memeorandum: No. You cannot possibly be serious. (Rachel Lucas)

1:30 AM ET, July 9, 2008

Top Items:

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, Times of London, democracyarsenal.org, Agence France Presse, Marc Ambinder, The Art of the Possible, Spin Cycle, Ben Smith's Blogs, AMERICAblog News, The RBC and Forbes

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: American Footprints, Comments from Left Field, Washington Monthly, Washington Post and Reuters

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

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

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: Open Left, protein wisdom, The Trail, Democrats.com, Commentary, The Impolitic, The Carpetbagger Report, TIME.com, The Daily Dish, New York Times, The Jed Report, No More Mister Nice Blog and Baltimore Sun

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, Commentary, Real Clear Politics and The Next Right

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

Jason Linkins / The Huffington Post:
McCain Talks Economy On CNN

Discussion: Obsidian Wings and New York Times

Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:
Analysis: Obama won't try for McCain's budget goal

Discussion: Hot Air, Wizbang and TPM Election Central

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

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

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

Nick Baumann / MoJoBlog:
John McCain Thinks Social Security Is A “Disgrace”

Discussion: Obsidian Wings

Will Wilkinson / The Fly Bottle:
How Obama Will “Save Social Security” (Please!?)

Discussion: The Art of the Possible

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: Matthew Yglesias, The News Buckit, Think Progress and Cogitamus

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

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

July Leader Lost in 6 of Last 9 Competitive U.S. Elections — Convention period could prove crucial in determining the winner — PRINCETON, NJ — In 9 of the past 15 U.S. presidential elections, the candidate who was leading in Gallup polling roughly four months before the election ultimately won the popular vote for president.

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog and Political Machine

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: Newshoggers.com, New York Times, The Sundries Shack, Christian Science Monitor, The Swamp, The Crypt's Blogs, Don Surber, Wake up America, Weekly Standard Blog, Hot Air, Flopping Aces, Doug Ross, EconoPundit and The Foundry

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

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Outside groups pose McCain dilemma — Democrats say a group supporting Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) bought television ad time in Virginia that had been released by his campaign the same day, suggesting a possible connection between two groups that legally must remain separate.

Discussion: The Jed Report and AMERICAblog News

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, TownHall Blog, Think Progress, The Impolitic, The Raw Story, Newshoggers.com, MoJoBlog, The American Mind, Open Left and Washington Monthly

Laura Flanders / Firedoglake:

The Education System Doesn't Get Fixed Because Pols Send Their Kids To Private Schools — Corona del Sol High School by Kevin Dooley — Jonathan Kozol, the great chronicler of what's happened to our schools, wrote Savage Inequalities a few years back, which did more than just about any other book …

Discussion: The Other McCain