memeorandum: The GOP Has Declared War On Obama (Andrew Sullivan/The Daily Dish)

3:30 AM ET, February 13, 2009

Top Items:

OBAMA BURNED: GREGG WITHDRAWS AFTER POLICIES TOO MUCH TO STOMACH — For Immediate Release: — Senator Gregg Statement on His Withdrawal for Consideration of U.S. Commerce Secretary — Sen. Gregg stated, “I want to thank the President for nominating me to serve in his Cabinet as Secretary of Commerce.

The Politico:

'I couldn't be Judd Gregg' — Republican Sen. Judd Gregg abruptly withdrew his nomination as President Barack Obama's commerce secretary Thursday, telling Politico that he “couldn't be Judd Gregg” and serve in the Cabinet. — The White House - where some aides were caught off guard by the withdrawal …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, MSNBC, The Huffington Post, Reuters, CBS News, The Huffington Post, The Reaction, The Raw Story, Think Progress, Balloon Juice, The New Republic, AMERICAblog News and Bloomberg

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:

Gregg Ends Bid for Commerce Job — WASHINGTON — Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire abruptly withdrew Thursday as the nominee for commerce secretary, saying he had “irresolvable conflicts” with President Obama over his economic stimulus plan and a concern over what many fellow Republicans believe …

Discussion: The Politico, Washington Wire, Matthew Yglesias, The Caucus, The Democratic Daily, CBS News, Open Left and Portfolio

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Gregg Withdraws as Commerce Nominee — New Hampshire Republican Sen. Judd Gregg has withdrawn his name from consideration as President Obama's commerce secretary, a major blow to an administration seeking to put a series of Cabinet problems behind it. — “It became clear to me to me that …

Discussion: NO QUARTER, Federal Eye, Shadow Government, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, Althouse, TalkLeft and OpenMarket.org

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Breaking: Gregg withdraws at Commerce; Update: White House gobsmacked?

Discussion: The Corner, Michelle Malkin, The Campaign Spot, Top of the Ticket, Democracy in America, First Draft and Erick's blog

Amanda Carpenter / Townhall.com:
Gregg is OUT as Commerce Secretary, Will Leave Washington in 2010

Discussion: Political Machine

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Pence: Remove Gregg or give him Census

Discussion: Open Left, DownWithTyranny! and D-Day

Washington Wire: Sen. Gregg Unlikely to Seek Re-election in 2010

Associated Press:
Gregg withdraws as commerce secretary nominee

Discussion: Reuters, Donklephant, Outside The Beltway and Liberal Values

Kate Phillips / The Caucus:
Gregg Withdraws as Commerce Secretary Nominee

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, CNN and Prairie Weather

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
The Granite Cracks: Judd Gregg Withdraws

Discussion: Portfolio

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

The GOP Has Declared War On Obama — This much is now clear. Their clear and open intent is to do all they can, however they can, to sabotage the new administration (and the economy to boot). They want failure. Even now. Even after the last eight years. Even in a recession as steeply dangerous as this one.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, The New Republic, RedState, The Moderate Voice, Political Machine, Jules Crittenden, Lean Left, Hullabaloo and The Democratic Daily

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Gregg Was Pwned — It gets clearer. When Judd Gregg approached the Obama administration to see if he could be a part of it, he was assuming that his own party wasn't going to adopt a policy of total warfare against the newly elected president in a time of enormous economic peril.

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:

TIMING — According to our Matt Cooper, Gregg called New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) a few hours ahead of releasing his withdrawal statement to alert him. But the White House appeared blindsided by the Gregg withdrawal, according to various reports, so much so that some officials were first learning of the news from reporters.

Discussion: TigerHawk and Open Congress

Washington Whispers:

Congressional Offices Don't Have the Stimulus Bill, Lobbyists Do — We're receiving E-mails from Capitol Hill staffers expressing frustration that they can't get a copy of the stimulus bill agreed to last night at a price of $789 billion. What's more, staffers are complaining about who does have a copy: K Street lobbyists.

Discussion: Hot Air, Power Line, The Next Right, Wizbang and RedState

Connie Hair / Human Events:

SURPRISE! Dems Break Promise: Stimulus Bill to Floor Friday — In a press conference Thursday, the House Republican leadership spoke candidly about being kept out of the House-Senate conference on the Obama-Pelosi-Reid so-called “economic stimulus” bill. They confirmed they had not yet seen the text of the bill as of 4 p.m.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, RedState and Gateway Pundit

Mark Tapscott / www.dcexaminer.com:

Obama is headed for a one-term presidency — Well, that didn't take long. — Less than a month ago, Barack Obama was sworn-in as chief executive amid historic promises of “change we can believe in.” But there won't be a second Obama term if he doesn't admit that, no matter how adroitly …

CNN:
Reid Looking for GOP Votes

Discussion: National Review, BrianFaughnan's blog and Moe Lane

Foon Rhee / Boston Globe: Kennedy's absence has Reid seeking votes

Byron York / www.dcexaminer.com:

Who will investigate the Obama administration? — The census controversy brings the first test of accountability and oversight in the new administration — Rep. Darrell Issa is not working from a position of strength. As the ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee …

Discussion: The Hill's Pundits Blog, The Washington Independent and Sister Toldjah

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The Census Canard — Again, this is not a real issue.

Discussion: Federal Eye, Balloon Juice and The Moderate Voice

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Projected jobs numbers don't quite add up

Discussion: RedState and Balloon Juice

NPR Blogs:

Juan Williams, NPR and Fox News — Juan Williams. — NPR has more than 400 reporters, editors, producers and analysts on its news team, and none is more of a lightning rod than Juan Williams. But it's usually not for anything he says on NPR. — Williams joined NPR in 2000 …

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, American Power, Media Blog, Weekly Standard, The Atlantic Online, NewsBusters.org, Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Other McCain, News Hounds and Neptunus Lex

Ali Frick / Think Progress: NPR embarrassed by Juan Williams after he compared Michelle Obama …

Jamison Foser / Media Matters: Is NPR embarrassed to be seen with Juan Williams?

Tahman Bradley / Political Punch:

D'oh! Caterpillar CEO Contradicts President on Whether Stimulus Will Allow Him to Re-Hire Laid Off Workers — EAST PEORIA, ILL. — President Obama today repeated the claim we asked about yesterday at the press briefing that Jim Owens, the CEO of Caterpillar, Inc., “said that if Congress passes our plan …

Discussion: The Caucus, Don Surber, Wizbang, The Other McCain, Hot Air, Gateway Pundit, Macsmind, RedState and Flopping Aces

The Huffington Post:

Press, Milbank Protest David Plouffe's Speech — Barack Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, is slated to appear at the National Press Club to deliver the keynote speech for the Georgetown University and Politico sponsored event “Transition 2009.” Except, before he even took the stage, things started to unravel.

Discussion: The Politico, The Plum Line, Ben Smith's Blogs and FishBowlDC

Steve Lohr / New York Times:

Large Banks on the Edge of Insolvency — Some of the nation's large banks, according to economists and other finance experts, are like dead men walking. — A sober assessment of the growing mountain of losses from bad bets, measured in today's marketplace, would overwhelm the value of the banks' assets, they say.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Axelrod To Bush Advisers: Butt Out — David Axelrod, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, had harsh words for some of former President Bush's closest advisers during an interview with the Post's Lois Romano yesterday, dismissing as “intramural stuff” the critiques offered by the former Administration.

Discussion: Think Progress

Alison Fitzgerald / Bloomberg:

Billionaire Stanford's Firm Said to Face U.S. Probe — Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) — Stanford Group Co., a Houston-based investment firm led by billionaire R. Allen Stanford, is under investigation by U.S. securities regulators over sales of certificates of deposit in its affiliated offshore bank …

Discussion: Portfolio and DealBook

Blue Texan / Firedoglake:

Joe The Plumber Conducts Live Hearing On Long-Term Economic Ramifications Of Stimulus Bill — I guess those clowns at Pajamas Media are gluttons for ridicule (beginning of video here). — After it's over, you must watch Joe's “investigation” of the stimulus bill, in which he shares priceless insights such as,

Discussion: Hullabaloo and D-Day

Megan McArdle:

It's just like a gang of white thugs are ransacking my house — THe “evidence” that Arnold Kling is racist rests on two quotes. One seems to have originated with Adam Serwer of TAPPED, and I'm frankly shocked that his magazine let it stand, it's such a grievous selective quotation.

Discussion: Reason

Joshua Foust / Registan.net:

Dispatches from FOBistan: Fixing Afghanistan Starts With Fixing Ourselves — BAGRAM AIR BASE, AFGHANISTAN — I had dinner tonight with a Lieutenant Colonel, and we were chit chatting about the various institutional barriers the Army faces in fighting this war.

Discussion: ATTACKERMAN