memeorandum: A tantalizing peek at history's greatest book (Sadly, No!)

9:10 PM ET, December 17, 2007

Top Items:

Dodd's Filibuster Threat Stalls Wiretap Bill — Senator Chris Dodd won a temporary victory today after his threats of a filibuster forced Democratic leadership to push back consideration of a measure that would grant immunity to telecom companies that were complicit in warrantless surveillance.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Comments from Left Field, Firedoglake, Chris Dodd National Blog and Right Voices

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Harry Reid — compare and contrast — ***** Update V: Reid pulls bill until next year) — Russ Feingold, today, on the effects of Harry Reid's pro-administration dirty work: … All of this stems from Reid's refusal to honor the "hold" placed on that bill by Chris Dodd, who has been in the Senate for 24 years.

Matt Browner-Hamlin / Chris Dodd National Blog:

Constitution Protected...For Now — Majority Leader Harry Reid has just pulled the FISA bill from consideration in this session. It will be brought up at some point next month. — Without Senator Dodd's leadership today, it is safe to assume that retroactive immunity would have passed.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh, Corrente, The Sideshow, The Agonist, MyDD, Hullabaloo, Eschaton and Lean Left

David Stout / New York Times:

Telecom Industry Wins a Round on Eavesdropping — WASHINGTON — Telecommunications companies won a skirmish in the Senate on Monday as a bill to protect them from lawsuits for cooperating with the Bush administration's eavesdropping programs easily overcame a procedural hurdle.

Discussion: The Crypt's Blogs, CNN Political Ticker and Prairie Weather

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Obama's Statement on Dodd and Filibuster — I contacted the Clinton, Edwards and Obama campaigns last night to ask them if they had statements on Dodd's filibuster against retroactive immunity today. So far the only one to get back to me with one is Obama:

Discussion: TPM Election Central, SteveAudio and TPMCafe blogs

Think Progress:

Dodd filibuster threat causes Reid to withdraw FISA bill. — "Senator Chris Dodd won a temporary victory today after his threats of a filibuster forced Democratic leadership to push back consideration of a measure that would grant immunity to telecom companies that were complicit in warrantless surveillance."

Discussion: TPM Election Central and Oliver Willis

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
BREAKING: REID PULLED TELECOM BILL

Discussion: Iowa Politics, TIME: Swampland and Ben Smith's Blogs

Ann Althouse / Althouse:

That picture of Hillary on Drudge right now. — Have you seen it? — Caption: "The Toll of a Campaign." It seems so cruel. Immodest Proposals writes: … My first reaction to that picture is simple disbelief. How can she suddenly look that much older?

Discussion: The Anchoress, Right Wing News, Dr. Helen, Little Miss Attila, Taylor Marsh, The Volokh Conspiracy, Wizbang, Transterrestrial Musings, Dean's World, The Heretik and CALIFORNIA YANKEE

XWL / Immodest Proposals:
The Most Significant Photo of 2007 . . . Right here, that's it …

Discussion: The Sundries Shack

Sadly, No!:

A tantalizing peek at history's greatest book — Thanks to a certain Christmas elf who sent us this early present: — Personally, I think the chapter about liberals being seKKKret racists will be the most LOL-worthy, although "The 1960s: Fascism Takes to the Streets" should be good for giggles as well.

Discussion: Left in the West, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Discourse.net and The Sundries Shack

Matthew Yglesias:
Quintessential Fascism

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and Brendan Nyhan

USA Today:

USAT/Gallup Poll: Giuliani & Clinton hold slightly wider leads — Fresh off the presses, so to speak — the latest numbers from the national USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, taken over the weekend. They appear to show that the front-runners are still front-running: — Republicans.

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, Taegan Goddard's …, race42008.com, Pollster.com, New York Observer and TPM Election Central

Quinnipiac University News and Events:
December 17, 2007 - Giuliani's Republican Lead Shrinks As Huckabee …

Discussion: MyDD, the albany project, New York Times, New York Daily News Blogs, Pollster.com and Daily Kos

Ilya Blanter / The Daily Princetonian:

Nava '09 admits to fabricating assault, threat e-mails — Francisco Nava '09 has admitted to fabricating an alleged assault on him that he said occurred Friday evening and to sending threatening emails to himself, other members of the Anscombe Society and prominent conservative politics professor Robert George.

Discussion: Pajamas Media, On the Square, The Princeton Tory, Right Wing Nut House, The Right Coast, Liberal Values, Punditry, Sadly, No!, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, The Volokh Conspiracy, Daily Pundit, Unfogged, Instapundit.com, Balloon Juice and Fausta's blog

Christopher Hitchens / Slate:

IT'S PERFECTLY REASONABLE TO REJECT A CANDIDATE BECAUSE OF HIS RELIGIOUS VIEWS. — Just before this gets completely out of hand and becomes a mantralike repetition, let us please recall what the careful phrases of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution actually and very carefully and deliberately say:

Discussion: Hot Air, Gothamist, Jonathan Martin's Blogs and Reason Magazine

Tom Curry / MSNBC:

Obama racial subtext surfaces in Iowa — Edwards parries a voter's question about Obama and the O.J. verdict — Presidential hopefuls former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., await the start of last Thursday's Des Moines Register Presidential Debate in Iowa.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, PoliGazette and Wonkette

Mark Murray / MSNBC:
OBAMA TURNS UP THE HEAT ON EDWARDS

Discussion: RealClearPolitics, Liberal Values and Ben Smith's Blogs

The Corner:

Re: Mark Steyn is losing — Stanley, you may be right. The Canadian Islamic Congress is arguing that my article is a "crime". By accepting the case, the Canadian Human Rights Commission has indicated it's prepared at least to consider the possibility that it's a "crime".

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Spectator:
The blood runs cold

Discussion: New York Post and The Corner

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Kerrey digs a little deeper — Bob Kerrey, talking on CNN earlier today, dropped the observation that Obama had spent time in a "secular madrassa" (which I'm not sure is a term that makes sense), which seems to play into critics' notion that he's trying to subtly raise questions about Obama:

Think Progress:
Bob Kerrey: Barack Obama 'Spent A Little Bit Of Time In A Secular Madrassa'

Discussion: Seattle Times and AMERICAblog

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Ron Paul For The Republican Nomination — By now, readers will know who I favor in the Democratic race. Here's my most considered case. But what of the GOP? For me, it comes down to two men, Ron Paul and John McCain. That may sound strange, because in many ways they are polar opposites …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Liberal Values, Salon, Washington Times, The Democratic Daily and Reason Magazine

Ruben Navarrette Jr / CNN:

Navarrette: Attempts to destroy Obama backfire — SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) — Ever since Barack Obama began to pierce the inevitability that we were told surrounded the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, I've wondered how the Clintonistas would react. Now we know: not well.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Horses Mouth and Right Voices