memeorandum: Iran Accuses U.S. of Faking Persian Gulf Video (Nazila Fathi/New York Times)

7:50 PM ET, January 9, 2008

Top Items:

Obama Campaign Co-Chair Questions Hillary's Tears — The Tears are now officially an issue in Campaign 2008. — Obama's national campaign co-chair, Jesse Jackson, Jr., just went on MSNBC and appeared to question Hillary's tears, which he called “tears that melted the Granite State,” adding that those tears “moved voters.”

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, MyDD, Taylor Marsh, michellemalkin.com, Angry Bear, Salon, The Democratic Daily, Citizen Crain, AMERICAblog, Shakespeare's Sister and About.com US Politics

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Can Hillary Cry Her Way Back to the White House? — DERRY, N.H. — When I walked into the office Monday, people were clustering around a computer to watch what they thought they would never see: Hillary Clinton with the unmistakable look of tears in her eyes. — A woman gazing at the screen was grimacing, saying it was bad.

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

MoDo On Clinton — She gets the core narcissism at the heart of the Clinton machine: … My fear is that if you merely wound her candidacy, you are in danger. The Clinton machine is now poised to pull every partisan lever and deploy every cheap tactic: the gender card, the elderly card …

Discussion: bustardblog and protein wisdom

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:

Media Analysis: The “Tweety Effect” Runs Rampant — As if an entire week's worth of Pundits Gone Wild idiocy weren't enough, this morning's Cuppa Joe on MSNBC sent me right over the edge. My own transcript here: … What is wrong with Chris Matthews? With all of these media people?

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Daily Howler, Think Progress, Hullabaloo, BartBlog, Media Matters for America, Tom Watson, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Daily Kos

ABCNEWS:

Woman Who Made Clinton Cry Voted for Obama — The New Hampshire Woman Who Sparked Clinton's Emotional Moment Voted for Obama — The woman whose empathetic question — “how do you do it?" — sparked uncharacteristic emotion Monday from Sen. Hillary Clinton ended up voting for Sen. Barack Obama in the New Hampshire primary.

Discussion: The Swamp and Liberal Values

Gary Langer / The Numbers:
New Hampshire's Polling Fiasco

Discussion: Gallup Guru, The Huffington Post, Pollster.com, Marc Ambinder, A Chequer-Board of Nights …, The Rothenberg Political …, Salon, American Power, Liberal Values, Commentary, Citizen Crain, ABCNEWS and Argghhh!

Jonathan Alter / Newsweek:
How Hillary Did It — Theories on a turnabout ... and what happens next.

Discussion: Comment Central, Los Angeles Times, Digital Rules, NewsBusters.org and The Texas Blue

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Romney drops TV ads in key states — Mitt Romney hasn't extended his television presence into next week in South Carolina and Florida, an aide confirms. — Romney has been on TV for months in both, owning the airwaves long before his GOP rivals purchased their first spots.

Discussion: The Campaign Spot, The Moderate Voice, DownWithTyranny!, Hot Air, MSNBC, The Strata-Sphere, BobKrumm.com, TIME and CBS News

Marc Ambinder:
Romney Goes Dark In FL, South Carolina

Discussion: BizzyBlog

Associated Press:
Romney decides to pull ads in S.C., Fla.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and Wonkette

John Ellis / Real Clear Politics:
After NH, Race May Break Huckabee's Way

Discussion: The Opinionator, Marc Ambinder, The Daily Dish, Crunchy Con, Hot Air, Riehl World View and TownHall Blog

Paul Begala / The Huffington Post:

Fox News: We Report — Even if We Know It's False — I've been dealing with the media and politics for 25 years, but I've never had a more surrealistic day than January 8. Several times that day Fox News reported that I was joining Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Badtux the Snarky Penguin, The Carpetbagger Report, The 10,000 Things, TVNewser, Gawker, AMERICAblog, Brave New Films blog and Daily Kos

Anthony Boadle / Reuters:

CIA whistle-blower Philip Agee dies in Cuba — HAVANA (Reuters) - Philip Agee, a former CIA spy who exposed its undercover operations in Latin America in a 1975 book, died in Havana, the Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma said on Wednesday. — Agee, 72, died on Monday night …

Discussion: Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler

Will Weissert / Associated Press:
Ex-CIA agent Philip Agee dead in Cuba

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, The Lede, Tim Worstall Tabloid Edition, MoJoBlog and Redstate

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
No One Will Miss You — Philip Agee has died in Cuba during surgery …

Discussion: protein wisdom, BLACKFIVE, Babalu Blog and Daily Pundit

Hooman Majd / The Huffington Post:

It's a Fake — The Pentagon's version of the encounter in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday morning, involving U.S. Navy warships and Iranian Revolutionary Guard patrol boats is, at the very least highly suspicious. On Tuesday, the Navy released video footage and an audiotape to back its claims …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, presstv.ir, Hot Air, American Street, Associated Press, Buck Naked Politics and The Newshoggers

Nazila Fathi / New York Times:
Iran Accuses U.S. of Faking Persian Gulf Video

Discussion: Emptywheel

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:

Commentary: The partisan elephant unnoticed in the room — The Supreme Court, studiously avoiding almost all mention that it was examining a thoroughly partisan political battle, spent a spirited hour on Wednesday looking for ways either to scuttle a major test case over voters' rights or to find a way …

Discussion: TPMmuckraker, The Opinionator, New York Times, D-Day, The Volokh Conspiracy and Election Law

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Voter ID Law

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Wake up America

Associated Press:

AP NewsBreak: Richardson Ends Bid — MERRIMACK, N.H. (AP) - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson ended his campaign for the presidency Wednesday after twin fourth-place finishes that showed his impressive credentials could not compete with his rivals' star power.

Discussion: Blue Mass. Group

Greg Sargent / Horses Mouth:

One Day After Saying He'll “Never Underestimate Hillary Clinton Again,” Chris Matthews Says She's Only A Presidential Candidate Because Bill “Messed Around" — January 9, 2008 — 9:36 AM EST // link // — Normally Chris Matthews isn't worth the bother, because he serves up so much non-stop clowning …

Discussion: TalkLeft, The Democratic Daily, Spin Cycle, Wonkette, Pam's House Blend, Taylor Marsh, Shakespeare's Sister, The XX Factor and Cliff Schecter

Associated Press:

Study: 151,000 Iraqis died in 3 years after U.S. invasion — About 151,000 Iraqis died from violence in the three years after the United States invaded, concludes the best effort yet to count deaths — one that still may not settle the fierce debate over the war's true toll on civilians and others.

John Zogby / Zogby:

Polling the New Hampshire Primaries: What Happened? — President and CEO — Zogby International — There was no shortage of polls going into the New Hampshire primary in 2008 and it looks like we all missed the mark on the Democratic side. This will require a lot of scrutiny …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Rasmussen Reports, TPM Election Central and MyDD

White House:

President Bush and Prime Minister Olmert Participate in Joint Press Availability — PRIME MINISTER OLMERT: Good evening. I am proud and delighted to welcome President Bush to the Prime Minister's home in Jerusalem. We spent more than two and a half hours talking privately and with the delegations …

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister, GINA COBB and First Draft