memeorandum: Rubin, Under Fire, Defends His Role at Citi (Wall Street Journal)

11:20 AM ET, November 29, 2008

Top Items:

What They Hate About Mumbai — MY bleeding city. My poor great bleeding heart of a city. Why do they go after Mumbai? There's something about this island-state that appalls religious extremists, Hindus and Muslims alike. Perhaps because Mumbai stands for lucre, profane dreams and an indiscriminate openness.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Outside The Beltway

New York Times:

Mumbai Terrorist Siege Over, India Says — MUMBAI, India — The full scope of the horror and desperation of the terrorist attack on Mumbai began to come into focus on Saturday after Indian commandos finally took control of the last nest of resistance. — The Mumbai police said Saturday afternoon …

Discussion: Buck Naked Politics, NO QUARTER, Guardian, TIME.com, Washington Post, A Blog For All and JammieWearingFool

José M. Guardia / Barcepundit:

MUMBAI TERROR, DAY 4: All major operations are basically over, with terror targets under control, according to local authorities [see previous day coverage]. We'll be following the developments overnight... 3:02 am EST: Siege at Taj Mahal hotel over, officials say (BBC): … 3:34 am EST: Police going in (NYT):

Discussion: Pakistan: Now or Never?, Fox News, PoliGazette and Times of India

Anmol Saxena / Aljazeera:

Oh, Mumbai! — India is mourning its dead but also asking why [EPA] — India is in sombre reflection and mourning. — What happened in Mumbai was by any standard unprecedented and the shock at the sheer audacity of the attacks on India's commercial capital continues to resonate.

Discussion: Associated Press

Mike Atherton / Times of London:

Bombay: wealthy owe lives to hotel's cummerbund heroes — Staff shielded guests from gunmen's bullets — They were heroes in cummerbunds and overalls. The staff of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel saved hundreds of wealthy guests as heavily armed gunmen roamed the building, firing indiscriminately …

Discussion: Corrente

Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:

Adviser Who Insulted Clinton Has Role in Transition — Samantha Power, the Harvard professor who was forced to resign from Barack Obama's presidential campaign last spring after calling Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton “a monster,” is now advising the president-elect on transition matters relating …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Associated Press, TIME.com, Jules Crittenden, Political Punch, Balloon Juice and Kevin Drum

Fox News:
Obama Adviser Who Called Clinton a ‘Monster’ Returns

Discussion: The Political Carnival and Patterico's Pontifications

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Before He Goes — What President Bush could accomplish in his final days in office. — Amid the cold gusts of winter, Republicans will soon be ushered out of power after controlling Congress, the White House, or both for 14 years. Here's a further chilling thought: Since 1896 …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:

Kristol Calls On Bush To Pardon Torturers And Wiretappers, Reward Them With Medal Of Freedom — Kristol Calls On Bush To Pardon Torturers And Wiretappers, Reward Them With Medal Of Freedom» — In his new Weekly Standard column, right-wing pundit Bill Kristol lays out a to-do list for President Bush before he leaves office.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Times and AlterNet.org

Amity Shlaes / Wall Street Journal:

The Krugman Recipe for Depression — Massive government spending is no solution to unemployment. — Paul Krugman of the New York Times has been on the attack lately in regard to the New Deal. His new book “The Return of Depression Economics,” emphasizes the importance of New Deal-style spending.

Discussion: QandO, LewRockwell.com Blog and Cafe Hayek

Wall Street Journal:

Rubin, Under Fire, Defends His Role at Citi — ‘Nobody Was Prepared’ for Crisis of '08 — Under fire for his role in the near-collapse of Citigroup Inc., Robert Rubin said its problems were due to the buckling financial system, not its own mistakes, and that his role was peripheral …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, naked capitalism, The Big Picture, Washington Monthly and DownWithTyranny!

Charles Mahtesian / The Politico:

Sarah Palin: A digital superstar — Three weeks after the Republican ticket suffered a sweeping defeat at the polls, Sarah Palin continues to dominate search engine queries, cable news and online video sites. — The only American politician who generates comparable interest is President-elect Barack Obama.

Discussion: The Swamp

Jon Friedman / MarketWatch:
Mr. Obama, enjoy the media adulation while you can

Discussion: JammieWearingFool and Hullabaloo

Helene Cooper / New York Times:

National Security Pick: From a Marine to a Mediator — WASHINGTON — James L. Jones, a retired four-star general, was among a mostly Republican crowd watching a presidential debate in October when Barack Obama casually mentioned that he got a lot of his advice on foreign policy from General Jones.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Townhall.com and TIME.com

Michael Falcone / The Caucus:

Bush Weighs In on His Legacy — As the clock ticks down on his days in the White House, President George W. Bush is taking part in one of his last presidential rituals — helping to shape the perception of his years in office. — In an interview conducted earlier this month by his sister …

Discussion: The Swamp and The Impolitic

David Alexander / Front Row Washington:
Bush contemplates how he'd like to be remembered

Discussion: The Mahablog, Althouse and www.redstate.com

Jack Healy / New York Times:

Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death by Customers — A Wal-Mart employee in suburban New York died after being trampled by a crush of shoppers who tore down the front doors and thronged into the store early Friday morning, turning the annual rite of post-Thanksgiving bargain hunting into a frenzy.