memeorandum: Bush Approved Meetings on Interrogation Techniques (Dan Eggen/Washington Post)

11:45 AM ET, April 12, 2008

Top Items:

Barack Obama: What's the matter with Pennsylvania? — To briefly recap: Barack Obama made comments to limousine liberals at a San Francisco fundraiser that people in small town Pennsylvania (and in the Midwest, though Obama is wrong to place PA there) are “bitter” and “cling to guns or religion …

Discussion: TownHall Blog and QandO

Hindrocket / Power Line:

IS OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN OVER? — It may be. I don't see how anyone known to have uttered these words can be elected President: … Barack Obama's arrogance has been evident for some time, and it's no shock, perhaps, to learn that that he shares this bigoted opinion, common among urban liberals, of people who live in “small towns.”

Discussion: Reason Magazine, Althouse, Booman Tribune, USA Today, NO QUARTER, TownHall Blog, Independent Liberal, Shakesville, Stumper, Sister Toldjah, Macsmind, Buck Naked Politics, Best of the Blogs, Jules Crittenden, The Huffington Post, The Campaign Spot, Corrente and Rachel Lucas

Marc Ambinder:

Obama's “Gaffe:” Some Perspective — We're dealing tonight with a classic Kinsleyian “gaffe,” where a candidate says what he means and then is forced to account for it. Let's separate, for the moment, the politics of Obama's words from the argument he is making.

Discussion: The Gun Toting Liberal™, Commentary and protein wisdom

Mark Halperin / The Page:

Transcript of Obama's Remarks at San Francisco Fundraiser Sunday — OBAMA: So, it depends on where you are, but I think it's fair to say that the places where we are going to have to do the most work are the places where people are most cynical about government.

Discussion: Power Line, No More Mister Nice Blog, Scared Monkeys and Brendan Nyhan

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:

Opponents Call Obama Remarks ‘Out of Touch’ — TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — As Senator Barack Obama sought to broaden his appeal to voters in southern Indiana on Friday, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain separately criticized him as being out of touch with the middle class …

Discussion: JustOneMinute and Big Brass Blog

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The Red-Blue Divide — These remarks by Obama in San Francisco are …

Discussion: Argghhh!, Donklephant, marbury, Irish Trojan in Tennessee, The Volokh Conspiracy, Open Left, The Swamp, TownHall Blog and The Jed Report

Marc Ambinder:
Obama In His Own Words

Discussion: Hot Air, Below The Beltway and The Sundries Shack

Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit.com:
MORE ON OBAMA'S SMALL-TOWN SCREWUP, from Tom Maguire.

Discussion: Commentary, Bill Hobbs and Chicago Boyz

Isaac Chotiner / The New Republic:
Obama's None-Too-Bright Remarks

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
I Was Born In A Small Town

Discussion: Don Surber, TigerHawk, American Spectator and Gateway Pundit

Ace / Ace of Spades HQ:
Obama To Rural Pennsylvanians: Vote For Me, You Corncob-Smokin' …

Discussion: This ain't Hell …, Vodkapundit, Power Line, FOX Embeds, Slog and Maggie's Farm

Oliver Willis:
Media For McCain: Full Context Of Obama's Comments On Rural Life

Discussion: Don Surber, Balloon Juice, Liberal Values, Middle Earth Journal, Redstate and Ben Smith's Blogs

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
This is why rookies shouldn't run for President

Discussion: The Corner, Power Line, The Swamp, The Other McCain, Dean's World, Ed Driscoll.com, Infidels Are Cool, Maggie's Farm, Weekly Standard Blog, Roger L. Simon, The Democratic Daily and The News Buckit

Marc Ambinder:
Obama Responds To Criticism

Discussion: Pajamas Media and American Street

David Sirota / The Huffington Post:
McCain Said It, Before He Attacked It — John McCain's campaign …

Discussion: Bang the Drum and Don Surber

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:
McCain camp hammers Obama on small town comments

Jaketapper / Political Punch:
McCain, Clinton Bash Obama's “Small Town” Comments; Obama Campaign Responds

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, News Hounds, Political Radar, The American Conservative, Comments from Left Field, CNN, Pam's House Blend, The Jawa Report, ParaPundit, The Caucus, TPM Election Central and Political Machine

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Republicans Quickly Pounce on Obama Remarks

Discussion: Big Brass Blog, The Page, Redstate, Ben Smith's Blogs, NO QUARTER and Seeing the Forest

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
McCain aide hits Obama comment

Discussion: AMERICAblog, Cliff Schecter …, TalkLeft and Below The Beltway

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:

Iran Top Threat To Iraq, U.S. Says — Last week's violence in Basra and Baghdad has convinced the Bush administration that actions by Iran, and not al-Qaeda, are the primary threat inside Iraq, and has sparked a broad reassessment of policy in the region, according to senior U.S. officials.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Brilliant at Breakfast, Lawyers, Guns and Money, The Page and Balloon Juice

Helene Cooper / New York Times:
Iran Fighting Proxy War in Iraq, U.S. Envoy Says

Discussion: The Belmont Club and BLACKFIVE

Dan Eggen / Washington Post:

Bush Approved Meetings on Interrogation Techniques — President's Comments to ABC News Prove Top-Level Involvement in Allowing Harsh Coercion — President Bush said Friday that he was aware his top national security advisers had discussed the details of harsh interrogation tactics to be used on detainees.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Hullabaloo, Publius Endures, At-Largely, American Street and Emptywheel

Spencer S. Hsu / Washington Post:

Administration Set to Use New Spy Program in U.S. — Congressional Critics Want More Assurances of Legality — The Bush administration said yesterday that it plans to start using the nation's most advanced spy technology for domestic purposes soon, rebuffing challenges by House Democrats over the idea's legal authority.

Discussion: Buck Naked Politics

Michael Luo / New York Times:

Great Expectations for a Conservative Group Seem All but Dashed — The conservative group Freedom's Watch, headlined by two former senior White House officials, had been expected to be a deep-pocketed juggernaut in this year's presidential election, heralded by supporters on the right …

Discussion: The Caucus, American Power, Balloon Juice, Oliver Willis and TBogg

Julia Preston / New York Times:

Legal Immigrants, Until They Applied for Citizenship — SELINSGROVE, Pa. — Dr. Pedro Servano always believed that his journey from his native Philippines to the life of a community doctor in Pennsylvania would lead to American citizenship. — But the doctor, who has tended to patients …

Discussion: ImmigrationProf Blog and On Deadline

Pundit Review Radio / BLACKFIVE:

4th ID Soldiers Make Incredible Find — Sergeant Zach Mott of the 3rd BCT of the 4th ID wrote this story (and took the photo after the Jump):

Discussion: The Corner

Dan Froomkin / Washington Post:

Cheney on the Warpath Again? — Vice President Cheney went on right-wing talk radio yesterday with a dramatic new argument for preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons, casting the Iranian leadership as apocalyptic zealots who yearn for a nuclear conflagration.

Discussion: Connecting.the.Dots, missing links, White House, Wonk Room and Think Progress

Telegraph:

German staging of Verdi's A Masked Ball on 9/11 with naked cast in Mickey Mouse masks — By Harry de Quetteville in Berlin — A German opera house is to unveil a provocative new production staged in the ruins of New York's World Trade Centre. — It features naked pensioners and Mickey Mouse masks …