memeorandum: In the Future, Smart People Will Let Cars Take Control (John Tierney/New York Times)

2:05 PM ET, December 4, 2007

Top Items:

Norman Podhoretz / Commentary:

Dark Suspicions about the NIE — A new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), entitled "Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities," has just dealt a serious blow to the argument some of us have been making that Iran is intent on building nuclear weapons and that neither diplomacy nor sanctions can prevent it from succeeding.

Faiz / Think Progress:

Bush: DNI Told Me 'We Have Some New Information, He Didn't Tell Me What The Information Was' — At a press briefing this morning, President Bush said he was told by his Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell "in August" that "we have some new information" regarding Iran's nuclear program.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Weekly Standard, Washington Post, White House, The Carpetbagger Report, Danger Room, Shakespeare's Sister, AMERICAblog, My Two Sense, The Corner and Middle Earth Journal

Washington Post:

A Blow to Bush's Tehran Policy — » ANALYSIS | President Bush got the world's attention this fall when he warned that a nuclear-armed Iran might lead to World War III. But his stark warning came at least a month or two after he had first been told about fresh indications that Iran …

Graham Bowley / New York Times:

Bush Says Iran Still a Danger Despite Report on Weapons — President Bush said today that Iran was still a danger despite the new assessment by American intelligence agencies that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. — Speaking at a White House press conference today …

Discussion: The Heretik

Pajamas Media:
The Great Intelligence Scam

Discussion: New York Sun, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Commentary, Right Wing Nut House, National Review Online, The Lede and Power Line

CNN:
Iran: U.S. must 'pay the price' for accusations

Discussion: IMAO.US, Hullabaloo and Sweetness & Light

White House:
Press Conference by the President

Discussion: Washington Wire and Daily Kos

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Our serious foreign policy geniuses strike again

Discussion: Eschaton, The Lede and New York Times

Steven Lee Myers / New York Times:
An Assessment Jars a Foreign Policy Debate About Iran

Discussion: The Swamp, The Atlantic Online, The Nation, AMERICAblog, Outside The Beltway, HorsesAss.Org, Daily Kos, Eunomia, Sister Toldjah and ParaPundit

The Atlantic Online:
Iran NIE Reax

Discussion: FP Passport, Corrente and Emptywheel

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
No Delay On NIE — After yesterday's release of the declassified …

Discussion: The Newshoggers and Des Moines Register

Associated Press:
Bush: Iran report a 'warning signal'

Discussion: The American Street and TBogg

Laura Rozen / MotherJones.com:
Iran Hawks Down? — WASHINGTON DISPATCH: The new National …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Newshoggers and Macsmind

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
GIULIANI ADVISOR PODHORETZ: IT'S A CIA PLOT TO PROTECT IRAN

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, The Newshoggers, Lean Left and Commentary

Eric Kleefeld / TPM Election Central:

Hillary Pollster: "Kindergarten Attack" On Obama Was Just A Gag! — Now this is interesting. Yesterday the Hillary Clinton campaign was pilloried in the press after it issued a press release that attacked Barack Obama for claiming he wasn't running for President in order to fulfill a life-long ambition.

Discussion: Riehl World View, Washington Monthly, The Carpetbagger Report and Taylor Marsh

Jesse Berney / HillaryClinton.com:

The Dirty Tricks Are Starting — Campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle just sent the following message out to Hillary supporters in key early states.

Discussion: David Corn, michellemalkin.com, Salon and Riehl World View

Scott Horsley / NPR:

Democrats Set to Debate in Iowa as Race Tightens — Listen Live Here Beginning at 2 p.m. EST — · All of the major Democratic presidential candidates will meet in Iowa on Tuesday for a two-hour debate, as an extremely close race is shaping up in the first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Jay Newton-Small / Time:

Will Clinton's Obama Attacks Backfire? — It started in earnest a couple of weeks ago when Hillary Clinton questioned how much Barack Obama's time spent living in Indonesia as a child could actually help him make foreign policy decisions as a commander-in-chief.

Discussion: BAGnewsNotes, New York Times and Blue Crab Boulevard

Frank James / The Swamp:
Clinton campaign accuses Obama's of 'dirty tricks'

Discussion: The Politico and New Hampshire Presidential …

CNN Political Ticker:
Poll shows Clinton, Giuliani down big

Discussion: The Fix, The New Republic and Los Angeles Times

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Vulnerable Democrats See Fates Tied to Clinton

Discussion: Boston Globe, Redstate, The Swamp, GregsOpinion.com, Taylor Marsh, MSNBC, Washington Monthly, Tom Watson, QandO, The Carpetbagger Report, The American Street, Captain's Quarters, The Glittering Eye, Blue Crab Boulevard and Hot Air

Deacon / Power Line:

MIKE HUCKABEE — TOO MORALISTIC TO PROTECT OUR NATIONAL SECURITY — I have defended Mike Huckabee from charges that he's not a conservative. As with nearly all of the Republican candidates, there are some important conservative positions to which Huckabee has not closely adhered …

Discussion: The Right's Field, The Newshoggers, Balloon Juice, PoliBlog (TM), Liberal Values, Free Frank Warner, The American Street and IMAO.US

John Hawkins / Right Wing News:

The 2nd Annual Worst Quotes From The Daily Kos (2007 Edition) — America's most influential blog is the Daily Kos. Democratic members of Congress post on the blog, Democratic presidential contenders cater to them, and Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas is considered to be a mainstream figure amongst Democrats.

Discussion: UrbanGrounds and Moonbattery

ABCNEWS:

Mysterious Group Attacks Huckabee — Third Party Group Distributed Flier in Iowa Claiming He's Not a True Conservative, Christian — Dirty tricks? A mysterious third party group has made controversial claims against Republican 2008 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. (Tim Sloan, AFP/Getty Images)

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

Gallup: Hillary Losing Ground (Update: Worse Than First Thought) — Recall the pushback when we linked to the Zogby poll that showed Hillary's support eroding at the end of November? The numbers showed Hillary losing ground against all Republican contenders, and had some correlation with Rasmussen's numbers as well.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Gallup and NewsBusters.org

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:

Divorce Found to Harm The Environment With Higher Energy, Water Use — Divorce is not just a family matter. It exacts a serious toll on the environment by boosting the energy and water consumption of those who used to live together, according to a study by two Michigan State University researchers.

Discussion: The Sundries Shack

Michelle Malkin:

Challenging the cult of Mumia Abu-Jamal — Over the years, I've tracked Mumia Chic-the Left's deranged worship of convicted Death Row murderer Mumia Abu Jamal that has spread from Philly to St. Denis, France and points in between. This December 9th marks the 25th anniversary of the brutal murder …

Discussion: New York Post, Captain's Quarters, Free Mumia Abu-Jamal … and Blue Crab Boulevard

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Democratic-leaning PAC attacks Hillary — Here's a first look at the first independent Democratic television attack ad of the cycle. — It's a shot at Hillary Clinton from Democratic Courage, an independent, left-leaning group I wrote about earlier this fall.

Discussion: TPM Election Central