memeorandum: Khamenei on the Ropes? — Robert Baer served in the CIA … (The New Republic)

8:30 PM ET, June 16, 2009

Top Items:

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Ensign Acknowledges Extramarital Affair — UPDATE, 6:55 p.m.: In a press conference moments ago, Ensign admitted the affair but seemed resolved to remain in political life. “Last year I had an affair,” said Ensign. “I violated the vows of my marriage.” Ensign did not name the woman …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Ben Smith's Blog, Salon, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Indecision Forever, The Atlantic Politics Channel, TPMDC, Talking Points Memo, Comments from Left Field, On Deadline, JammieWearingFool, The Washington Independent and Not Tucker Carlson

Ncarlile / Think Progress:

FLASHBACK: Ensign Called On Clinton To Resign After Admitting Affair — ‘He Has No Credibility Left’ — The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza reports that Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), a member of GOP leadership and a potential candidate for president in 2012, will hold a press conference later today …

Discussion: Raw Story and Las Vegas Now

The Politico:

Ensign admits affair; sources say blackmail involved — Nevada Republican Sen. John Ensign said Tuesday evening he is “truly sorry” about an affair he had last year with a campaign staffer, going public with an embarrassing admission about his marital infidelity.

Discussion: The Note, Associated Press, Runnin' Scared, Gawker, Hot Air and WhiteHouse.gov Blog

Washington Post:

Nevada Sen. John Ensign Acknowledges Extramarital Affair — UPDATE, 5:55 p.m.: Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) has acknowledged an extramarital affair with a campaign staffer in a statement released by his office. “I deeply regret and am very sorry for my actions,” said Ensign.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Philly.com

CNN: Sen. Ensign admits affair with campaign staffer

David M. Herszenhorn / The Caucus: Senator Ensign Admits Extramarital Affair

Drudge Report:

ABC TURNS PROGRAMMING OVER TO OBAMA; NEWS TO BE ANCHORED FROM INSIDE WHITE HOUSE — On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care — a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm!

Bill Dedman / MSNBC:

Obama blocks access to White House visitor list — Taking Bush's position, administration denies msnbc.com request for logs — The Obama White House has denied requests by msnbc.com and a nonpartisan watchdog group for the names of White House visitors. The watchdog group …

Discussion: CREW, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Political Punch, Salon, Associated Press, The Politico, TPMMuckraker, Think Progress, Democracy in America, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek Blogs, MoJo Blog Posts, NO QUARTER, Wonkette and The Impolitic

Kathryn Cheng / ABC News' Press Room:

ABC News Responds to RNC Letter — Dear Mr. McKay: — I am in receipt of your letter of June 15, 2009 and wanted to respond to a number of false premises you raise regarding our ongoing and upcoming coverage of health care. — I hope we can all agree that a robust debate of health care issues and potential policies is in order.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Riehl World View, The Caucus and FishBowlDC

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
A ‘PRESCRIPTION’ FOR A MANUFACTURED CONTROVERSY. …

Discussion: Don Surber

Robert Mackey / The Lede:

Latest Updates on Iran's Disputed Election — To supplement reporting from New York Times correspondents inside Iran, The Lede will continue to track the aftermath of Iran's disputed presidential election online, as we have for the last several days. Please refresh this page throughout …

Discussion: Associated Press, New York Times, Guardian, News: News blog, Washington Monthly and The New Republic

BBC:
Iran opposition keeps up pressure

Discussion: RealClearWorld and The Duck of Minerva

Michael C. Moynihan / Reason:
Another Iran Roundup

Discussion: The New Republic and Commentary

Laura Secor / News Desk:
The Supreme Leader's Next Move

Discussion: Hot Air and New York Times

Walter Alarkon / The Hill:

In reversal, GOP balks at war funding — House Republicans are preparing to vote en bloc against the $106 billion war-spending bill, a position once unthinkable for the party that characterized the money as support for the troops. — For years, Republicans portrayed the bills funding …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Politico, The TrogloPundit, Glenn Thrush's Blog, Open Left, Washington Monthly, Hot Air, DownWithTyranny!, Open Congress, Democratic Strategist, TPMDC, Talking Points Memo and The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
On the War Supplemental — We can all recall the days when voting …

Discussion: Open Left, Campaign Silo and Center for American Progress

Patrick O'Connor / The Politico:
Dems table Pelosi-CIA inquiry

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Sue Pleming / Reuters:

U.S. State Department speaks to Twitter over Iran — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department contacted the social networking service Twitter over the weekend to urge it to delay a planned upgrade that could have cut daytime service to Iranians, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.

Discussion: Twitter Blog, Weekly Standard, Telegraph, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Gawker, techPresident, Taylor Marsh, Indecision Forever, BayNewser, Outside The Beltway and Digits

Anderson Cooper 360:
State Department to Twitter: Keep Iranian tweets coming

Discussion: Agence France Presse, Webware.com, TechCrunch, Digits, The Moderate Voice, Wake up America, Mashable!, ReadWriteWeb, Silicon Alley Insider and FP Passport

Joe Klein / Swampland:

McCain Unhinged — For two years now, John McCain has been entirely consistent on Iran: every last statement he's made—at least, those that I've seen—has been (a) fabulously uninformed and (b) dangerously bellicose. He's still at it, apparently. There is no question that President Obama's …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Obsidian Wings and Wall Street Journal

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Reagan didn't remain silent on Poland

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Peter Wehner / Commentary:
Let Us Not Comfort Cruel Men

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Fox News:

Exclusive: Sarah Palin Accepts David Letterman's Apology for ‘Coarse’ Jokes — Sarah Palin has accepted comedian David Letterman's apology made during Monday night's broadcast of “The Late Show” for crude jokes made about her and her teen daughters last week.

Discussion: MSNBC, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Big Hollywood, PERRspectives, About.com Conservative …, NO QUARTER, FITSNews, jillstanek.com, Little Green Footballs, seattlepi.com, Runnin' Scared and Hot Air

Irving Dejohn / NY Daily News:
‘Fire Dave!’: Crowd lines up to protest Letterman's ‘Late Show’ Palin joke

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, FOX Forum and Conservatives4Palin.com

Kristina Wong / The Note:

Sen. Baucus's Healthcare Proposal: ‘Less Than a Trillion Dollars and Paid For’ — ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports: — But details are elusive. — The nonpartisan $1 trillion over ten year price tag that CBO slapped on part of the Kennedy health committee version of health care …

Discussion: The Politico, Blue Crab Boulevard, Wall Street Journal and USA Today

Peter Hamby / CNN: DeMint ‘convinced’ Rubio can take down Crist in 2010

FOX Forum:
SEN. JIM DeMINT: The Conservative We're Looking For — Marco Rubio

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Eye on 2010, Real Clear Politics and Daily Kos

The New Republic:

Khamenei on the Ropes? — Robert Baer served in the CIA as a field operative from 1976 to 1997. His latest book is The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower (Crown Publishers, 2008). — In Iran nothing is ever as it seems, including presidential elections.

Discussion: The Daily Dish and RealClearWorld

Michael Ledeen / Pajamas Media:
So How's it Going in Iran?

Discussion: The washington times Blogs, BBC, Washington Post, Weekly Standard, Spectator, New York Times, Wolf Howling, Wall Street Journal, Commentary, neo-neocon and Ben Smith's Blog

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Grand Ayatollah Montazeri Takes A Stand — The reformist cleric in Qom, and once the designated successor to Khomeini, issues this statement. It may buttress the resistance's claim that they represent the Islamic revoltuion and the regime represents a coup:

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Views from the Occident and Weekly Standard

Views from the Occident:
Confirmed: Montazeri Questions Election Results, Supports Peaceful …

Discussion: Hot Air and niacINsight

Washington Post:

Calif. Aid Request Spurned By U.S. — The Obama administration has turned back pleas for emergency aid from one of the biggest remaining threats to the economy — the state of California. — Top state officials have gone hat in hand to the administration, armed with dire warnings of a fast-approaching …

Discussion: Calitics, Wall Street Journal, Hot Air, GayPatriot, Hullabaloo, Ezra Klein, Reason and FOX Forum

Fox News:

Carter to Obama: Remove Hamas From Terror List — Former President Jimmy Carter says he will ask the Obama administration to remove the militant Palestinian group from the U.S.-designated terror list, just as Hamas says it foiled a bomb plot against Carter..

Discussion: Hot Air, New York Times, Jihad Watch, A Blog For All, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, The Cable, Atlas Shrugs and This ain't Hell …

Networked Culture:

iranelection cyberwar guide for beginners — The purpose of this guide is to help you participate constructively in the Iranian election protests through twitter. — Do NOT publicise proxy IP's over twitter, and especially not using the #iranelection hashtag.

Discussion: Mere Rhetoric, The Huffington Post, Gawker, The Jawa Report, Boing Boing, AMERICAblog News and Latest Open Salon Blog

Noah Shachtman / Danger Room:
Web Attacks Expand in Iran's Cyber Battle (Updated Again)

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Personal Democracy Forum blogs, New York Times, Austin Heap, Obsidian Wings and Newshoggers.com

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Andrew Sullivan, who probably has more readers than any other solo political blogger, wrote yesterday that he thought he might be the subject of a denial-of-service attack, as a pro-opposition Iranian site said it was. — In fact, his blog was just loading slowly because of the massive surge of traffic.

Discussion: The Daily Dish and democracyarsenal.org

CNN:

Oops! President Obama confuses right, left — (CNN) — President Obama is so busy these days dealing with pressing foreign policy issues like Iran and North Korea, that he can't seem to tell his right from his left. — After holding a bilateral meeting in the Oval office …

Bernard-Henri Levy / The New Republic:

What We Can Do In Iran — Massive cheating or not? — RELATED CONTENT — Morse and Makovsky: “Why Congress's Sanctions Against Iran Won't Work” (5/29/09) — A new kind of coup d'etat or not? — How do we interpret this strange election whose results were announced by the press affiliated …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

Gorman Gorman / The Note:

McCain: “Scrap” Health Care Bill And Start Over — ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports: — Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, called on President Obama and Democrats in Congress to “scrap the current [healthcare] bill and start over.” — McCain pointed to a nonpartisan cost estimate of $1 trillion …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Political Punch, AmSpecBlog, The Politico, Wonk Room and Hot Air