memeorandum: The Illiberal College — Elite academia doesn't like oversight. (Opinion Journal)

2:45 PM ET, September 3, 2007

Top Items:

Bush makes surprise visit to Iraq — BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — President Bush greeted his war commanders with salutes Monday during a surprise visit to a U.S. air base in Iraq's Anbar province. — Air Force One touched down at Al Asad Air Base at 3:43 p.m. (7:43 a.m. EDT) under a blazing sun.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Time, Flopping Aces, Burkean Reflections, Wake up America, PoliBlog (TM), Daily Kos, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Main and Central, Macsmind, QandO, CALIFORNIA YANKEE and Neptunus Lex

Ann Scott Tyson / Washington Post:

Bush, Advisers Make Surprise Visit to Iraq — AL ASAD AIRBASE, Anbar Province, Iraq, Sept. 3 — On the eve of major administration decisions on U.S. strategy in Iraq, President Bush, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and top U.S. military leaders including …

Discussion: AMERICAblog, Hullabaloo, Hot Air, The Agonist, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Mahablog, Truthdig, Corrente and WTF Is It Now?!?

Nancy A. Youssef / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Combat deaths in Iraq decline; reasons aren't clear — WASHINGTON — American combat deaths in Iraq have dropped by half in the three months since the buildup of 28,000 additional U.S. troops reached full strength, surprising analysts and dividing them as to why.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, QandO, Jules Crittenden, Back Talk, Sister Toldjah, Wake up America, Burkean Reflections, Connecting.the.Dots, Blue Girl, Red State and Show Me Progress

Scarecrow / Firedoglake:

Bush/Cheney in Iraq: Winning By Failing — The chart at left (click on it to enlarge) was compiled by The Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum in response to Juan Cole's assessment of claims the surge is a "success." I guess the President's sneak visit to Iraq this morning …

Discussion: The Democratic Daily and New York Times

Jules Crittenden:

Bush in Iraq — NPR reporting he's landed, enroute to an econmic summit in Australia. Web reports now coming in. — AP: He's in Anbar, landed at Al-Asad. — CNN here, BBC here. More on-air from Beeb, currently reporting he's expected to meet with al-Maliki and Sunni tribal leaders who've joined …

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, The Heretik and Don Surber

David S. Cloud / New York Times:

Bush, in Iraq, Sees Possible Reduction in Troop Levels — On a surprise visit to Iraq today for meetings with his commanders and top Iraqi officials, President Bush raised the possibility that some American troops could be withdrawn from Iraq if security there continues to improve.

Discussion: Norwegianity and Hoffmania!

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

Bush Drops By Iraq — George Bush decided to kick-start the September debate on Iraq by getting his own feet on the ground in Anbar. He'll visit the troops, but more importantly meet directly with Nouri al-Maliki to determine how well the newly-announced political reform agreement is faring …

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker

Logan Murphy / Crooks and Liars:
Video: President Bush's Surprise Photo Op In Iraq

Discussion: Reuters

Libby Spencer / The Newshoggers:
Bush sneaks into Iraq

Discussion: JammieWearingFool

James Joyner / Outside The Beltway:
Bush Makes Surprise Iraq Visit

Discussion: Associated Press, The Carpetbagger Report and The Heretik

Associated Press:
President Bush Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq

Discussion: Power Line

Ann Althouse / Althouse:

John Edwards: "you can't choose not to go to the doctor for 20 years." — Edwards' universal health care proposal ignores individual autonomy: … So, the mental health check is mandatory too? Why does he not even realize how bad that sounds? He's so warmed up about the generous benefits he's promising …

Discussion: Hot Air and Charlie Foxtrot

Amy Lorentzen / Associated Press:
Edwards backs mandatory preventive care

Discussion: PoliBlog (TM), The Reaction, Neptunus Lex, Central Sanity, Betsy's Page, Six Meat Buffet, Outside The Beltway, Redstate, protein wisdom, Liberal Values, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, The American Pundit, The Strata-Sphere, The Democratic Daily, QandO and Upper Left

John Edwards for President:
Edwards Receives Support Of Steelworkers And Mine Workers Unions

Discussion: AFL-CIO Weblog

Daily Mail:

Soldiers evacuate babies from Israeli daycare centre as Islamic Jihad rockets fall — Soldiers scrambled to evacuate babies from a day care center in rocket-scarred Sderot today after a projectile fired by Palestinian militants thudded into the courtyard. — None of the 15 babies at the center was hurt.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Associated Press, Blue Crab Boulevard, Wake up America and Jihad Watch

Denver Post:

Doug Lamborn's voice messages to Jonathan and Anna Bartha — The following is a text of two voice messages that Rep. Doug Lamborn left on the home telephone of Jonathan and Anna Bartha. — FIRST MESSAGE: "Hello, this is Doug Lamborn calling for either Jonathan or Anna. Something very serious has happened.

Discussion: TPM Election Central, Talking Points Memo, Blue Girl, Red State, SquareState.net, The Impolitic, Associated Press and Firedoglake

Nicole Belle / Crooks and Liars: Republican Congressman Threatens Couple

Zappatero / Daily Kos:
CO-05: Republican Congressman threatens local couple

Discussion: protein wisdom and Riehl World View

Washington Post:

When Controversy Follows Cash — Some Fundraisers With Legal Issues Slip Through Campaigns' Vetting — Sant S. Chatwal, an Indian American businessman, has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaigns, even as he battled governments on two continents …

Discussion: Sweetness & Light, NewsBusters.org, New York Post, New York Times and Macsmind

Nick Gillespie / New York Times:

Democratic Vistas — With the possible exception of the Republicans, is there a major political party more stupefyingly brain-dead than the Democrats? That's the ultimate takeaway from "The Argument," Matt Bai's sharply written, exhaustively reported and thoroughly depressing account of …

Discussion: The Corner and Dr. Sanity

Chris Hawley / Arizona Republic:

Strong words for America, stern warnings for Mexico — MEXICO CITY - Mexico's president drew a standing ovation from legislators as he chided Americans for new border fences and their "humiliating treatment" of illegal immigrants during his State of the Union speech on Sunday.

Discussion: Think Progress, Lonewacko and Wake up America

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Transformed By Her Bond With Bush — Rice's Loyalty Brings Power and Pitfalls — It was just two days after President Bush's reelection in 2004, and Condoleezza Rice was planning her move back home to California and to the tranquility of life at Stanford University. — But Bush had other plans.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Booman Tribune and The Atlantic Online

The Big Trunk / Power Line:

JACOBY'S SPECIAL THEORY OF SCANDAL RELATIVITY — Jeff Jacoby is the terrific columnist who writes for the Boston Globe. In a message today he responds to my call for a special theory of scandal relativity to account for the electoral viability of Gerry Studds and Barney Frank and to supplement Jack Kelly's …