memeorandum: Fleischer Callously Tells Dead Soldier's Mom 'There Are Going To … (Satyam/Think Progress)

4:20 PM ET, September 26, 2007

Top Items:

Couric weighs in on Iraq, Rather — Her take on the news — Speaking at the National Press Club Tuesday evening, CBS "Evening News" anchor Katie Couric pulled back the curtain on her personal views of both the war in Iraq and former "Evening News" anchor Dan Rather.

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Jawa Report, Think Progress, Flopping Aces, Brilliant at Breakfast, NewsBusters.org, My Left Wing, PoliPundit.com, Weasel Zippers, Gateway Pundit and The Globe and Mail

The Corner:

The Nefarious "We" — Close readers may have noticed that I am increasingly vexed by cosmopolitanism, the idea that we are not citizens of a country or products of a place but rather "citizens of the world." See this old G-File, particularly the second half for a fuller explanation of my views.

Discussion: The Anchoress, The Sundries Shack, Ed Driscoll.com and VodkaPundit

Eric Boehlert / Media Matters for America:

Dan Rather is right — The story was true. — Dan Rather, September 20 — At first, I was wondering whose blood was boiling hotter last week when former CBS news anchor Dan Rather announced he had filed a $70 million lawsuit against his former employer in response to Rather's unceremonious …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Liberal Values and The Democratic Daily

Richard Stengel / Time:

My Dinner with Ahmadinejad — The invitation was on creamy stationery with fancy calligraphy: The Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran "requests the pleasure" of my company to dine with H.E. Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The dinner is at the Intercontinental Hotel …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, On Deadline, Hot Air and Babalu Blog

Annie Karni / New York Sun:

Backlash Against Bollinger Hits Columbia — A backlash against the president of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, who on Monday delivered a harsh rebuke to President Ahmadinejad, is coming from faculty members and students who said he struck an "insulting tone" and that his remarks amounted to "schoolyard taunts."

Fredrik Dahl / Reuters:
Ahmadinejad lauded in Iran for "Lion's Den" visit

Discussion: bustardblog and The American Pundit

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:

Kyl-Lieberman Iran Amendment Passes By Huge Margin — The Kyl-Lieberman Iran amendment — which ratchets up the confrontation with Iran by calling for the designation of its Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization responsible for killing U.S. troops — just passed overwhelmingly, 76-22.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Talking Points Memo, The Carpetbagger Report, MyDD, NO QUARTER, Agence France Presse, The Politico and The Huffington Post

Martin Kady II / The Politico:
Softened Iran resolution passes Senate

Discussion: The Swamp

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:

Do Not Vote for This Guy — HE DOESN'T WANT DEMOCRATS TO VOTE—UNLESS IT'S TO APPOINT HIM TO THE FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION. — Another one for you to file under "fox guards the henhouse": The Senate rules committee votes tomorrow (Wednesday) on whether to give Hans A. von Spakovsky …

Discussion: Think Progress, MoJoBlog, The BRAD BLOG, The Carpetbagger Report, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Firedoglake, WorkingForChange and TPMmuckraker

Greg Gordon / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Ohio, Florida laws could dampen Democratic voting — WASHINGTON — Ohio and Florida, which provided the decisive electoral votes for President Bush's two razor-thin national election triumphs, have enacted laws that election experts say will help Republicans impede Democratic-leaning minorities from voting in 2008.

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker: Dem Defection Sends Voter Fraud Guru to Full Senate

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:

Can She Reach Religious Voters? — During a question-and-answer session at Tufts University immediately after the 2004 election, Sen. Hillary Clinton identified the alienation of religious voters as one of the Democratic Party's main problems. And the appeal she proposed was straightforward …

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister, The Corner, Connecting.the.Dots and The Opinionator

Roger Simon / The Politico:
Why Hillary will say no to Obama

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, The State, CNN Political Ticker, Taylor Marsh, CNN, PSoTD and TIME

Scott Helman / Boston Globe:
Hsu raised big money for Clinton supporters

Discussion: Hot Air, Telegraph, JammieWearingFool, The American Pundit, A Blog For All, Suitably Flip, Macsmind, Inside Long Island Politics, Captain's Quarters, Blue Crab Boulevard, MSNBC and Right Voices

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

NPR Rebuffs White House On Bush Talk — Radio Network Wanted To Choose Its Interviewer — The White House reached out to National Public Radio over the weekend, offering analyst Juan Williams a presidential interview to mark yesterday's 50th anniversary of school desegregation in Little Rock.

Discussion: Firedoglake, protein wisdom, Captain's Quarters, NewsBusters.org, No More Mister Nice Blog, Corrente, Outside The Beltway and Romenesko

Satyam / Think Progress:

Fleischer Callously Tells Dead Soldier's Mom 'There Are Going To Be A Lot More Mothers' Like You — Yesterday, Ari Fleischer, former White House Press Secretary and current board member of the White House front group Freedom's Watch, appeared on MSNBC to defend a recent ad showing …

Editor and Publisher:

Scoop for Spanish Daily: Transcript of Private 2003 Bush Talk Promising Iraq Invasion — NEW YORK El Pais, the highest-circulation daily in Spain, today published what it said was the transcript of a private talk between President George W. Bush and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar on February 22 …

Discussion: MoJoBlog, The Moderate Voice and The Carpetbagger Report

Investor's Business Daily:

The Soros Threat To Democracy — Democracy: George Soros is known for funding groups such as MoveOn.org that seek to manipulate public opinion. So why is the billionaire's backing of what he believes in problematic? In a word: transparency. — George Soros & MoveOn.org: Exclusive Series

Discussion: protein wisdom, Tammy Bruce, Clayton Cramer's BLOG, NewsBusters.org, Maggie's Farm, Blue Crab Boulevard, UrbanGrounds, HazZzMat, Lonewacko and Power Line

Opinion Journal:

Calling Rudy — For Mr. Giuliani, it's more than his wife that's on the line. — Most Americans understand it takes an extra chromosome to run for President, but there are some limits on odd behavior. Which makes us wonder what Rudy Giuliani was thinking last Friday when he accepted …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Shakespeare's Sister, Corrente, The Carpetbagger Report, MSNBC, The Swamp, The Impolitic and New York Times

New York Times:

Towns Rethink Laws Against Illegal Immigrants — A little more than a year ago, the Township Committee in this faded factory town became the first municipality in New Jersey to enact legislation penalizing anyone who employed or rented to an illegal immigrant.

Discussion: The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Lonewacko, TBogg, Unqualified Offerings, Reason Magazine and Big Brass Blog

Reed Walters / New York Times:

Justice in Jena — THE case of the so-called Jena Six has fired the imaginations of thousands, notably young African-Americans who, according to many of their comments, believe they will be in the vanguard of a new civil rights movement. Whether America needs a new civil rights movement …

Discussion: Friends of Justice, Norwegianity, Lawyers, Guns and Money, POLITOPICS, Feministe, Brendan Nyhan and Patterico's Pontifications

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:

Biden Iraq plan passes — From NBC's Ken Strickland — In a strong rebuff to the Bush Administration on Iraq, the Senate overwhelming approved a plan by Biden that essentially calls for breaking Iraq into three sections: Kurd, Sunni, and Shia. While the amendment is nonbinding …

Discussion: Hot Air and The American Pundit