memeorandum: Obama says, “No, I, I, I, I, I have to, I heard, I heard … (Lynn Sweet)

4:10 PM ET, December 28, 2007

Top Items:

Pak govt reveals how Benazir was killed — New Delhi: Mystery shrouds the death of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto. In an explosive revelation, Pakistan's Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz on Friday said that Bhutto did not die of bullet wounds. — Nawaz said that Bhutto died from a head injury.

Discussion: CNN, Danger Room, CANOE, Reuters, The Raw Story, Hot Air, Confederate Yankee, Talking Points Memo, The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, MSNBC, TPMmuckraker, New York Sun, Little Green Footballs, Macsmind, Wonkette and The Strata-Sphere

Lynn Sweet:

Obama says, “No, I, I, I, I, I have to, I heard, I heard, I don't need it, I don't need to hear what you read because I was, I overheard it when he said it." — DES MOINES, IA.—The Obama campaign faced a distraction on Thursday after some news outlets ran stories suggesting chief Obama …

Discussion: The Washington Note, TalkLeft, Taylor Marsh and The Democratic Daily

Ralph Peters / New York Post:

THE BHUTTO ASSASSINATION: NOT WHAT SHE SEEMED TO BE — FOR the next several days, you're going to read and hear a great deal of pious nonsense in the wake of the assassination of Pakistan's former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto. — Her country's better off without her.

Discussion: Reuters, Captain's Quarters, New York Times, Weekly Standard, Real Clear Politics, The Huffington Post, A Blog For All and BitsBlog

Kathryn Jean Lopez / The Corner:
Not Your Average Harvard Feminist

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

CNN:
U.S. suspects Taliban leader behind Bhutto plot

Discussion: New York Times, TPMmuckraker, The Newshoggers, Reuters, Washington Post, Commentary, New York Post and Gothamist

Matthew Yglesias:
Don't Cry for Me, Pakistan — Clearly, political assassinations are a bad thing.

Discussion: The Washington Note and TalkLeft

CNN:
Officials: Al Qaeda claims it killed Bhutto

Discussion: Sweetness & Light, Agence France Presse, Firedoglake, Washington Post, Sky News, IraqPundit, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Newsweek, PERRspectives Blog, Sigmund, Carl and Alfred, Taylor Marsh, The Newshoggers and Gateway Pundit

Telegraph:
Row breaks out over Benazir Bhutto's death

Discussion: ABS-CBN News, Counterterrorism Blog, Comment is free and Blogs of War

John F. Burns / New York Times:
Benazir Bhutto, 54, Weathered Political Storm

Discussion: ParaPundit, Christian Science Monitor, Foreign Policy Watch, CNN and PARADE Magazine

Dan Gearino / Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier:

New Lee poll: Edwards moves into 3-way tie — A new Iowa caucus poll from Lee Enterprises newspapers shows the Democratic race is a virtual three-way tie, with John Edwards rising to tie Barack Obama for the lead and Hillary Clinton rising to just one point behind.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Open Left, TalkLeft, MyDD and TPM Election Central

New York Times:

Huckabee Sees Pakistan as Reason for Border Fence — DES MOINES — Mike Huckabee used the volatile situation in Pakistan Friday to make an argument for building a fence on the American border with Mexico and found himself trying to explain a series of remarks about Pakistanis and their nation.

Discussion: THE REACTION

David Paul Kuhn / The Politico:

Edwards reaches new heights in Iowa — DES MOINES, Iowa — John Edwards appears to have risen to a new high point in Iowa, marking an upward trend over the past two weeks that places him in a statistical tie with Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

Discussion: The Swamp, Los Angeles Times, Political Machine, TIME and AMERICAblog

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Elizabeth vs. Obama

Discussion: The Swamp, TPM Election Central and MyDD

Don Frederick / Los Angeles Times:

Clinton's “don't ask” policy — As she races through Iowa in the days before next week's caucuses, Hillary Clinton is taking few chances. She tells crowds that it's their turn to “pick a president,” but over the last two days she has not invited them to ask her any questions.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, 2008Central.net, Spin Cycle, PoliPundit.com, Classical Values, Riehl World View, Fausta's blog and JammieWearingFool

Kate Snow / ABCNEWS:

Obama, Clinton Battle for Iowa TV Commercial Time Night Before Caucuses — Not to be outdone by Sen. Hillary Clinton, ABC News has learned that Sen. Barack Obama's campaign is trying to buy advertising time on the night before the caucuses for a live political commercial to air statewide.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs

Martin Kady II / The Politico:

Dems protest Bush's surprise veto of defense bill — At the behest of the Iraqi government, President Bush will veto the annual defense authorization bill, saying an obscure provision in the legislation could make Iraqi assets held in U.S. banks vulnerable to lawsuits.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Swamp, Associated Press, The Carpetbagger Report and Hullabaloo

USA Today:
Reports: Bush to veto defense bill

Discussion: The Gavel, Think Progress, michellemalkin.com and Daily Kos

David Stout / New York Times:
Bush to Veto Pentagon Funds Over Iraq Provision

Discussion: Rook's Rant and Debsweb

Peggy Noonan / Opinion Journal:

Be Reasonable — As Iowa sizes up the candidates, so do I. — By next week politically active Iowans will have met and tallied their votes. Their decision this year will have a huge impact on the 2008 election, and a decisive impact on various candidacies. Some will be done in. Some will be made.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Liberal Values, The Carpetbagger Report, TBogg, Outside The Beltway, Macsmind, Blue Crab Boulevard, Washington Monthly and Booman Tribune

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Peggy Noonan is a serious “grown-up”

Discussion: protein wisdom, Eschaton, Sadly, No!, Prairie Weather and Bark Bark Woof Woof

Nicole Belle / Crooks and Liars:

Giuliani Campaign Official: Rudy Is The Only Candidate Who Can Chase “The Muslims"..."Back Into Their Caves" — From the Guardian UK via TPM: (h/t SteveAudio) — Winning hearts and minds the world over... John Deady, Co-Chair for New Hampshire's Veterans for Rudy:

Discussion: ThePoliticalCat, The Gun Toting Liberal™, Left in the West, Connecting.the.Dots, Guardian, PrezVid, Cliff Schecter, Brilliant at Breakfast and Gawker

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:

Rudy Campaign Official: He's The Guy To Chase “The Muslims” Back “To Their Caves” — This has already gotten some attention, but it deserves a lot more. — The Guardian of London is conducting video documentaries up in New Hampshire. And they did a segment on Rudy in which they got …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Shakespeare's Sister and Wonkette

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:

Stem cell, contraception groups paid Huck — Mike Huckabee last year accepted $52,000 in speaking fees from a bio-tech giant that wants to research human embryonic stem cells, a non-profit working to expand access to the morning after pill and a group pushing to study whether tightening gun control laws will reduce violence.

Discussion: The Corner, Associated Press, Classical Values, Wonkette, Roger L. Simon and BobKrumm.com

Deal Hudson / Deal W. Hudson:
THE PROBLEM WITH MITT ROMNEY'S PRO-LIFE CONVERSION

Discussion: The Corner and The Daily Dish

Brian Faughnan / Weekly Standard:

Pelosi, Reid, Huckabee, Obama Among Nation's “Most Corrupt” — Judicial Watch has named its ten most corrupt political figures of 2007, and the list may surprise. It includes a number of very well-known politicians who have received little attention for their questionable business deals.

Discussion: Power Line, Stop The ACLU, Wizbang, Flopping Aces and Say Anything

Bloomberg:

France Bans Smoking in Cafes, Clubs, Rejects Sartre's Gauloises — Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) — France bans smoking in cafes, hotels and clubs on Jan. 1, stamping out the habit popularized by Jean- Paul Sartre puffing Gauloises in hazy brasseries. — In Germany, 11 of the country's 16 states plan similar restrictions for 2008.

Discussion: Samizdata.net