memeorandum: Which 20th century classic of American conservative political thought … (Tyler Cowen/Marginal Revolution)

1:25 PM ET, February 28, 2008

Top Items:

Obama staffer gave warning of NAFTA rhetoric — Barack Obama has ratcheted up his attacks on NAFTA, but a senior member of his campaign team told a Canadian official not to take his criticisms seriously, CTV News has learned. — Both Obama and Hillary Clinton have been critical …

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Canadians deny Obama call — A spokesman for the Canadian Embassy to the United States, Tristan Landry, flatly denied the CTV report that a senior Obama aide had told the Canadian ambassador not to take seriously Obama's denunciations of Nafta. — “None of the presidential campaigns …

Discussion: Marc Ambinder and Fact Check

Mark Silva / The Swamp:

Bush: Obama ‘better stay focused’ on Clinton — President Bush, reluctant to engage in the presidential campaign underway, nevertheless today gingerly stepped in to some of the most contentious debates between the Democrats running to succeed him and their contest with the likely Republican.

Discussion: The Politico

Eric Kleefeld / TPM Election Central:
Report: Obama Campaign Official Secretly Reassured Canada On NAFTA

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Spin Cycle and Macsmind

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Obama's Sotto Voce To Canadians: I'm Demagoguing On NAFTA

Discussion: PoliGazette

Attaturk / Firedoglake:

The “Race Card” let us count the ways — There are a few themes developing that should be called out now for what they are. — First, the racist junk that right-wing radio. blogs, and conservative interest groups are going to throw out. That somehow a black candidate secretly hates …

Discussion: Needlenose, Eschaton, Booman Tribune, Macsmind and MSNBC

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

ROAD MAP — Hopefully, everyone can now see the McCain strategy for running against Barack Obama. Yes, we have some general points on taxes, culture wars and McCain as war hero who can protect us in ways that flash-in-the-pan pretty boy Barack Obama can't. — But that's not the core.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, protein wisdom, Hot Air, toohotfortnr, The Carpetbagger Report, Brilliant at Breakfast, Shakespeare's Sister, Firedoglake, Patterico's Pontifications, Balloon Juice and The RBC

Eric Zorn / Change of Subject:
Middle-name calling is way over the line

Discussion: PoliBlog (TM), Don Surber and The Swamp

Juan Cole: Barack Hussein Obama, Omar Bradley, Benjamin Franklin and other …

Wired News:

Disturbing New Photos From Abu Ghraib — NSFW: VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. As an expert witness in the defense of an Abu Ghraib guard who was court-martialed, psychologist Philip Zimbardo had access to many of the images of abuse that were taken by the guards themselves.

Discussion: MoJoBlog, The Impolitic, JammieWearingFool, The Raw Story and Boing Boing

Kim Zetter / Wired News:
TED 2008: How Good People Turn Evil, From Stanford to Abu Ghraib

Discussion: Guardian Unlimited and Digg

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

McCain's Canal Zone Birth Prompts Queries About Whether That Rules Him Out — WASHINGTON — The question has nagged at the parents of Americans born outside the continental United States for generations: Dare their children aspire to grow up and become president?

Bill Ardolino / The Long War Journal:

Inside Iraqi politics - Part 5. A look at legislative progress: Sunnis' and states' rights — The first four installments of The Long War Journal's series on Iraqi politics discussed the structure and progress of the executive branch, the composition of the legislative branch and the status of key legislation.

New York Times:
Heralded New Law Is Vetoed by Iraq's Presidency Council

Discussion: The Daily Dish, The Belmont Club, Daily Kos and Swampland

Steve Lannen / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Iraqi leaders veto law Bush administration hailed as political breakthrough

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and Cliff Schecter

Paul Kiel / Muckraker:

Today's Must Read — You can understand their exasperation. The administration and Congressional Republicans have done everything in their power to protect the telecoms. They used every legislative tactic at the ready, made every speech or public pronouncement possible …

Discussion: toohotfortnr and Cliff Schecter

Tapscott's Copy Desk:

The Mob is a bunch of protection racket amatuers compared to Congress — Two stories out today provide additional evidence of why Congress has fallen just about as far as it can in public esteem. Instead of considering and passing laws to advance the common good, the congressional process looks increasingly …

George F. Will / Washington Post:

McCain in A Glass House — Certain kinds of conservatives, distrusting Richard Nixon's ideological elasticity, rejected him — until 1973. Although it had become clear that his administration was a crime wave, they embraced him because the media were his tormentors.

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, The Jawa Report, DownWithTyranny!, Emptywheel and Riehl World View

Marc Ambinder:
Fred Wertheimer Weighs In

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Firedoglake and The Politico

Michael R. Bloomberg / Bloomberg:

I'm Not Running for President, but ... WATCHING the 2008 presidential campaign, you sometimes get the feeling that the candidates — smart, all of them — must know better. They must know we can't fix our economy and create jobs by isolating America from global trade.

Brian Faughnan / Weekly Standard:

Scapegoating NAFTA — The Democratic contenders are stumbling all over themselves to show how disappointed they are with NAFTA, and how committed they are to changing it. Fact is, there's no reason to think that withdrawing from NAFTA — if possible — would help create jobs in the United States.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs and Commentary

IBDeditorials.com:
NAFTA Nonsense Insults Our Allies

Discussion: QandO

Jack Fink / KTVT-TV:

Clinton Reacts To Supporter's Remarks About Obama — DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ― Senator Hillary Clinton responded Wednesday to controversial comments made by one of her prominent local supporters. — “Obama simply has the problem that he happens to be Black,” Adelfa Callejo said when asked …

Anne E. Kornblut / The Trail:
Clinton Faces Questions Over Supporter's Comments

Discussion: The New Republic and Marc Ambinder

Adam Nossiter / New York Times:

Louisiana Governor Pierces Business as Usual — BATON ROUGE, La. — Downstairs, legislators gnashed their teeth, while upstairs at the Capitol here this week, the new governor claimed victory against the old customs down below. — Six weeks into the term of Gov. Bobby Jindal …

Discussion: The Room, Right Voices, Blue Crab Boulevard and The RBC

Andrew Jacobs / New York Times:

Black Ohioans Backing Clinton Feel the Pressure to Switch — CLEVELAND — The way Eugene R. Miller was hemming and hawing about Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, you would have thought he was trying to sell igloos in the Sahara. — Mr. Miller, a state legislator who represents a solidly black wedge …

Discussion: Personal Democracy Forum

Gateway Pundit:

“60 Minutes” Too?!!... MAJOR SCANDAL Brewing Over Rove Hit Piece! — Alabama GOP Asks For Proof on Karl Rove Hit Piece... Or, demands that the network retract the story! — Did CBS learn nothing from their last major scandal? — The chairman of the Alabama Republican Party sent a letter to …

Discussion: al.com, Blogs For Victory and Confederate Yankee

Drudge Report:

PRINCE HARRY FIGHTS ON FRONTLINES IN AFGHANISTAN; 3 MONTH TOUR — They're calling him “Harry the Hero!” — British Royal Prince Harry has been fighting in Afghanistan since late December — and has been directly involved in gun battle, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

Discussion: PunditGuy, Perez Hilton and Gateway Pundit