memeorandum: France seeks to limit US role in arms sale (Khaleej Times)

2:10 PM ET, January 28, 2008

Top Items:

January 28, 2008 - McCain, Romney Tops In Florida GOP Race, As Giuliani Fades, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Clinton Has 20-Point Lead Among Democrats — Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are running neck and neck among Florida likely Republican voters …

Discussion: FOX Embeds and The Trail

Washington Times:
Giuliani falls far behind in Florida

Discussion: Commentary and The Raw Story

Hindrocket / Power Line:
A RUN ON THE BANK — Every indication is that Rudy Giuliani …

Discussion: Comments from Left Field, Gateway Pundit and Democracy Project

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
McCain hits Romney hard on Fla. radio

Discussion: The Swamp

CNN:
Huckabee challenges Romney over fried chicken

Discussion: Firedoglake

Wall Street Journal:

Obama Gains, But Still Lags In Big States — Barack Obama's overwhelming weekend victory in South Carolina's Democratic primary gives him new momentum in the run-up to the near-national nominating contest a week from tomorrow, known as Super Tuesday. — But Mr. Obama heads into the 22-state showdown as the underdog.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, The Swamp, The Caucus, TIME, Balloon Juice, Outside The Beltway, protein wisdom, Real Clear Politics, Donklephant, Taylor Marsh and TalkLeft

Katharine Q. Seelye / The Caucus:

Jackson: Not Upset by Clinton Remarks — The Rev. Jesse Jackson said late Sunday that he was not offended by comments on Saturday by former President Bill Clinton, who brought up Mr. Jackson's name in response to a question about Senator Barack Obama. — Mr. Clinton had noted that Mr. Jackson …

Discussion: D-Day, Political Punch and TPM Election Central

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Lessons of 1992 — It's starting to feel a bit like 1992 again. A Bush is in the White House, the economy is a mess, and there's a candidate who, in the view of a number of observers, is running on a message of hope, of moving past partisan differences, that resembles Bill Clinton's campaign 16 years ago.

Discussion: Wonkette, HillaryClinton.com, Angry Bear, The Crone Speaks, Middle Earth Journal, TalkLeft and A Chequer-Board of Nights …

Patrick Healy / New York Times:
Clinton's Camp Seeks Gentler Role for Ex-President

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, TownHall Blog, New York Post, Captain's Quarters, Right Wing Nut House, NY Daily News, Comments from Left Field, MSNBC, Spin Cycle, Jules Crittenden, Sister Toldjah, The Huffington Post, Gateway Pundit, GINA COBB, Connecting.the.Dots and QandO

William Kristol / New York Times:
Desperate Husband — In the run-up to Saturday's South Carolina …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, The Carpetbagger Report, The Campaign Spot and The Corner

Nitya / Political Radar:

Author Toni Morrison Endorses Obama — ABC News' Rick Klein and Sunlen Miller Report: Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison — who famously declared Bill Clinton to be the nation's “first black president” in a 1998 essay — today endorsed Barack Obama for president, via letter from Morrison to the Illinois senator.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, protein wisdom, The Swamp, Brad Warthen's Blog, Confederate Yankee, TalkLeft, The Heretik, The Carpetbagger Report, TPM Election Central, Wonkette, Classical Values, Shakespeare's Sister, The Strata-Sphere and Sister Toldjah

IMAO.US:
Just So Someone Says It Publically

Discussion: Althouse and Feministe

Sam Graham-Felsen / my.barackobama.com:
Toni Morrison endorses Barack Obama

Discussion: Washington Wire and The Trail

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

What's at stake today in the Senate's FISA filibuster vote — Last August, the Democratic Congress amended FISA when it passed the Protect America Act because the Bush administration and Mike McConnell shrilly warned — literally — that the country would be attacked by The Terrorists if they didn't do so immediately.

Discussion: Think Progress, Firedoglake, TPMmuckraker, Washington Times, The Garlic and CREDO Action

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

BREAKING: Hillary Clinton To Vote “No” On Cloture Tomorrow UPDATE: Barack Obama Will Be There Too — According to the Clinton campaign, Hillary Clinton will be in the Senate tomorrow to vote “no” on cloture on the Intel version of the FISA bill. The vote is scheduled to take place at 4:30 pm tomorrow.

Discussion: TPM Election Central, CREDO Action, Open Left, DownWithTyranny!, TalkLeft, Brilliant at Breakfast, UrbanGrounds and Hullabaloo

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Hillary Clinton Statement on FISA

Discussion: The Sideshow, MyDD, Open Left, Daily Kos and CREDO Action

Jacob Weisberg / New York Times:

The Bush Who Got Away — AS George W. Bush prepares to deliver his final State of the Union address, it's worth revisiting the first speech he gave to a joint session of Congress. His valedictory words tonight will provide an opportunity to reflect on the kind of president Mr. Bush was.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Washington Post, Corrente, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Heretik, Lawyers, Guns and Money, TBogg and The Mahablog

Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post:
Economy, War To Dominate State of Union

Discussion: The Politico, CNN, Washington Wire, Eschaton, Associated Press, Blog entry, New York Times, AlterNet.org, NewsBusters.org, Captain's Quarters, Wonkette, Shakespeare's Sister, Power Line and Gateway Pundit

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
PROBABLY? — From today's lead story in the Washington Post:

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Political Machine and The Garlic

CBS News:

Interrogator Shares Saddam's Confessions — (CBS) For a man who drew America into two wars and countless military engagements, we never knew what Saddam Hussein was thinking. But you are going to hear more than has ever been revealed before. — After his capture, Saddam met every day with one man …

Discussion: Firedoglake and Cato-at-liberty

CBS News:
Interrogator Shares Saddam's Confessions

Discussion: democracyarsenal.org and PrestoPundit

Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:
McCain's ‘secret plan’ on bin Laden

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Wire and The Right's Field

John Fund / Wall Street Journal:

Winging It — John McCain has a golden opportunity to make peace with conservatives. Will he take advantage of it? — John McCain has to decide just how comfortable he wants the conservative base of the Republican Party to be with his candidacy. Although he touts his conservative credentials …

Discussion: The Swamp, The Corner, Hot Air, Captain's Quarters, New York Times, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Campaign Spot, Taylor Marsh and The Volokh Conspiracy

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

Team Obama Is Courting Everybody But the Press — GREENVILLE, S.C. — When reporters filed onto Barack Obama's press plane after his acrimonious debate with Hillary Rodham Clinton last week, one thing was noticeably missing amid the wine and snacks on the Boeing 737.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Boston Globe, Providence Journal, Jon Swift, Comments from Left Field, Washington Monthly and Jules Crittenden

Michael J. Totten:

The Final Mission, Part I — FALLUJAH - At the end of 2006 there were 3,000 Marines in Fallujah. Despite what you might expect during a surge of troops to Iraq, that number has been reduced by 90 percent. All Iraqi Army soldiers have likewise redeployed from the city.

Discussion: BLACKFIVE, The Strata-Sphere and Gateway Pundit

Carolyn Lochhead / San Francisco Chronicle:

Obama takes big risk on driver's license issue — (01-28) 04:00 PST Washington — Sen. Barack Obama easily won the African American vote in South Carolina, but to woo California Latinos, where he is running 3-to-1 behind rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, he is taking a giant risk …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, michellemalkin.com, PoliPundit.com and ImmigrationProf Blog

Beth Reinhard / Naked Politics:

Janet Reno endorses Clinton — Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, who served in Bill Clinton's administration, is backing his wife in Tuesday's presidential primary. — Reno, who ran for governor in 2002 and served as Miami-Dade State Attorney, is one of Florida's best-known politicians.

Discussion: The New Republic, Spin Cycle, JammieWearingFool and Riehl World View

Spencer Ackerman / The Washington Independent:

CIA Largely in the Dark on Interrogation Tactics — In a bucolic field two miles north of Mount Vernon, beside a baseball diamond in Fort Hunt Park, Va., about 20 veterans of a secret World War II intelligence unit gathered together last year for the first time since 1946.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, TPMmuckraker, toohotfortnr and Unfogged

Josh Gerstein / New York Sun:

Clinton Irks Immigrants' Advocates — Immigrant-rights advocates and some Latino leaders are voicing concern at Senator Clinton's campaign-trail rhetoric about swiftly deporting immigrants with a criminal past. — A vow to give the boot to criminal aliens has become an almost daily part …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs and Obsidian Wings

Martin Crutsinger / Associated Press:

New Home Sales Fall by Record Amount — New Home Sales Dropped in 2007 by a Record Amount; Prices Posted Weakest Showing in 16 Years — WASHINGTON (AP) — Sales of new homes plunged by a record amount in 2007 while prices posted the weakest showing in 16 years, demonstrating the troubles builders …

Discussion: Seeing the Forest