memeorandum: New Jersey Nears Repeal of Death Penalty (Jeremy W. Peters/New York Times)

10:55 AM ET, December 11, 2007

Top Items:

Destruction of C.I.A. Tapes Cleared by Lawyers — Lawyers within the clandestine branch of the Central Intelligence Agency gave written approval in advance to the destruction in 2005 of hundreds of hours of videotapes documenting interrogations of two lieutenants from Al Qaeda …

Washington Post:

Waterboarding Recounted — Ex-CIA Officer Says It 'Probably Saved Lives' but Is Torture — A former CIA officer who participated in the capture and questioning of the first al-Qaeda terrorist suspect to be waterboarded said yesterday that the harsh technique provided an intelligence breakthrough that …

Discussion: Think Progress, The Swamp, The Opinionator, The Carpetbagger Report, Prairie Weather, Jules Crittenden, TPMmuckraker, Captain's Quarters and ABCNEWS

Jonah Goldberg / The Corner:

This Will Ruin Ted Kennedy's Day — From The New York Times: … Me: Let's see. Ted Kennedy said the tapes were destroyed in response to the Democratic victory in 2006 in order to cover administration tracks in a Watergate-like cover-up. The tapes were actually destroyed in 2005 …

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:
WHO KNEW?....A "former senior intelligence official with direct knowledge …

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister and Talking Points Memo

Ron Claiborne / ABCNEWS:

Analysis: How McCain Could Still Win — Political Watchers Say John McCain May Be Down, but a Comeback Is Possible — A year ago, he was the odds-on favorite to be the Republican presidential nominee in 2008. Today, he's considered a long shot. — His campaign has rebounded …

Discussion: The Swamp and The Hill

Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Poll: Huckabee would lose to leading Dems by double digits

Discussion: Middle Earth Journal and Riehl World View

David Brooks / New York Times:
The Postwar Election

Discussion: Betsy's Page

New York Times:
Poll Finds G.O.P. Field Isn't Touching Voters

Discussion: The Hill, MSNBC, The New Republic, Outside The Beltway, Hot Air, TIME, Pollster.com, Oliver Willis, Cliff Schecter, TalkLeft, CNN Political Ticker, TPM Election Central and Prairie Weather

Byron York / The Corner:
McCain Attacks Romney's Attack on Huckabee

Discussion: The Daily Dish, PoliGazette, The Atlantic Online, Redstate and Eunomia

Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:

House Democrats Pull Budget Offer — The GOP Is Negotiating In Bad Faith, Obey Says — A Democratic deal to give President Bush some war funding in exchange for additional domestic spending appeared to collapse last night after House Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey (D-Wis.) …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Strata-Sphere, Corrente, Main and Central, Political Machine, Redstate, PrairiePundit and Cliff Schecter

Thomas Hendrick / TheDenverChannel.com:

Security Guard: 'God Guided Me And Protected Me' — Jeanne Assam Stopped Gunman At New Life Church — COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Jeanne Assam appeared before the news media for the first time Monday and said she "did not think for a minute to run away" when a gunman entered the New Life Church …

CNN:
Colorado gunman scared co-workers 5 years ago, one says

Discussion: TheDenverChannel.com, On Deadline, Pat Dollard, Slapstick Politics and Clayton Cramer's BLOG

Washington Post:
Gunman Planned to Kill More, Officials Say

Discussion: PoliPundit.com and Winds of Change.NET

Barry Hertz / network.nationalpost.com:

Teen girl in critical condition after alleged dispute over hijab — A 16-year-old girl is in critical condition after being choked by a man believed to be her father, apparently after a dispute with her family over her refusal to wear the hijab, the Islamic headscarf worn by some Muslim women.

Discussion: PoliGazette and Gateway Pundit

Jennifer Parker / Political Punch:

Dropping Oppo — Circulating among Iowa labor circles, I am told, is this leaflet, which looks to be a standard opposition-research paper against former Sen. John Edwards, D-NC. — The shocker? It's from Mr. Positive, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois. — Not that it's a shocker that Obama …

The Politico: Liberal views could haunt Obama

Wall Street Journal:

Group Says Iran Resumed Weapon Program — The Iranian opposition group that first exposed Iran's nuclear-fuel program said a U.S. intelligence analysis is correct that Tehran shut down its weaponization program in 2003, but claims that the program was relocated and restarted in 2004.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Pat Dollard, At-Largely, Jules Crittenden and Israel Matzav

Thomas E. Ricks / Washington Post:

Ex-Pentagon Aide Says U.S. Abandoned Quick Iraq Transition — A former top Pentagon official blamed the Bush administration's top official in Iraq for abandoning a plan for a quick transition to Iraqi leadership in the summer of 2003 and instead keeping the U.S. government in control of the country for more than a year.

Discussion: democracyarsenal.org

Christopher Hitchens / Slate:

Abolish the CIA — DESTROYING THE INTERROGATION TAPES AMOUNTS TO MUTINY AND TREASON. — It seems flabbergastingly improbable that President George W. Bush learned of the National Intelligence Estimate concerning Iranian nuclear ambitions only a few days before the rest of us did …

Discussion: The Corner, The Strata-Sphere, Eric Black Ink, UrbanGrounds, The Newshoggers, ArmsControlWonk and Guardian

Josh Kraushaar / The Politico:

NRCC props up its pummeled Ohio candidate — Republicans are facing a surprisingly fierce fight in a Tuesday special election to hold on to a conservative northwestern Ohio seat that has been under the party's control for the past 70 years. — The GOP expects to win another special election set …

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Daily Kos, Buckeye State Blog, Eunomia, TPM Election Central and Ohio Daily Blog

Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:

Obama, Under the Clinton Microscope — DES MOINES - Presidential campaigns have unlimited appetites for information about their rivals. They track their whereabouts, they study their records and they obsessively follow nearly every movement. By this point in the race, though …

Discussion: Des Moines Register, The New Republic, Los Angeles Times, Wizbang and National Review

Carla Marinucci / San Francisco Chronicle:

Giuliani has advice for S.F. on dealing with the homeless — Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani - who touts the cleanup of his city's chronic homeless problem as a key accomplishment in his administration - had some tough-love advice for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom Monday …

Discussion: The Caucus

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Labor Unions Support WGA, Fire Union Busting Consultant Chris Lehane — SEIU Local 99 in Los Angeles — education workers who include teacher's aids, cafeteria workers and crossing guards — have fired former Clinton spokesman Chris Lehane from a consulting contract in support of the WGA .

Discussion: Group News Blog