memeorandum: An Open Letter to NRO Readers [W. Thomas Smith Jr.]

1:50 PM ET, December 7, 2007

Top Items:

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: The Atlantic Online, The Corner, The New Republic, Redstate, National Review, Balloon Juice, No More Mister Nice Blog, MyDD, The RBC 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: Captain's Quarters, Townhall.com and Sadly, No!

E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:

Boldness, Watered Down — It's not easy being a politician from a minority faith, especially when it comes to explaining your own traditions — sometimes even to yourself. — Al Smith, the first Catholic to be nominated for president by a major party, found his faith under vicious attack in the 1928 campaign.

Discussion: New York Times, Time, Boston Globe, democracyarsenal.org, Liberal Values, New York Times, Stumper, Real Clear Politics and Vox Popoli

Washington Post:
No Freedom Without Religion?

Discussion: National Review, TIME and The Corner

Shirley Ragsdale / Des Moines Register:
Activists, pastors in Iowa question impact of Romney speech

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Los Angeles Times and TPM Election Central

Eric Kleefeld / TPM Election Central:
Romney Spokesman Won't Say If Atheists Have Place In America

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

CIA Channels Rose Mary Woods (Updated & Bumped) — The CIA finds itself under fire today after the New York Times forced Director Mike Hayden to admit that the agency destroyed two videotapes in 2005 showing terrorists undergoing waterboarding. The agency had previously denied any such tapes existed to all but a handful in Congress.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Atlantic Online, The Blotter, Right Voices, Right Wing Nut House, Outside The Beltway and Emptywheel

Michelle Malkin:

The CIA's destroyed interrogation videos, what the Dems knew, and when — It's the top news at Memeorandum this morning. The New York Times reported yesterday: … The newspaper expresses its explicit hope that its scoop on the tapes will "reignite the debate over the use …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Atlantic Online, Sadly, No!, Harper's, Comments from Left Field and Shakespeare's Sister

Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:
C.I.A. Destroyed 2 Tapes Showing Interrogations

Discussion: Think Progress, CNN Political Ticker, TPMmuckraker, The Huffington Post, The Swamp, The Atlantic Online, The Raw Story, KnoxViews, A Blog For All, Too Sense, Prairie Weather, The Carpetbagger Report, Salon, War in Context, Wolf Howling, Crooks and Liars, Emptywheel and FishBowlDC

Spencer Ackerman / TPMmuckraker:
Rockefeller, Harman: We Kinda Sorta Knew About CIA's Torture Tapes

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and JustOneMinute

Faiz / Think Progress:
Hayden: Destruction Of Tapes Was 'In Line With The Law' Because …

Discussion: Guardian

Marty Lederman / Balkinization:
Where's Rose Mary Woods When You Need Her?

Discussion: Salon, Associated Press, Emptywheel, The Opinionator, the talking dog and The Heretik

Washington Post:
CIA Destroyed Videos Showing Interrogations

Discussion: The Sundries Shack, TIME: Swampland, Ezra Klein and Macsmind

Yossi Klein Halevi / The New Republic:

An Insult to Intelligence — The Israeli defense community responds to the NIE. — Since the early 1990s, when Israel first began preparing for a possible military strike against Iran's nuclear program, its security establishment has been divided not about the threat Iran posed …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and normblog

Yaakov Katz / Jerusalem Post:

IDF to show US nuclear data on Iran — Disappointed after failing to make their case on Iran and influence the outcome of the United States's National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) released this week, Military Intelligence will present its hard core evidence on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program …

Discussion: Early Warning, The Strata-Sphere and Israel Matzav

Washington Post:
Review of Iran Intelligence to Be Sought

Discussion: TPMmuckraker, New York Times, The Newshoggers, Horses Mouth, Think Progress, The Raw Story, Political Machine, The Strata-Sphere, ArmsControlWonk, TIME: Swampland, Rising Hegemon, Sweetness & Light, RADAMISTO, Israel Matzav, The Heretik and Balloon Juice

Ilan Goldenberg / democracyarsenal.org:
The National Ilan Estimate

Discussion: Hullabaloo and The Atlantic Online

Paul Richter / Los Angeles Times:
Doves find fault with Iran report too

Discussion: neo-neocon, The Belmont Club and The Strata-Sphere

NY Daily News:

Judith Nathan got security earlier — Judith Nathan got taxpayer-funded chauffeur services from the NYPD earlier than previously disclosed - even before her affair with then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani was revealed, witnesses and sources tell the Daily News. — "It went on for months before the affair …

Discussion: New York Sun, Talking Points Memo, TalkLeft, Jonathan Martin's Blogs, Boston Globe, The Carpetbagger Report, The Rude Pundit, PoliBlog (TM), Raw Story Breaking News and Betsy's Page

Ayaan Hirsi Ali / New York Times:

Islam's Silent Moderates — The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication, flog each of them with 100 stripes: Let no compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. (Koran 24:2) — IN the last few weeks …

Discussion: PoliGazette, Little Green Footballs, A Blog For All and ShrinkWrapped

Washington Post:

Senate Waives Pledge, Approves Tax Bill — Eleven months after adopting stringent new rules aimed at reining in the federal deficit, the Senate last night shrugged off its pledge of fiscal rectitude and overwhelmingly approved a measure to spare millions of families from the growing reach …

Discussion: New York Times, Redstate, Heading Right, Middle Earth Journal, Wake up America, The Carpetbagger Report, Captain's Quarters, Firedoglake and Blue Crab Boulevard

David Freddoso / The Corner:
Democrats Suddenly Change Mind, Pass AMT Patch

Discussion: The New Republic, Washington Monthly and Associated Press

The Washington Post / The Trail:

For Some, Negative Turn is a Turn-Off — DES MOINES — Once, Garry Thomas counted himself a Hillary Clinton supporter — even signing up to be one of her 25 co-chairs in Iowa alongside with former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack. — But Thomas now says he felt obliged to switch sides in recent weeks.

Discussion: The New Republic, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Carpetbagger Report, TIME: Swampland and Blue Crab Boulevard

Alan Fram / Associated Press:

Huckabee Second in National GOP Race — WASHINGTON (AP) — Mike Huckabee has vaulted from nowhere into second place in the Republican presidential race, riding a burst of support from evangelicals, Southerners and conservatives, a poll showed Friday. — The upsurge by the former Arkansas governor …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, USA Today, Outside The Beltway, Wall Street Journal and Pollster.com

Tom Tancredo / MiamiHerald.com:

Why I won't do Spanish debate — I declined the invitation to participate in the Spanish-language Republican presidential debate on Sunday because I do not want to endorse the further Balkanization of American political life. — The debate is being sponsored by Univisión …

Discussion: The Corner, Outside The Beltway, UrbanGrounds and rubber hose

The Tank:

An Open Letter to NRO Readers [W. Thomas Smith Jr.] — Dear Readers, — After much reflection and consideration, I am withdrawing from my professional relationship as a regular freelancer with National Review Online. — This is my own decision. No one at NRO has asked me to do this …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters

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 …