memeorandum: ACCEPTING CARLY'S LIES! … (The Daily Howler)

10:30 PM ET, July 8, 2008

Top Items:

Michael Powell / The Caucus:

Obama Addresses Critics on ‘Centrist’ Moves — POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. — Barack Obama had heard quite enough of the complaints that he is pirouetting, leaping, lurching even, toward the political center. — He is at heart, he told a crowd in suburban Atlanta, a pretty progressive guy …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Open Left, New York Times, Democrats.com, The Trail, Commentary, The Impolitic, TIME.com, The Carpetbagger Report, The Daily Dish and The Jed Report

Yuval Levin / The Corner:

Refined Refinements — Barack Obama today tried to address directly the question of his shifts to the right in recent weeks. As he often does when answering criticism, he tried to move the question to a level of abstraction well beyond that of the actual substance at issue, and so, he insists:

Discussion: Sister Toldjah and Flopping Aces

New York Post:
BARACK'S PATSIES — OBAMA'S ASTOUNDING BAD FAITH

Discussion: Eunomia, Real Clear Politics, Commentary and The Next Right

Michael D. Shear / The Trail:

McCain Responds to Maliki's Call for an Iraq Withdrawal Timetable — Sen. John McCain, who has repeatedly derided anyone who advocated a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, now suddenly finds himself in a political box as the American-backed Iraqi leadership yesterday raised the prospect of exactly that.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Marc Ambinder, democracyarsenal.org, The Art of the Possible, Spin Cycle, Ben Smith's Blogs, Forbes and AMERICAblog News

M. Duss / Wonk Room:

Iraqi National Security Adviser: No, Actually We Are Talking About A Date For Withdrawal — Yesterday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki raised the possibility that a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. forces would be part of a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, American Footprints and Washington Post

Ernesto Londoño / Washington Post:
Iraqi Official Says Government Wants Timetable for Withdrawal

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, ATTACKERMAN, Martini Revolution, NewsBusters.org, WTF Is It Now?!? and The Carpetbagger Report

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

ANOTHER AP BEAUT ... Here's the lede from the AP's latest McCain fluffer, this time from Nedra Pickler ... Well, easy for McCain too, since he doesn't either. — Pickler doesn't mention that McCain doesn't even say how he'll do it; he just says he'll do it. No numbers — No nothing.

Discussion: Bloomberg and The Talent Show

Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:

Analysis: Obama won't try for McCain's budget goal — WASHINGTON - Barack Obama says John McCain's plan to balance the budget doesn't add up. Easy for him to say: It's not a goal he's even trying to reach. — Not only does Obama say he won't eliminate the deficit in his first term …

Discussion: Hot Air, Wizbang and TPM Election Central

Kate Phillips / The Caucus:
McCain: ‘I Would Imagine We Are’ in a Recession

Discussion: Think Progress, Los Angeles Times, DownWithTyranny!, Hullabaloo, The Carpetbagger Report, The Impolitic, TPM Election Central, New York Times, Feministe, Liberal Values and MSNBC

Plain Dealer / OPENERS:

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs

Washington Wire:
Obama Responds to RNC Ad

Discussion: Marc Ambinder and AMERICAblog News

The Campaign Spot:
Obama's Third Ad, As Inaccurate As His First Two

Discussion: The Caucus, Hot Air and Redstate

David Corn / MotherJones.com:

McCain Campaign Screening Questioners? — WASHINGTON DISPATCH: Political reporters are wondering if McCain aides are vetting the journalists who ask questions during campaign conference calls for the media. The evidence suggests they are; the campaign won't say.

Discussion: TPM Election Central, The Impolitic, Newshoggers.com, Think Progress, The American Mind, Open Left, The Raw Story, MoJoBlog and Washington Monthly

Matt Lewis / TownHall Blog: How to Get Your Questions Answered on McCain Conference Calls ...

Jeff Mason / Reuters:

McCain jokes about killing Iranians with cigarettes — PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - Presidential candidate John McCain, who once sang in jest about bombing Iran, on Tuesday reacted to a report of rising U.S. cigarette exports to the country by saying it may be “a way of killing 'em.”

Discussion: michellemalkin.com

The Trail:
McCain's Latest Iran Joke

Discussion: Think Progress and Matthew Yglesias

Roger Boyes / Times of London:

Barack Obama's Berlin visit sparks German diplomatic row — Berlin, a city torn apart by war, is the perfect setting for an American president preaching peace. Ronald Reagan famously stood metres away from the Brandenburg Gate and called on the Soviet Union to tear down the Wall dividing Europe.

Discussion: Macsmind

Steven D. Levitt / Freakonomics:

How Much Does It Cost You in Wages if You “Sound Black?” — Fascinating new research by my University of Chicago colleague, Jeffrey Grogger, compares the wages of people who “sound black” when they talk to those who do not. — His main finding: blacks who “sound black” …

Discussion: Jezebel

The Hill:

Energy bill out of gas — House Democrats are in a bind on the focal point of their energy plan. — Worried that a floor vote on any energy-related measure would trigger a Republican-forced vote on domestic drilling, the leadership has scrubbed the floor schedule of the energy legislation …

Discussion: The Swamp, The Crypt's Blogs, Weekly Standard Blog, Hot Air, Wake up America, Don Surber, Doug Ross, Flopping Aces, EconoPundit and The Foundry

The Daily Howler:

ACCEPTING CARLY'S LIES! Fiorina lied through her teeth. Journalists won't want to say so: — ACCEPTING CARLY'S LIES: Headlines on news reports rarely broadcast a viewpoint so clearly. In this morning's Washington Post, the following headlines appear on Perry Bacon's front-page report:

Discussion: MoJoBlog, Matthew Yglesias, Viking Pundit, The Carpetbagger Report, Grasping Reality …, The RBC, Newsweek Blogs and Obsidian Wings

Ed OKeefe / Political Radar:

Obama Slams Hoop Dreams for High School Diplomas — ABC News' Sunlen Miller Reports: Barack Obama took a “tough love” message to African American youth, telling that finishing high school is a better route to success in life than an unlikely trip to the NBA or the top of the rap industry.

Discussion: Swampland and TIME.com

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Study: Gays in military would not be disruptive; Update: AOL Hot Seat Poll added — A bipartisan panel of retired military commanders has concluded that Congress should repeal “don't ask, don't tell” and allow gays to serve openly in the military. One commander helped Bill Clinton implement …

Discussion: The Daily Dish