memeorandum: The Mandate Muddle — Imagine this: It's the summer of 2009 … (Paul Krugman/New York Times)

7:10 PM ET, December 7, 2007

Top Items:

Romney Spokesman Won't Say If Atheists Have Place In America — A spokesman for the Mitt Romney campaign is thus far refusing to say whether Romney sees any positive role in America for atheists and other non-believers, after Election Central inquired about the topic yesterday

Discussion: The Huffington Post, MyDD, The New Republic, Washington Monthly, CNN, Shakespeare's Sister and The RBC

Blue Texan / Firedoglake:

Peggy Noonan Admits GOP Is Controlled By Fundies, "Idiots" — Nooner, who's apparently been in a coma for the past 30 years, is shocked, shocked! to find that the GOP's base is a bunch of [flat-earther homophobic] religious bigots. … And why would that be? … You don't say! Goodness, who let them in?

Discussion: Liberal Values

David Brooks / New York Times:

Faith vs. the Faithless — Jon Meacham is the editor of Newsweek and the author of "American Gospel," which describes the history of religious liberty in the United States. Richard John Neuhaus is the editor in chief of First Things and the author of "The Naked Public Square," …

Discussion: Washington Post, Balkinization, Outside The Beltway, The Atlantic Online, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Comments from Left Field, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Mahablog, MyDD, The RBC, Redstate, Balloon Juice, The New Republic, Unfogged, The Corner and Middle Earth Journal

Peggy Noonan / Opinion Journal:

Mormon in America — How Mitt Romney came to give The Speech—and how he did. — Did Mitt Romney have to give a speech on religion? Yes. When you're in a race so close you could lose due to one issue, your Mormonism, you must address the issue of your Mormonism.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Des Moines Register, The American Scene, The Right's Field, Captain's Quarters, TPM Election Central, Left in the West, TBogg, No More Mister Nice Blog, Liberal Values, Townhall.com, PoliGazette, The Carpetbagger Report, Sadly, No!, National Review and Los Angeles Times

Lee Harris / TCS Daily:
How and Why Romney Bombed

Discussion: Article VI Blog and Real Clear Politics

Washington Post:
No Freedom Without Religion?

Discussion: Boston Globe, Time, National Review, Scholars and Rogues, TIME, Middle Earth Journal and The Corner

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:
The Speech: How is it playing in Iowa?

Discussion: TownHall Blog, New York Times and The Fix

Emptywheel:

Whitehouse Reveals Smoking Gun of White House Claiming Not to Be Bound by Any Law — Damn, I love me some Sheldon Whitehouse. He, like, actually knows the law. And he, like, is willing to actually read the stuff he is exercising oversight over. — Which is why this speech he gave today …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Newshoggers, Publius Endures, The Carpetbagger Report, The Heretik and DownWithTyranny!

Faiz / Think Progress:

Sen. Whitehouse Reveals Secret DoJ Legal Memos: Bush Determines What Is Constitutional — This morning, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) delivered an impassioned floor speech to help frame the debate over FISA reform. Using his privilege as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee …

Discussion: TPMmuckraker and Emptywheel

whitehouse.senate.gov:

In FISA Speech, Whitehouse Sharply Criticizes Bush Administration's Assertion of Executive Power — Washington — , D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, delivered the following remarks on the floor of the U.S. Senate today:

Discussion: MoJoBlog, Crunchy Con and A Tiny Revolution

Michael Hirsh / Newsweek:

Huckabee Surges, Obama Gains in Iowa — The new NEWSWEEK poll shows the former Arkansas governor now has a two-to-one lead over Romney, while Barack improves against Hillary. — Yana Paskova / Getty Images — Looking Up: Huckabee now seems unstoppable in the Iowa caucuses

Discussion: TPM Election Central, MyDD, CNN Political Ticker, Hot Air, Boston Globe, Taylor Marsh, Hotline On Call, The Atlantic Online, Mike Huckabee for President, Obama HQ, MSNBC and Open Left

Frank James / The Swamp: So a presidential candidate walks into a bar...

Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:

Democrats Call for Inquiry in Destruction of Tapes by C.I.A. — Angry Democratic lawmakers called for investigations today into the Central Intelligence Agency's destruction in 2005 of at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two Qaeda operatives in the agency's custody.

Discussion: The Politico, Captain's Quarters, CNN Political Ticker, QandO, Washington Post, Cheat Seeking Missiles, Democrats.com, Daily Kos, The Heretik, Salon, Truthdig, JustOneMinute, TIME: Swampland, Outside The Beltway and Harper's

White House:
Press Briefing by Dana Perino

Discussion: Think Progress, TPMmuckraker, Wonkette, JURIST and New York Times

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Pelosi calls Cheney swipe undignified — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says a swipe that Vice President Cheney took at Democratic House leaders is "beneath the dignity of his office." — Capitol Hill was abuzz Thursday with discussion of the vice president's assertion in an interview …

Discussion: Wake up America, The Carpetbagger Report, Sister Toldjah and The Swamp

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Mandate Muddle — Imagine this: It's the summer of 2009, and President Barack Obama is about to unveil his plan for universal health care. But his health policy experts have done the math, and they've concluded that the plan really needs to include a requirement that everyone have health insurance — a so-called mandate.

Discussion: Concord Monitor, The New Republic, JustOneMinute, The State, HillaryClinton.com, The Democratic Daily, GregsOpinion.com, Ezra Klein and Des Moines Register

Ezra Klein:
Obama v. Krugman

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Open Left

Satyam / Think Progress:

O'Reilly: Progressive blog readers = 'devil worshippers.' — On Fox News yesterday, Bill O'Reilly let loose on "far-left websites" like DailyKos, stating, "If you read these far-left websites, you're a devil worshipper. You are." O'Reilly's ombudsman responded, "As a journalist, you know better than that."

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Daily Kos and My Two Sense

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Ron Paul blimp ready to rock America back to the gold standard — I was going to say "rock the fiat money right out yo' pockets" but I figure the number of Paul donors among the HA readership is blessedly small. — Anyway, they did it. … To get it airborne cost them $200 grand …

Discussion: The Trail, Liberal Values, Wonkette, Open Left, Boston Globe and Ian Schwartz

John Distaso / New Hampshire Union Leader:

Site of Barack-Oprah event isn't unionized — MANCHESTER - Barack Obama's presidential campaign deeply concerned organized labor by booking its big rally Sunday with superstar Oprah Winfrey at the Verizon Wireless Arena. — A union representing organized stage hands have been trying unsuccessfully …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and TPM Election Central

David Burge / iowahawk:

IN MY OBJECTIVE OPINION — Iowahawk Guest Political Analysis — By Hugh Hewitt — In the annals of American history there are but a handful of defining, epochal speeches. — Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. — Roosevelt's stirring Inaugural reassurance that "all we have to fear is fear Itself."

Discussion: BizzyBlog

Daily Mail:

Imam's daughter in hiding after her conversion to Christianity sparked death threats — The daughter of a British imam is living under police protection after receiving death threats from her father for converting to Christianity. — The 31-year-old, whose father is the leader of a mosque in Lancashire …

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard