memeorandum: Gift of Gall — Girlfriend had a rough week. (Maureen Dowd/New York Times)

12:40 PM ET, November 4, 2007

Top Items:

Musharraf Leaves White House in Lurch — For more than five months the United States has been trying to orchestrate a political transition in Pakistan that would manage to somehow keep Gen. Pervez Musharraf in power without making a mockery of President Bush's promotion of democracy in the Muslim world.

Discussion: Informed Comment, PoliBlog (TM), THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, The Atlantic Online, Comments from Left Field, The Carpetbagger Report, NewsBusters.org, The Newshoggers, Jihad Watch, Ohio Daily Blog, Jules Crittenden, Soccer Dad, rediff.com and Prairie Weather

The Corner:

re: Pakistan Emergency — Things were certainly heating up a lot last week in Pakistan though the various jihadi attacks didn't get much coverage in the West. — In the Punjab, far from the frontier there was a major suicide bomb attack against the Pakistani Air Force, killing eight officers and cadets …

Discussion: Pajamas Media

Cernig / The Newshoggers:
Pentagon Backs Musharraf

Discussion: The Heretik and Guardian

CNN:
'Emergency will last as long as necessary'

Discussion: The Van Der Galiën Gazette and American Footprints

Associated Press:
500 Pakistani activists arrested

Discussion: A Blog For All, The Agonist and Crooks and Liars

Molly Ivors / Whiskey Fire:

Idiot Princess™ — Seems like we just did this, doesn't it? — But then, MoDo must be telling herself the same thing. — Yes, the Idiot Princess™ is at it again, sharpening her tools for her paymasters who clearly fear Hillary with a pathology that must be based on some deep Freudian s**t …

Discussion: Horses Mouth and James Wolcott's Blog

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Gift of Gall — Girlfriend had a rough week. — First Hillary got brushed back by the boys in the debate. Then some women bemoaned Hillaryland's "Don't hit me, I'm a girl" strategy. — The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus deplored the "antifeminist subtext" of Hillary's campaign playing the woman-as-victim card.

Discussion: TalkLeft and Middle Earth Journal

Times of London:

Saudi Arabia is hub of world terror — The desert kingdom supplies the cash and the killers — Nick Fielding and Sarah Baxter, Washington — It was an occasion for tears and celebration as the Knights of Martyrdom proclaimed on video: "Our brother Turki fell during the rays of dawn …

Discussion: Israel Matzav, Middle Earth Journal and Jules Crittenden

Matthew Mosk / Washington Post:

Thompson Adviser Has Criminal Past — Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson has been crisscrossing the country since early this summer on a private jet lent to him by a businessman and close adviser who has a criminal record for drug dealing. — Thompson selected the businessman …

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker, Captain's Quarters, The Newshoggers, Shakespeare's Sister, Southern Beale, TalkLeft, BitsBlog, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Jules Crittenden, At-Largely, WTF Is It Now?!?, The Right's Field and DownWithTyranny!

Jeralyn / TalkLeft: Fred Thompson Campaign Advisor Has Drug Crimes in His Past

Patrick Healy / New York Times:

Clinton Rebuts Accusations of Secrecy — As Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton began a four-day swing through Iowa on Saturday, her political camp struck back against accusations that she and her husband were being overly secretive about discussions they had during their White House years.

Discussion: The Swamp, The Politico, Prairie Weather and The Heretik

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Obama Criticizes Clinton's Drive to Win

Discussion: Ankle Biting Pundits, The Peking Duck and Obama HQ

N. Gregory Mankiw / New York Times:

Beyond Those Health Care Numbers — WITH the health care system at the center of the political debate, a lot of scary claims are being thrown around. The dangerous ones are not those that are false; watchdogs in the news media are quick to debunk them. Rather, the dangerous ones …

Discussion: Economist's View and Angry Bear

Bruce Kesler / Democracy Project:
Doctors Vs Professors

Discussion: PoliBlog (TM)

Matt / Think Progress:

Bush 41 Gets His News From Fox News; Warns More Bushes May Run For Public Office — Fox News Sunday launched a new series this week called "American Leaders" that seeks to engage "prominent business, cultural and social figures in candid discussion." The first "leader" featured by Fox …

Tina Rosenberg / New York Times:

The Perils of Petrocracy — I. — Who holds the world's oil? You might assume it's in the hands of big private oil companies like ExxonMobil. But in fact, 77 percent of the world's oil reserves are held by national oil companies with no private equity, and there are 13 state-owned oil companies …

Discussion: Simply Left Behind and JammieWearingFool

Jeff Jacoby / Boston Globe:

A hero in Castro's gulag — AT A White House ceremony tomorrow President Bush will honor eight distinguished men and women with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civil award. Among the recipients will be the longtime civil rights activist Benjamin Hooks; Harper Lee …

Discussion: Power Line, Blue Crab Boulevard and Betsy's Page

Teresa Watanabe / Los Angeles Times:

Citizenship applications climb despite fee hike — Growing anti-immigration sentiment is pushing many people to take action so they can vote, experts say. — The number of citizenship applications received in the Los Angeles area tripled in September compared with the same period last year …

Discussion: ImmigrationProf Blog

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:

ALL-TIME WINGNUTTIEST BLOG POST CONTEST....While the rest of the blogosphere concerns itself with the worthy task of choosing the all-time best blog posts, I'm keeping my focus where it belongs: on the all-time worst blog posts. And thanks to help from my commenters, plus commenters over at FDL …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Balloon Juice, Althouse, The Atlantic Online, Lawyers, Guns and Money and democracyarsenal.org

Lance / A Second Hand Conjecture:

The Iranian Labor Movement, Heroic and Ignored — Incognito and Bob from Brockley on the plight of labor activists in Iran that I posted on earlier. From the London Telegraph: … Who amongst us cannot fail to be stirred. Incognito is a member of several Unions, including the Screen Actors Guild.