memeorandum: What Happened at Haditha — The massacre that wasn't, and its political exploitation. (Opinion Journal)

5:25 PM ET, October 19, 2007

Top Items:

I'm Told — Senator Reid just went to the Senate floor and asked people to bid on the Rush letter. — 40-some minutes to go.... UPDATE: Here's a raw transcript from the Senate:

Discussion: Hot Air, QandO, Macsmind, Wizbang, Suitably Flip, Neocon News, A Blog For All and Blue Crab Boulevard

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

Harry Reid And The Letter Of Doom — Harry Reid tried his best to put the best possible spin on the Rush Limbaugh letter that just sold to a Republican philanthropist for $2.1 million dollars. Rush will put up a matching $2.1 million donation to a charity that assists the children of Marines …

Discussion: Liberty Pundit and Neocon News

Little Green Footballs:

Harry Reid Hearts Rush Limbaugh — As the bidding draws to a close on his ugly smear letter, Harry Reid is now taking credit for raising money for children of fallen soldiers. … Hypocrisy so extreme it warps time and space. — UPDATE at 10/19/07 10:15:05 am: — The winner of the auction was philanthropist Betty Casey.

Discussion: The Corner, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Don Surber, Bookworm Room, Gateway Pundit and Say Anything

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
Reid praises Rush

Discussion: NewsBusters.org

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Dodd Goes to the Mat: Says He Will Filibuster FISA — He said he "might have to." And he will. — From the Dodd campaign: … Finally someone willing to filibuster and cut through the ocean of glue the Senate seems to be swimming in. — This is awesome. Go Dodd. — Update: Just added — YouTube above.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Crooks and Liars, DownWithTyranny!, TIME: Swampland, The Impolitic and Mercury Rising

Brian Faughnan / Weekly Standard: Can Chris Dodd Block a FISA Extension?

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Harry Reid works to ensure telecom amnesty, warrantless surveillance

Discussion: Firedoglake, TalkLeft, The Newshoggers, The Agonist, Booman Tribune and Prairie Weather

Martin Kady II / The Politico:

Martinez resigns as general chair of RNC — Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) will resign as general chairman of the Republican Party today, saying he wants to spend more time on his work as Florida's GOP senator, Politico has learned. — Martinez, who took the job nine months ago as the public face …

Discussion: The Swamp and CNN Political Ticker

Liz Sidoti / Associated Press:
Martinez quits as RNC general chairman

Discussion: Salon, DownWithTyranny! and Mercury Rising

CNN Political Ticker:
Top GOP boss to quit

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report

Brian Maloney / The Radio Equalizer:

Randi Rhodes Speaks About Non-Mugging, Raises New Questions — A DEEPER HOLE … Now that Air America Radio host Randi Rhodes has returned to the airwaves, at least one mystery has been solved: we know why her lawyer was in charge of making press statements.

Discussion: Liberty Pundit, TBogg, Neocon News, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, BitsBlog and Chuck Adkins

Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:
Talk Show Host Randi Rhodes Explains Her Injury On Her Show

Discussion: protein wisdom, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, The Mahablog, LTR, Moonbattery and News Hounds

BoreAmerica:
Randi Rhodes statement on "mugging"/falling down incident

Discussion: Macsmind, Wake up America, JammieWearingFool and Little Green Footballs

Los Angeles Times:

An unlikely treasure-trove of donors for Clinton — The candidate's unparalleled fundraising success relies largely on the least-affluent residents of New York's Chinatown — some of whom can't be tracked down. — NEW YORK — Something remarkable happened at 44 Henry St., a grimy Chinatown tenement with peeling walls.

Fox News:

FOX To Air Controversial Documentary on Islam — A controversial film that PBS axed from its documentary series about the post-Sept. 11 world will be broadcast for the first time nationwide this week by the FOX News Channel. — The documentary, originally titled "Islam vs. Islamists," …

Discussion: Think Progress, Hot Air, TVNewser and Cliff Schecter

Opinion Journal:

What Happened at Haditha — The massacre that wasn't, and its political exploitation. — The incident at Haditha—or the massacre, as it is often called—is due for a wholesale rethinking. The allegations are that in 2005 U.S. Marines went on a killing spree and deliberately executed 24 Iraqi civilians.

Discussion: Bookworm Room, Fausta's blog, QandO and Blue Crab Boulevard

Michael Kinsley / Time:

Libertarians Rising — To oversimplify: Democrats are for Big Government; Republicans are against it. — To oversimplify somewhat less, Democrats aren't always for Big Government, and Republicans aren't always against it. Democrats treasure civil liberties, whereas Republicans …

Discussion: Reason Magazine, Outside The Beltway, Liberal Values, Washington Times and Punditry

Michael Lacey / Phoenix New Times:

Breathtaking Abuse of the Constitution — Joe Arpaio, Andy Thomas and Dennis Wilenchik hit New Times with grand jury subpoenas — This newspaper and its editorial staff — both current and former — are the targets of unprecedented grand jury subpoenas dated August 24.

Discussion: New York Times, Gawker, On Deadline, Reason Magazine and LA Observed

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:
Grand Jury Investigation Seeking Phoenix Newspaper's Reader Data

Discussion: Feathered Bastard and Washington Monthly

Martin Hodgson / Guardian:

Activists send underwear to Burmese embassies — Activists exasperated at the failure of diplomacy to apply pressure on Burma's military regime are resorting to a new means of protest against the regime's recent crackdown: sending female underwear to Burmese embassies.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Salon, Sweetness & Light and Hot Air

David Brooks / New York Times:

From the Back of the Pack — Rindge, N.H. — The first thing you notice about Mike Huckabee is that he has a Mayberry name and a Jim Nabors face. But it's quickly clear that Huckabee is as good a campaigner as anybody running for president this year. And before too long it becomes easy …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Carpetbagger Report, MSNBC, Connecting.the.Dots, Brian Beutler, Prairie Weather, DesMoinesRegister.com Blogs, Lonewacko, Bark Bark Woof Woof and Associated Press

Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:

Obama wants official fired for comments — WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said Friday the head of the Justice Department's voting rights division should be fired for saying voter ID laws hurt the elderly but aren't a problem for minorities because they often die before old age.

Discussion: Liberty Pundit and Chuck Adkins

Michael Fragoso / Christian Science Monitor:

CHINA'S SURPLUS OF SONS: A GEOPOLITICAL TIME BOMB — Ending its one-child policy could ease instability. … The Olympics are around the corner. Just as qualifying athletes are training hard for the big event, China seeks to put its best foot forward in response to critics at home and abroad.

Discussion: The Corner and bustardblog

Glenn Beck / CNN:

Bush Warns About Iran Threat; Airport Screeners Fail Tests at Alarming Rate; Rush Limbaugh Auctioning Off Reid Complaint Letter — THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. — GLENN BECK, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, President Bush warns the world about a nuclear Iran.

Discussion: My Two Sense and Firedoglake