memeorandum: Senator Straight Talk Won't Go on the Record with Project Vote Smart (Jonathan Stein/MotherJones.com)

1:05 PM ET, April 8, 2008

Top Items:

McCain seems confused about al Qaeda again, suggests it's a 'sect of Shi'ites.' — During today's hearing with Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) questioned Petraeus on what he called “the major threat” of al Qaeda in Iraq.

Discussion: Firedoglake, MoJoBlog, democracyarsenal.org, Marc Ambinder, The Carpetbagger Report, Democratic National Committee, The Washington Independent and American Street

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:

Congress To Hear Of Gains In Iraq — Petraeus, Crocker To Face Impatient Lawmakers — In a reprise of their testimony last September, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker plan to tell Congress today and tomorrow that security has improved in Iraq and that the government …

Seumas Milne / Guardian:

Secret US plan for military future in Iraq — A confidential draft agreement covering the future of US forces in Iraq, passed to the Guardian, shows that provision is being made for an open-ended military presence in the country. — The draft strategic framework agreement between the US …

Discussion: A Tiny Revolution, Think Progress, Taylor Marsh, Democratic National Committee, Comments from Left Field, American Street and Mercury Rising

Michelle Malkin:

Petraeus on the Hill; Dems can't control Code Pinkos; Idiot Sen. Levin calls Petraeus “Admiral;” Update: Petraeus recommends 45-day pause on troop reductions in July; Update: Aggressive Levin heckles Petraeus, allows outside heckler to pile on; Update: Sen. Lieberman lashes back at “See no progress” Democrats

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Associated Press and Gateway Pundit

Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:

Testimony by General Will Test Candidates for President — WASHINGTON — Three presidential candidates and two very different views of Iraq will be on full display on Tuesday as Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Baghdad, testifies before the Senate in a marathon session of war and White House ambitions.

Discussion: The Swamp, Washington Post, New York Times, Jules Crittenden, The Crypt's Blogs, MSNBC, Los Angeles Times, The Caucus, Politics Nation, Wake up America and Associated Press

New York Times:
Attacks in Baghdad Spiked in March, U.S. Data Show

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, The Washington Independent and No More Mister Nice Blog

Mike Nizza / The Lede:
Watching the Iraq Hearings With Petraeus and Crocker

Discussion: New York Times, The Swamp, The Caucus, On Deadline and Danger Room

Frederick W. Kagan / National Review:
Why Iraq Matters — Losing wars is always bad.

Discussion: The Glittering Eye, Angry Bear and Gateway Pundit

Don Surber:
Just ask me — Question: How will senators react when Gen …

Discussion: INSTAPUTZ, The Caucus and The Fix

Martha Raddatz / ABCNEWS:

Surprising Political Endorsements By U.S. Troops — American Soldiers Speak Out About Their Presidential Endorsements — ABC's Martha Raddatz asked American soldiers in Iraq what issues are most important to them when looking at the presidential candidates.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Weekly Standard Blog, Buck Naked Politics, Think Progress, Redstate, The Corner, Hot Air, NewsBusters.org, TPM Election Central and Donklephant

Will Bunch / attytood.com:
ABC's big “surprise”: The actual troops don't want McCain — they want to come home

Discussion: Eschaton

Reagan Union / Quinnipiac University:

Obama Catching Up With Clinton In Pennsylvania, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; She's Losing Ground Even Among Women — Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is catching up with New York Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary and now trails 50 - 44 percent among likely primary voters …

Discussion: MSNBC, The Moderate Voice, The Swamp, The Caucus, Below The Beltway, New York Times, Spin Cycle, Fox News, Real Clear Politics, TPM Election Central, Hotline On Call and AMERICAblog

New York Times:

Shift at Top May Mean Shift in Tone for Clinton — WASHINGTON — “This isn't exactly what I was planning on when I woke up this morning,” Geoff Garin e-mailed Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton after a hasty weekend shake-up left him atop her campaign's strategy team. — Mrs. Clinton answered his dry humor in kind.

Discussion: NY Daily News, The Politico, Real Clear Politics, New York Post, MSNBC and The Washington Independent

E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
The Errors Haunting Clinton

Discussion: Washington Wire, Salon and Newsweek

Hillary Clinton / CNN:
Clinton says Penn controversy won't be damaging

Discussion: The Swamp and Ben Smith's Blogs

James Hider / Times of London:

Iraq: Al-Mahdi army offers to lay down its arms — Iraq's largest and most dangerous militia will voluntarily disband if Shia scholars advise its leader to do so, officials said yesterday — a dramatic move that could quell much of the fighting in the war-torn country.

Discussion: CNN, Associated Press, Harry's Place, The Corner, Right Wing Nut House, Outside The Beltway, The Strata-Sphere, CALIFORNIA YANKEE and Daily Pundit

Juan Cole / Informed Comment:
4 US Troops Killed; Hundreds Flee Baghdad Clashes; Ayatollahs Decline to Ban Militia

Discussion: Associated Press, Washington Monthly, CNN, American Footprints, Corrente and Hot Air

Shaun Mullen / The Moderate Voice: Wanted & Found: An Iraq War Bogeyman

NY Daily News:

Rush & Molloy: Bio - McCain swore oath at wife — Sen. John McCain's defenders are blasting a new biography that claims the White House hopeful once hurled the most vile of epithets at his wife, Cindy. — Democratic strategist Cliff Schecter claims in “The Real McCain” …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Huffington Post and The Raw Story

Washington Post:

The Sin of Speaking Truth — YET ANOTHER Democratic adviser is in trouble for having more common sense that his candidate — or at least, more than his candidate has the courage to admit having. — First there was Austan Goolsbee, Sen. Barack Obama's economic adviser …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Commentary and Betsy's Page

Los Angeles Times:
Obama and Clinton on trade

Discussion: New York Times and Reason Magazine

Michael J. Totten:

Builders of Nations — “This is my hardest deployment,” Marine Sergeant Cooley said as he unfastened his helmet and tossed it onto his bed. “We weren't trained for this kind of thing.” He's been shot at with bullets and mortars, and he's endured IED attacks on his Humvee …

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

FBI Data Transfers Via Telecoms Questioned — When FBI investigators probing New York prostitution rings, Boston organized crime or potential terrorist plots anywhere want access to a suspect's telephone contacts, technicians at a telecommunications carrier served with a government order can …

Discussion: protein wisdom, The Raw Story, The Impolitic and TPMMuckraker

Popular Mechanics:

The 10 Pieces of U.S. Infrastructure We Must Fix Now — No one can predict what bridge, levee or water main will fail next. But some problems are widely known, and work is long overdue. As PM's new special report makes blatantly clear, we need to begin rebuilding the nation's infrastructure somewhere.

Discussion: The Glittering Eye, Wonkette, The Agonist, Slog and QandO

Scott Horton / Harper's:

A Tale of Three Lawyers — On Thursday in the National Press Club in Washington, a crowd gathered to witness the presentation of the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling to Lieutenant Commander Matthew Diaz. The story of Matthew Diaz was chronicled in this space repeatedly (also here and here).

Discussion: Megan McArdle and Salon

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Iraq War Attitudes Politically Polarized — Republicans generally favor the war; Democrats oppose it — PRINCETON, NJ — Republicans reject the idea of a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, by a better than 2-to-1 margin, 65% to 32%. Democrats show an even greater margin …

Discussion: Salon and American Power