memeorandum: Obama advisor Greg Craig: Adding insult to injury (Glenn Greenwald/Salon)

9:40 PM ET, July 2, 2008

Top Items:

McCain Orders Shake-Up of His Campaign — WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain's presidential campaign has gone through its second shake-up in a year as Mr. McCain, responding to Republican concerns that his candidacy was faltering, put Steve Schmidt in charge of day-to-day operations and abandoned …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The New Republic, Hot Air, Spin Cycle, Political Radar, TIME.com and Big Brass Blog

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:

Schmidt takes control of day-to-day operation — Steve Schmidt is taking over the day-to-day operation of John McCain's campaign, according to multiple campaign sources. — At a staff meeting in the campaign's Arlington, Va., headquarters this morning, campaign manager Rick Davis made the announcement about Schmidt's new role.

Discussion: The Trail, The New Republic, Marc Ambinder, The Nation, Swampland, Obsidian Wings, Taylor Marsh, Pajamas Media, The Fix, Open Left, The Raw Story, Salon, The Carpetbagger Report, DownWithTyranny! and Daily Kos

Marc Ambinder:
The McCain Campaign Aftershock

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Matthew Yglesias and Balloon Juice

Frank James / The Swamp: McCain campaign's new Karl Rove look

Mark Murray / MSNBC:
A MCCAIN CAMPAIGN SHAKEUP?

Discussion: Commentary and The New Republic

Simon Romero / New York Times:

15 Hostages Held by Colombian Rebels Are Rescued — CARACAS, Venezuela — Colombia announced Wednesday that it had rescued 15 captives held by the FARC rebel group, including Ingrid Betancourt, a former presidential candidate, and three American military contractors held by the guerrillas for more than four years.

Discussion: Fox News, Think Progress, The Caucus, Time, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Weekly Standard Blog, This ain't Hell …, Gateway Pundit, TIME.com and FP Passport

Dan Balz / The Trail:

McCain Travels South, Searching for Message — Why is John McCain in Colombia? — Is his commitment to free trade so deep that he needed not one foreign trip (to Canada last month) but two foreign trips to make that clear to people? Is the issue of free trade so central to the outcome …

Discussion: CBS News, Think Progress, Pajamas Media, DownWithTyranny! and New York Times

Mark Mooney / ABCNEWS:

McCain Dogged by Economy Comment — GOP Candidate Heads South to Colombia and Mexico — Sen. John McCain's comment from last year that he doesn't understand economics “as well as he should” has dogged him all the way to South America today during a foreign trip meant to burnish his standing …

Discussion: Political Punch, MSNBC, Political Radar, MyDD, Democratic National Committee and Daily Kos

Frank Bajak / Associated Press:
Betancourt: Rescue in Colombia was ‘impeccable’

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and PoliBlog (TM)

MSNBC:
Colombia: Betancourt, U.S. hostages rescued

Discussion: Corrente and Salon

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:

Well Known Liberal Blogger Shot In Washington, D.C. — Brian Beutler, a well-known progressive blogger, was shot and seriously injured during a mugging last night in Washington, D.C. — One bullet damaged Beutler's spleen, and he had it removed during surgery this morning at the Washington Hospital Center.

Discussion: American Spectator, American Prospect, Megan McArdle, Reason Magazine, The Washington Note, AMERICAblog News and Talking Points Memo

Addiestan / The Consortium Report:
Bullets Can't Stop Beutler From Cracking Wise

Discussion: MoJoBlog

Media Matters for America:

Fox News airs altered photos of NY Times reporters — On the July 2 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade labeled New York Times reporter Jacques Steinberg and editor Steven Reddicliffe “attack dogs,” claiming that Steinberg's June 28 article on the …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Gothamist, The Raw Story and Needlenose

Editor and Publisher:

Fox News Airs Revised Photos of ‘NYT’ Staffers — Sifton Calls It ‘Disgusting’ — NEW YORK The Fox News channel has gaiend wide attention today in the blogosphere for airing photos of two New York Times staff that appear to have been doctored to portray the Timesmen in an unflattering light.

Discussion: Think Progress

Michael Newsom / Sun Herald:

Cochran recounts McCain dustup with the Sandinistas — GULFPORT —Notably mild-mannered Republican Sen. Thad Cochran shocked many earlier this year with comments about John McCain's volatile temper. He has since mended fences with the GOP presidential nominee.

Discussion: Firedoglake, DownWithTyranny!, The Political Carnival, PERRspectives Blog, Hullabaloo and TalkLeft

Michael Newsom / Sun Herald:
DEVELOPING: McCAIN DENIES COCHRAN STORY

Discussion: Cliff Schecter

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:
Thad Cochran not helping the cause

Discussion: Associated Press and TalkLeft

Washington Wire:
McCain Denies Senator's Account of 1987 Sandinista Meeting

Discussion: Political Punch

Zev Chafets / New York Times:

Late-Period Limbaugh — At one time, Limbaugh did his program from a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper he dubbed, with tongue-in-cheek grandiosity, the Excellence in Broadcasting Building. These days, he mostly broadcasts out of a studio in Palm Beach, Fla., which he calls the Southern Command …

Discussion: Think Progress, Silicon Alley Insider, JammieWearingFool, The Radio Equalizer and NewsBusters.org

James Gerber / Political Radar:

Obama Fist Bump Refusal? Not So Fast... ABC News' Sunlen Miller Reports: Senator Obama received critical press yesterday for refusing to give a boy a fist bump while touring the Eastside Community Ministry in Ohio. — According to Tuesday's press pool report, Obama denied the boy, saying …

Discussion: CNN, TIME.com, The Trail, Spin Cycle, New York Magazine, The Caucus and FOX Embeds

Michael Scherer / Swampland:

Christian Conservatives Uniting Behind McCain — At a meeting Tuesday in Denver, about 100 conservative Christian leaders from around the country agreed to unite behind the candidacy of John McCain, a politician they have long distrusted, marking the latest in a string of movement that bodes …

Discussion: Jonathan Martin's Blogs, Hot Air, Wake up America, Stop The ACLU and TIME.com

U.S. Newswire:

President Bush Boosts Porn Industry With Economic Stimulus Plan, According to AIMRCo — Contact: Kirk Mishkin of AIMRCo, +1-646-552-4754, kirk@aimrco.com — An unforeseen and surprising beneficiary of the Economic Stimulus Plan, a plan that George Bush contends will “boost our economy …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Silicon Alley Insider

Amanda / Think Progress:
Bush Stimulates The Porn Industry With His Economic Package

Discussion: The LA Times President … and Digg

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Obama advisor Greg Craig: Adding insult to injury — (updated below) — In today's New York Times, James Risen — who won the Pulitzer Prize for exposing Bush's illegal NSA spying program — has an article reporting on Obama supporters who are criticizing Obama for his FISA reversal …

Discussion: American Street, TalkLeft, No More Mister Nice Blog and NewsBusters.org

Andy Borowitz / The Huffington Post:

Liberal Bloggers Accuse Obama of Trying to Win Election — The liberal blogosphere was aflame today with new accusations that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) is trying to win the 2008 presidential election. — Suspicions about Sen. Obama's true motives have been building over the past few weeks …

Discussion: Eunomia

Goldy / HorsesAss.Org:

Help Darcy get her house in order... and ours — Photo by ELLEN M. BANNER/THE SEATTLE TIMES — There are lots of great progressive politicians, but when the P-I's Gregory Roberts asked me why the national netroots had so enthusiastically embraced Darcy Burner, I replied: “She's one of us.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Group News Blog, MyDD, Hullabaloo, Pacific Views and American Power

The Seattle Times:
Screams of Burner's son led to family's escape

Discussion: The Crypt's Blogs, HorsesAss.Org, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, SteveAudio and Daily Kos

Ed Hornick / CNN:

Obama to lay out ambitious national service plan — (CNN) — Continuing his week-long focus on patriotism and national service, Sen. Barack Obama will lay out a plan Wednesday to create new volunteer and service opportunities to address some of the nation's most pressing challenges.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, protein wisdom, The Swamp, Lonewacko, The Moderate Voice and KIKO'S HOUSE