memeorandum: Know-Nothings Who Know Better — Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani … (E. J. Dionne Jr/Washington Post)

3:25 PM ET, November 30, 2007

Top Items:

Man Takes Hostages At Clinton Campaign Office — ROCHESTER, N.H. — ROCHESTER, N.H. An armed man has taken two campaign workers hostage at the Hillary Clinton campaign office in Rochester, police said. — Officials with the campaign confirmed that there were two workers taken hostage …

Discussion: TPM Election Central, Gateway Pundit, On Deadline, The Trail, The Raw Story, Daily Kos, The American Pundit, AMERICAblog, Hot Air, IMAO.US, Making Light, Outside The Beltway and THE LIBERAL JOURNAL

WCVB-TV:

Hostages Taken At Clinton Campaign Office — Police Unclear As To How Many People Involved — BOSTON — An armed man took at least two workers hostage Friday at a Hillary Clinton presidential campaign office in New Hampshire, police said. — The incident happened at about 1 p.m. Friday at 28 Main St. in Rochester.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Swamp, Firedoglake, Salon, Open Left, The Carpetbagger Report and skippy the bush kangaroo

MSNBC:

Hostages taken at Clinton office — 'He showed us a bomb strapped to his chest,' says woman who was freed — ROCHESTER, N.H. - A man claiming to have a bomb walked in to Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign offices Friday and took hostages, police and witnesses said.

Discussion: The Democratic Daily

Michelle Malkin:

Report: Armed man takes hostages at/near Hillary NH office; WMUR confirms two being held; Update: Released? — Update 3:15pm Eastern. Hostages released? WMUR reporting...here's a screenshot: — Edwards' office evacuated. — Update 2:15pm Eastern. FNC's Major Garrett reporting …

Discussion: UrbanGrounds and Daily Kos

CNN:

Reports: Hostages held at Clinton campaign office — (CNN) — Two people are being held hostage by an armed man at Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign office in Rochester, New Hampshire, police said Friday. — The man walked into the office at about 1 p.m., Maj. Michael Hambrook …

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

CNN Admits Holes in Screening of Questioners — CNN expressed regret yesterday for allowing a Hillary Clinton adviser to ask a question at Wednesday's Republican presidential debate, even as controversy swirled about two other questioners who have declared their support for Democratic candidates.

Discussion: Redstate, New York Times, TBogg, The Newshoggers, TownHall Blog, The Impolitic, Think Progress, Power Line, Balloon Juice, AMERICAblog, Captain's Quarters and NewsBusters.org

WBZ-TV:

Workers Held Hostage At Clinton Office In N.H. — Man With Bomb Holding Campaign Volunteers — WBZ-TV Live Coverage Of Hostage Crisis — (WBZ) ROCHESTER, N.H. A man is holding at least one person hostage at the presidential campaign office for Sen. Hillary Clinton in Rochester, New Hampshire.

Discussion: Stop The ACLU

New Hampshire Union Leader:

Armed standoff reported at Clinton campaign office, several hostages held — ROCHESTER - Part of downtown Rochester has been evacuated as police respond to an armed standoff with hostages at Hillary Clinton's local headquarters. Two volunteers are believed to be hostages. — The incident began at about 1 p.m.

Discussion: The Caucus

Amanda / Think Progress:

Hostages held at Clinton's NH campaign office. — AP reports: … UPDATE: MSNBC is reporting that the two hostages being held are Clinton campaign volunteers. The hostage-taker, who reportedly is demanding to speak with the senator, has already released a woman and a child.

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker and Associated Press

WCVB-TV:
Hostages Held By Armed Man At Clinton Office

Discussion: A Blog For All

CNN Political Ticker:
Report: Armed man takes two hostages at Clinton office

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs

Fox News:
Armed Man Holds Hostages at Hillary Clinton Campaign Office in New Hampshire

Discussion: Wake up America

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Hostage Situation At Clinton NH HQ

Discussion: Suitably Flip and Blogs of War

CNN Political Ticker:

Murtha clarifies surge remarks — WASHINGTON (CNN) - Following a headline-grabbing uproar, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, moved swiftly Friday to clarify earlier remarks that seemed to suggest the Iraq surge policy was working. — The surge, he said in a statement …

Discussion: The American Street

John Bresnahan / The Politico:

Murtha's surge comments a problem for Dems — Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), one of the leading anti-war voices in the House Democratic Caucus, is back from a trip to Iraq and he now says the "surge is working." This could be a huge problem for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democratic leaders …

The Politico:
Democrats: Voters shifting focus from Iraq

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Bloomberg, Washington Post and Wake up America

Helen A / Daily Mail:

Thousands of Islamic fanatics wielding knives demand jailed teddy bear teacher is executed — Thousands of Islamic fanatics wielding clubs and knives are marching through the streets of Khartoum demanding the execution of teddy bear teacher Gillian Gibbons.

Mohamed Osman / Associated Press:

Calls in Sudan for Execution of Briton — KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear "Muhammad."

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Little Green Footballs, The Corner and QandO

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Mandates and Mudslinging — From the beginning, advocates of universal health care were troubled by the incompleteness of Barack Obama's plan, which unlike those of his Democratic rivals wouldn't cover everyone. But they were willing to cut Mr. Obama slack on the issue, assuming that in the end he would do the right thing.

Discussion: The Page, Des Moines Register, Washington Monthly, JustOneMinute, The Atlantic Online, Ezra Klein, Taylor Marsh, The Huffington Post, Norwegianity, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Nation, The Politico, Open Left, Balloon Juice, NY Daily News, The Carpetbagger Report, MSNBC and TIME

Ben Smith / The Politico:
Clinton wants Obama health care ad down

Discussion: The Page, Trailhead, The Atlantic Online and TPM Election Central

CNN Political Ticker:
Obama's 'false' healthcare ad draws fire from Clinton

Discussion: The Swamp

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Republicans Report Much Better Mental Health Than Others — Relationship persists even when controlling for other variables — PRINCETON, NJ — Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats or independents to rate their mental health as excellent, according to data …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Swamp, The Newshoggers and Wake up America

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

Stem Cell Vindication — "If human embryonic stem cell research does not make you at least a little bit uncomfortable, you have not thought about it enough." — A decade ago, Thomson was the first to isolate human embryonic stem cells. Last week, he (and Japan's Shinya Yamanaka) …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Carpetbagger Report, Redstate, Daily Kos, Don Surber, National Review Online, PoliPundit.com and If I Ran the Zoo

Michael Kinsley / Time:
Why Science Can't Save the GOP

Discussion: The Corner, The Opinionator and Moonbattery

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

The NYT's Michael Cooper demonstrates what real reporting is — (updated below - Update II) — In an online chat yesterday, The Washington Post's Lois Romano defended her newspaper's neutral stenographic coverage of the factually false right-wing smear campaign against Barack Obama …

Discussion: The Trail, Sadly, No! and Firedoglake