memeorandum: Congress Far Behind on Regular Business (Brian Faughnan/Weekly Standard)

1:30 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, Macsmind and Riehl World View

Amanda / Think Progress:
Breaking: Levin-Reed amendment fails.

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

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

Discussion: CNN

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

Discussion: The Swamp and Chris Dodd National Blog

Naftali Bendavid / The Swamp: Bad week for Dems on the war

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

Discussion: Washington Post and NonParty Politics

John M. Donnelly / CQ.com:
Moderates' Hope for Compromise on Iraq Fading as Reid Takes Hard Line

Discussion: Eschaton

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

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

Middle East Volcano — On Sept. 6, something important happened in northern Syria. Problem is, no one knows exactly what. Except for those few who were involved, and they're not saying. — We do know that Israel carried out an airstrike. How do we know it was important?

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

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

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

CNN Political Ticker:
Clinton: I am not a lesbian

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister

Michelle Malkin:

Bush Derangement Syndrome alert: Cover art of the week — When your left-wing magazine is in need of some quick buzz and a cheap circulation boost, what do you do? Go for the easy Bush-bashing photoshop, of course. See MacLean's (and, yes, they managed to squeeze Britney up in the top, left-hand corner, too):

Discussion: INDCJournal, Balloon Juice and Confederate Yankee

Patrick Graham / Macleans.ca:
How George Bush became the new Saddam

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

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

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

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

Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Health Care Hopes

Discussion: Democratic Strategist and Norwegianity

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

Delaware State University Press Releases:

Timely Warning Notification, Class Canceled Due To Campus Shooting — TIMELY WARNING NOTIFICATION — Classes Canceled due to Shooting on Campus(update) — Classes on the Dover campus of Delaware State University have been canceled for Friday, Sept. 21 in the wake of an early morning shooting …

Discussion: On Deadline, NYT and Tech Daily Dose

Jennifer C. Kerr / Associated Press:

Do Not Call listings aren't forever — WASHINGTON - The cherished dinner hour void of telemarketers could vanish next year for millions of people when phone numbers begin dropping off the national Do Not Call list. — The Federal Trade Commission, which oversees the list, says there is a simple fix.

Discussion: Betsy's Page and Outside The Beltway

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.

Josh Hirschland / Columbia Spectator:

Student Groups Question Bollinger on Ahmadinejad — Nearly 50 student leaders and a dozen administrators sat down with University President Lee Bollinger for an hour on Thursday for a passionate yet civil discussion to air concerns about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's scheduled speech on campus on Monday.