memeorandum: Obama camp: ‘Deplores divisive statements’ (Mark Silva/The Swamp)

3:55 PM ET, March 14, 2008

Top Items:

Obama and the Minister — In a sermon delivered at Howard University, Barack Obama's longtime minister, friend and adviser blamed America for starting the AIDS virus, training professional killers, importing drugs and creating a racist society that would never elect a black candidate president.

David Brown / PittsburghLIVE.com:

Obama addresses Pa.'s importance, pastor's remarks — TRIBUNE-REVIEW — The following are excerpts of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's telephone interview Thursday with Tribune-Review reporter David. M. Brown. — Q: Gov. (Ed) Rendell and (Philadelphia) Mayor (Michael) …

Discussion: Power Line, TPM Election Central, Spin Cycle, Hot Air, protein wisdom, The Current, Obsidian Wings, Trailhead, Riehl World View and Political Machine

Mark Silva / The Swamp:

Obama camp: ‘Deplores divisive statements’ — The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, longtime pastor at Sen. Barack Obama's church in Chicago, has retired - but not without some forceful, parting words for his views on the presidential election campaign. CNN is reporting on the pastor's words - and the campaign's separation from them.

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, Jonathan Martin's Blogs, Commentary, Obsidian Wings, Swampland and Top of the Ticket

Tim Graham / NewsBusters.org: Study: Broadcast Networks Fell Down on Covering Jeremiah Wright

Jesse Lee / The Gavel:

House Passes FISA Amendments Act — The House has just passed the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3773, to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to establish a procedure for authorizing certain acquisitions of foreign intelligence, and for other purposes, by a vote of 213-197-1.

Discussion: Salon, Crooks and Liars, Firedoglake, DownWithTyranny!, Daily Kos, TPMMuckraker and MyDD

Jim Oliphant / The Swamp:
FISA bill passes House; time for Spring Break '08!

Discussion: The Crypt's Blogs

CNN:
House defies Bush on surveillance

Discussion: michellemalkin.com and Macsmind

Daniel W. Reilly / The Crypt's Blogs:
Rare closed session changes few minds on FISA

Discussion: The Swamp

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
The Secret Is Out: There Was No Big Secret — Psst. Congress has a secret.

Discussion: The Gavel and TPMMuckraker

Mark Schmitt / American Prospect:

WHY CLINTON DOESN'T WANT A RE-VOTE. — <p>p.s. Commenter <a href="http://www.nycweboy.com/ “>weboy </a>complained that I should have sought out more pro-Clinton blogs, and recommends a few, so I will link to Tom Watson's recent post, <a href="http://tomwatson.typepad.com/ tom_watson/2008/03 …

Discussion: TalkLeft and Matthew Yglesias

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:
Report: Agreement Imminent on Michigan

Discussion: Washington Wire

John Kennedy / Central Florida Political Pulse:
Nelson Proposes Half Delegation For Florida Dems

Discussion: TPM Election Central

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
Obama's Michigan Co-Chair Suggests Agreement On Redo Of Primary Is Likely

Discussion: Detroit News, Corrente and Commentary

Janny Scott / New York Times:

A Free-Spirited Wanderer Who Set Obama's Path — In the capsule version of the Barack Obama story, his mother is simply the white woman from Kansas. The phrase comes coupled alliteratively to its counterpart, the black father from Kenya. On the campaign trail, he has called her his “single mom.”

Discussion: New York Post, Jezebel, MSNBC, The XX Factor, Lone Star Times, American Street, Gawker, The Confluence, Comments from Left Field, Prairie Weather and Real Clear Politics

Mona Charen / The Corner:

Obama's True Beliefs — Derb: I am coming to believe that Barack Obama is one of the greatest con artists we've seen. His entire campaign has been about “coming together,” a post-racial consensus, etc. Any mention of his middle name was immediately condemned as ignorant fear-mongering.

Discussion: Dr. Sanity and Balloon Juice

Bloomberg:

Obama Cuts Into Clinton's Delegate Lead Among Elected Officials — Barack Obama has pulled almost even with Hillary Clinton in endorsements from top elected officials and has cut into her lead among the other superdelegates she's relying on to win the Democratic presidential nomination.

Discussion: TPMCafe

Matthew Yglesias:

The Romance of Empire — George W. Bush laments that his advanced age doesn't let him participate in his own screw-ups: … Need we note that when Bush had an actual opportunity to put his life on the line in a war, he chose to avoid doing so? The guy who sent me the link observed …

Discussion: Think Progress, Jezebel, Sadly, No! and Wonkette

The Huffington Post:
Bush “Envious” Of Soldiers Serving “Romantic” Mission In Afghanistan

Discussion: The Smirking Chimp, The Carpetbagger Report, Hot Air and LewRockwell.com Blog

Landon Thomas Jr / New York Times:

JPMorgan and Fed Move to Bail Out Bear Stearns — Bear Stearns, facing a grave liquidity crisis, reached out to JPMorgan on Friday for a short-term financial lifeline and now faces the prospect of the end of its 85-year run as an independent investment bank.

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, On Deadline and The Glittering Eye

BBC:
US bank gets emergency funds

Discussion: culturekitchen and Angry Bear

Cameron W. Barr / Washington Post:

Petraeus: Iraqi Leaders Not Making ‘Sufficient Progress’ — Iraqi leaders have failed to take advantage of a reduction in violence to make adequate progress toward resolving their political differences, Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said Thursday.

Discussion: American Footprints, MoJoBlog, Matthew Yglesias, American Street, Outside The Beltway, God's Politics, URGENT AGENDA, Buck Naked Politics, democracyarsenal.org, The Gavel, Pat Dollard, Think Progress, QandO, FP Passport, Balloon Juice and Firedoglake

Steve Holland / Reuters:

McCain says al Qaeda might try to tip U.S. election — SPRINGFIELD, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Friday he fears that al Qaeda or another extremist group might attempt spectacular attacks in Iraq to try to tilt the U.S. election against him.

Discussion: TPM Election Central, Think Progress, democracyarsenal.org, Centerpoint Review and Real Clear Politics

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Obama Leads Clinton 50% to 44% — McCain presents stiff competition for Obama and Clinton — PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton in national Democratic nomination preferences by a statistically significant 6-percentage point margin, 50% to 44% …

Jay Rosen / PressThink:

Getting the Politics of the Press Right: Walter Pincus Rips into Newsroom Neutrality — “The important thing is to show integrity— not to be a neuter, politically. Having good facts that hold up is a bigger advantage than claiming to reflect all sides equally well.”

Discussion: protein wisdom and Outside The Beltway

NationalJournal.com:

Transcript: Greg Craig On Hillary Clinton's Foreign Policy Experience — National Journal's Linda Douglass sat down with Greg Craig for the March 14 edition of “National Journal On Air.” This is a transcript of their conversation. — Q: I want to welcome Greg Craig.

Discussion: The Swamp and Liberal Values