memeorandum: Bush ‘a total failure,’ Pelosi says (Alexander Mooney/CNN)

9:15 AM ET, July 18, 2008

Top Items:

Michael Asher / DailyTech:

Myth of Consensus Explodes: APS Opens Global Warming Debate — “Considerable presence” of skeptics — The American Physical Society, an organization representing nearly 50,000 physicists, has reversed its stance on climate change and is now proclaiming that many of its members disbelieve in human-induced global warming.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Pirate's Cove, Hot Air, Wake up America, The News Buckit, Don Surber, www.redstate.com, Right Wing News and NewsBusters.org

David Evans / The Australian:

No smoking hot spot — I DEVOTED six years to carbon accounting, building models for the Australian Greenhouse Office. I am the rocket scientist who wrote the carbon accounting model (FullCAM) that measures Australia's compliance with the Kyoto Protocol, in the land use change and forestry sector.

Discussion: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, TigerHawk, The Sundries Shack, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Sadly, No! and EconLog

E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Gore's Energy Oomph

Discussion: Democratic Strategist

Andrew C. Revkin / Dot Earth:
The (Annotated) Gore Energy Speech

Alexander Mooney / CNN:

Bush ‘a total failure,’ Pelosi says — (CNN) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called President Bush “a total failure” on Thursday, among the California Democrat's harshest assessments to date of the president. — “God bless him, bless his heart, president of the United States — a total failure …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, www.redstate.com, Don Surber, Buck Naked Politics, Confederate Yankee, The Sundries Shack, protein wisdom, RAGGED THOTS and StephenBainbridge.com

Jim Kuhnhenn / Associated Press:

DNC sets up independent operation to help Obama — WASHINGTON — The Democratic National Committee plans to target Republican John McCain and help Democrat Barack Obama with an independent ad campaign run by veteran Democratic strategist Jonathan Prince, Democrats familiar with the decision said Thursday.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, Marc Ambinder and Balloon Juice

Laurie Kellman / Associated Press:
House Speaker Pelosi calls Bush ‘a total failure’

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, TigerHawk and Macsmind

New York Magazine:
Obama's Money Advantage Not Such an Advantage Anymore (UPDATED)

Discussion: protein wisdom, The Nation, Newsweek Blogs and Pajamas Media

James Risen / New York Times:

Electrical Risks at Bases in Iraq Worse Than Previously Said — WASHINGTON — Shoddy electrical work by private contractors on United States military bases in Iraq is widespread and dangerous, causing more deaths and injuries from fires and shocks than the Pentagon has acknowledged, according to internal Army documents.

Discussion: The Raw Story, Obsidian Wings and On Deadline

R. Jeffrey Smith / Washington Post:

Terrorism Funds May Let Brass Fly in Style — The Air Force's top leadership sought for three years to spend counterterrorism funds on “comfort capsules” to be installed on military planes that ferry senior officers and civilian leaders around the world, with at least four top generals involved …

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

Obama's Greatest Admirer — Barack Obama wants to speak at the Brandenburg Gate. He figures it would be a nice backdrop. The supporting cast — a cheering audience and a few fainting frauleins — would be a picturesque way to bolster his foreign policy credentials.

Discussion: Firedoglake, JustOneMinute, alicublog, No More Mister Nice Blog, Soccer Dad, Ed Driscoll.com and The Confluence

Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:

A Cast of 300 Advises Obama on Foreign Policy — WASHINGTON — Every day around 8 a.m., foreign policy aides at Senator Barack Obama's Chicago campaign headquarters send him two e-mails: a briefing on major world developments over the previous 24 hours and a set of questions …

Discussion: Commentary, The New Republic, TIME.com, Blogs of War and MsUnderestimated

Newsweek:

An unusual new privilege claim shields Cheney in Plame probe. — The Bush administration today unveiled a set of novel and controversial legal arguments in refusing to disclose key details about Vice President Dick Cheney's role in the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Buck Naked Politics and Crooks and Liars

Dan Froomkin / Washington Post:
Mukasey the Obstructionist — Michael Mukasey has President Bush's back.

Discussion: Buck Naked Politics

Roxanne Roberts / Washington Post:

Tony Snow: Farewell To the Light Heart — ‘He Looked at the World in a Joyful Way’ — Yesterday's funeral for Tony Snow was a grand send-off: a Mass, a tribute by President Bush, and more than 1,000 mourners, including an all-star lineup of Washington's political and media elite.

Discussion: DCist

White House:
President Bush Attends Funeral Service for Tony Snow

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Flopping Aces

Alan Fram / Associated Press:

Poll: Obama backers are more excited than McCain's — WASHINGTON (AP) — John McCain is facing an excitement deficit. — While overall interest in the presidential campaign has swelled since last fall, backers of Barack Obama are more fired up and express more loyalty to their candidate than McCain's do …

David Streitfeld / New York Times:

As Price of Grain Rises, Catfish Farms Dry Up — LELAND, Miss. — Catfish farmers across the South, unable to cope with the soaring cost of corn and soybean feed, are draining their ponds. — “It's a dead business,” said John Dillard, who pioneered the commercial farming of catfish in the late 1960s.

Discussion: GregsOpinion.com

David A. Lieb / Associated Press:

McCain gets Social Security but criticizes system — KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Although Republican presidential candidate John McCain has called Social Security “a disgrace,” he still cashes his own retirement check every month. — “I'm receiving the benefits, the system is broken and …

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Macsmind, Hot Air, Balloon Juice and The Democratic Daily

Jennifer Parker / Political Radar:

Hearing-Gate Exposed! McCain Has Worse Afghanistan Hearing Record Than Obama — ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports from Capitol Hill: The McCain campaign criticism of Sen. Barack Obama's hearing record on Capitol Hill led us to put the shoe on the other foot.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars, Political Punch, TIME.com and Balloon Juice

Avida Landau / Reuters:

Israel makes arrests in alleged plot against Bush — JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel accused six Arabs on Friday of trying to set up an al Qaeda cell in Israel and said one of them had proposed attacking helicopters used during a visit by President George W. Bush.

Eileen Sullivan / Associated Press:

Chertoff: European terrorists trying to enter US — WASHINGTON - European terrorists are trying to enter the United States with European Union passports, and there is no guarantee officials will catch them every time, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Thursday.

Discussion: Jihad Watch

Ryan / Think Progress:

Ashcroft: Waterboarding ‘Consistently’ Seen As Legal, Refuses To Say Use On U.S. Troops Is ‘Unacceptable’ — During a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee today, former Attorney General John Ashcroft falsely claimed that waterboarding has “consistently” been defined as “not torture” …

CNN:
Ashcroft defends waterboarding

Discussion: Buck Naked Politics, Crooks and Liars and Blue Girl, Red State

Rasmussen Reports:

Election 2008: North Carolina Presidential Election — North Carolina: McCain Still Struggling in Historically Red State — The race is still close between John McCain and Barack Obama in the traditionally red state of North Carolina. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds McCain ahead 45% …

Discussion: The Other McCain and The Jed Report