memeorandum: CHART OF THE DAY....This one comes from a report of the Justice … (Kevin Drum/Washington Monthly)

7:20 PM ET, June 24, 2008

Top Items:

Obama holds 12-point lead over McCain, poll finds — A Times/Bloomberg Poll says that in a two-man contest, 49% of respondents favor Barack Obama, while 37% support John McCain. With Ralph Nader and Bob Barr added to the mix, Obama holds 15-point edge. — » Discuss Article WASHINGTON …

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, The Swamp, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Reason Magazine, Top of the Ticket, Wonkette, Commentary, RADAMISTO, The Talent Show, TPM Election Central, Boston Globe, TIME.com, Real Clear Politics and Spin Cycle

WSJ.com:

With Clinton Out, More Boys on the Bus — Elizabeth Holmes reports on the McCain campaign. — In the decades since Timothy Crouse penned the famous campaign trail diary “Boys on the Bus,” the moniker has been amended to a more gender-friendly one. But on Monday in Phoenix the label was more than appropriate.

Discussion: The Corner

Richard Cohen / Washington Post:

McCain's Core Advantage — In politics, we're having a Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr kind of year. It was Karr, a French writer, who coined the phrase plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, which means, as Barack Obama has shown, that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, JustOneMinute, Washington Monthly, TPM Election Central, Commentary, TalkLeft, Sadly, No!, Obsidian Wings, Shakesville, Reason Magazine, Firedoglake, Needlenose, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Cogitamus and pandagon.net

Digby / Hullabaloo:

They Like Him, They Really Like Him — Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present the Constitutional Sell-out of the year award (brought to you by The Politico and the good people from Depends): … . — What a guy. Clearly, those who demand that the party should hew closer to the positions …

Discussion: The Politico, Crooks and Liars and DownWithTyranny!

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

FISA: Call Your Wobbly FISA Senator — It's no secret, the Senate is getting ready to follow the House's lead and screw us on FISA, letting telecom criminals off the hook. (For a real belly full of disgust, read this article on a preening Steny Hoyer in Politico. Did he write it himself?)

Discussion: Buck Naked Politics, Blue Girl, Red State and American Street

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Hoyer hails FISA bill as “a significant victory for the Democratic Party” — Just as Nancy Pelosi ran to Time to justify her support for the FISA bill, Steny Hoyer yesterday spouted his justifications to The Politico and said this: … In other words, Democrats achieved a “significant victory” …

Discussion: Confederate Yankee, Firedoglake, On Deadline, Daily Kos, Donklephant, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Wake up America, PointOfLaw Forum, Comments from Left Field and The Poor Man Institute

Lynn Sweet:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says —"I'm a victim of sexism myself all the time." — WASHINGTON—"I'm a victim of sexism myself all the time," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) discussing Tuesday morning whether sexism played a significant role in the defeat of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton …

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Taylor Marsh, StephenBainbridge.com, Hot Air and TIME.com

Washington Wire:
Pelosi Says More Debate on FISA Would Be ‘Healthy’

Discussion: Daily Kos and Hoffmania!

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Bush Paradox — Let's go back and consider how the world looked in the winter of 2006-2007. Iraq was in free fall, with horrific massacres and ethnic cleansing that sent a steady stream of bad news across the world media. The American public delivered a stunning electoral judgment …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, The Jawa Report, GINA COBB, Commentary, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Gateway Pundit, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Martini Revolution, The New Republic, Daily Pundit, The Daily Dish, The Mahablog, protein wisdom, No More Mister Nice Blog, Betsy's Page and Connecting.the.Dots

Joe Klein / Swampland:

Surge Protection — I think David Brooks has it essentially right here about Bush's stubborness—as opposed to his knowledge of strategy or tactics or the situation on the ground in Iraq—as the reason why he made the correct choice on Iraq in late 2006. But, as Brooks says, history is complicated …

Discussion: Power Line, Commentary, The New Republic and American Spectator

Peter Wehner / The Corner:
Even Now, Dems Seem Wholly Uninterested in the Outcome of Iraq

Discussion: alicublog, Commentary and American Street

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
GAO Report Faults Post-'Surge' Planning

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, Firedoglake, U.S. Government …, New York Times, Big Brass Blog, The Progress Report, ATTACKERMAN, TPMMuckraker, Balloon Juice, Rising Hegemon, The Glittering Eye, Intel Dump, RADAMISTO and JustOneMinute

Peter Wehner / The Corner: Joe Klein's “Divided loyalties”

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:

OBAMA/MCCAIN: ‘PSYCHOLOGICAL’ BENEFIT? — Yesterday, McCain admitted that his offshore drilling proposal would probably have mostly “psychological” benefits, NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy reports. At a town hall in Fresno that primarily focused on energy issues, McCain was asked a question …

Discussion: Think Progress, Wonk Room, The Carpetbagger Report, The Jed Report, Comments from Left Field and Matthew Yglesias

Maria Gavrilovic / CBS News:
Obama To Hammer McCain On Offshore Drilling “Gimmick”

Discussion: Don Surber and TigerHawk

Zachary Coile / San Francisco Chronicle:
Oil drilling question looms as election issue

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Bang the Drum

Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:

Report Sees Illegal Hiring Practices at Justice Department — WASHINGTON — Justice Department officials over the last six years illegally used “political or ideological” factors to hire new lawyers into an elite recruitment program, tapping law school graduates with conservative credentials …

Discussion: CNN, ACSBlog, Law Blog, Think Progress, On Deadline, Firedoglake, The Crypt's Blogs, Associated Press, The Carpetbagger Report, TalkLeft, Truthdig and ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:
CHART OF THE DAY....This one comes from a report of the Justice …

Discussion: The Swamp

Pamela Heisey / MAPLight.org:

SPOTLIGHT: Telco PACs Gave $8K to Dems Who Changed Their Vote on FISA — For Immediate Release: — HOUSE DEMS WHO CHANGED THEIR VOTE TO SUPPORT FISA BILL, GIVING IMMUNITY TO TELCOS, RECEIVED, ON AVERAGE, $8,359 IN PAC CONTRIBUTIONS FROM VERIZON, AT&T, AND SPRINT

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and DownWithTyranny!

Chris Frates / The Crypt's Blogs: Dems who flipped on FISA immunity see more telecom cash

Alex Kingsbury / US News:

Seizing Laptops and Cameras Without Cause — A controversial customs practice creates a legal backlash — Returning from a brief vacation to Germany in February, Bill Hogan was selected for additional screening by customs officials at Dulles International Airport outside Washington …

Jerry Seinfeld / New York Times:

Dying Is Hard. Comedy Is Harder. — THE honest truth is, for a comedian, even death is just a premise to make jokes about. I know this because I was on the phone with George Carlin nine days ago and we were making some death jokes. We were talking about Tim Russert and Bo Diddley and George said: “I feel safe for a while.

Ryan Grim / The Politico:

Retiring GOP reps frustrate leadership — House Republican leaders might be forgiven for thinking that retiring rank-and-file Republicans would soften the blow caused by their departures by casting some cost-free votes down the party line. — But they would be mistaken.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, The New Republic and Redstate