memeorandum: Reason No. 384 Why I Love Our Commenters (Christy Hardin Smith/Firedoglake)

3:35 PM ET, November 12, 2007

Top Items:

Walter Shapiro / Salon:

Obama goes for the capillaries — Barack Obama delivers a rousing speech in Iowa on Saturday night, all but calling out Hillary Clinton, and then gets weak-kneed on Sunday morning. — Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks during the Iowa Democratic Party's Jefferson Jackson Dinner on Nov. 10 in Des Moines.

Discussion: New York Times, Eunomia, Political Machine, MSNBC and Althouse

Ben Smith / The Politico:
Edwards, Obama: The enemy of my enemy ...

Discussion: The Swamp, The Stump, The Carpetbagger Report, MSNBC, Taylor Marsh, Boston Globe and The Atlantic Online

Washington Post:
Democrats' Provocative Iowa Dinner Conversation

Discussion: Horses Mouth, USA Today, Associated Press, Des Moines Register, Times of London, Boston Globe, New York Times, The BLT, CNN Political Ticker, The Caucus, TIME, Iowa HQ, MSNBC and TIME: Swampland

Des Moines Register:
Yepsen: Obama's superb speech could catapult his bid

Discussion: MSNBC, Washington Wire, Liberal Values and Connecting.the.Dots

Tad Daley / philly.com:

Iran has a right to seek nuclear capability — is a writing fellow with International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, the 1985 Nobel Peace laureate — Some call it "the nuclear double standard;" others, "nuclear apartheid;" still others, "America's nuclear hypocrisy."

Discussion: The Glittering Eye, Liberty Street, A Blog For All and The American Street

Little Green Footballs:

Anti-Nuke Activist: Iran Has a 'Right' to Nukes — Nobel Peace laureate Tad Daley, a writing fellow with International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, has a piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer arguing that Iran has a right to seek nuclear weapons.

Cernig / The Newshoggers: Reading Comprehension

Nitya / Political Radar:

Falling Flags — ABC News' Eloise Harper and Rick Klein Report: It's been a rough stretch for Hillary Clinton — a tough debate performance, a lost voice, and the revelation that the Clinton campaign had been coaching questioners at events. — Then, on Sunday, everything started falling down around her.

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker, michellemalkin.com, Sweetness & Light, Macsmind and Riehl World View

Fortune:

Al Gore's next act: Planet-saving VC — The recovering politician is teaming with a legendary venture capitalist and bigtime moneyman to make over the $6 trillion global energy business. A Fortune exclusive — (Fortune Magazine) — It's lunchtime on Sand Hill Road, and Al Gore wants answers.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Salon, The American Mind, Daniel W. Drezner, The BRAD BLOG and VodkaPundit

New York Times:

A New Channel for Soft Money Starts Flowing — The so-called Wounded Warriors Act, legislation intended to improve health care for veterans, has attracted nearly unanimous, bipartisan support in Congress. So why would the newly formed Foundation for a Secure and Prosperous America begin running …

Discussion: The Swamp, The Politico, TIME: Swampland, The Fix, Hullabaloo, MSNBC, Balloon Juice, CNN Political Ticker, Cliff Schecter and The American Street

Jay Carney / TIME: Swampland:
McCain's Principle, and its Price

Discussion: The Caucus

Peter Slevin / Washington Post:

Farmers Ask Federal Court To Dissociate Hemp and Pot — Wayne Hauge grows grains, chickpeas and some lentils on 2,000 acres in northern North Dakota. Business is up and down, as the farming trade tends to be, and he is always on the lookout for a new crop. He tried sunflowers and safflowers and black beans.

Libby Spencer / The Newshoggers:

High on hemp — Of all the dunderheaded policies in the war on some drugs, the prohibition on industrial hemp is the most ill-advised and counter-productive. At least 30 countries grow it commercially. It brings in billions in revenue worldwide and it's the most environmentally safe product to grow and to process.

Discussion: The American Street

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:

Reason No. 384 Why I Love Our Commenters — Richard Armitage was a guest on CNN's Late Edition yesterday. Crooks and Liars has the full clip of his appearance where, surprisingly, he was asked about his betrayal of Valerie Plame Wilson (to both Bob Novak and Bob Woodward, just to be clear on all the facts, since only Novak comes up).

Discussion: NYT, RADAMISTO and The Corner

CNN:
Armitage: CIA leak was "foolish"

Discussion: A Blog For All, Macsmind and Hot Air

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Anti-abortion group to endorse Thompson — Fred Thompson will pick up the support of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) tomorrow, according to two Republicans familar with the decision. — For a candidate who came up empty-handed last week when three prominent Christian conservatives …

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker, Fox News, michellemalkin.com, Hot Air, Stop The ACLU, Wake up America, Eunomia and Riehl World View

Juan Cole:

Maliki Said to Induct 18,000 Militiamen into Security Services — Al-Zaman reports in Arabic that PM al-Maliki has taken the controversial decision to recruit 18,000 members of Shiite militias into the Iraqi government security forces. (In fact, the Iraqi military has de facto been recruiting a lot of Shiite militiamen anyway).

Discussion: New York Times, FP Passport, Empire Burlesque, Washington Post and Needlenose

DrewM / Ace of Spades HQ:

Lions for Lambs...Slaughtered — Looks like the Saturday night box office estimates are in and while Lions for Lambs basically doubled its take from Friday, $6.7 million in box office is only good for 4th place. — A distant 4th place: Bee Movie grossed $26 million, American Gangster $24 million, and Fred Claus $19 million.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, The Carpetbagger Report, No More Mister Nice Blog, BitsBlog, Gateway Pundit, alicublog, Blue Crab Boulevard, American Spectator and UrbanGrounds

Jules Crittenden:
LFL LOL — Hollywood anti-war Bush-bash surge tanks at the box office.

Discussion: Guardian and Weekly Standard

BBC:

Climate scepticism: The top 10 — What are some of the reasons why "climate sceptics" dispute the evidence that human activities such as industrial emissions of greenhouse gases and deforestation are bringing potentially dangerous changes to the Earth's climate?

Fredric U. Dicker / New York Post:

TOP SPITZ MAN TOLD AIDE TO LIE: INSIDER — Gov. Spitzer's former communications di rector, Darren Dopp, asked another Spitzer aide to lie about the origins of the Dirty Tricks Scandal - including the governor's own allegedly extensive knowledge of the plot to smear the Senate's GOP leader, a well-placed source told The Post yesterday.

Discussion: A Blog For All, Spin Cycle, JammieWearingFool and BitsBlog

James Glanz / New York Times:

Security Guard Fires From Convoy, Killing Iraqi Driver — An Iraqi taxi driver was shot and killed on Saturday by a guard with DynCorp International, a private security company hired to protect American diplomats here, when a DynCorp convoy rolled past a knot of traffic on an exit ramp in Baghdad …

Discussion: Brilliant at Breakfast, AMERICAblog, Salon, At-Largely, About.com U.S. Politics and CREDO Action

Brian Faughnan / Weekly Standard:

Rothenberg: The GOP's Not Dead Yet — If you listen to some election prognosticators, you get the sense that the 2008 election is already over. It sometimes seems as if the only questions left are whether the Democrats will have 60 Senate seats and if so, how long it will take to approve single-payer health care.

Discussion: Eunomia and DownWithTyranny!