memeorandum: Time to Head to Congress — Gen. Petraeus Preps for Much-Anticipated Iraq Progress Report (ABCNEWS)

3:25 AM ET, September 5, 2007

Top Items:

AP: Craig reconsiders decision to resign — BOISE, Idaho - Sen. Larry Craig is reconsidering his decision to resign after his arrest in a Minnesota airport sex sting and may still fight for his Senate seat, his spokesman said Tuesday evening. — "It's not such a foregone conclusion anymore …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Hot Air, Power Line, Think Progress, ABCNEWS, The Gun Toting Liberal™, Idaho Statesman, All Spin Zone, D-Day, DownWithTyranny!, Tennessee Guerilla Women, Firedoglake, Riehl World View, michellemalkin.com, Sister Toldjah and The American Mind

Idaho Statesman:

UPDATED 7:25 p.m. — Craig may not quit after all if he's cleared of charges, spokesman says — Sen. Larry Craig says he may fight to keep his job in the U.S. Senate after all. — "Basically, as he stated on Saturday, Senator Craig intends to resign on Sept. 30th," said his spokesman Dan Whiting via e-mail Tuesday night.

Discussion: On Deadline, Obsidian Wings, Reason Magazine and The Garlic

Associated Press:

FALLOUT — Political support for Craig continues to erode. — Nevada Senator John Ensign, GOP leader, implying he should quit. — Senator John McCain among Republicans urging Craig to resign. — Senator Norm Coleman, R-Minn, returned $2500 Craig donation.

Discussion: Wonkette

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:

Paper Publishes Larry Craig's Voicemail to his Lawyer — Bump and Update: Check out the voicemail Sen. Larry Craig left for his lawyer Billy Martin "on a stranger's phone" minutes before his resignation speech. Roll Call obtained the voicemail after it was offered for sale and refused by the Idaho Statesman.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Talking Points Memo and Riehl World View

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
Sex scandal senator reconsiders quitting

Discussion: Blog P.I. and Talking Points Memo

New York Times:
Craig Said to Consider Not Resigning

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and Obsidian Wings

Mcjoan / Daily Kos:
ID-Sen: Tough it out, Larry!

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and MyDD

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Arlen! — I'm really not sure I've ever seen such a bizarre story.

Discussion: The Democratic Daily

Matthew Daly / Associated Press:
Craig a no-show as Senate reconvenes

Discussion: Say Anything

Associated Press:
Craig rethinking resignation, spokesman says

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and PinkDome

Logan Murphy / Crooks and Liars:

Countdown Special Comment: You have no remaining credibility about Iraq, sir. — Keith Olbermann's Special Comment tonight is without a doubt, one of his hardest hitting and most emotional to date. Keith absolutely lays waste to President Bush's lies and rhetoric about the surge.

Discussion: The Democratic Daily

Dan Froomkin / Washington Post:

Kabuki at Camp Cupcake — What exactly was President Bush up to yesterday, making a "surprise visit" to a huge American air base in Iraq, praising the ostensible progress there and hinting at a troop reduction if things keep going so well? — One answer lies in the remarkably forthright …

Discussion: Eschaton, The Newshoggers, The Democratic Daily, Connecting.the.Dots, AMERICAblog, MoJoBlog and TIME

Keith Olbermann / MSNBC:

Bush just playing us with 'troop withdrawal' — Night is day, and death is life, and enraging the world against us is safety — SPECIAL COMMENT — And so he is back from his annual surprise gratuitous photo-op in Iraq, and what a sorry spectacle it was.

Discussion: Hoffmania!, Left In Alabama, Tennessee Guerilla Women, The Garlic and The Galloping Beaver

Washington Post:

Fighting for Our Handgun Ban — As mayor and attorney general of the District of Columbia, we were deeply disappointed this year when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit declared that the District's longstanding handgun ban violates the Second Amendment.

Discussion: The BLT, michael linn jones, DCist and SCOTUSblog

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Second Amendment case reaches Court; cross-appeal coming

Discussion: Washington Post, The Impolitic and Taylor Marsh

David Freddoso / The Corner: Fenty of Lies From The Mayor

Frederick W. Kagan / Weekly Standard:

What's Wrong with the GAO Report — Measuring failure—or the failures of measuring. — At first glance—as those who leaked it last week saw—the Government Accountability Office's report on Iraq, released today, paints a dark view of progress and prospects in Iraq.

Discussion: Macsmind, Foreign Policy, On Deadline, Flopping Aces, Burkean Reflections, Wake up America, Booman Tribune, Comments From Left Field, Gateway Pundit, Balloon Juice, Sister Toldjah, The Democratic Daily, Democratic National Committee, The Newshoggers, TPMmuckraker and Obsidian Wings

Brian Knowlton / New York Times:

Independent Audit Finds Progress Lacking in Iraq — A report by Congressional auditors issued todayconcludes that "violence remains high" in Iraq amid mixed progress on security and that political reconciliation efforts remain far from sufficient, eight months after President Bush began his troop-increase plan.

Discussion: The Politico, The Swamp, The Gun Toting Liberal™ and QandO

The Politico:
Craig reversal angers GOP colleagues

Discussion: AMERICAblog

Faiz / Think Progress:

GAO Chief Suggests Administration Is Cooking The Books On Levels Of Sectarian Violence In Iraq — Gen. David Petraeus has claimed that there has been a 75 percent reduction in sectarian violence. In testimony today before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, GAO Comptroller General David Walker …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Next Hurrah, Take Our Country Back, democracyarsenal.org, The Democratic Daily and The Atlantic Online

Faiz / Think Progress:
GAO Report: Daily Attacks Against Iraqis 'Have Remained Unchanged'

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, HorsesAss.Org and D-Day

ABCNEWS:

Time to Head to Congress — Gen. Petraeus Preps for Much-Anticipated Iraq Progress Report — The top military general in Iraq hinted to ABC's Martha Raddatz that next week's much-anticipated report on the status of the troop surge in Iraq would include a recommendation for troop reduction in March …

Discussion: Wizbang, Hot Air, Stop The ACLU, Instapundit.com, Don Surber and The American Pundit

Evgenia Peretz / Vanity Fair:

Going After Gore — Al Gore couldn't believe his eyes: as the 2000 election heated up, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other top news outlets kept going after him, with misquotes ("I invented the Internet"), distortions (that he lied about being the inspiration for Love Story) …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ePluribus Media Community, Connecting.the.Dots, Comments From Left Field, NewsBusters.org, Lean Left, Liberal Values, rochesterturning.com, The Vanity Press, MSNBC, Tennessee Guerilla Women, Three Wise Men, Taylor Marsh and Big Brass Blog

U.S. Federal Election Commission:

FEC Resolved Two Matters Involving Internet Activity; Applies Media Exemption to Political Blogs — WASHINGTON - The Federal Election Commission announced today that it has unanimously resolved two complaints alleging that Internet blog activity is subject to Commission regulation …

Discussion: Daily Kos, TalkLeft, ArchPundit and The Washington Note