memeorandum: Growing Up Giuliani — Rudy Giuliani was raised to understand … (Newsweek)

1:35 PM ET, November 26, 2007

Top Items:

Trent Lott announces his resignation — Minority whip says he will leave Senate before end of the year — Pascagoula, Mississippi - Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott, the Senate's No. 2 Republican, announced Monday he will retire from the Senate by end of year.

The Politico:

Top official: Lott to resign — Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) plans to resign his seat by year's end, a senior Republican official told Politico. — The announcement took Capitol Hill by surprise because Lott, the former majority leader, seemed to be relishing his job as minority whip, the second-ranking GOP leadership job.

Discussion: The Swamp, The Newshoggers, Taegan Goddard's …, Booman Tribune, Daily Kos, SunHerald.com, UrbanGrounds, the albany project, Blue Crab Boulevard, Macsmind and Donklephant

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:

BREAKING: Trent Lott Rumored To Be Resigning — MSNBC is reporting the following: … So, let's see if we have this straight: he's cashing in before the lobbying restriction goes into effect — hello oil, gas, and gambling interests that he was already serving anyway …

Discussion: Political Machine and The American Street

Jack Elliott Jr / Associated Press:
Lott to Resign by End of Year

Discussion: MoJoBlog, Power Line, Middle Earth Journal, Reason Magazine and On Deadline

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
LOTT TO RETIRE BY END OF YEAR

Discussion: The Politico, Washington Wire, The Carpetbagger Report, the albany project, TownHall Blog, Crooks and Liars, Think Progress, ePluribus Media Community and Associated Press

Qassim Abdul-Zahra / Associated Press:

Iraqis may offer US deal to stay longer — BAGHDAD - Iraq's government, seeking protection against foreign threats and internal coups, will offer the U.S. a long-term troop presence in Iraq in return for U.S. security guarantees as part of a strategic partnership, two Iraqi officials said Monday.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, The Newshoggers, New York Times, Flopping Aces, Left I on the News, The Glittering Eye, Gateway Pundit and Associated Press

Spencer Ackerman / TPMmuckraker:

White House Releases "Principles" for Permanent Iraqi Presence — So it begins. After years of obfuscation and denial on the length of the U.S.'s stay in Iraq, the White House and the Maliki government have released a joint declaration of "principles" for "friendship and cooperation."

Discussion: United Nations, The Next Hurrah, The Impolitic and The Atlantic Online

White House:
Fact Sheet: U.S.-Iraq Declaration of Principles for Friendship and Cooperation

Discussion: TPMmuckraker

Spencer Ackerman / TPMmuckraker:
U.S. To Stay In Iraq Forever

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and The Atlantic Online

Robert D. Novak / Washington Post:

The False Conservative — Who would respond to criticism from the Club for Growth by calling the conservative, free-market campaign organization the "Club for Greed"? That sounds like Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich or John Edwards, all Democrats preaching the class struggle.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, The Atlantic Online, Hot Air, CNN Political Ticker, Firedoglake, Transterrestrial Musings, Outside The Beltway, The Anonymous Liberal, NewsBusters.org, The Carpetbagger Report, Vox Popoli, Confederate Yankee, DownWithTyranny! and Paul Krugman

Drudge Report:

DON'T GO THERE: BRIT PAPER STARTS 'UGLIEST MONTH' — The TIMES of London starts 'The Ugliest Month' with a full page photo takeout on Hillary Clinton and her beautiful personal assistant. — "Hillary Clinton has been accused of having an affair with Huma Abedin," reads the caption.

Discussion: Assorted Babble, Reason Magazine, Atlas Shrugs, Jihad Watch, The Sundries Shack, Weasel Zippers and Gateway Pundit

The Politico:

Clinton and Obama switch roles in Iowa — DES MOINES — In a reversal of fortune, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is barnstorming Iowa with a front-runner's swagger while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) scrambles like an underdog. — In ways big and small over the weekend …

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker, Washington Post and Blue Crab Boulevard

Fred Hiatt / Washington Post:
Calculation and Conviction — Barack Obama suggests …

Discussion: Heading Right, Captain's Quarters and TalkLeft

Sara A. Carter / Washington Times:

Islamists target Arizona base — Fort Huachuca, the nation's largest intelligence-training center, changed security measures in May after being warned that Islamist terrorists, with the aid of Mexican drug cartels, were planning an attack on the facility. — Fort officials changed security measures …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Power Line, TownHall Blog, Say Anything, PrairiePundit and Wizbang

Patrick Ruffini / Townhall.com:

Ron Paul Has Won — He won't win the nomination. He won't win any primaries. But for Ron Paul's quixotic bid for the White House, it's "Mission Accomplished." — Take a look at this from Sunday's Washington Post. Not just the article but the killer packaging:

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Publius Endures, Hot Air, All American Blogger and PrairiePundit

Electronic Frontier Foundation:

CALEA — The Perils of Wiretapping the Internet — EFF and a coalition of public interest, industry, and academic groups filed suit in 2005 challenging the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) unjustified expansion of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).

Looseheadprop / Firedoglake:
What Was the Program Confirmed by the President?

Discussion: The Next Hurrah

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Winter of Our Discontent — "Americans' Economic Pessimism Reaches Record High." That's the headline on a recent Gallup report, which shows a nation deeply unhappy with the state of the economy. Right now, "27% of Americans rate current economic conditions as either 'excellent' or 'good …

Discussion: The American Street, Norwegianity, The Impolitic and Prairie Weather

John Solomon / Washington Post:

Obama PAC Is Active In Key Election States — When Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) launched his presidential campaign in January, he stopped raising money for his Hopefund, the political action committee he used to raise millions for fellow Democrats in previous campaigns.

Discussion: MyDD and TIME

Don Surber:

Lead America, Republicans — We need our Tony Blair, our Nicolas Sarkozy. — While Democrats select a presidential candidate, Republicans seek a president. There are a bunch of Jimmy Carters on the other side who are willing to apologize for America's greatness. Forget about finding the next Reagan.

Discussion: The Newshoggers and The Sundries Shack