memeorandum: Top lawyer faces money-laundering charges (Jay Weaver/MiamiHerald.com)

3:24 AM ET, February 8, 2008

Top Items:

Mark Halperin / The Page:

Transcript of Romney's Speech Withdrawing From the Race — Governor Romney's Address to the Conservative Political Action Committee - February 7, 2008 — I want to begin by saying thank you. It's great to be with you again. And I look forward to joining with you many more times in the future.

Discussion: The New Republic, TBogg, Done With Mirrors, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Heretik, Think Progress, Shakespeare's Sister, SFGate, The RBC, Matthew Yglesias, Democratic Strategist, GINA COBB, FP Passport, Political Machine and The Reaction

Brian Maloney / The Radio Equalizer:

Randi Rhodes Airs Unhinged Anti-Romney Skit — ‘KILLING RAMPAGE’ — Rhodes Skit Says Romney Supporters Will Kill Innocent People — *** EXCLUSIVE To The Radio Equalizer *** — Apparently unable to learn from past mistakes, or just too unhinged to know better, Air America Radio host Randi Rhodes …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Power Line, You Decide 08!, Pajamas Media, Hot Air and NewsBusters.org

Krooney / The Page:

Romney Quits Race — Says time of war is not the right time to continue GOP fight: “I feel I have to stand aside.” — Read full remarks from CPAC conference here. … AP: Decision effectively cedes nomination to McCain. — Obama, kicking Romney as he heads out the door, criticizes him for saying Democrats are soft on terror.

Discussion: PERRspectives Blog, The Corner, Commentary, PoliBlog (TM), michellemalkin.com, Moue Magazine, Hot Air, You Decide 08!, Bookworm Room, Democratic Strategist, The Opinionator, Inside Charm City, StephenBainbridge.com, Outside The Beltway, A Blog For All, FP Passport and Wizbang

Howard Fineman / Newsweek:
Burying Mitt — Romney failed because he ran as something he's not.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, HorseRaceBlog and Liberty Pundit

John King / CNN:
GOP sources: Romney to suspend campaign

Discussion: New York Times, The Politico, Lone Star Times, Captain's Quarters, The Fix, Hot Air, The Carpetbagger Report, American Street, Citizen Orange, Buck Naked Politics, Why Now?, Middle Earth Journal, Burnt Orange Report, Washington Wire, LewRockwell.com Blog and The Impolitic

Terry Frieden / CNN:

Mukasey won't investigate ‘waterboarding’ — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Attorney General Michael Mukasey told lawmakers Thursday he will not open a criminal investigation into the CIA's acknowledged use of “waterboarding” on terror suspects. — House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers …

Discussion: Muckraker, Comments from Left Field, The Heretik, Truthdig and Making Light

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
MARK THIS DAY — Attorney General Michael Mukasey …

Discussion: Emptywheel, Hold Fast, The Garlic, Hullabaloo, The Newshoggers and Political Machine

Dan Eggen / Washington Post:
Justice Dept. ‘Cannot’ Probe Waterboarding, Mukasey Says

Discussion: PERRspectives Blog and Obsidian Wings

Paul Kiel / Muckraker:
Mukasey: No, I Will Not Investigate Warrantless Wiretapping

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report

Eric Gorski / Associated Press:

Huckabee to Get Evangelical Leader's Nod — James Dobson, one of the nation's most prominent evangelical Christian leaders, is about to endorse former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, The Associated Press has learned. — Dobson, founder of Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Focus on the Family …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, Redstate, Reasoned Audacity, alicublog and The Reaction

Eric Gorski / Associated Press:

AP: Evangelical leader endorses Huckabee — James Dobson, one of the nation's most prominent evangelical Christian leaders, backed Mike Huckabee's presidential bid Thursday night, giving the former Arkansas governor a long-sought endorsement as the Republican field narrowed to a two-man race.

Discussion: Political Machine

Peter Baker / The Trail:

Bush Signals Support for McCain — President Bush plans to give an implicit endorsement of onetime rival John McCain's conservative bona fides tomorrow as the Arizona senator seeks to consolidate the party behind his candidacy. — In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in the morning …

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!

Redstate:
Liveblogging John McCain

Discussion: TownHall Blog, Bluey Blog, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Wolf Howling, Middle Earth Journal and Gateway Pundit

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
John McCain Speech Live Blog

Discussion: Redstate, michellemalkin.com, Weekly Standard, The Corner, Right Wing Nut House, Atlas Shrugs and Wizbang

This Is London:

BROWN SLAPS DOWN ARCHBISHOP'S CALL FOR ISLAMIC SHARIA LAW TO OPERATE IN BRITAIN — The Archbishop of Canterbury caused consternation yesterday by calling for Islamic law to be recognised in Britain. — He declared that sharia and Parliamentary law should be given equal legal status …

Discussion: JOSHUAPUNDIT, Pajamas Media, Gay Patriot and Blue Crab Boulevard

Johnathan Pearce / Samizdata.net:

The Archbishop of Canterbury is an ass — The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, is the head of the Church of England and as such, is still - amazingly - considered to be a person of some eminence. Unfortunately, he does not lend weight to that institution.

Discussion: Telegraph, Dean's World, The Volokh Conspiracy and BBC

Matt Stoller / Open Left:

Hillary's Women — Let's put the Obama activist and donor numbers in perspective - 650,000 donors is a lot, but John Kerry had around 2 million donors, and George Bush had roughly as many. Richard Viguerie and Roger Craver, direct mail gurus, have frequently noted that there are roughly …

Discussion: Corrente

Ari Melber / The Nation:
OBAMA DOWNLOADS $7.9 MILLION FROM MOVEON AND WEB DONORS...

Discussion: Open Left and Salon

Hotline On Call:

Obama On Romney: An “Ineffective Candidate” — OMAHA, NE — Barack Obama called Mitt Romney's candidacy “ineffective” on the day that the former MA governor exited the presidential race. — Romney, who dropped out of the race for president today in Washington, said in his exit speech …

Discussion: Jihad Watch

Shailagh Murray / The Trail:
Obama Agrees to Debates with Clinton

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Taylor Marsh

Jay Weaver / MiamiHerald.com:

Top lawyer faces money-laundering charges — Ben Kuehne, a widely respected Miami lawyer whose clients have included former Vice President Al Gore and other major politicians, surrendered Thursday on federal criminal charges for his behind-the-scenes role in a complex international drug-trafficking case.

Discussion: TalkLeft and Law Blog

David Oscar Markus / Southern District of Florida Blog:
Sad day — Typically I try to blog objectively and just report …

Discussion: Discourse.net

The Huffington Post:

Whoopi Switches From Obama To Hillary — Yesterday on “The View,” Whoopi Goldberg switched her endorsement from Barack Obama to Hillary Clinton. Whoopi cited Clinton's statement that she would end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. Whoopi previously believed that Obama …

Discussion: Liberal Values, Tennessee Guerilla Women, TalkLeft, Hot Air and The Democratic Daily

Amanda / Think Progress:

McCain booed at CPAC. — Speaking to a right-wing crowd at CPAC today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was loudly booed when he mentioned his push for comprehensive immigration reform last year. (A position he has since given up.) … Watch it: — This morning, Politico reported that CPAC organizers …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos, Anne Schroeder's Blogs, Right Wing News, Comments from Left Field, The Huffington Post, The Carpetbagger Report, Shakespeare's Sister, Classical Values, Jonathan Martin's Blogs and Brains and Eggs

Craig Offman / NPL Sports:

Jail politicians who ignore climate science: Suzuki — Didn't mean it literally says scientist's spokesperson — David Suzuki has called for political leaders to be thrown in jail for ignoring the science behind climate change. — At a Montreal conference last Thursday, the prominent scientist …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, The Belmont Club, Flopping Aces, GINA COBB, Weekly Standard, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Colossus of Rhodey and Reason Magazine

Real Clear Politics:

John McCain's CPAC Speech — ARLINGTON, VA — U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today released the following remarks by John McCain as prepared for delivery: Thank you. Thank you for inviting me. It's been a little while since I've had the honor of addressing you, and I appreciate very much your courtesy to me today.

Discussion: Dick Polman's American Debate, Power Line and FP Passport

Michael Duffy / Time:

TIME Poll: Clinton More Beatable than Obama — Though the real election is nine months away, Sen. Barack Obama would fare slightly better than Sen. Hillary Clinton in a head to head match-up with Sen. John McCain if the general election were held today, a new TIME poll reveals.

Discussion: Liberal Values