memeorandum: Hijacking Obama's Middle East Strategy (Steve Clemons/The Washington Note)

1:50 PM ET, December 28, 2008

Top Items:

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Marty Peretz and the American political consensus on Israel — Opinions about the Israeli-Palestinian dispute are so entrenched that any single outbreak of violence is automatically evaluated through a pre-existing lens, shaped by one's typically immovable beliefs about which side bears …

Discussion: American Power, Agence France Presse, J Street, Associated Press, Newshoggers.com, CBS News and Mondoweiss

Jerusalem Post:

‘Hamas could have prevented massacre’ — Hamas could have prevented the “massacre” in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday in Cairo. — “We spoke to them and told them ‘Please, we ask you not to end the cease-fire. Let it continue,’” …

Discussion: Hot Air, Israel Matzav, The Muqata, Macsmind and Ynetnews

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Playbook - 23 days to Inauguration - Gaza is ‘First test for Obama’ - Axelrod and Gibbs on Sunday shows - MoveOn.org gets practical, echoes the President-elect — Birthday: NBC's Savannah Guthrie ... Brokaw on Russert ... Remembering Samuel Huntington ... Engaged: CNNers Howard Lutt and Lydia Garlikov …

Discussion: Times of London, Swampland, AmSpecBlog and Time

Steve Clemons / The Washington Note:

Hijacking Obama's Middle East Strategy — One of the most important and sensible comments made during the last stretch of the campaign came from the straight-talking Joe Biden. The then Democratic vice-presidential nominee said that Barack Obama would be “tested” by crisis early in his presidency.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh, Matthew Yglesias, War and Piece and Boker tov, Boulder!

Greg Mitchell / The Huffington Post:

Attack on Gaza: As Usual, U.S. Media (And Most Liberals) Silent — As Israeli Newspaper Raises Doubts — In the usual process, the U.S. government, media here — and most liberal bloggers — are silent or playing down questions about whether Israel overreacted in its massive air strikes on Gaza …

Discussion: Mondoweiss

Jerusalem Post:

Artillery batteries deployed along border with Gaza Strip — The death toll in the Gaza Strip rose to over 280 Sunday, Palestinian sources said, as IAF aircraft continued their bombings of Hamas targets. — IAF jets struck 40 smuggling tunnels connecting the Palestinian and Egyptian sides of Rafah …

Discussion: Press Association, Ynetnews, Commentary, Yourish.com, The Huffington Post, Associated Press, Israel Matzav and CNN

New York Times:
Israeli Attacks in Gaza Strip Continue for Second Day

Discussion: Haaretz, I*Consult, Think Progress, International Herald Tribune, Ynetnews, Outside The Beltway, Word on the Street and Booman Tribune

Hana Levi Julian / Arutz Sheva:
Hizbullah Vows to Open Second Front in Gaza Conflict

Discussion: Israel Matzav

Ynetnews:
Iran orders Muslims to defend Palestinians

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs and Jihad Watch

Gateway Pundit:
IDF Airstrikes Continue …

Discussion: Power Line, Jerusalem Post, Fars News Agency, Jules Crittenden, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, A Blog For All, HaYishuv and Yourish.com

BBC:
Israeli jets target Gaza tunnels

Discussion: Xinhua News Agency, Agence France Presse, The Huffington Post, Jihad Watch, Atlas Shrugs, Global Voices Online, Israpundit, TalkLeft and bint battuta in bahrain

BBC:
Hamas ‘bars injured leaving Gaza’

Discussion: Harry's Place and Jihad Watch

David Horovitz / Jerusalem Post:
Analysis: The policy of restraint is over

Discussion: Yourish.com, Israpundit, Israel Matzav, Ynetnews and Reuters

Barak Ravid / Haaretz:
Israel to mount emergency international PR effort in wake of Gaza campaign

Discussion: Mondoweiss, Telegraph, Ynetnews and Jerusalem Post

Peter Beaumont / Guardian:
Peter Beaumont on what the latest attacks mean for the citizens of Gaza

Discussion: Associated Press, Mondoweiss and Soccer Dad

Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post:
Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza Strip Imperil Obama's Peace Chances

Discussion: Jerusalem Post, The Caucus, Ynetnews, Augean Stables, Commentary, Right Wing News, Sean Rayment's blog listings, Israel Matzav, BBC, Mere Rhetoric, Haaretz and TPMCafe

Bradley Burston / Haaretz:
Bradley Burston / The worst anti-Israel charges you'll hear in wartime

Discussion: Bloomberg, Xinhua News Agency, Harry's Place, Preemptive Karma, Buck Naked Politics, Ynetnews, Firedoglake, Yourish.com and Pajamas Media

M Peretz / The New Republic:
Very Disproportionate, Indeed — From January 1 until December 21 …

Discussion: Haaretz, ATTACKERMAN, Associated Press, Matthew Yglesias, Mondoweiss and Salon

Anne Glusker / Washington Post:

She's a Kennedy, But She's a Lot Like Us — Amid all the recent buzz about Caroline Kennedy's bid for a U.S. Senate seat, there has been a great deal of talk about her connections, her power, her wealth. But the way I see it, if you strip away the glamour, the name and the money, then Caroline is . . . me.

Discussion: Commentary and NewsBusters.org

Michael Goodwin / NY Daily News:
Goodwin: Say goodnight, Caroline

Discussion: Hot Air and Buck Naked Politics

New York Times:
Transcript of the Caroline Kennedy Interview

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Michael Calderone's Blogs

Carol E. Lee / The Politico:

Obama bristles as the bubble closes in on him — HONOLULU - The media glare, the constant security appendage and the sheer production that has become a morning jog or a hankering for an ice cream cone - it's been closing in on Barack Obama for some time. — Now the president-elect appears …

Discussion: RedState and THE CUNNING REALIST

Frank Rich / New York Times:

You're Likable Enough, Gay People — IN his first press conference after his re-election in 2004, President Bush memorably declared, “I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it.” We all know how that turned out. — Barack Obama has little in common …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, News Hounds, Prairie Weather, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and TalkLeft

Christopher Booker / Telegraph:

2008 was the year manmade global warming was disproved — Looking back over my columns of the past 12 months, one of their major themes was neatly encapsulated by two recent items from The Daily Telegraph. — The first, on May 21, headed “Climate change threat to Alpine ski resorts” …

Discussion: Power Line, Deltoid, EU Referendum, The Strata-Sphere, NewsBusters.org, Don Surber, Scared Monkeys, Wake up America and Ed Driscoll.com

Steve Connor / The Independent:

Scientific illiteracy all the rage among the glitterati — When it comes to science, Barack Obama is no better than many of us. Today he joins the list of shame of those in public life who made scientifically unsupportable statements in 2008. — Closer to home, Nigella Lawson …

Discussion: Liberal Values

Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:

RNC Rivals Discuss Racial Song — Would-Be Chairman Who Sent CD With Parody Blames Media — Republicans who are vying to lead the national party offered a mix of reactions yesterday to the decision by one candidate for the job to mail out a music CD including the song “Barack the Magic Negro.”

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Democratic Daily, Connecting.the.Dots, TPM Election Central, bastard.logic and CNN

Paul Mulshine / WSJ.com:

All I Wanted for Christmas Was a Newspaper — Bloggers are no replacement for real journalists. — Newark, N.J. — When my colleague at the Newark Star-Ledger John Farmer started off in journalism more than five decades ago, things were very different.

Discussion: Don Surber, NewsBusters.org and Wake up America