memeorandum: Obama admin: No grounds to probe Afghan war crimes (Lara Jakes/Associated Press)

2:55 PM ET, July 11, 2009

Top Items:

Sotomayor backers urge reporters to probe New Haven firefighter — WASHINGTON — Supporters of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor are quietly targeting the Connecticut firefighter who's at the center of Sotomayor's most controversial ruling. — On the eve of Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearing …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Washington Post, The Jawa Report, Don Surber, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, NewsBusters.org, JammieWearingFool, Gateway Pundit and The Political Carnival

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:

The New Haven firefighter is no stranger to employment disputes. — Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee have announced that Frank Ricci, the firefighter who recently prevailed in his “reverse discrimination” lawsuit against the city of New Haven, Conn., will testify at Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings.

Discussion: Hullabaloo and The Volokh Conspiracy

The Ninth Justice:

How Ricci Almost Disappeared — For all the publicity about the Supreme Court's 5-4 reversal of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's decision (with two colleagues) to reject a discrimination suit by a group of firefighters against New Haven, Conn., one curious aspect of the case has been largely overlooked.

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Path to Court: Speak Capably but Say Little — WASHINGTON — On his first day at the Justice Department in 1981, a 26-year-old lawyer named John G. Roberts Jr. was handed a high-profile assignment: to help prepare Sandra Day O'Connor, then an Arizona judge, for her Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:

Leaders in House Seek to Tax Rich for Health Plan — WASHINGTON — House Democrats will ask the wealthiest Americans to help pay for overhauling the health care system with a $550 billion income tax increase, the chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee said Friday.

Discussion: D-Day, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Fausta's Blog, The Caucus, Stop The ACLU and CNN

Chris Frates / The Politico:
Rangel: Health bill will tax the rich

Discussion: JammieWearingFool, Macsmind, Sweetness & Light and The Hill

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
Democrats Agree on Tax Hike to Fund Health Care

Discussion: Washington Monthly and RedState

Steven T. Dennis / Roll Call:
Rangel to Unveil Health Bill Monday

Discussion: Daily Kos and TPMDC

Logan Murphy / Crooks and Liars:

David Brooks Recounts GOP Senator Who “Had His Hand On My Inner Thigh” At Dinner Party — You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player! — DOWNLOADS: (365) — PLAYS: (972) — Think Progress has more: … This is one of those bizarre moments …

Discussion: QandO and Washington Monthly

Ann Althouse / Althouse:

What Republican Senator had his hand on David Brooks's inner thigh through an entire dinner? — Brooks is talking on MSNBC — video at the link — and says: … What!? Perhaps the Republican Senator just periodically patted him on the thigh and technically the fingers extended into the inner part.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, protein wisdom, DISSENTING JUSTICE, The Other McCain, Glenn Thrush's Blog, DownWithTyranny!, Firedoglake, The Reaction, The Confluence, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos, The Political Carnival, Think Progress and The Impolitic

Thers / Whiskey Fire:
Such a Collector — Flory brought up Althouse again …

Discussion: The Other McCain and The Reaction

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

The new Report on illegal spying is not a real investigation — The Bush-era torture regime might have been that administration's most flamboyant act of criminality, but its illegal NSA warrantless eavesdropping program (and other still-unknown surveillance programs) has always been the clearest.

Discussion: Obsidian Wings, Balkinization and At-Largely

A.L. / The Anonymous Liberal:

The Case Against John Yoo — The OIG has finally released a declassified version of its report on the NSA surveillance program. Much of the information contained in the report has already been reported, but it still makes for an interesting read. I'm convinced that the Ashcroft/Comey hospital episode …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Obsidian Wings, The Washington Independent, New York Times and Washington Post

Peter Baker / New York Times:

In Ghana, Obama Preaches Tough Love — ACCRA, Ghana — President Obama traveled in his father's often-troubled home continent on Saturday as a potent symbol of a new era and the embodiment of hope but also as a messenger with a tough-love theme: American aid must be matched by African responsibility for its own problems.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Obama's African journey: ‘Promise’

Discussion: The Politico

Lara Jakes / Associated Press:

Obama admin: No grounds to probe Afghan war crimes — WASHINGTON (AP) — Obama administration officials said Friday they had no grounds to investigate the 2001 deaths of Taliban prisoners of war who human rights groups allege were killed by U.S.-backed forces.

Discussion: AfghanMassGrave.org

James Risen / New York Times:
U.S. Inaction Seen After Taliban P.O.W.'s Died

Discussion: Firedoglake, MyDD, AfghanMassGrave.org and Informed Comment

Andrew Alexander / Washington Post:

The Stumbles That Led to an Ethics Blunder — The Washington Post's ill-fated plan to sell sponsorships of off-the-record “salons” was an ethical lapse of monumental proportions. — Publisher Katharine Weymouth and Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli have now taken full responsibility …

Discussion: Michael Calderone's Blog, The Huffington Post, Hot Air, Emptywheel, Ombudsman Blog and Jay Bookman

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:

Weekly remarks: Obama still clearing wreckage; Cantor asks, where are the jobs? — This week's weekly remarks open with President Obama in Africa opening on foreign affairs. But by the second paragraph out of 20, he gets to what he really wants — needs — to talk about: domestic business in general and the economy specifically.

Discussion: Don Surber and Hot Air

Wall Street Journal:

Lender CIT Group Is Facing a Crunch — CIT Hires Bankruptcy Adviser as Payment Looms; Financier to 1 Million Businesses — CIT Group Inc., a lender to almost a million mostly small and midsize businesses across the country, is preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing after so far failing …

Discussion: Zero Hedge and DailyFinance

David Cho / Washington Post:
Administration Considers Bailout Funds for Small Businesses

Discussion: Wizbang, Blue Crab Boulevard, naked capitalism, Felix Salmon, American Power and Clusterstock

Melanie Kirkpatrick / Wall Street Journal:

Why We Don't Want a Nuclear-Free World — The former defense secretary on the U.S. deterrent and the terrorist threat. — Printer — Friendly — Maclean, Va. — 'Nuclear weapons are used every day. " So says former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger, speaking last month …

Discussion: American Power and Outside The Beltway

Mike Soraghan / The Hill:

Band of House centrists offers support for ‘robust’ public health insurance plan — A band of 22 New Democrat and Blue Dog lawmakers say they support a “robust” government-run health plan, boosting chances of moving healthcare reform with a public insurance plan through the House.