memeorandum: McCain: Most Troops Will Be Home by 2013 (Elisabeth Bumiller/The Caucus)

1:40 PM ET, May 15, 2008

Top Items:

Bush suggests Obama wants ‘appeasement’ of terrorists — JERUSALEM (CNN) - In a particularly sharp blast from halfway around the world, President Bush suggested Thursday that Sen. Barack Obama and other Democrats are in favor of “appeasement” of terrorists in the same way U.S. leaders appeased Nazis in the run-up to World War II.

Think Progress:

Lieberman On Bush Comparing Democrats To Nazi-Appeasers: ‘The President Got It Exactly Right’ — Delivering an address before the Israeli Knesset today, President Bush said that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Democrats favor a policy of appeasement toward terrorists.

Discussion: The Caucus, Blue Girl, Red State, Cliff Schecter, AMERICAblog and The Campaign Spot

Ed OKeefe / Political Radar:

Obama Takes Issue With Bush Foreign Policy Speech — ABC News' Ed O'Keefe Reports: The Obama campaign is taking issue with a comment President Bush made while speaking to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's statehood. — “Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Jawa Report, The Corner, Confederate Yankee and Unfogged

Liz Sidoti / Associated Press:

Obama says Bush falsely accuses him of appeasement — WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama accused President Bush on Thursday of launching a “false political attack” with a comment about appeasing terrorists and radicals. — The Illinois senator interpreted the remark …

Discussion: MSNBC

Wall Street Journal:

Prepared Text of Bush's Knesset Speech — As Prepared for Delivery: Remarks by the President to Members of the Knesset — Shalom. Laura and I are thrilled to be back in Israel. We have been deeply moved by the celebrations of the past two days. And this afternoon …

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Redstate, Israel Matzav and American Street

Will Bunch / Philly.com:

President Bush committed political treason today — I've seen a lot of sad things in American politics in my lifetime — the resignation of a president who became a national disgrace after he oversaw a campaign of break-ins and cover-ups, another who circumvented the Constitution to trade arms for hostages …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Alternate Brain and Emptywheel

Daniel W. Reilly / The Crypt's Blogs:

Biden: Bush's comments were ‘bulls**t’ — Sen. Joe Biden, piling on to Democratic complaints about President Bush's speech in Israel today: — “This is bulls**t, this is malarkey. This is outrageous, for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, to sit in the Knesset …

Daniel W. Reilly / The Crypt's Blogs:

Pelosi: Bush comments ‘beneath the dignity of the office’ — Democratic House leaders are calling out President Bush for a speech in Israel in which he seemed to suggest that Sen. Barack Obama wants the United States to “negotiate with terrorists.” — In his speech, Bush said …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, TownHall Blog and The Swamp

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
BUSH'S ‘NAZI’ SWIPE AT OBAMA

Discussion: TownHall Blog

White House:
President Bush Addresses Members of the Knesset

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Gateway Pundit

Kate Phillips / The Caucus:
Bush's Remarks in Israel Rile Obama

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Trail, Commentary, Swampland and New York Times

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:

The GOP Must Stand for Something — Tuesday's election results highlighted challenges for both Democrats and Republicans. — Republicans received a hard shot in Mississippi. Greg Davis (for whom I campaigned and who was a well-qualified candidate) narrowly lost a special congressional election …

Discussion: The Swamp, The Moderate Voice, Balloon Juice, Riehl World View, Redstate, GregsOpinion.com, LewRockwell.com Blog and Outside The Beltway

New York Times:
Republican Election Losses Stir Fall Fears

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, Eschaton, TPM Election Central, DownWithTyranny!, No More Mister Nice Blog, TBogg, The Page, Progress Illinois, Electoral-vote.com, PoliGazette, Cotton Mouth, BAGnewsNotes and The Swamp

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Agitated? Irritable? Hostile? Aggressive? Impulsive? Restless?

Discussion: Blog entry, The Carpetbagger Report and Bluestem Prairie

Elisabeth Bumiller / The Caucus:

McCain: Most Troops Will Be Home by 2013 — Updated | 10:59 a.m. COLUMBUS, Ohio — Senator John McCain declared on Thursday that most American troops will be home from Iraq by 2013 and that Iraq will be a functioning democracy with only “spasmodic” episodes of violence …

Discussion: Think Progress, Washington Monthly, American Spectator, Donklephant, PoliPundit.com and Drudge Retort

John McCain 2008:
Remarks By John McCain in Columbus, Ohio

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, Blogs of War and The Campaign Spot

Michael Scherer / Swampland:
McCain Lays Out “Hope” Timetable For Iraq

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Matthew Yglesias and The Carpetbagger Report

The Politico:

Six ways the GOP can save itself — Things are so ugly for the members of the GOP right now, it's worth pondering their political mortality: Put bluntly, can this party be saved? — We talked to some of the smartest minds in Republican politics, and their prognosis is pretty grim.

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, Hot Air and Doug Ross

Jim Tankersley / The Swamp:
Alarm bells for House GOP

Discussion: Liberty Street, The Other McCain and Comments from Left Field

The Politico:
GOP cancer: Party could lose 20 more seats

Discussion: Hot Air, The Strata-Sphere, Macsmind, Vox Popoli, MyDD, Donklephant and Washington Post

Gail Collins / New York Times:

A Victory Plan for Hillary — Hillary Clinton scored a whopping victory in West Virginia. Trounced Barack Obama, who is consistently described as the inevitable presidential nominee. — Hard to know exactly what to do with this information. — Ever since the North Carolina primary …

Discussion: Political Perceptions and FiveThirtyEight.com

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Clinton's 11th-hour push

Discussion: New York Times, The Caucus and Washington Post

Strange Bedfellows:

McDermott endorses Obama — Rep. Jim McDermott on Thursday became the fourth U.S. House member from Washington to endorse Barack Obama for president. — The Seattle Congressman told the P-I's Joel Connelly that Obama is his pick because “I am confident as president he will end the war in Iraq and bring our sons and daughters home.”

Discussion: TPM Election Central and 2008 Democratic …

Brad Wilmouth / NewsBusters.org:

Olbermann Accuses Bush of ‘Murderous Deceit,’ Should ‘Shut the Hell Up’ — On Wednesday's Countdown, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann's latest “Special Comment” attack on President Bush accused the President of “panoramic and murderous deceit,” and of “creating” an America that …

Discussion: MSNBC, The Raw Story, Little Green Footballs, The Other McCain and Media Blog

Washington Post / The Trail:

NARAL Affiliates Question Obama Endorsement — NARAL Pro-Choice America affiliates in key swing and primary states are openly distancing themselves from the decision by NARAL Pro-Choice America to endorse Illinois Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to be the Democratic nominee for president.

Discussion: TalkLeft, TPM Election Central and Salon

Cinque Henderson / The New Republic:

Maybe We Can't — The black case for Obama-skepticism. — Ninety percent of black Democrats support Barack Obama. So that might leave an observer wondering: What the hell is up with that other 10 percent? Are they stupid? Do they hate their own race? Do they not understand the historical import of the moment?

Discussion: Oliver Willis, TownHall Blog, Sister Toldjah, Commentary, Stumper and neo-neocon

Robert D. Novak / Washington Post:

A Column's 45 Years — On May 15, 1963, Rowland Evans and I published our first column. That makes today the 45th anniversary (the first 30 years under the Evans & Novak byline) of the nation's current longest-running syndicated political column. — Until his death Feb. 27 …