite Vietnam in defense of Iraq — The president plans to argue in a speech to veterans today that a U.S. withdrawal had dire results in Asia. — KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Critics of the war in Iraq who compare the conflict to Vietnam have the analogy backward, President Bush plans to tell veterans in a speech today.

Discussion: The BRAD BLOG, Middle Earth Journal, New York Times, Democratic National Committee and TIME: Swampland

USA Today:
Bush's Iraq speech to hit on Vietnam

Discussion: AMERICAblog, MSNBC, Booman Tribune and About.com U.S. Politics

Faiz / Think Progress: Post-War Bush Forgets Pre-War Bush's 'Lessons Of Vietnam'

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:

Sub-Standard — IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE that, not so long ago, neoconservative foreign policy thinking overflowed with ideas and idealism. The descent has been steep, and nowhere is it more apparent than in the pages of The Weekly Standard—particularly in William Kristol's editorials …

Discussion: Power Line, Captain's Quarters, A Blog For All, Flopping Aces, Hot Air, QandO, The Atlantic Online and Brian Beutler

Confederate Yankee:
A Sorry State of Affairs

Discussion: Townhall.com and The Atlantic Online

Agence France Presse:

Most US adults in the dark about world politics — Two-thirds of US adults admit to being in the dark about political issues outside the United States, and only a third are well-versed in US politics, the results of a poll published Tuesday showed. — Candidates in the US presidential primaries …

Discussion: Babalu Blog, Donklephant and Blogs of War

Rasmussen Reports:

Romney Encounters More Core Opposition Than Clinton — Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has finally surpassed New York Senator Hillary Clinton in the polls. Unfortunately for Romney, it's a poll measuring the number of people committing to vote against him.

Discussion: eyeon08.com, Wall Street Journal, The Corner, DownWithTyranny! and Rasmussen Reports

Fritz Wenzel / Zogby:
NewsMax/Zogby: Romney Builds Iowa Lead in GOP Prez Race

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and The Right's Field

Matthew Yi / San Francisco Chronicle:

Field Poll shows Californians lean toward dividing electoral votes — (08-21) 04:00 PDT Sacramento — California voters are inclined to support a proposed ballot initiative that would change how the Golden State allocates its electoral votes in presidential campaigns …

Discussion: Heading Right, Outside The Beltway, Captain's Quarters, PoliBlog (TM), Right Wing News and PSoTD

Dan Morain / Los Angeles Times:
California Democrats push popular vote measure

Discussion: New York Times, Taegan Goddard's … and MSNBC

Andrew Sullivan / The Atlantic Online:

Victor Davis Hanson, Fabulist — In his NRO splutter this morning, military expert Victor Davis Hanson hyperbolized the following: … Let me suggest two articles in The New Republic that no one should have believed at the time, two articles that have been debunked by subsequent events …

Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:
C.I.A. Lays Out Errors It Made Before Sept. 11

Discussion: Neptunus Lex, The Strata-Sphere and Air America Radio

Andrew Sullivan / The Atlantic Online:
Weimar Watch I — The stab-in-the-back right is, alas …

Discussion: The Corner and Blogs for Bush

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Pro-Bush group spends $15M defending war — A new group, Freedom's Watch, is launching Wednesday with a $15 million, five-week campaign of TV, radio and Web ads featuring military veterans that is aimed at retaining support in Congress for President Bush's "surge" policy on Iraq.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, MSNBC and Political Radar

Think Progress:
Original Iraq War Propagandist Ari Fleischer Returns To Flack For Bush's Escalation

Discussion: Firedoglake, AMERICAblog, Taylor Marsh, The Huffington Post, Hot Air, The Carpetbagger Report and The Mahablog

Hamid Ahmed / Associated Press:

14 U.S. soldiers killed in chopper crash — BAGHDAD - A Black Hawk helicopter went down Wednesday in northern Iraq, killing all 14 U.S. soldiers aboard, the military said, the deadliest crash since January 2005. — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, meanwhile, lashed out at American criticism …

Discussion: Boston Globe, Washington Post, Donklephant, All Spin Zone, Firedoglake and Associated Press

Qassim Abdul-Zahra / Associated Press:
Iraqi PM lashes out at U.S. critics

Discussion: Associated Press, The Gun Toting Liberal™, American Footprints and democracyarsenal.org

Peter Baker / Washington Post:

White House Manual Details How to Deal With Protesters — Not that they're worried or anything. But the White House evidently leaves little to chance when it comes to protests within eyesight of the president. As in, it doesn't want any. — A White House manual that came …

Discussion: Think Progress, All Spin Zone, the talking dog, Associated Press, Shakespeare's Sister, The Swamp, Prairie Weather, Brendan Nyhan, Take Our Country Back and Air America Radio

Elizabeth Benjamin / NY Daily News:

BRUNO: STONE HAS RESIGNED (UPDATED) — That was fast. — In a just-released statement, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno called the Roger Stone phone call flap "a distraction from the real issues - the abuse of government power, political espionage and a cover-up of information," …

Discussion: New York Post, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Gothamist, the albany project, rochesterturning.com and DownWithTyranny!

Arwa Damon / CNN:

Boy, 5, doused in gas, set on fire by masked men — Editor's note: CNN agreed not to use the full names of the mother and son in this article due to concern for their safety. — BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Five-year-old Youssif is scarred for life, his once beautiful smile turned …

Discussion: digg

Multi-National Force:

Citizen sacrifices life to thwart suicide bomber — Multi-National Corps - Iraq — Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory — APO AE 09342 — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — RELEASE No. 20070821-05 — Citizen sacrifices life to thwart suicide bomber — Multi-National Division - Center PAO

Discussion: Wake up America, ThreatsWatch, America's North Shore Journal and Jules Crittenden

Los Angeles Times:

Not so fast, Christian soldiers — The Pentagon has a disturbing relationship with private evangelical groups. — Maybe what the war in Iraq needs is not more troops but more religion. At least that's the message the Department of Defense seems to be sending.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Obsidian Wings and cab drollery

Irenep / Michael Yon:

The Ghosts of Anbar, Part 1 of 4 — The Ghosts of Anbar — Part One: The Paradox of Counterinsurgency … To know a man, follow his tracks. — Anbar Province — June, 2007 — Iraq and this part of the world are complicated in the way, and by the way, that dysfunction always is "complicated."

Discussion: Hot Air and Mudville Gazette