memeorandum: PA urges Palestinians to ‘return’ (Khaled Abu Toameh/Jerusalem Post)

8:25 AM ET, March 18, 2008

Top Items:

Gov. Paterson admits to sex with other woman for years — The thunderous applause was still ringing in his ears when the state's new governor, David Paterson, told the Daily News that he and his wife had extramarital affairs. — In a stunning revelation, both Paterson, 53, and his wife …

The Politico:

Race uproar offers test for Obama — Democrats who worry that Barack Obama is untested can put their concerns to rest. — The inflammatory rhetoric of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright has confronted Obama with the most severe test of his presidential campaign and, quite likely, of his public career.

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, MyDD, MSNBC, protein wisdom, marbury, Ben Smith's Blogs, American Power, The New Republic, Brendan Nyhan, JustOneMinute and The Page

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

The Testing Of Obama — Today will be a crucial day. It will be a day when we will discover if America's racial environment - and the emotions and feelings and anger and fears that it entails - can allow for a black man - with all that entails - to become president.

Discussion: protein wisdom

Gwen Ifill / The Page:

U.S. SENATOR, — Washington, D.C. — GWEN IFILL: Senator Obama, welcome. — SEN. OBAMA: Thank you. — MS. IFILL: The president said today we are in challenging times. You said yourself that we are teetering on the edge of a potential crisis. When you watch what the Fed …

Discussion: Boston Globe, Power Line and TPM Election Central

Press Association:

On Defensive, Obama Plans Talk on Race — Faced with what his advisers acknowledged was a major test to his candidacy, Senator Barack Obama sought on Monday to contain the damage from incendiary comments made by his pastor and prepared to address the issue of race more directly than at any other moment of his presidential campaign.

Discussion: TalkLeft, The Page, American Power and Associated Press

Ross Douthat:
Denominations and Double Standards

Discussion: Eunomia and The Corner

Lee Speigel / Political Radar:
Obama: Discussion Over Wright's ‘Stupid Statements’ Have Been a Distraction

Discussion: Spin Cycle and Cliff Schecter

John M. Broder / New York Times:

Florida Democrats Won't Vote Again, Official Says — WASHINGTON — The Florida Democratic Party chairwoman on Monday officially buried the possibility of redoing the state's disputed January presidential primary, saying there was no practical or affordable way to conduct a new election.

Discussion: Electoral-vote.com, PoliBlog (TM), TPM Election Central, Lawyers, Guns and Money and PoliGazette

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Florida gives up on re-vote — Florida Democratic chairwoman Karen Thurman sends out an angry email abandoning hope of a re-vote in the state: … This is a real setback for Hillary, who could have gotten both delegates, momentum, and — crucially — a stronger chance to claim a popular vote lead out of the revote.

Discussion: CNN, The Reaction, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, The Swamp, MSNBC, Megan McArdle, Jonathan Martin's Blogs and 2008Central.net

Kate Phillips / The Caucus:
Florida Democrats Concede Defeat on Mail-In Vote

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Fox News, My Left Wing, marbury, TalkLeft and Wampum

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:
Poll: Majority of Democrats prefer Obama

Discussion: MyDD, USA Today, TPM Election Central and The Page

Mark Halperin / The Page:
Florida Democratic Party Letter on Revote Decision

Discussion: TalkLeft, Trailhead, The Confluence and Salon

Brendan Farrington / Associated Press:
Florida Dems abandon mail-in vote plan

Discussion: Wake up America

Christopher Hitchens / Slate:

How Did I Get Iraq Wrong? — I DIDN'T. … An “anniversary” of a “war” is in many ways the least useful occasion on which to take stock of something like the Anglo-American intervention in Iraq, if only because any such formal observance involves the assumption that a) this is, in fact …

Discussion: alicublog, TigerHawk and Little Miss Attila

Ace / minx.cc:

WRIGHT: ISRAEL A “DIRTY WORD;” JOKES THAT BLACKS GET ALL QUIET AT MENTION OF ISRAEL — Scared to speak, he says. — Why? Would that be anti-semitism that many left-indoctrinated blacks are reluctant to to express out loud? — Well, Obama's 20 year political ally and spiritual mentor encourages …

Discussion: Fausta's blog, Gateway Pundit, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Israel Matzav

Michael Goldfarb / Weekly Standard Blog:
Wright on Israel

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs

New York Times:

Bombing Kills 43 in Shiite Holy City in Iraq — BAGHDAD — A bombing on Monday evening killed 43 people near the Imam Hussein shrine in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, penetrating one of the most secure perimeters in Iraq. Iraqi police officers at the scene and several witnesses …

Discussion: The Reaction, KnoxViews and Redstate

Jan Crawford / Legalities:

Dirty Words — Holy @$#%! Here's a surprise: The Supreme Court is going to hear some bad language. — The justices announced today they're going to take up the issue of profanity on network television—and whether it's OK for President Bush to use the “S-word” when he's talking about Hezbollah …

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications

Linda Greenhouse / New York Times: Justices Take Up On-Air Vulgarity Again

ABCNEWS:

Clinton Sticking to Iraq Plan, No Matter What — In Testy Exchange With Reporter, Clinton's Top Advisers Clarify Her Troop Withdrawal Plan — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is sticking to her plan to withdraw troops from Iraq, no matter what. — In a testy exchange with a reporter …

Discussion: Fact Checker and The Strata-Sphere

Forbes:

Memo To The Fed: Stop Those Rate Cuts — The markets rallied last Tuesday in response to the Fed's growing assistance to holders of mortgage-backed securities. Yet many onlookers are convinced that an aggressive cut in the federal funds rate at the upcoming March 18 meeting is still necessary to avoid a painful recession.

Discussion: Greg Mankiw's Blog and THE LIBERAL JOURNAL

Khaled Abu Toameh / Jerusalem Post:

PA urges Palestinians to ‘return’ — The Palestinian Authority is planning to mark Israel's 60th anniversary by calling on all Palestinians living abroad to converge on Israel by land, sea and air. — The plan, drawn by Ziad Abu Ein, a senior Fatah operative and Deputy Minister …

Discussion: Power Line and Atlas Shrugs

Fareed Zakaria / Newsweek:

Stuck in the Iraq Loop — We have achieved some security in Iraq. But we have not built a sustainable security architecture. … There is a paradox in the current situation in Iraq. We are told that the surge has worked brilliantly and violence is way down.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Reuters, Early Warning and Commentary

Chi-Chu Tschang / Business Week:

China Blacks Out Tibet News — YouTube was was down over the weekend, while Baidu and the Chinese versions of Yahoo! and MSN are sticking with the party line — Since riots broke out in Tibet last week, authorities have imposed martial law and tried to control the flow of information into and out of the region.

Discussion: The Peking Duck