memeorandum: Six Fingers of Blame in the Mortgage Mess (Alan S. Blinder/New York Times)

2:45 PM ET, September 30, 2007

Top Items:

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

9/11 Is Over — Not long ago, the satirical newspaper The Onion ran a fake news story that began like this: — "At a well-attended rally in front of his new ground zero headquarters Monday, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani officially announced his plan to run for president of 9/11.

Jules Crittenden:

Nation of Stupid — Tom Friedman: "9/11 has made us stupid." — Sure has made some people stupid, no question. Friedman is writing against Giuliani as the "9/11″ candidate, saying we need a 9/12 candidate. Which, as an attempt to be clever, is pretty stupid, too. 9/12, you'll recall, was the day after 9/11.

Discussion: PoliBlog (TM) and BartBlog

Warner Todd Huston / Stop The ACLU:
NYTimes: Thomas Friedman Wants America to Get Over 9/11

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, Don Surber and JammieWearingFool

Seymour M. Hersh / New Yorker:

SHIFTING TARGETS — The Administration's plan for Iran. … In a series of public statements in recent months, President Bush and members of his Administration have redefined the war in Iraq, to an increasing degree, as a strategic battle between the United States and Iran.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Firedoglake, A Tiny Revolution, Bark Bark Woof Woof and New York Times

Faiz / Think Progress:

Hersh: Bush's Case For Hitting Iran Has 'Shifted,' Now Focused On 'Surgical Strikes' As Way To 'Sell' It — Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker's Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative journalist, writes in a new article entitled "Shifting Targets" that there has been "a significant increase …

Discussion: BartBlog and rubber hose

Alexandra Zavis / Los Angeles Times:

Petraeus admits to rise in Iraq violence — The top U.S. commander, back from his trip to Washington, says Sunni Arab militants have carried out a 'Ramadan surge.' But he notes that the level of attacks remains lower than a year ago. — BAGHDAD — Gen. David H. Petraeus …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, DownWithTyranny! and Gateway Pundit

Ann Scott Tyson / Washington Post:
U.S. Kills a Leader Of Al-Qaeda in Iraq

Discussion: Think Progress and Counterterrorism Blog

Frank Rich / New York Times:

Is Hillary Clinton the New Old Al Gore? — THE Democrats can't lose the White House in 2008, can they? — Some 13 months before Election Day, the race's dynamic seems immutable. Americans can't wait to evict the unpopular president and end his disastrous war.

Discussion: race42008.com, TalkLeft, No More Mister Nice Blog, Norwegianity, Ezra Klein, Donklephant and TIME: Swampland

Steve Benen / Talking Points Memo:

MCCAIN STUMBLES ON RELIGION — AGAIN — Perhaps the moral of the story is that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would be far better off avoiding religion as a campaign issue. It's been dogging him for years, and his fall from grace continues. — In 2000, the Arizona senator gambled …

Discussion: Eschaton, Shakespeare's Sister and Take Our Country Back

Matt Ortega / The Right's Field:
McCain: Constitution Established U.S. as Christian Nation …

Discussion: Brilliant at Breakfast

Helen Kennedy / NY Daily News:
McCain: No Muslim president, U.S. better with Christian one

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Gun Toting Liberal™, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Jihad Watch, Liberal Values, The Heretik, The American Street and Daily Kos

Michelle Malkin:

What happened to our troops in Oakland — Two days ago, an e-mail about the rude treatment of Marines and soldiers returning from Iraq started making the rounds on the Internet. The brother of one of the mistreated Marines who described the incident at Oakland Airport works on the Hill.

Discussion: The Corner

Little / Daily Kos:
UPDATED II: Fake [?] Anti-Troop Email Making RW Rounds

Discussion: The Corner, Take Our Country Back, Atlas Shrugs and Chuck Adkins

Michael Scherer / Salon:

Religious right may blackball Giuliani — Christian conservative leaders privately consider supporting a third-party, antiabortion candidate should Rudy Giuliani win the GOP nomination. — Rudy Giuliani speaks to the Associated Press Sept. 25, 2007, in New York.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo, The Carpetbagger Report and The Democratic Daily

David Bernstein / The Volokh Conspiracy:

NO HOMOSEXUALS IN THE ARAB WORLD: Recall that at Ahmadinejad's recent speech at Columbia, he responded to a question about Iran's oppression of homosexuals by claiming that "in Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country." His statement was met with a chorus of boos and catcalls …

Simon Walters / Daily Mail:

I hate all Iranians, US aide tells MPs — Britsh MPs visiting the Pentagon to discuss America's stance on Iran and Iraq were shocked to be told by one of President Bush's senior women officials: "I hate all Iranians." — And she also accused Britain of "dismantling" the Anglo-US-led coalition …

Discussion: The Newshoggers

Associated Press:

Report: Countrywide CEO Cashed Out — LA Times: Angelo Mozilo Cashed In $138 Million In Options Before Crash — (AP) Countrywide Financial Corp. Chairman and CEO Angelo Mozilo cashed in $138 million in stock options over the last year, switching his trading plans as the mortgage company went …

Matt / Think Progress:

Kristol's Dark Humor: Bush's 'Heartless Assault On Our Children' Is 'A Good Idea' — On Fox News Sunday this morning, NPR's Mara Liasson said that President Bush's expected veto of an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which passed both the House and Senate …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Bluegal / Crooks and Liars:

Rudy Would Rather Be with Bo Derek than Addressing the Concerns of Black America. — Oh come on, so would Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, if they were perfectly honest. — What Rudy should really be ashamed of this time is that his Santa Barbara fundraiser ONLY raised a hundred grand.

Discussion: Eschaton

Kombiz Lavasany / Democratic National Committee:

Romney Hypocrisy on Venezuela and Iran — Mitt Romney has been trying to court Republican voters by attacking the Governments of Venezuela and Iran and, in the case of Iran, urging divestment. It seems that Romney hasn't been as forthcoming about his ties to Hugo Chavez and Venezuela's oil company.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Cliff Schecter