memeorandum: My Uterus. A UPS Box. What's the difference? (Bean/Lawyers, Guns and Money)

12:35 PM ET, November 19, 2007

Top Items:

For Bush, Advances But Not Approval — The war in Iraq seems to have taken a turn for the better and the opposition at home has failed in all efforts to impose its own strategy. North Korea is dismantling its nuclear program. The budget deficit is falling.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Firedoglake, The Newshoggers, Wake up America, The Carpetbagger Report, NewsBusters.org, Prairie Weather, Macsmind, AMERICAblog, State of the Day, The Strata-Sphere and The Heretik

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Homeland security aide leaving White House — Frances Fragos Townsend, President George W. Bush's homeland security adviser, will announce Monday that she's leaving the White House, a senior administration official told Politico. — "It's an important job and she was good at it," the official said.

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker, CNN, The Swamp, Think Progress, The Next Hurrah, At-Largely and Cliff Schecter

Associated Press:

Bush homeland security adviser resigns — WASHINGTON - Fran Townsend, the leading White House-based terrorism adviser who gave public updates on the extent of the threat to U.S. security, is stepping down after 4 1/2 years. — President Bush said in a statement Monday morning that Townsend …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Wonkette and TBogg

New York Times:

U.S. Hopes to Arm Pakistani Tribes Against Al Qaeda — A new and classified American military proposal outlines an intensified effort to enlist tribal leaders in the frontier areas of Pakistan in the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, as part of a broader effort to bolster Pakistani forces …

Discussion: The Swamp, JustOneMinute, Global Guerrillas, Comments from Left Field, INTEL DUMP, democracyarsenal.org, Simply Left Behind, At-Largely, Political Machine, The Strata-Sphere, The American Scene, Pat Dollard and abu muqawama

New York Times:
U.S. Says Attacks in Iraq Fell to the Level of Feb. 2006

Discussion: TownHall Blog, Donklephant and Argghhh!

Mark Hemingway / National Review Online:

Did Mitt Romney Push Poll Himself? — News broke Thursday that voters in New Hampshire and Iowa had received phone calls from pollsters raising questions about aspects of Republican Mitt Romney's Mormon faith. Who made the calls? Although the Romney campaign denies involvement, evidence points in its general direction.

Discussion: Salon, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Redstate, TIME, My Man Mitt.com, Sisyphus Shrugged, eyeon08.com and Hot Air

Richelieu / Weekly Standard:
Pushy Polling

Discussion: National Review

John Fund / Opinion Journal:

Mi Casa, Sue Casa — Nancy Pelosi tries to force the Salvation Army to hire people who can't speak English. — It's been less than a week since New York's Sen. Hillary Clinton and Gov. Eliot Spitzer had to climb down from their support of driver's licenses for illegal aliens.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Blue Crab Boulevard, Say Anything, Right Voices, Outside The Beltway, ScrappleFace, Betsy's Page and Overlawyered

Carla Marinucci / San Francisco Chronicle:

Obama accuses Clinton campaign of mud-slinging with Novak column — (11-18) 04:00 PST Las Vegas — The Democratic presidential race burst into its angriest brawl yet Saturday when Barack Obama charged Hillary Rodham Clinton with mud-slinging "swift boat" politics and intimidation …

Discussion: MSNBC and Reuters

Steve Benen / Talking Points Memo:
Novak and Clinton and Obama ... oh my

Discussion: Election Central, Political Machine and Corrente

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Mideast Conference Nears, With Few Plans — 'No One Seems to Know What Is Happening,' Arab Envoy Says — A few days after Thanksgiving, President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plan to open a meeting in Annapolis to launch the first round of substantive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks during Bush's presidency.

Discussion: New York Times, The Carpetbagger Report, Soccer Dad and Connecting.the.Dots

Josef Federman / Associated Press: Israel approves release of 441 prisoners

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:

Democrats Say They Won't Back Down on War — Democrats in Congress failed once again Friday to shift President Bush's war strategy in Iraq, but insisted that they would not let up. Their explanation for their latest foiled effort seemed to boil down to a simple question: "What else are we supposed to do?"

Discussion: The Corner, ScrappleFace, Middle Earth Journal, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Never Yet Melted, The American Street, Gateway Pundit, Cliff Schecter and Flopping Aces

Agence France Presse:

Baghdad by night — juice bars, neon lights, bustling streets — The gaudy orange, green and purple electronic palm trees flashing in the dark alert you that you're getting close to one of Baghdad's bustling nightspots. — The palms, like a mirage, can be seen from way down the darkened streets …

Discussion: QandO, Doug Ross, PoliPundit.com and Gateway Pundit

New York Times:

Goldman Sachs Rakes in Profit in Credit Crisis — For more than three months, as turmoil in the credit market has swept wildly through Wall Street, one mighty investment bank after another has been brought to its knees, leveled by multibillion-dollar blows to their bottom lines.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Silicon Alley Insider

Robert D. Novak / Weekly Standard:

McCarthy=Bad — But the truth is more complicated. — Blacklisted by History — The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies — by M. Stanton Evans — Crown Forum, 672 pp., $29.95 … M. Stanton Evans is a conservative who has been highly esteemed …

Discussion: JustOneMinute and The Corner

Manny Fernandez / New York Times:

NY1 Anchor Quits After Calling a Show on the Station Under a False Name — Gary Anthony Ramsay, a longtime reporter and a weekend anchor for NY1 News, left the station this week, days after calling in to one of the channel's live shows under a false name and commenting on a news story …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Ed Driscoll.com

Bean / Lawyers, Guns and Money:

My Uterus. A UPS Box. What's the difference? — Well, to the forced pregnancy brigade, there is no difference: my uterus is nothing but a glorified storage container, holding something until it reaches its destination (birth). Now there's proof: — Here's a transcript, via Trailer Park Feminist:

Discussion: trailer park feminist, The Mahablog, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Feministe, Shakespeare's Sister, Right Voices and TBogg

Marc Santora / New York Times:

McCain Takes On Clinton, With an Eye to Civility — Senator John McCain tried Sunday night to make the case that he was best positioned to defeat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in a general election, outlining a series of contrasts with her on issues including national security and health care.

Discussion: Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, The Politico, Outside The Beltway, MSNBC, The Hill and Connecting.the.Dots

Team Huckabee / Mike Huckabee for President:

TV AD: "CHUCK NORRIS APPROVED" — Proven Leader. Authentic Conservative. — Contribute — Forward this ad to your friends, family members and co-workers. — 100 diggs by 5pm? Keep the momentum going. — Make a contribution to get this ad on the air near you.