memeorandum: First Monday: Politics, The SCOTUS Term, And What It Means For Us All (Dahlia Lithwick/Firedoglake)

4:35 PM ET, July 7, 2008

Top Items:

Jesse Helms, White Racist — This column appeared in The Post Aug. 29, 2001 — one week after Jesse Helms, who died Friday, announced his retirement from the Senate. — (Have an idea for RePosted? Send it to reposted@washingtonpost.com.) — Those who believe that the “liberal press” …

Discussion: Ross Douthat, The Daily Dish, michellemalkin.com, NewsBusters.org, Booman Tribune, The Reaction, Jezebel and Confederate Yankee

Marc Thiessen / Washington Post:

The Jesse Helms You Should Remember — With the passing of Sen. Jesse Helms, the media have demonstrated one final time that they never fully understood the power or impact of this great man. Consider, for example, The Post's obituary of Helms; here are some things you would not learn about his life and legacy by reading it:

Discussion: Commentary, Swampland, Outside The Beltway, Fact-esque and democracyarsenal.org

Gateway Pundit:

DEM SHOCKER!!... Speaker Pelosi Was Sending Messages to FARC Terrorists While Undermining Colombian Government! — New information reveals that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was indirectly sending messages to the FARC. The Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is designated as a terrorist group by the US government.

Discussion: protein wisdom, Babalu Blog, Don Surber, Atlas Shrugs and JammieWearingFool

Mary Anastasia O'Grady / Wall Street Journal:

FARC's ‘Human Rights’ Friends — As we learn more about the Colombian military's daring hostage rescue last week, one detail stands out: In tricking FARC rebels into putting the hostages aboard a helicopter, undercover special forces simply told the comandantes that the aircraft was being loaned …

Discussion: EU Referendum and Stop The ACLU

Mark Murray / MSNBC:

WEBB DOESN'T WANT TO BE VP — From NBC's Mark Murray — Virginia Sen. Jim Webb just issued a statement from his Senate office saying that — “[u]nder no circumstances” — does he want to be considered as Obama's veep. “Last week I communicated to Sen. Obama and his presidential campaign …

Discussion: Eunomia

Ben Pershing / Capitol Briefing:

Webb Takes Himself Out of VP Race — Virginia Sen. Jim Webb has taken himself out of the running to be Barack Obama's vice presidential pick, telling the Democratic nominee's campaign that he would not accept an offer to join the ticket if one was forthcoming.

Chris Dodd / The Huffington Post:
Opponents of Retroactive Immunity Live To Fight Another Day

Discussion: Shopfloor

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

WE'LL GET BACK TO YOU ON THAT — I think we may have come to that moment, that quick turn of events, that encapsulates the fact that there is apparently no limit to the howlers and nonsense that John McCain can throw out and still not generate collective guffaws or even scrutiny from the national political press.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Political Machine, The Carpetbagger Report, Cogitamus and TPM Election Central

Marc Ambinder:
How Will McCain Balance The Budget?

Discussion: Obsidian Wings, Think Progress, The Caucus, Daily Kos, Political Machine and Talking Points Memo

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
MCCAIN'S PLAN TO CUT SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE, OR DRASTICALLY RAISE TAXES.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Hullabaloo and Think Progress

CBN.com:

Christian Group Launches “Abortion President” Campaign against Barack Obama — Oh my. The fight against Barack Obama on abortion has officially begun. The Christian Defense Coalition, who are known to shock folks from time to time, have come up with a new campaign called: “Barack Obama: The Abortion President”.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, Newshoggers.com, Newsweek Blogs, Wake up America, TIME.com, Political Punch, Wonkette, MSNBC, The Jed Report and Gateway Pundit

Rosa Prince / Telegraph:

Toddlers who dislike spicy food ‘racist’ — Toddlers who turn their noses up at spicy food from overseas could be branded racists by a Government-sponsored agency. — The National Children's Bureau, which receives £12 million a year, mainly from Government funded organisations …

Discussion: Moonbattery, Sister Toldjah, Debbie Schlussel, Outside The Beltway, The Sundries Shack and QandO

Agence France Presse:

Suicide attack on Indian embassy kills 41 in Afghanistan — KABUL (AFP) — A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the Indian embassy in Kabul on Monday, killing 41 people and wounding nearly 150 others in the deadliest attack here since the 2001 fall of the Taliban, officials said.

Discussion: Spin Cycle and Informed Comment

BBC:
Female bomber kills nine in Iraq

Discussion: Washington Post and Balloon Juice

New York Times:
Suicide Bomber Kills 40 in Afghan Capital

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, DownWithTyranny!, democracyarsenal.org, Firedoglake, abu muqawama and Boston Globe

Reuters:

Iraq says may agree timetable for U.S. withdrawal — BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki raised the prospect on Monday of setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops as part of negotiations over a new security agreement with Washington.

Discussion: Agence France Presse, Washington Monthly, Rising Hegemon, Firedoglake, QandO, Don Surber, The Crypt's Blogs, Democrats.com and Connecting.the.Dots

Associated Press:

Poll: Old used most for McCain, change for Obama — The top 10 answers people volunteered when asked to describe presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll released Monday. Included is the percentage of people who gave each answer.

Discussion: The Fix, Open Left and MSNBC

The Politico:
Obama's apple pie campaign

Discussion: The Next Right and The Swamp

Kelly Kennedy / Army Times:

Medic in famous photo dies after PTSD struggle — During the first week of the war in Iraq, a Military Times photographer captured the arresting image of Army Spc. Joseph Patrick Dwyer as he raced through a battle zone clutching a tiny Iraqi boy named Ali. — The photo was hailed as a portrait …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Balloon Juice and Crooks and Liars

Zogby:

Zogby Poll: Building Mo-bama! Democrat Leads McCain in Electoral College Tally, 273-158... The Democrat also leads 44% to 38% in the nationwide horserace test as Libertarian Bob Barr wins 6% — UTICA, New York - As the race for President passes the Independence Day holiday and heads toward …

Discussion: The Raw Story, THE GUN TOTING LIBERAL™, The Moderate Voice, American Spectator and The Swamp

William Kristol / New York Times:

So Where's Murphy? — From the gun clubs of Northern Virginia to the sports bars of Capitol Hill — wherever D.C.-area Republicans gather — you hear the question: — “Where's Murphy?” — “Murphy” is Mike Murphy, the 46-year-old G.O.P. strategist who masterminded John McCain's 2000 primary race …

Discussion: The Corner, Marc Ambinder, The New Republic, Weekly Standard Blog, Top of the Ticket, MSNBC, FP Passport, The Moderate Voice, TownHall Blog, Bark Bark Woof Woof and TBogg

Dahlia Lithwick / Firedoglake:

First Monday: Politics, The SCOTUS Term, And What It Means For Us All — [Today is the next installment of the First Monday series in conjunction with Alliance for Justice. We are pleased to have Slate's Dahlia Lithwick here to discuss the recently concluded SCOTUS term and its implications.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway

Ben / Think Progress:

Lieberman: After Iran wipes out Israel and ‘Arab countries’ in the Middle East, 'we're next!' — Yesterday on ABC's This Week, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I- CT), chief surrogate for Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) presidential campaign, complained that the “Iranians have consistently” refused to suspend its uranium enrichment.

Discussion: Eschaton