memeorandum: At Iowa Event, Clinton Vows Pre-Inauguration Diplomatic Push (Washington Post)

4:50 PM ET, September 17, 2007

Top Items:

At Iowa Event, Clinton Vows Pre-Inauguration Diplomatic Push — Appearing Sunday at a mini-Democratic convention of sorts in a field, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton declared that if she is elected she will not wait until her inauguration to begin acting as president.

Discussion: Open Left, Wall Street Journal, Sic Semper Tyrannis 2007, Sweetness & Light, MSNBC and National Review

Beth Fouhy / Associated Press:

Clinton calls for universal health care — DES MOINES, Iowa - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton called for universal health care on Monday, plunging back into the bruising political battle she famously waged and lost as first lady on an issue that looms large in the 2008 presidential race.

Discussion: Ezra Klein, New York Post, Sister Toldjah, eyeon08.com, Don Surber, Liberal Values, Donklephant, The Glittering Eye, Wake up America, Wizbang, Booman Tribune, NewsBusters.org, Macsmind, Vox Popoli, Extreme Mortman and JammieWearingFool

Patrick Healy / New York Times:
Clinton Unveils Her Plan for Health Care

Discussion: Feministe and MSNBC

John McCormick / The Swamp:
Edwards hammers Clinton on health care

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker

CNN Political Ticker:
Edwards threatens to cut off health insurance for Congress

Discussion: The Swamp and Redstate

Michael Luo / The Caucus:
Clinton's Rivals Blast Health Care Plan

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and National Review

Massimo Calabresi / Time:

How Bush's AG Pick Irritates the Right — If the administration was trying to avoid a fight with the left over the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales' replacement as Attorney General, they may have succeeded with the nomination of former New York district judge, Michael Mukasey.

Discussion: tpmmuckraker.com, Washington Post, Fox News, Bloomberg, The Carpetbagger Report, Hot Air, The Jawa Report, The Gate, Open Left, The Anonymous Liberal, The Democratic Daily, Sister Toldjah, Redstate and Wonkette

The Corner:

Meeting Mukasey — I wasn't going to post anything else on Mukasey, but come on guys and gals, there are gapping holes in what we know about him, and his supporters aren't helping matters. Ed Whelen, a good friend who I admire deeply, tells us not to worry about Schumer and Aron's support for him.

Discussion: Macsmind, michellemalkin.com, The Atlantic Online and Stop The ACLU

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

Getting At 'The Truth' — We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you an important development from the media world. — Ron Brownstein has been a fixture at the Los Angeles Times for nearly two decades, an influential political reporter and talking head who delves into policy as well as campaign strategy.

Discussion: Riehl World View, Brendan Nyhan, On Deadline, The Gate, NewsBusters.org, Romenesko, The Carpetbagger Report, LA Observed and Outside The Beltway

Peter Lattman / Law Blog:
Seven Things to Know About Michael Mukasey

Discussion: Firedoglake, Bench Conference and QandO

Spencer Ackerman / tpmmuckraker.com:

Iraqis Order Blackwater out of Iraq — But Will It Leave? — Following a Baghdad shootout yesterday that left at least nine civilians dead, security-contractor giant Blackwater will no longer be permitted to operate in Iraq, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry.

Discussion: Washington Post, Danger Room, Comments From Left Field, American Footprints, The Carpetbagger Report and Outside The Beltway

Washington Post:

Crocker Blasts Refugee Process — Iraqis Could Wait 2 Years for Entry, Ambassador Says — The U.S. ambassador to Iraq warned that it may take the U.S. government as long as two years to process and admit nearly 10,000 Iraqi refugees referred by the United Nations for resettlement to the United States …

Discussion: New York Times, Hullabaloo, The Impolitic, The Newshoggers, MoJoBlog, FP Passport, Prairie Weather and Truthdig

CNN:

Blackwater Security banned from Iraq — BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Iraq's Interior Ministry has revoked the license of Blackwater USA, an American security firm whose contractors are blamed for a Sunday gunbattle in Baghdad that left eight civilians dead. — Sunday's firefight took place near Nusoor Square …

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, skippy the bush kangaroo, Swords Crossed, All Spin Zone, Shakespeare's Sister, My Left Wing, Blogs of War and The RBC

Larry Johnson / NO QUARTER:

The Iraq Blackwater Test — Depending on whether the Blackwater security firm stays in Iraq will inform us whether Prime Minister Maliki has any power or is just a U.S. puppet. My money is on the puppet. Over the weekend Blackwater contractors escorting a State Department/US Embassy Baghdad convoy got into a shoot out.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Huffington Post and Cliff Schecter

Garrett Therolf / Los Angeles Times:

Chemerinsky to return as UC Irvine law dean — UC Irvine Chancellor Michael V. Drake and Erwin Chemerinsky have reached an agreement that will return the liberal legal scholar to the dean's post at the university's law school, sources told The Times this morning.

Discussion: Eschaton, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, The RBC, The Sideshow, Calitics, Abovethelaw.com and LA Observed

UCI Chancellor Page:
JOINT STATEMENT: — RE DONALD BREN SCHOOL OF LAW

Discussion: Brian Leiter's Law …

Telegraph:

Prepare for war with Iran, says French minister — By Alex Spillius in Washington and Tim Butcher in Jerusalem — The world should "prepare for war" with Iran, the French foreign minister has said, significantly escalating tensions over the country's nuclear programme.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, FP Passport, Pajamas Media, Captain's Quarters, The Van Der Galiën Gazette and Fausta's blog

Tim Butcher / Telegraph:
N Korean ship 'linked to Israel's strike on Syria'

Discussion: The Belmont Club and Israel Matzav

Jerusalem Post:
600 Iranian missiles said to be pointed at targets in Israel

Discussion: The Newshoggers, The Glittering Eye, Wake up America and QandO

National / Homeland Security National Terror Alert:

School Terror Threat - "Jihad Boom" Postcards With Threatening Cartoon Sent To Nine Schools … Investigators released the postcards with the threatening drawings on them Monday in hopes of generating leads in the case. Officials said that the postcards are made up of various and traditional themes …

Discussion: WKMG-TV, The Jawa Report, The Moderate Voice, Wake up America, Atlas Shrugs and Jihad Watch

ABCNEWS:

ACLU Backs Sen. Larry Craig — Senator Accused of Soliciting Sex Has an Unlikely Ally in American Civil Liberties Union — Idaho's Republican Senator Larry Craig reads a statement to the media Monday afternoon, Aug. 28, 2007, in Boise, Idaho. He read a statement and took no questions during …

Discussion: Stop The ACLU and Agitprop

The Corner:

So long, white boy — So reads the headline on this article from Salon, which argues that the Democrats should end-and in fact already are ending-any efforts to court the white male vote. Well, Salon's headline certainly gets the message across, doesn't it?

Discussion: Salon, bustardblog, QandO, Democratic Strategist, Tammy Bruce and Daily Pundit

Brian Faughnan / Weekly Standard:

Democratic Iraq Amendment to Put More Stress on Troops — If Congress is in session, then Congressional Democrats must be working on a way to end the Iraq war. — This week the stage is the Senate, which is taking up the defense authorization bill. The first amendments to be considered …

Discussion: CQ.com

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:

Bob Gates or Bob McNamara? Gen. Petraeus or Gen. Westmoreland? — In his book about the failures of the Vietnam War, Dereliction of Duty, H.R. McMaster writes of how the delusion and hubris of President Lyndon Johnson, combined with the failures in judgment

Discussion: Make Them Accountable

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Why Do Republicans Want to Punish the Troops for George Bush's Failures? — Glenn Greenwald's piece on the Kagan family is such a concise, elegant, tight portrait of everything that is wrong with the warmongers who lead this country and dominate our political discourse that it almost makes your teeth hurt.

Discussion: D-Day and QandO