memeorandum: No Exit, No Strategy — This was the week in which Americans hoped … (New York Times)

11:45 AM ET, September 14, 2007

Top Items:

Text of the President's Address — Following is the prepared text of President Bush's address on Iraq, as provided by the White House: — THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. In the life of all free nations, there come moments that decide the direction of a country and reveal the character of its people.

Fred Kaplan / Slate:

BUSH'S APPALLING IRAQ SPEECH. — President Bush's TV address tonight was the worst speech he's ever given on the war in Iraq, and that's saying a lot. Every premise, every proposal, nearly every substantive point was sheer fiction. The only question is whether he was being deceptive or delusional.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Macsmind, Obsidian Wings, Truthdig, The Caucus, All Spin Zone, The Garlic and PoliBlog (TM)

New York Times:

No Exit, No Strategy — This was the week in which Americans hoped they would get straight talk and clear thinking on Iraq. What they got was two exhausting days of Congressional testimony by the American military commander, hours of news conferences and interviews, clouds of cut …

Discussion: Middle Earth Journal, Hullabaloo, Pottersville, TIME, Los Angeles Times, Democrats.com, Right Wing Nut House, The Carpetbagger Report and The Mahablog

Washington Post:

The Least Bad Plan — PRESIDENT BUSH'S explanation of his latest plans for Iraq last night was marred by a couple of important omissions. First, the president failed to acknowledge that, according to the standards he himself established in January, the surge of U.S. troops into Iraq has been a failure …

Discussion: New York Post, The Impolitic, Sweetness & Light, Oliver Willis and Time

Booman Tribune:
Washington Post Endorses PermaWar

Discussion: D-Day and Corrente

David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Multiple Messages and Audiences

Discussion: Corrente, Prairie Weather and Althouse

Doyle McManus / Los Angeles Times:
Bush redefines 'victory'

Discussion: The Politico, CNN, Outside The Beltway, Washington Post, SWJ Blog and Obsidian Wings

The Corner:

Hire Back Chemerinksy — I don't know why or how UC Irvine could get away with the almost instantaneous hiring and firing of Professor Chemerinsky on apparently political grounds. No one has questioned either his competence or the conditions under which he was first hired (he wasn't passed over in the selection process).

Sonya Geis / Washington Post:

Scholars Decry Law School's About-Face on New Dean — Scholars across the political spectrum protested what they called an assault on academic freedom after the University of California at Irvine withdrew a job offer from a liberal professor who wrote an op-ed criticizing the Bush administration.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Townhall.com

Michael V. Drake / Los Angeles Times:
Why I let Chemerinsky go — I made a management decision …

Discussion: Power Line, Front Page Magazine, Balkinization and Brian Leiter's Law …

The Prowler / American Spectator:

The New York Times MovesOn — The New York Times in the past has rejected "advocacy" ads from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, as well as from the National Right to Life Committee, despite the fact that both would have qualified for the same "special advocacy, stand by" rates that the radical …

Discussion: Sigmund, Carl and Alfred, New York Post, NewsBusters.org, Don Surber and Betsy's Page

Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:

Angered by an Antiwar Ad, Giuliani Seeks Equal Space — The New York Times came under attack Thursday by Rudolph W. Giuliani and a group of conservative Republicans for what they said was favoritism in the rate charged to MoveOn.org, a liberal group that opposes the war …

Discussion: Brendan Nyhan, TPM Election Central, The Politico, The Carpetbagger Report, TIME, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Hill, Gawker and Gateway Pundit

Opinion Journal:

Borking Mr. Olson — President Reid gives AG orders to the White House. — Not content with having run Attorney General Alberto Gonzales out of town, the Democratic posse on Capitol Hill is already gunning for his replacement—even before he's nominated.

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, Real Clear Politics and Betsy's Page

Matt Cooper / Condé Nast Portfolio Magazine:
CAPITAL — The Liberal Case for Ted Olson — Lots of rumors …

Discussion: Salon, American Spectator, TalkLeft, The Van Der Galiën Gazette and New York Times

Dan Eggen / Washington Post:
Gonzales Ready to Leave the Stage

Discussion: Law Blog

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

Hsustock: The Definition Of Insanity — If the definition of insanity is repeating the same actions over and over despite consistent failure, then the American judiciary needs a shrink when it comes to Norman Hsu. Despite having run out on his sentencing for a nolo contendere plea on fraud 15 years ago …

Discussion: Fausta's blog, Blue Crab Boulevard, JammieWearingFool and Redstate

Dan Frosch / New York Times:
Judge in Colorado Sets Bond of $5 Million for Democratic Fund-Raiser

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Hot Air, The Belmont Club and Suitably Flip

Las Vegas's source for breaking news …:

Police Say O.J. Simpson Questioned In Hotel Theft — Las Vegas Police Say Hotel Break-In Involved Sports Memorabilia — LAS VEGAS — Metro police confirmed early Friday morning that O.J. Simpson was questioned in connection to a theft at the Palace Station Casino.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, The Moderate Voice, The Daily Gut and On Deadline

Kathleen Hennessey / Associated Press:
O.J. Simpson questioned about break-in at Las Vegas casino

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Perez Hilton

RIA Novosti:

U.S. develops 14-ton super bomb, bigger than Russian vacuum bomb — The U.S. has a 14-ton super bomb more destructive than the vacuum bomb just tested by Russia, a U.S. general said Wednesday. — The statement was made by retired Lt. General McInerney, chairman of the Iran Policy Committee …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Captain's Quarters, The Newshoggers, QandO, Op For and Fausta's blog

Christopher Lee / Washington Post:

N.J.'s Corzine to Defy New Health-Care Rules — Fight Grows Over Changes in Children's Program — Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine informed President Bush this week that New Jersey will not obey federal rules that would make it harder to enroll middle-income kids for a popular government-subsidized health insurance program.

Paul Starr / American Prospect:
The Hillarycare Mythology — Did Hillary doom health reform in 1993?

Discussion: The Corner

Scarecrow / Firedoglake:

More Than Ever, Impeachment Is the Cure — Last night we heard the President of the United States declare that he would refuse to allow US troops to come home from Iraq until they achieved "success" as he and only he defined success. "Return on success," he told the troops, adding that …

Discussion: Jules Crittenden

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

[TS] Op-Ed Columnist: A Surge, and Then a Stab — President Bush's actions have been what you'd expect from a man whose plan is to keep up appearances for the next 16 months.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Brian Beutler and Prairie Weather