memeorandum: What price Oprah? — The popular TV personality helps Barack … (Los Angeles Times)

2:10 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: The Moderate Voice, Confederate Yankee, Washington Post, The Raw Story, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Little Green Footballs, Agence France Presse, Associated Press, CNN 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: TalkLeft and Taylor Marsh

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

Discussion: TPMmuckraker, The Newshoggers and The Daily Dish

Ralph Peters / New York Post:
THE BHUTTO ASSASSINATION: NOT WHAT SHE SEEMED TO BE

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Weekly Standard, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, MSNBC and A Blog For All

New York Times:
Pakistanis Bury Bhutto and Brace for More Turmoil

Discussion: Think Progress, Political Radar, Washington Post, Rook's Rant, Gothamist and New York Post

Juan Cole / Salon:
With Bhutto gone, does Bush have a Plan B?

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Washington Note, New York Times, PBD, ac360blog, TPMmuckraker and Alternate Brain

The Corner: Democracy in Pakistan — Judging what the people of Pakistan …

Max Boot / Commentary:
The Real Real Pakistan — It is rare for me to agree with a writer …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Corner, Little Green Footballs and Soccer Dad

Robert Parry / Consortiumnews.com:
Pakistan Is ‘Central Front,’ Not Iraq

Discussion: The Heretik and Brilliant at Breakfast

CNN:
Confusion surrounds Bhutto's cause of death

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Telegraph, dawn.com, Reuters, CANOE, Captain's Quarters, ABS-CBN News, ThePoliticalCat, Hot Air and Blogs of War

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

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Peggy Noonan is a serious “grown-up” — (updated below - Update II - Update III) — In her Wall St. Journal column today, Peggy Noonan offers up a Santa-like checklist of which presidential candidates are “reasonable” and which ones aren't. In describing the attributes that Americans …

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

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, Fausta's blog, Classical Values, AMERICAN DIGEST and JammieWearingFool

David Paul Kuhn / The Politico:

Edwards reaches new heights in Iowa — DES MOINES - John Edwards appears to have risen to a new highpoint in Iowa, marking an upward trend over the past two weeks that places him in a statistical tie with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. — A new Strategic Vision poll released Friday finds …

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

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Elizabeth vs. Obama — What ever happened to Hillary Clinton? — Yet more evidence that the central front right now in Iowa is between Edwards and Obama: A mailing from Elizabeth Edwards, which urges readers to check out an anti-Obama Paul Krugman column and learn “why we can't just sit down at a table with special interests.

Discussion: The Swamp, MyDD and TPM Election Central

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:

Huck needs the caucuses to be now (or yesterday) — His two mini-gaffes on the Bhutto killing ("apologies" and martial law) may have not been enough to constitute a full foul-up, but then he goes last night and talks about how the Pakistani situation is related to ... border security.

Discussion: TIME

O.Kay Henderson / Radio Iowa: Huckabee calls for border crackdown in response to Bhutto's assassination

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: Left in the West, The Gun Toting Liberal™, Connecting.the.Dots, Shakespeare's Sister, PrezVid, Cliff Schecter, Guardian, Wonkette, Gawker and Brilliant at Breakfast

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, Flopping Aces and Say Anything

John Hawkins / Right Wing News:

Final Fred Thompson Blogburst And Video — In order to help inspire people to help Fred out, I've put together a new video called, “Vote Fred Thompson — Unless you hate children and puppies." I think you will enjoy it — well, unless you hate children and puppies.

Discussion: Stop The ACLU, Right Wing Nut House, IMAO.US, Pirate's Cove, Hot Air and Flopping Aces

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: USA Today and michellemalkin.com

New York Times:

Under Attack, Drug Maker Turned to Giuliani for Help — In western Virginia, far from the limelight, United States Attorney John L. Brownlee found himself on the telephone last year with a political and legal superstar, Rudolph W. Giuliani. — For years, Mr. Brownlee and his small team …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, 2008Central.net, Gawker, The Carpetbagger Report, DownWithTyranny!, PointOfLaw Forum, ac360blog, Cliff Schecter and MSNBC

Los Angeles Times:

What price Oprah? — The popular TV personality helps Barack Obama draw big crowds while her fans fume. — WITH less than a week until Iowa's first vote is cast in the 2008 presidential election, the politicians aren't the only ones feeling the heat: Celebrities, who have become important players …

Discussion: Say Anything and JammieWearingFool

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Trouble With Trade — While the United States has long imported oil and other raw materials from the third world, we used to import manufactured goods mainly from other rich countries like Canada, European nations and Japan. — But recently we crossed an important watershed …

Discussion: Free exchange, Angry Bear, Make Them Accountable, Prairie Weather and naked capitalism

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:

Fred to go back on air — Team Fred has apparently found enough quarters in the couch to get back on TV in Iowa. — Actually, it was more like the multiple fundraising emails they've blasted it out over the past few days. — They'll be up with “Substance” by tomorrrow in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Sioux City.

Discussion: TPM Election Central and Hot Air