memeorandum: Programmed for Love — The Evolution Of Human-Robot Relationships (David Levy/Washington Post)

7:45 PM ET, December 24, 2007

Top Items:

Whitewash — The racist history the Democratic Party wants you to forget. — In his new book, “The Conscience of a Liberal,” New York Times columnist Paul Krugman makes a strong case for his belief that the political success of the Republican Party and the conservative movement …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Grasping Reality …, Booman Tribune, bustardblog, PERRspectives Blog, The Jawa Report, Marginal Revolution, Liberty Street, Blue Crab Boulevard, Doug Ross and Macsmind

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

State of the Unions — Once upon a time, back when America had a strong middle class, it also had a strong union movement. — These two facts were connected. Unions negotiated good wages and benefits for their workers, gains that often ended up being matched even by nonunion employers.

Discussion: American Prospect, Matthew Yglesias, Taylor Marsh, The New Republic, Publius Endures, Chuck Adkins, Norwegianity, NO QUARTER, Open Left, Corrente and TPM Election Central

Matthew Yglesias:

Wrong on Race? — Tyler Cowen describes Bruce Bartlett's new book Wrong on Race: The Democratic Party's Buried Past as “incendiary." — If this overview in The Wall Street Journal reflects the content, though, it seems fairly banal. As everyone with any awareness of American political history knows …

Discussion: The Newshoggers

Peter Wehner / Washington Post:

Huckabee's Co-Pilot — Some of us — in my case, a political conservative and evangelical Christian — are getting a queasy feeling when it comes to the presidential campaign of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, and much of it has to do with his use of faith in this political campaign.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Whiskey Fire, Balloon Juice, The Newshoggers, Liberal Values, All Spin Zone, Booman Tribune and INSTAPUTZ

Jack Kelly / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Thompson the tortoise

Discussion: BobKrumm.com and Political Machine

Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:
Romney Strategy in Peril With Huckabee's Ascent

Discussion: USA Today, The Caucus, TBogg, New York Observer, Macsmind, PoliGazette, PBD and Los Angeles Times

Maeve Reston / Los Angeles Times:
Romney's lead slipping in N.H. too

Discussion: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Political Machine and Matthew Yglesias

Jay Newton-Small / Time:

How Clinton Lost Her Invincibility — When Hillary Clinton launched her campaign nearly a year ago, the media buzz deemed it near impossible for the likes of Barack Obama and John Edwards to overcome her daunting campaign machine. The endorsements, the money, and the cream …

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard and The Heretik

Sasha Issenberg / Boston Globe:
In shifting race, Edwards aims for the gut

Discussion: Washington Post

Patrick Healy / New York Times:
Clinton Sums It Up for Viewers in 2 States

Discussion: The Politico

Yitzhak Benhorin / Ynetnews:

US report: Israel would weather nuclear war with Iran — Study compiled by US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), headed by a former Pentagon analyst, explores several hypothetical scenarios for unconventional warfare in our region. Authors find 'Israel's residents and economy could weather nuclear war with Iran'

Discussion: Hot Air, Blue Crab Boulevard, Weasel Zippers and Wonkette

Elie Leshem / Jerusalem Post:
‘Israel could survive nuclear war’

Discussion: Wake up America, Israel Matzav, Roger L. Simon, The Newshoggers and PoliGazette

T.W. Farnam / Wall Street Journal:

A Web Troll's Toll on the Clinton Campaign — FORT MITCHELL, Ky. — In Norse mythology, trolls steal babies and leave their own shape-shifting offspring behind. On the Internet, they just steal attention. — As candidates increasingly use the Internet to build political bridges …

Discussion: Liberal Values

Frank James / The Swamp:

Kerry threatens NFL if Patriots-Giants not on NBC — With the New England Patriots now one win away from finishing the regular season undefeated, Sen. John Kerry is stepping up his campaign to get the final game broadcast on national television. — The contest Saturday with the New York Giants …

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard, Think Progress and BLACKFIVE

Aaron Klein / Ynetnews:

Media's two-faced Christmas coverage — Muslims driving Christians out of Bethlehem, but media outlets choose to blame Israel — Ah, Christmas in Bethlehem. Manger Square is ablaze with colorful lights. The weather is usually a bit chilly. Aggressive merchants bombard passersby with …

Discussion: Power Line and Gateway Pundit

Kenneth L. Woodward / Opinion Journal:
The Plight of Bethlehem — Why Christians can't visit the holy shrines in Jerusalem.

Discussion: Israel Matzav

Jesse Wendel / Group News Blog:

The More Things Change... Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand Trashed At Christmas — For Being Pregnant — First term Congresswoman Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY20), in a highly-vulnerable district in New York's Hudson Valley, is being attacked, not for her politics, not for her stand against the Iraq war …

Discussion: Firedoglake and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Daily Mail:

Hate cleric Omar Bakri calls for ‘ban’ on Christmas — ‘Christmas Day would be ideal for terror attack’, he says — Hate preacher Omar Bakri, who is barred from Britain, is calling on Brits to boycott Christmas. — Using the internet to post a rant against the festive season …

Tom Kelly / Daily Mail:

Margaret Thatcher's grandson is rising star of American football — She was known as the Iron Lady and now her teenage grandson is a rising star of gridiron. — Michael Thatcher is continuing to foster Baroness Thatcher's special relationship with the U.S. - by helping …

Edwin Chen / Bloomberg:

Bush Seeks to Restore Tattered U.S. Image With Heavy '08 Travel — Dec. 24 (Bloomberg) — President George W. Bush's diplomatic passport will acquire a slew of new country stamps during his final year in office as he tries to rebuild the U.S.'s international standing and create a foreign-policy legacy beyond Iraq.

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister, Think Progress, Booman Tribune and Wonkette

Multi-National Force:

Sunni, Shia March Together in Baghdad for Peace … BAGHDAD — Approximately 1,000 Iraqi citizens, of both Shia and Sunni religions, joined together on the sectarian fault line in Rawaniyah, the Karkh District of Baghdad, to march with one another in what they called a “Peace March”, Dec. 19.

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, Captain's Quarters, The Jawa Report and SCSUScholars

Gateway Pundit: Iraqi Sunni and Shia Join In Historic Peace March in Baghdad!

Robert D. Novak / Washington Post:

Subverting Bush at Langley — Outrage over the CIA's destruction of interrogation tapes is but one element of the distress Republican intelligence watchdogs in Congress feel about the agency. “It is acting as though it is autonomous, not accountable to anyone,” Rep. Peter Hoekstra …

Discussion: NO QUARTER, The Mahablog and Ray Robison