memeorandum: Hmm — Do you think CNN's decision to pick possibly … (Melissa McEwan/Shakespeare's Sister)

3:50 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, Comments From Left Field, 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, U.S. Senator Christopher …, CQ.com, MyDD, TPM Election Central and Open Left

Brian Faughnan / Weekly Standard:

Democrats' Iraq Offensive Turned Back — In the week just concluded, the Senate has debated a variety of measures related to the war in Iraq. The only measure which passed was one to denounce MoveOn for for its attack on General David Petraeus. By that measure, it was the most productive week the Senate has had on Iraq in months.

Discussion: Pat Dollard

New York Times:
In Search of a Congress

Discussion: TalkLeft, Daily Kos and Prairie Weather

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

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

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

Discussion: The Swamp and Chris Dodd National Blog

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: CNN Political Ticker, pw pub, Comments From Left Field, AMERICAN DIGEST, MSNBC, Take Our Country Back, The Gun Toting Liberal™, Pam's House Blend, Outside The Beltway, Liberty Pundit and Vox Popoli

Melissa McEwan / Shakespeare's Sister:
Hmm — Do you think CNN's decision to pick possibly …

Discussion: The American Street

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.

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard, Fausta's blog, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Commentary, Neptunus Lex, The American Pundit, Talking Points Memo and Roger L. Simon

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Boycott Ahmadinejad — A Columbia student asked how he could effectively protest his university's invitation to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak Monday. My first response was to suggest petitions, e-mails to President Bollinger and the university trustees, letters to the student paper, peaceful protest, and the like.

Discussion: michellemalkin.com

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: Boston Globe, Associated Press, Hot Air, Wake up America, PoliBlog (TM), The Strata-Sphere, Hub Politics, Blue Crab Boulevard, Boing Boing, 'Okie' on the Lam, Truthdig and Riehl World View

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, Stop The ACLU and The Atlantic Online

CNN Political Ticker:
When Judith calls, Rudy answers

Discussion: The Swamp, National Review and Hot Air

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 …

Salon:
Neither - 65% — As always, it is worth underscoring …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Weekly Standard, TalkLeft, Washington Post, Riehl World View, Hullabaloo, Blue Crab Boulevard and Taylor Marsh

Reuters:

Mandela still alive after embarrassing Bush remark — JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Nelson Mandela is still very much alive despite an embarrassing gaffe by U.S. President George W. Bush, who alluded to the former South African leader's death in an attempt to explain sectarian violence in Iraq.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Hot Air, The RBC, NewsBusters.org, Liberty Pundit, Think Progress, Shakespeare's Sister and The American Pundit

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, First Draft, Shakespeare's Sister and The Impolitic

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

No joke: National Press Club to host Ahmadinejad at videoconference luncheon; Update: Revoke his visa, says Fred — It's the luncheon part that's so precious. Listening to him speak is disgusting enough but that at least can be spun as knowing thine enemy.

Discussion: Infidels Are Cool, Dallas Morning News, Stop The ACLU and Riehl World View

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Too bad to check: NYT taking Ahmadinejad to lunch at Four Seasons?

Discussion: The Corner and Mere Rhetoric

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: Eschaton, Washington Monthly, Beliefnet, Brendan Nyhan, The Sideshow and Lawyers, Guns and Money

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, The Fix, CQPolitics.com, MyDD, Senate 2008 Guru, The Influence Peddler and TPM Election Central

Times of London:

Climate change may help rainforests — Climate change may lead to lush growth rather than catastrophic tree loss in the Amazonian forests, researchers from the US and Brazil have found. A study, in the journal Science, found that reduced rainfall had led to greener forests …

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, JammieWearingFool and TigerHawk

Media Matters for America:

O'Reilly surprised "there was no difference" between Harlem restaurant and other New York restaurants … During the September 19 edition of his nationally syndicated radio program, discussing his recent trip to have dinner with Rev. Al Sharpton at Sylvia's, a famous restaurant in Harlem …

Discussion: Obsidian Wings

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.