memeorandum: How to Try a Terrorist — MICHAEL B. MUKASEY, President Bush's nominee … (John C. Coughenour/New York Times)

6:50 PM ET, November 1, 2007

Top Items:

President Bush Discusses Global War on Terror — Washington, D.C. — In Focus: Defense — In Focus: National Security — THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Ed, thanks. Thanks for the kind introduction. I'm looking forward to working with you for the next 14 months …

Discussion: Redstate, Wake up America, National Review, Gateway Pundit and First Draft

Terence Hunt / Associated Press:

Sen. Kennedy turns against AG nominee — WASHINGTON - President Bush, seeking Thursday to salvage the embattled nomination of Michael Mukasey as attorney general, defended the former judge's refusal to say whether he considers waterboarding as illegal torture. But the nomination suffered another setback in the Senate.

Discussion: The Corner, michellemalkin.com, Macsmind, Liberty Street, The Carpetbagger Report and The Democratic Daily

Jennifer Loven / Associated Press:

Bush to Democrats: 'We are at war' — WASHINGTON - President Bush compared Congress' Democratic leaders Thursday with people who ignored the rise of Lenin and Hitler early in the last century, saying "the world paid a terrible price" then and risks similar consequences for inaction today.

Discussion: Brilliant at Breakfast, Assorted Babble and Seeing the Forest

Faiz / Think Progress:
Bush Grasps For Relevancy By Bashing 'MoveOn.org Bloggers …

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister, The Carpetbagger Report and No More Mister Nice Blog

White House:
President Bush Previews War on Terror Speech

Discussion: The Next Hurrah, LeftWord, D-Day and First Draft

Amanda / Think Progress:
Bush: 'war on terror' critics are 'disingenuous or naive.'

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister

White House:
Press Briefing by Dana Perino

Discussion: Think Progress and First Draft

Sam Youngman / The Hill:

Campaign call reveals Clinton debate concern — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-N.Y.) top advisers, doing damage control after the candidate's debate performance Tuesday, told supporters on a conference call Wednesday that the campaign needed more money to fight back.

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

But They're Unaffiliated, Of Course — Media Matters insists that it has no intention of supporting a candidate, but it's hard to tell that from its content. As Jonah Goldberg noted, the site went into a full-throated defense of Hillary Clinton by attacking Tim Russert for ... well, asking questions about issues:

Discussion: Media Matters for America and Hot Air

Greg Sargent / Horses Mouth:

There's A History Here: Russert Blindsided Hillary With Question About Bill's Affair Back In 2000; Hillary Camp Seethed — Since the Dem debate a few days ago a lot of people have understandably been taking shots at Tim Russert for his often small-minded "gotcha" questions and his constant references to Bill Clinton.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Eunomia, The Atlantic Online, The Plank and Angry Bear

Jonah Goldberg / The Corner: But Media Matters Doesn't Shill For Hillary

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:

S.C. Dems reject Colbert candidacy — Stephen Colbert's satirical run for the presidency has run into its first roadblock - his bid to be on the ballot in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary was rejected on Thursday. — The party's executive council voted 14 to 3 …

Discussion: MoJoBlog, The Raw Story, The Rachel Maddow Show, Hot Air, Balloon Juice, The BRAD BLOG and Open Left

CNN Political Ticker:

South Carolina Democrats say no to Colbert — COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) — The South Carolina Democratic Party voted Thursday to keep comedian Stephen Colbert's name off the Democratic Primary ballot, according to Executive Director Joe Werner. — This essentially means …

Discussion: The Swamp

Jennifer Parker / Political Radar:
Colbert's Presidential Candidacy Seems to End

Discussion: The American Mind

Kevin Aylward / The 2007 Weblog Awards:

Finalists Announced — Here is a complete list of the finalists for The 2007 Weblog Awards. Finalists badges (hosted by Imageshack) will be available Thursday. Voting is scheduled to begin Thursday evening (late), but at this point we can't pinpoint the exact time polls will open.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Swords Crossed, The Moderate Voice, JammieWearingFool, The Jawa Report, Captain's Quarters, Balloon Juice, Shakespeare's Sister, Suitably Flip and Wizbang

John C. Coughenour / New York Times:

How to Try a Terrorist — MICHAEL B. MUKASEY, President Bush's nominee to be attorney general, is coming under increasing fire for his views on what constitutes illegal torture. But the aspect of his philosophy that worries me more is his view of the judiciary's role in prosecuting the war on terror.

Discussion: Commentary

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:
Today's Must Read

Discussion: New York Times, Salon, New York Times, Seeing the Forest and The Mahablog

Andrew Sullivan / The Atlantic Online:
The Democrats and Mukasey — The NYT argues today …

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, Interesting Times and The Newshoggers

Robin Wright / Washington Post:

From the Desk of Donald Rumsfeld . . . In Sometimes-Brusque 'Snowflakes,' He Shared Worldview, Shaped Policy — In a series of internal musings and memos to his staff, then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld argued that Muslims avoid "physical labor" and wrote of the need to …

Discussion: The Opinionator, Think Progress, The Liberal Avenger, TPMCafe blogs, Shakespeare's Sister, The Plank, Norwegianity, A Second Hand Conjecture, CBS News, The Carpetbagger Report, Cliff Schecter, Wonkette, American Footprints, The Heretik, Armchair Generalist and The Garlic

Telegraph:

The most influential US conservatives: 21-40 — As the US prepares for what is arguably the most open presidential election since 1928, the last time there was no incumbent president or vice-president on the ballot, the Daily Telegraph's Washington correspondents compile a list of the 100 …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Corner, The Carpetbagger Report, UrbanGrounds and Reason Magazine

Juan Cole:

Time to Close the US Embassy — I don't try to start an internet campaign very often, because the blogosphere has its own priorities and logic that are democratic and should not be forced. But here is a plea for everyone in the blogging world to help force congress to save our diplomats.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Newshoggers, The Carpetbagger Report, Shakespeare's Sister, UrbanGrounds, Outside The Beltway, D-Day, Agitprop, BBC and Associated Press

John R. Christy / mobile2.wsj.com:

My Nobel Moment — I've had a lot of fun recently with my tiny (and unofficial) slice of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). But, though I was one of thousands of IPCC participants, I don't think I will add "0.0001 Nobel Laureate" to my resume.

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard

Aram Roston / MSNBC:

Blackwater sneak silencers into Iraq? — Security firm under investigation for allegedly sidestepping export controls — A Blackwater employee shows off a silencer-equipped rifle in Iraq in a photo obtained by NBC News. The picture has been digitally altered to protect the identity of the subject.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Murdoc Online and Prairie Weather

Don Surber:

Will there be a VA bill by Veterans Day? — Will Democrats pass a budget before the budget year ends? — The federal budget year began Oct. 1 without a budget. The Democratic Congress has yet to send even one budget bill to the president. — And they wonder why their job approval is 11%.

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, Assorted Babble, NPR, RushLimbaugh.com, Right Voices and Riehl World View

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Minnesota senator to endorse Rudy — Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) plans to endorse the presidential campaign of former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, according to Republican sources. — It's a union of two Brooklyn-native, non-Protestant former mayors. — The endorsement holds clear advantages for each of them.

Discussion: Power Line and TIME