memeorandum: White House hopeful Thompson stays in "Law" reruns (Kimberly Nordyke/Reuters)

6:05 PM ET, August 31, 2007

Top Items:

Lawmakers Describe 'Being Slimed in the Green Zone' — The sheets of paper seemed to be everywhere the lawmakers went in the Green Zone, distributed to Iraqi officials, U.S. officials and uniformed military of no particular rank. So when Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Weekly Standard, National Review, Booman Tribune, Blue Girl, Red State, DownWithTyranny!, Comments From Left Field, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Carpetbagger Report, Wizbang, TalkLeft, Balloon Juice, AMERICAblog, Connecting.the.Dots, Shakespeare's Sister, Wake up America and Seeing the Forest

Amanda / Think Progress:

U.S. Troops Given Misleading, Inaccurate Bios Of Democratic Lawmakers Visiting Iraq — This morning, the Washington Post has a story on how lawmakers are being "slimed in the Green Zone" when they travel to Iraq for congressional delegation trips. Reps. James Moran (D-VA), Jon Porter (R-NV) …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Corrente and The Carpetbagger Report

Don Surber:
Troops to surrender Democrats: Up yours

Discussion: Take Our Country Back

ABCNEWS:

White House Press Secretary Snow Resigns — Ailing White House Press Secretary Tony Snow Resigning, Deputy Dana Perino Will Take His Place — Tony Snow, the highly visible White House press secretary, will leave his job on Sept. 14 and be replaced by his deputy, Dana Perino, an administration official said Friday.

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, The Swamp, MSNBC, The Corner, Crooks and Liars, The Carpetbagger Report, All Spin Zone, Wake up America, Wizbang and The Democratic Daily

Justin Rood Reports / The Blotter:

Bush E-Mail Mystery Deepens: White House Won't Name Tech Contractor — Justin Rood Reports: — The White House will not identify a private company which appears to be involved in the disappearance of millions of White House e-mails. — The company was responsible for reviewing …

Discussion: Pensito Review

CNN Political Ticker:
Snow to step down as W.H. spokesman September 14

Discussion: The Politico, DCist, Debsweb, Reason Magazine and The Swamp

CNN:

Sources: Craig resignation likely soon — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Several well-placed GOP sources in Washington and Idaho have told CNN that embattled Republican Sen. Larry Craig is likely to resign soon, possibly as early as Friday. — A GOP source with knowledge of the situation told CNN's Dana Bash …

Idaho Statesman:

UPDATED 11:12 a.m. — GOP officials say Otter already has picked Craig successor; Otter's office says that's not so — Republican officials say Gov. Butch Otter will name Lt. Gov. Jim Risch to the Senate if Sen. Larry Craig resigns. — But Otter's spokesman Jon Hanian said the governor hasn't made that decision yet.

Discussion: Left in the West, Daily Kos, AMERICAblog and Central Sanity

William Yardley / New York Times: Idaho Governor Faces Speculation on Senate Seat

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Breaking: Craig to resign? Update: Will announce plans tomorrow morning

Discussion: Fox News, CNN Political Ticker and New York Times

Mmstewart / CNN Political Ticker:

Warner's departure puts GOP in bigger bind — WASHINGTON (CNN) - Senator John Warner announced Friday that he will retire after his current term expires and will not run for re-election in 2008. The five term senior senator from Virginia was first elected to his seat in 1978.

Discussion: The Politico, New York Times, The Swamp, Take Our Country Back, The Caucus and Middle Earth Journal

CNN:

Warner to retire from Senate — (CNN) — Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia, said Friday he won't run for re-election. — "I say that my work and service to Virginia as a senator will conclude upon the 6th of January, 2009, when I finish ... my career of a then 30 years in the United States Senate," said Warner, 80.

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Crooks and Liars, Open Left and Wake up America

Bill Turque / Washington Post:
Va. Senator Warner Will Not Seek Sixth Term

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker, The Hill, Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, News For The Left, Taylor Marsh and Senate 2008 Guru

John B. Judis / The New Republic:
Red Dawn — The scandal surrounding Idaho Senator Larry Craig …

Discussion: Open Left and Strategist

The Atlantic Online:
Virginia In 2008 — This is a blog about the 2008 presidential race …

Discussion: MyDD

Lara Jakes Jordan / Associated Press:

Fla. students face explosives indictment — WASHINGTON - Two Egyptian students at the University of South Florida were indicted Friday for carrying explosive materials across states lines and one of them was charged with teaching the other how to use them for violent reasons.

Discussion: Hot Air, BLACKFIVE and Atlas Shrugs

Michelle Malkin:
Breaking: Goose Creek indictments

Discussion: Riehl World View, The Jawa Report, Captain's Quarters and JunkYardBlog

Silvia Aloisi / Reuters:

"Redacted" stuns Venice — VENICE (Reuters) - A new film about the real-life rape and killing of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl by U.S. soldiers who also murdered her family stunned the Venice festival, with shocking images that left some viewers in tears. — "Redacted", by U.S. director Brian De Palma …

Discussion: Confederate Yankee, Weekly Standard, Roger L. Simon, Sister Toldjah, The Jawa Report, Daily Pundit, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, A Blog For All, Macsmind and MilBlogs

Gretel C. Kovach / New York Times:

Got Arachnophobia? Here's Your Worst Nightmare — Most spiders are solitary creatures. So the discovery of a vast web crawling with millions of spiders that is spreading across several acres of a North Texas park is causing a stir among scientists, and park visitors.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

Washington Post:

HHS Toned Down Breast-Feeding Ads — In an attempt to raise the nation's historically low rate of breast-feeding, federal health officials commissioned an attention-grabbing advertising campaign a few years ago to convince mothers that their babies faced real health risks if they did not breast-feed.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Captain's Quarters, DCist, Heading Right, The Corner, The Carpetbagger Report, Hullabaloo and Brilliant at Breakfast

Matt / Think Progress:

O'Hanlon Hopes Final GAO Report On Iraq Will Be 'Improved' To Reflect WH Claims Of Progress — Yesterday, a leaked draft of an upcoming Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on progress in Iraq painted a "strikingly negative" picture of the war-torn country.

Discussion: Horses Mouth, Comments From Left Field, Eschaton, Open Left, TalkLeft, Independent Bloggers' Alliance and Brian Beutler

DownWithTyranny!:

WHO'LL BE THE NEXT REPUBLICAN HYPOCRITE TO BE DRAGGED OUT OF THE CLOSET SCREAMING ABOUT MEDIA WITCH HUNTS? — A certain lil' congressman allegedly likes his trade rough — Lil' Patrick McHenry isn't a character in Comedy Central's brilliant Lil' Bush, which features Lil' Cheney, Lil' Rummy …

Discussion: Suburban Guerrilla and BlueNC