memeorandum: Fateful Choice on Iraq Army Bypassed Debate (Michael R. Gordon/New York Times)

1:00 PM ET, March 17, 2008

Top Items:

Kristol Fails To Check His Sources, And So Bungles Key Fact In Anti-Obama Column — Bill Kristol's New York Times column about Barack Obama this morning contains a major, prejudicial error. — Paragraph five: … The error is in trusting the source without checking.

William Kristol / New York Times:

Generation Obama? Perhaps Not. — Sunday evening, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner held a “Generation Obama” fund-raiser at Boston's Rumor Nightclub. In case you're not up on the Boston club scene, I should tell you that Rumor “brings together the sexiest and hippest people from around the globe” …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Fox News, michellemalkin.com, Don Surber, Shakesville, Naked Politics, Political Machine, Scared Monkeys, NewsBusters.org and Publius Pundit

Rasmussen Reports:

Just 8% Have Favorable Opinion of Pastor Jeremiah Wright — Pastor Jeremiah Wright, who has become part of the national political dialogue in recent days, is viewed favorably by 8% of voters nationwide. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 58% have an unfavorable view …

Discussion: Hot Air, TPM Election Central and Gateway Pundit

Ronald Kessler / NewsMax.com:

Washington Insider with Ronald Kessler — Obama Attended Hate America Sermon — Contrary to Senator Barack Obama's claim that he never heard his pastor Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. preach hatred of America, Obama was in the pews last July 22 when the minister blamed the “white arrogance” …

Discussion: The New Republic, The Corner, Jules Crittenden, Hot Air, Newsweek, Political Byline, Top of the Ticket, FREEDOM EDEN, Israpundit and Classical Values

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

I Don't Know What You Did Last Summer — Barack catches a break [but Ambinder and Sully need to give me a break - see below] - the NewsMax reporter who claimed Obama was in the church nodding in agreement during yet another of Jeremiah Wright's speeches has a space-time problem. From NewsMax:

Discussion: Power Line, The Strata-Sphere, Redstate, The Campaign Spot, Fausta's blog, The Other McCain and Hot Air

Faiz / Think Progress: Kristol commits major error in NYT column.

Wall Street Journal:
Obama Under Fire As Personal Ties Stir Controversy

Discussion: Dick Polman's American Debate, New York Times and The Page

USA Today: Obama faces questions over ties to controversial minister

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The B Word — O.K., here it comes: The unthinkable is about to become the inevitable. — Last week, Robert Rubin, the former Treasury secretary, and John Lipsky, a top official at the International Monetary Fund, both suggested that public funds might be needed to rescue the U.S. financial system.

Discussion: Megan McArdle, The Newshoggers, Washington Monthly, The Glittering Eye, The Smirking Chimp, The American Mind, TPMCafe, The Peking Duck, The Democratic Daily, Brilliant at Breakfast, AMERICAblog, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, The Mahablog, Corrente and Connecting.the.Dots

Wall Street Journal:

The Buck Stops Where? — In the credit market panic that began in August, we have now reached the point of maximum danger: A global run on the dollar that could become a rout. As the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee prepares to meet tomorrow, this should be its major concern.

Discussion: American Spectator and Donklephant

Reuters:
Bear Stearns Chairman Played Cards Amid Crisis-WSJ

Discussion: Shakesville, Eschaton, First Draft and Matthew Yglesias

Washington Post:
Fed Takes Broad Action to Avert Financial Crisis

Discussion: Associated Press, TownHall Blog and Reason Magazine

Andrew Ross Sorkin / New York Times:
JP Morgan Pays $2 a Share for Bear Stearns

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, CNNMoney.com, Think Progress, Washington Post, The Lede, Redstate, New York Magazine, Guardian Unlimited, Prairie Weather, Law Blog, Guardian, The American Scene, DealBook, Washington Monthly, Pressing Issues and The Moderate Voice

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard / Telegraph:
Foreign investors veto Fed rescue

Discussion: Sadly, No! and Vox Popoli

Athenae / First Draft:
It's A Small Crime

Discussion: Liberal Fascism

Scarecrow / Firedoglake:
Bush Is Becoming Hoover; Where is FDR?

Discussion: New York Times, Boston Globe, The Confluence and The American Mind

New York Times:
U.S. Markets Volatile After Fed Actions

Discussion: I Am TRex, Gothamist and DownWithTyranny!

Ron Fournier / Associated Press:

ON DEADLINE: Obama walks arrogance line — WASHINGTON - Arrogance is a common vice in presidential politics. A person must be more than a little self-important to wake up one day and say, “I belong in the Oval Office.” — But there's a line smart politicians don't cross — somewhere between …

Discussion: TownHall Blog and MSNBC

Zogby:
Zogby Poll: U.S. Wants McCain to Answer the Phone

Discussion: Wake up America and Comments from Left Field

Jill Zuckman / The Swamp:
Clinton: McCain would keep troops in Iraq 100 years

Discussion: Jonathan Martin's Blogs and Ben Smith's Blogs

Detroit News:

Legislation for do-over is in limbo — Obama must agree to repeat election before bill is written — LANSING — State lawmakers looking at a Democratic presidential primary redo in Michigan appear to be locked in a standoff heading into a crucial week: Legislative leaders say the U.S …

Discussion: Redstate and TPM Election Central

Lesley Clark / MiamiHerald.com:

Democrats unable to agree on Florida do-over — The ongoing problem of how to resolve Florida's outsider status in the presidential race continued to divide Democrats. — AIM — lclark@MiamiHerald.com — As the Florida Democratic Party gets ready to decide Monday whether to pull …

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, MyDD, JammieWearingFool and The Page

Jeane MacIntosh / New York Post:

I WAS MCG AND WIFE'S THREE-WAY SEX STUD: EX-DRIVER — A former driver and aide to former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey yesterday made the bombshell claim that Dina Matos McGreevey must have always known her husband was gay - because he was the other man in bed with them.

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, New Jersey Online, New York Magazine, Gothamist, JammieWearingFool and PageSix.com

Scott Helman / Boston Globe:

Many voting for Clinton to boost GOP — Seek to prolong bitter battle — For a party that loves to hate the Clintons, Republican voters have cast an awful lot of ballots lately for Senator Hillary Clinton: About 100,000 GOP loyalists voted for her in Ohio, 119,000 in Texas, and about 38,000 in Mississippi, exit polls show.

Discussion: TPMCafe, TPM Election Central and PoliGazette

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:

Fateful Choice on Iraq Army Bypassed Debate — BAGHDAD — When President Bush convened a meeting of his National Security Council on May 22, 2003, his special envoy in Iraq made a statement that caught many of the participants by surprise. In a video presentation from Baghdad …

Discussion: Sic Semper Tyrannis 2008, TPMCafe, TPMMuckraker and Democrats.com

Peter Wehner / Commentary:

The Religious Left — For the last quarter-century, the MSM has focused almost all of its coverage on faith on the religious Right. One of the consequences of all the attention being given to the hate-filled sermons by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright is that it will draw attention to the religious Left in America.

Matthew Hay Brown / The Swamp:

Irish PM: Clinton “hugely helpful” in Northern Ireland — When Irish eyes are smiling ... you'll find an American politician angling for a photo op. And so President Bush, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Hillary Clinton all are taking their turns today with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern …

Discussion: Anne Schroeder's Blogs