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8:40 PM ET, June 23, 2009

Top Items:

Michael Calderone / Michael Calderone's Blog:

Obama calls on HuffPost for Iran question UPDATE — In what appeared to be a coordinated exchange, President Obama called on the Huffington Post's Nico Pitney near the start of his press conference and requested a question directly about Iran. — “Nico, I know you and all across the Internet …

Discussion: The Bobblespeak Translations, Fox News, Emptywheel, Michelle Malkin, Washington Monthly, The Opinionator, Gateway Pundit, The Plum Line, Commentary, Guardian, Riehl World View, Taylor Marsh, Say Anything, Macsmind, The Impolitic, Pundit & Pundette, Gawker and The Jawa Report

Matthew Cooper / The Atlantic Politics Channel:

Obama's Weird “AA” Crack — It tells you something that neither Afghanistan nor Iraq came up at the president's press conference. The United States is simultaneously prosecuting two wars in the Muslim world and neither merited a question of the president.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Tony Campbell / The Moderate Voice:

Anyone forget Bush v. Gore? — First of all, before I get rebuffed by the right side of my readers, let me clearly explain that I am not supportive of the President's lack of action on the Iranian elections. However, what exactly is Barack Obama supposed to do?

Jesse Lee / WhiteHouse.gov Blog:

The President's Opening Remarks on Iran, with Persian Translation — The President discusses Iran during his opening remarks at the Press Conference today at the White House: — Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player. — Download mp4 (67.1 MB)

Discussion: Truthdig, niacINsight, Washington Post and Crooks and Liars

Walter Shapiro / Politics Daily:
Pushing the President's Buttons

Discussion: Time and Taegan Goddard's …

Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:
Obama questions legitimacy of Iranian elections, says it is 'up …

Discussion: Michael Calderone's Blog, The Huffington Post, #gay, Washington Monthly, Raw Story and ATTACKERMAN

WYFF-TV:

Sources Question Governor's Story — Gov. Mark Sanford Says He Disappeared To Go Hiking — GREENVILLE, S.C. — WYFF News 4 has received exclusive information from sources who say they have information about Gov. Mark Sanford's whereabouts during a mysterious absence over the past several days.

Discussion: The Politico, Think Progress, Talking Points Memo, TPMMuckraker, Top of the Ticket, The Palmetto Scoop, Hot Air, Daily Kos, AMERICAblog News, Swing State Project and Politics Nation

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Sanford Returns! — Gov. Mark Sanford is set to return to South Carolina tomorrow. AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford will return to the state tomorrow after spending the last five days hiking the Appalachian Trail, according to a statement released by his office this morning.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, TPMMuckraker, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Villainous Company, Scorecard's Blog, The Caucus, Taegan Goddard's …, AmSpecBlog, Washington Monthly, Fausta's Blog and The Reaction

Jimmy Orr / Christian Science Monitor:

Sanford disappears to hike Appalachian Trail (on Naked Hiking Day) — We're not suggesting that the formerly missing Governor of South Carolina specifically ditched his family and security detail to go hiking on Naked Hiking Day. But that's what he ended up doing.

Discussion: The Palmetto Scoop, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, msnbc.com, Talking Points Memo, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Riehl World View, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, PoliBlog and Daily Kos

Zachary Roth / TPMMuckraker:
Report: Sanford Seen In Atlanta Airport

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNN, Pat Dollard, BuzzFlash.org, Democratic Strategist, Vanity Fair, Balloon Juice, Comments from Left Field and Dependable Renegade

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
A question from Huffington Post

Discussion: The New Republic, The Washington Independent and The Impolitic

The Huffington Post:
Sanford's Hiking Trail Got Stimulus Money He Opposed

Discussion: msnbc.com, The Swamp, Latest Open Salon Blog, Wonkette, The World Newser, The New Republic, The Impolitic, Washington Wire and AMERICAblog News

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Sanford's timing — Yes, it was Naked Hiking Day.

Discussion: Redhot

Joe Klein / Swampland:

About Last Night — I've been receiving a steady stream of favorable emails from Iranian-Americans regarding my appearance on Larry King last night. They're delighted that I made it clear that Iran is different from the other countries in the region—better educated, more sophisticated …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, American Footprints, No More Mister Nice Blog, Balloon Juice and Obsidian Wings

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

KLEIN 1, MCCAIN 0.... John McCain has spent an enormous amount of time lately criticizing President Obama's approach to developments in Iran. On CNN last night, Larry King mentioned to Time's Joe Klein that McCain would be on the program tonight, and asked what Klein would tell the Arizona Republican.

Discussion: CNN and Pat Dollard

New York Times:
President Obama's Press Briefing

Discussion: The Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, AmSpecBlog and MoJo Blog Posts

Scott Wilson / Washington Post:
Iran Unrest Reveals Split In U.S. on Its Role Abroad

Discussion: Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, Jules Crittenden, The Campaign Spot, JustOneMinute, The Foundry, The Washington Independent, ATTACKERMAN, Sister Toldjah, RedState, TigerHawk, White House Watch, Jihad Watch and NewsBusters.org

New York Times:
Obama Assails Iran for Violent Response to Protests

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, FP Passport and The Rhetorican

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Obama on Iran and Neda: ‘A remarkable opening’

Discussion: The Swamp and Donklephant

The Huffington Post: McCain Hits Obama On Iran Again, Joe Klein Tells Him “Be Quiet” (VIDEO)

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Tapes Reveal Nixon's View of Abortion — WASHINGTON — On Jan. 23, 1973, when the Supreme Court struck down state criminal abortion laws in Roe v. Wade, President Richard M. Nixon made no public statement. But privately, newly released tapes reveal, he expressed ambivalence.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Fix, The Caucus, The Politico, American Power, The New Republic, Gawker, Ben Smith's Blog, Matthew Yglesias, Taegan Goddard's …, Truthdig and New York Times

CNN:
Nixon to Bush 41: Find ‘attractive’ women

Discussion: Hot Air and Swampland

Kathryn Cheng / ABC News' Press Room:

David Westin Responds to Members of the Congressional Media Fairness Caucus — Dear Congressman Smith: — Thank you for your letter of today's date concerning our planned coverage tomorrow of health care reform in America. I am pleased that you agree that the subject deserves extensive and careful coverage.

Discussion: Michael Calderone's Blog, Don Surber, FishBowlDC and TVNewser

Kristina Wong / The Note:
Congressional Republicans Blast ABC; ABC Fires Back

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and Real Clear Politics

Mike Allen / The Politico:

What Obama didn't mention — A couple of surprising words were missing from President Barack Obama's 55-minute news conference on Wednesday: “Iraq” — and “Afghanistan.” — Also MIA: “Korea,” “Pakistan,” “soldiers,” “surge” and “war” — as well as the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.

Discussion: The Swamp and Blue Crab Boulevard

Jeff Stein / SpyTalk:

Mousavi, Celebrated in Iranian Protests, Was the Butcher of Beirut — He may yet turn out to be the avatar of Iranian democracy, but three decades ago Mir-Hossein Mousavi was waging a terrorist war on the United States that included bloody attacks on the U.S. embassy and Marine Corps barracks in Beirut.

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, The Huffington Post, Don Surber and The Raw Story

Laura Rozen / The Cable:

Longtime Clinton confidant Blumenthal to become Clinton advisor — Longtime journalist and former Clinton White House advisor Sidney Blumenthal will become a special advisor without portfolio to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, The Cable has learned. Blumenthal refused to comment.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog

Ben Smith / The Politico:
Clinton toils in the shadows

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, Pat Dollard, Taylor Marsh and marbury

Christopher Badeaux / The New Ledger:

Through the Looking Glass With Andrew Sullivan — Perhaps the single, common life goal of every intellectual, pseudo-intellectual, and intellectual aspirant, is to be a true Renaissance man — a genius whose force of will and flexible, dominating intellect allows him to master or nearly master …

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, Sister Toldjah, American Power and RedState

Yaroslav Trofimov / Wall Street Journal:

Israeli Radio Show Captivates Iranians — JERUSALEM—In his Friday sermon, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reserved special wrath for “Zionist radio” that he said tried to drive a wedge between the Iranian people and the Islamic Republic. Such attention from Iran's supreme leader was music to the ears …

Discussion: Townhall.com, Commentary and The New Republic

Thomas Joscelyn / Weekly Standard:
They Blame America Anyway

Discussion: WashingtonTV, The Washington Independent and democracyarsenal.org

The Corner:

Eliminating Prison Rape — It has been far too long in coming but, yesterday, the Federal Prison Rape Elimination commission released its report on elimination and prevention efforts regarding the biggest social problem nobody wants to talk about: prison rape.

Discussion: Newshoggers.com and Ideas Special Report

Washington Post:

President Obama Holds Press Conference — Opens with Discussion on Health-Care, Iranian Elections and Energy Policy — [*] OBAMA: Hello, everybody. Good afternoon, everybody. — Today, I want to start by addressing three issues, and then I'll take your questions.

Discussion: White House Watch, Emptywheel, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, Reason, The Fix, Flopping Aces, Top of the Ticket and PostPartisan

Farnaz Fassihi / Wall Street Journal:

Son's Death Has Iranian Family Asking Why — TEHRAN—The family, clad in black, stood at the curb of the road sobbing. A middle-aged mother slapped her cheeks, letting out piercing wails. The father, a frail man who worked as a doorman at a clinic in central Tehran, wept quietly with his head bowed.

Discussion: Hot Air, Weekly Standard, About.com Middle East Issues, The Raw Story, BBC, Gateway Pundit, Payvand Iran News, JammieWearingFool, Air America Media blogs, Washington Monthly, Don Surber, On Deadline and Weasel Zippers

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Haley Huddles with Top GOP Strategists — Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis — Gov. Haley Barbour dined with a handful of senior Republican strategists Monday night in Washington, a gathering certain to further stoke talk of the Mississippi Republican's interest in a 2012 race.

Discussion: The New Republic, The Atlantic Politics Channel and Talking Points Memo

Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:

Bolton Slams Obama For Being ‘Timid’ On Iran, Then Admits U.S. Options Limited Because Of Bush's Failures — Yesterday on Fox News, Sean Hannity and former U.N. ambassador John Bolton joined the right-wing chorus hitting President Obama's response to the Iranian election crisis.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Reaction

David Weigel / The Washington Independent:

Cornyn: I'll Support Norm Coleman if He Appeals to the Supreme Court — At a luncheon at the National Republican Senatorial Committee's headquarters near Capitol Hill (organized by the Heritage Foundation), I asked Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) if there was a Republican game plan ready …

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and TPMDC

Robert Tait / Guardian:

Iran bans election protest footballers — Ali Karimi, Mehdi Mahdavikia and two others are ‘retired’ after sporting green wristbands in World Cup qualifier in Seoul — Their gesture attracted worldwide comment and drew the attention of football fans to Iran's political turmoil.

Discussion: Telegraph, Matthew Yglesias, Macleans.ca, democracyarsenal.org, Reason and Israel Matzav