memeorandum @ 1:50 PM ET, September 21, 2007

1:50 PM ET, September 21, 2007

Top Items:

Martin Kady II / The Politico:

Dems end week with another Iraq failure — The Senate will adjourn for the weekend after a long week of tense debate over Iraq in which Democrats failed to move the ball and Republicans decided to stick with the White House in backing an unpopular war. — Yet another Democratic amendment …

Discussion: New York Times, The Swamp, Wake up America, Macsmind and Riehl World View

Amanda / Think Progress:

Breaking: Levin-Reed amendment fails. — Today, the Senate voted 47-47 on an amendment sponsored by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Jack Reed (D-RI) that "would require a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq to begin in 90 days and end in nine months." — When the Senate previously voted on the bill in July, the vote was 52-47.

Discussion: TalkLeft, CQ.com, U.S. Senator Christopher …, TPM Election Central and Open Left

BarbinMD / Daily Kos:
Promises, Promises... The past few days haven't been kind to Senate Democrats.

Discussion: The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Washington Post and NonParty Politics

Ben Smith / The Politico:
Sen. Dodd votes 'no' on Senate war bill

Discussion: The Swamp and Chris Dodd National Blog

Brian Faughnan / Weekly Standard:
Reid Needs to Review the Constitution

Discussion: CNN

Washington Post:

Israel, U.S. Shared Data On Suspected Nuclear Site — Bush Was Told of North Korean Presence in Syria, Sources Say — Israel's decision to attack Syria on Sept. 6, bombing a suspected nuclear site set up in apparent collaboration with North Korea, came after Israel shared intelligence …

Discussion: Associated Press, Washington Monthly, TPMmuckraker, FP Passport, Thomas P.M. Barnett, Jules Crittenden, The Next Hurrah, SyriaComment, Connecting.the.Dots, The American Pundit and The Gate

Salon:

Neither - 65% — As always, it is worth underscoring how lopsided American public opinion is on these questions even though there is virtually no significant American politician who was or is willing to criticize Israel's actions in Lebanon, and equally few who were willing to argue that U.S. support for Israel is excessive.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Hullabaloo, Slate and Israel Matzav

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Middle East Volcano

Discussion: Weekly Standard, New York Times, Telegraph, The Newshoggers, ArmsControlWonk, Wake up America, Riehl World View, Blue Crab Boulevard, Flopping Aces, Israel Matzav, Crooks and Liars, Soccer Dad, Taylor Marsh, SWJ Blog and The Opinionator

Michael Saul / NY Daily News:

Hillary Clinton: I'm not a lesbian — Hillary Clinton officially declared she's not a lesbian - not that there's anything wrong with that. — During an interview with The Advocate to be published next week, Sean Kennedy, the gay magazine's news and features editor, asked the presidential candidate …

Discussion: pw pub, MSNBC, Take Our Country Back, The Gun Toting Liberal™, Outside The Beltway, Liberty Pundit and Vox Popoli

CNN Political Ticker:
Clinton: I am not a lesbian

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister

Patrick Graham / Macleans.ca:

How George Bush became the new Saddam — COVER STORY: Its strategies shattered, a desperate Washington is reaching out to the late dictator's henchmen. — It was embarrassing putting my flak jacket on backwards and sideways, but in the darkness of the Baghdad airport car park I couldn't see anything.

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, NewsBusters.org, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, On Deadline, Firedoglake, Rising Hegemon, JammieWearingFool and Washington Monthly

Michelle Malkin:
Bush Derangement Syndrome alert: Cover art of the week

Discussion: INDCJournal, Balloon Juice and Confederate Yankee

USA Today:
Iraqi alliances spread, U.S. says

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, The Swamp, Gateway Pundit and Outside The Beltway

Flip / Suitably Flip:

Hsocking Hsu Secrets Revealed! — If there's one thing that can be said about Clinton financial scandals, it's that they tend to be complex. And thus far, the Norman Hsu debacle is living up to the archetype. — This rabbit hole is proving to be a fair bit deeper than anyone might've guessed and we're about to plumb its depths.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, The Jawa Report, Hot Air, Flopping Aces, Power Line and Liberty Pundit

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Boycott Ahmadinejad — Let the Iranian president (and the Columbia president) speak to a sea of empty seats. — A COLUMBIA STUDENT asked how he could effectively protest his university's invitation to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak Monday.

Josh Hirschland / Columbia Spectator:
Student Groups Question Bollinger on Ahmadinejad

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Blue Crab Boulevard, Commentary, Fausta's blog, Talking Points Memo and Stop The ACLU

The Atlantic Online:

That MoveOn Ad — I completely agree with the dread DC Establishment that calling General Petraeus "General Betrayus" was dumb. That said, I'm staggered by the amount of emphasis that people inside this town are placing on this. One virtue of having moved to the Beltway is that I can tell you …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Eschaton, The Sideshow and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Rhonda Stewart / The Swamp:

Protesters give McCain best line at NRA gathering — McCain: "We beat you yesterday.... We'll beat you today . . . And we'll beat you tomorrow!" File photo by Chuck Kennedy, McClatcthy/Tribune — by Christi Parsons — Anti-war protesters barged into a speech Sen. John McCain was giving …

Discussion: The Politico and The Atlantic Online

WBZ-TV:

MIT Student Arrested For Fake Bomb At Logan — Police Say Simpson Had Circuit Board, Wiring, and Play-Doh — Blog Chatter: See what people are saying about this story — (WBZ) BOSTON An MIT student with a fake bomb strapped to her chest was arrested at gunpoint Friday at Logan International Airport …

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, Hub Politics, 'Okie' on the Lam, Riehl World View, Boing Boing and Truthdig

New York Times:

In Search of a Congress — If you were one of the Americans waiting for Congress, under Democratic control, to show leadership on the war in Iraq, the message from the Senate is clear: "Nevermind." The same goes for those waiting for lawmakers to fix the damage done to civil liberties …

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Big Tent Democrat / TalkLeft: A Strategy For Democrats on Iraq

Alex Spillius / Telegraph:

George Bush the Texan is 'scared of horses' — President Bush may like to be seen as a swaggering tough guy with a penchant for manly outdoor pursuits, but in a new book one of his closest allies has said he is afraid of horses. — Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico …

Discussion: TPM Election Central and The Impolitic

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:

Senate Approves Resolution Denouncing MoveOn.org Ad — The Senate approved a resolution on Thursday denouncing the liberal antiwar group MoveOn.org over an advertisement that questioned the credibility of Gen. David H. Petraeus, the American commander in Iraq.

Discussion: Horses Mouth, The Swamp, Redstate, The Hill, MSNBC, PoliBlog (TM), Israpundit and Time

Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Health Care Hopes

Discussion: Democratic Strategist and Norwegianity

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

The Bully Boys Of The Internet — The Dan Rather lawsuit has given more of the TANG story figures a new lease on life, even if animated by the former CBS anchor's strange brand of conspiracy thinking. The woman who had the most responsibility for the airing of the 60 Minutes II segment …

Discussion: Power Line, Hot Air, NewsBusters.org, The Daily Gut and Death

Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:

Kerrey Is Leaning Against a Senate Run — For weeks, Democrats have been keeping their fingers crossed for Bob Kerrey to announce that he was jumping back into politics to run for an open Senate seat in Nebraska. — But that, of course, would require Mr. Kerrey to leave New York City.

Discussion: Eschaton, MyDD, Senate 2008 Guru, The Fix, CQPolitics.com and TPM Election Central

Jim Henley / Unqualified Offerings:

The Fake Headlines — A chilling look at an all-too-possible future, if the doubters and defeatists get their way, from Army of Dude: … Make no mistake, if the Congress "votes against money for the troops" and the angry antiwar "base" forces a precipitous withdrawal …

Discussion: The Impolitic and Army of Dude

Brian Faughnan / Weekly Standard:

Congress Far Behind on Regular Business — Congressional Quarterly looks at the agenda ahead in the House and Senate — including legislation to prevent a government shutdown: … Democrats roundly criticized Republicans for failing to pass appropriations bills and other must-pass legislation when they ran the House.

Discussion: CQ.com