memeorandum: McCain Conflates Shiite Iran And Sunni Al Qaeda, Needs To Be Corrected By Lieberman (Ali/Think Progress)

5:10 PM ET, March 18, 2008

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OBAMA SPEECH IN FULL: A MORE PERFECT UNION — “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.” — Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy.

Discussion: Power Line, protein wisdom, The Corner, Crooks and Liars, Clive Crook, The Huffington Post, The Daily Dish, Hot Air, TownHall Blog, The New Republic, TalkLeft, Rocky Mountain News, Althouse, Commentary, Ross Douthat, Little Green Footballs, Will Wilkinson, Redstate, Lean Left, Patterico's Pontifications, The Sundries Shack, The Reaction, Right Wing Nut House, Confederate Yankee, NYCweboy, Left in the West, The Strata-Sphere, Fausta's blog, Riehl World View, Taylor Marsh, Macsmind, Donklephant, The Carpetbagger Report, Pajamas Media, MyDD, Balloon Juice, Sweetness & Light, The Caucus, Dick Polman's American Debate, A Blog For All, Outside The Beltway, NO QUARTER, Pam's House Blend, PoliBlog (TM), American Princess, Wake up America, Pandagon, QandO, Brave New Films blog, Classical Values, OPENERS, Blog P.I., JustOneMinute, Polimom Says, Roger Ailes, Ankle Biting Pundits, Firedoglake and Joe. My. God.

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

The Speech — Alas, I cannot give a more considered response right now as I have to get on the road. But I do want to say that this searing, nuanced, gut-wrenching, loyal, and deeply, deeply Christian speech is the most honest speech on race in America in my adult lifetime.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Taegan Goddard's …, MSNBC, The Opinionator, Ben Smith's Blogs, Hotline On Call, Tom Watson, Brilliant at Breakfast, StephenBainbridge.com and NYCweboy

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:

Full Text Of Obama's Big Race Speech: A Big Break With Political Precedent — We have a full transcript of Obama's big race speech for you after the jump. He's set to deliver it in Philadelphia within moments. — Reading it, you can't escape the fact that in various ways it represents …

Discussion: Liberal Values, Open Left, Talking Points Memo, Booman Tribune, American Street and Democratic Strategist

Charles Murray / The Corner:

Have I missed the competition? — I read the various posts here on “The Corner,” mostly pretty ho-hum or critical about Obama's speech. Then I figured I'd better read the text (I tried to find a video of it, but couldn't). I've just finished. Has any other major American politician ever …

Discussion: Ross Douthat and StephenBainbridge.com

Mark Murray / MSNBC:

FIRST THOUGHTS: OBAMA'S BIG SPEECH — From Chuck Todd and Mark Murray — *** Obama's big speech: The last time a top presidential candidate gave an important speech on a sensitive topic was last December, when Mitt Romney talked about American faith. His speech drew favorable reviews …

Discussion: MyDD and Trailhead

Shelby Steele / Wall Street Journal:

The Obama Bargain — Geraldine Ferraro may have had sinister motives when she said that Barack Obama would not be “in his position” as a frontrunner but for his race. Possibly she was acting as Hillary Clinton's surrogate. Or maybe she was simply befuddled by this new reality …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, The Root, No More Mister Nice Blog, Debbie Schlussel, baldilocks, Dr. Sanity and Too Sense

John Derbyshire / The Corner:

Obama's Lies — Not so much lies as a sort of slippery sleight-of-mouth. I'm starting to really dislike Obama. … Segregation was not “the law of the land” in the 1950s. It was the law in a minority of states. … If, as Obama seems to be claiming, those are the sentiments …

Discussion: The New Republic, Hot Air and Reason Magazine

Ben Smith / The Politico:

The speech — He hasn't started speaking yet here in Philly, but Drudge just busted the embargo, so I've posted the text after the jump. — It's quite a speech: autobiographical, embracing complexity, and answering questions about Wright — whose most offensive words, he says …

Discussion: Shakesville, The Confluence and Reason Magazine

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:

CHECKING IN WITH THE OTHER SIDE....I thing we can safely assume that Barack Obama's supporters will all swoon over his speech today. And why not? It was, as usual for him, a helluva good address: intelligent, sane, sympathetic, and broadly appealing. He didn't, however …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Hullabaloo and The Carpetbagger Report

Confederate Yankee:
Barack's “Race” Speech

Discussion: Hot Air, TownHall Blog and Spin Cycle

Stanley Kurtz / The Corner:
MoveOn Move In — Obama's speech was thoughtful, powerful …

Discussion: TBogg

The New Republic: John McWhorter Reviews Obama's Speech

ABCNEWS: Obama Calls Pastor's Remarks ‘Divisive’

Charlotte Hays / The Corner:
The Politics of Grievance — Obama is no longer a post-racial candidate.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and The Moderate Voice

Marc Ambinder:
Reflections On Obama's Speech

Discussion: Bluey Blog

Jay Rosen / PressThink:
Obama tells the Best Political Team on Television: You Have a Choice

Discussion: MoJoBlog, TPM Election Central and David Corn

Mark Hemingway / The Corner:
About Obama's Speech

Discussion: James Fallows, The Daily Dish and American Spectator

CNN:
Obama: We can move beyond some of our racial wounds

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Fox News, Ben Smith's Blogs and Associated Press

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
The Politics of Obama's Speech

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report

Frank Newport / Gallup:
Obama Seeks to Bridge Racial Divide Among Democrats

Discussion: Examining Presidential …

Pete Abel / The Moderate Voice: ‘Not This Time’ — I watched most of Obama's speech live on CNN.com.

The Politico:
Obama heard controversial comments

Discussion: The Campaign Spot, Hot Air and National Review

Kathryn Jean Lopez / The Corner:
Re: Closer to Wright?

Discussion: Power Line

Michael Goldfarb / Weekly Standard Blog:
Obama as Mortal: Blame America

Discussion: Washington Post and Ben Smith's Blogs

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Assessing Race in America, Obama Calls Pastor Divisive

Discussion: Guardian Unlimited, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, Trailhead and FREEDOM EDEN

Washington Post:

A McCain Gaffe in Jordan — AMMAN, Jordan — Sen. John McCain, traveling in the Middle East to promote his foreign policy expertise, misidentified in remarks Tuesday which broad category of Iraqi extremists are allegedly receiving support from Iran. — He said several times that Iran …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, The Moderate Voice, The Newshoggers, Marc Ambinder, Washington Monthly, AMERICAblog, Obsidian Wings, The Page, Wonkette, The New Republic, Hot Air, The Carpetbagger Report, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos and Eschaton

Ali / Think Progress:
McCain Conflates Shiite Iran And Sunni Al Qaeda, Needs To Be Corrected By Lieberman

Discussion: Townhall.com, Associated Press, Hullabaloo and MyDD

Marc Ambinder:

More On Imminent Death Of Michigan Primary.... This dispatch from the MIRS News Service in Michigan (no link)

Discussion: Open Left, Ben Smith's Blogs and Daily Kos

WWJ:
Democratic Re-do Likely Won't Happen

Discussion: TalkLeft and TPM Election Central

CBS News:

CBS Poll: Pastor's Remarks Hurt Obama — While Most Are Unaffected By Controversy, A Third Of Those Who Have Heard About It View Obama Less Favorably — (CBS) A new CBS News poll finds that while most voters who have heard at least something about controversial statements …

Discussion: Pollster.com

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Clinton widens leads over Obama in Pa., poll finds

Discussion: Associated Press

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:

For immediate release — The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to lower its target for the federal funds rate 75 basis points to 2-1/4 percent. — Recent information indicates that the outlook for economic activity has weakened further. Growth in consumer spending has slowed and labor markets have softened.

Discussion: The Swamp, MSNBC, Guardian, Polimom Says, Economist's View and Portfolio