memeorandum: Reports: Bill Clinton Arrives in N. Korea (Glenn Kessler/Washington Post)

11:35 AM ET, August 4, 2009

Top Items:

White House Counsel's Job Is at Stake — WASHINGTON — Obama administration officials are holding discussions that could result in White House counsel Gregory Craig leaving his post, following a rocky tenure, people familiar with the matter said. — Mr. Craig, the top lawyer at the White House …

Discussion: Washington Post, Weekly Standard, Los Angeles Times, Raw Story, At-Largely, Hot Air, The Washington Independent, ATTACKERMAN, msnbc.com, Emptywheel, Law Blog, The BLT, Above the Law and New York Magazine

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Obama vs. Drudge — The White House on Tuesday posted a three-minute video punching back at an old clip of President Barack Obama that was featured on the Drudge Report with the headline, “Uncovered Video: Obama Explains How His Health Care Plan Will ‘Eliminate’ Private Insurance.”

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Ben Smith's Blog, NewsBusters.org, Michelle Malkin, Power Line, Media Matters for America, Macsmind, Washington Post, The Page and Breitbart.tv

Macon Phillips / WhiteHouse.gov Blog:

Facts Are Stubborn Things — Opponents of health insurance reform may find the truth a little inconvenient, but as our second president famously said, “facts are stubborn things.” — Scary chain emails and videos are starting to percolate on the internet, breathlessly claiming, for example …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Monthly, Washington Wire, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Washington Post, Gateway Pundit, techPresident, Political Punch and The Plum Line

Siobhan Gorman / Wall Street Journal:
White House Cybersecurity Chief Quits

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, On Deadline and Emptywheel

Michael Tanji / Danger Room: White House ‘Cyber Czar’ Resigns; Let's Not Replace Her.

Wall Street Journal:

Geithner Vents as Overhaul Stumbles — WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner blasted top U.S. financial regulators in an expletive-laced critique last Friday as frustration grows over the Obama administration's faltering plan to overhaul U.S. financial regulation, according to people familiar with the meeting.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Reuters, Felix Salmon, naked capitalism, Piece of Work In Progress, The Volokh Conspiracy, Political Punch, Free exchange, Clusterstock, Right Wing News, Concurring Opinions, DailyFinance, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Real Time Economics, zero hedge and Dealbreaker

KTLA:

Obama ‘Joker’ Poster Causing a Stir in L.A. — Obama “Joker” Poster — What do you think? — When you're taking flak... ÃÂyou know you're over the target,and the person who made this poster is shining the light of truth on the Obama administration.

Discussion: The Corner, field negro, NewsBusters.org, Taylor Marsh, Jules Crittenden, American Power, FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog, No More Mister Nice Blog, Erick's blog and L.A. Now

Steven Mikulan / LA Daily:

New Anti-Obama ‘Joker’ Poster — A new poster depicting President Obama as a version of Heath Ledger's Joker character in The Dark Knight has appeared in Los Angeles, according to rightwing sources. Blog posters to such online sites as American Thinker and Tammy Bruce are predictably in the throes of political orgasm.

Discussion: Jim Treacher's Blog …, Big Hollywood, IMAO, QandO, RedState, Daily Dose, rightofcourse.com, The Anchoress, Bookworm Room, The Confluence, Conventional Folly, theblogprof, Confederate Yankee and The washington times Blogs

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
LA Weekly wets itself over Obama/Joker poster: “The only thing missing is a noose”

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Scared Monkeys, Pajamas Media, Cranky T-Rex's Blog, Weekly World News, The Sundries Shack, NewsBusters.org, Pundit & Pundette, The Corner, American Power and Macsmind

New York Times:

Bill Clinton Meeting North Korea Leader, Media Reports — SEOUL, South Korea — Former President Bill Clinton met on Tuesday with Kim Jong-il, the reclusive and ailing leader of North Korea, while on a visit to negotiate the release of two imprisoned American television journalists, North Korean state media reported.

Discussion: Mediaite, Company Town, Politics Daily, The Caucus, The Politico, Los Angeles Times, The Lede, The Confluence, Gawker, Taylor Marsh, At-Largely, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Page

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Reports: Bill Clinton Arrives in N. Korea — Former president Bill Clinton landed in North Korea on Tuesday on an unannounced mission to negotiate the release of two American journalists, marking his first diplomatic mission abroad for the Obama administration in a case that has deeply concerned his wife …

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, Jezebel, Guardian, CNN, Postcards, The Washington Independent and The Plank

New York Times:
Bill Clinton in North Korea to Seek Release of U.S. Reporters

Discussion: Connecting.the.Dots, Washington Post, Bloomberg, USA Today, Jules Crittenden, THE WEEK News & Opinion, The Page and Michael Calderone's Blog

Los Angeles Times:
Bill Clinton visits North Korea in bid to free journalists

Discussion: The Swamp and The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

David Weigel / The Washington Independent:

Is This the Source of the Forged ‘Kenyan Birth Certificate?’ — [Update: Credit where it's due—my source tipped me off to this in the Politijab web forums, which have become a good site for “birther” debunking.] — One of my friends in the small community of Obama “birther” …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Wonkette, The Washington Independent, Below The Beltway, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Townhall.com

Koyaan / PolitiJab.com:

Kenyan Birth Certificate: PWNED! — After having spent (wasted?) nearly a year in the trenches of Birthistan, I decided several months ago to “retire” and move on, save for dropping by here once in a while to keep in touch with some of the friends I'd made here.

WorldNetDaily:
Why I doubt Kenyan birth document

Discussion: Salon, The Washington Independent and Vox Popoli

Gateway Pundit:

Lib “Blue Dog” Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-OH) Booed, Mocked & Laughed At During Town Hall (Video) — Another Day— Another Blue Dog Mocked at Obamacare Town Hall — Representative Steve Driehaus (D-OH) held a town hall on health care reform. While Driehaus campaigned as a fiscal conservative …

Discussion: Little Green Links

Directorblue / Doug Ross:
‘Blue Dog’ Steve Driehaus ripped, mocked, booed and laughed …

Discussion: Hot Air, Michelle Malkin and No More Mister Nice Blog

Cincinnati.com:
Health-care forum draws big crowd

Discussion: Glenn Thrush's Blog and Zandar Versus The Stupid

New York Times:

Health Plan Opponents Make Voices Heard — WASHINGTON — Senator Arlen Specter and the health and human services secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, were heckled and booed in Philadelphia on Sunday. — In Austin on Saturday, a throng of protesters enveloped Representative Lloyd Doggett …

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Caucus, Washington Monthly, The Note, D-Day, Philly.com, Commentary, Ben Smith's Blog and The Plum Line

The Politico:
Dems' break looking like a bad trip

Discussion: WSJ.com and The Atlantic Politics Channel

Lee Fang / Think Progress:
Durbin Responds To Lobbyist-Run Efforts To Harass Town Halls …

The Hill:

Left is miffed at Pelosi over her comment — House liberals are offended that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) mocked their threats to oppose a Democratic healthcare bill, saying leaders are underestimating their frustration over a deal cut with centrist Blue Dogs.

Discussion: Kausfiles, Wonk Room and Blog entry

Derrick Z. Jackson / Boston Globe:
Who will stand strong in heat of healthcare fight?

Discussion: Firedoglake

Gwen Ottinger / Washington Post:

When ‘Clunkers’ Are Greener — Want to be green? Consider keeping your “clunker.” — The wildly popular “Cash for Clunkers” program is one of a number of policies funded by this year's stimulus package that encourage consumers to make major purchases in the name of the environment.

Discussion: Environmental Capital, The Glittering Eye and Sweetness & Light

Rasmussen Reports:

54% Oppose More Money for ‘Cash for Clunkers’ Program — Fifty-four percent (54%) of Americans oppose any further funding for the federal “cash for clunkers” program which encourages the owners of older cars to trade them in for newer, more fuel-efficient ones.

Discussion: Glenn Thrush's Blog, FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog and Washington Post

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

McDonnell leads by 14 — Bob McDonnell has opened up a 51-37 lead over Creigh Deeds in the race to be Virginia's next Governor, up from a 49-43 advantage four weeks ago. — The movement in the race likely has more to do with national trends than anything actually going on in Virginia.

Discussion: The Campaign Spot, Below The Beltway and Blue Virginia

Weekly Standard:

And That's the Way It Wasn't — From the Scrapbook. — It seems somehow oddly appropriate that the passing of TV news giant Walter Cronkite should have produced in turn a gigantic correction in the New York Times, which we reproduce here for your delectation:

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

New York Post:

HONORING AN AMERICA-HATER — THE Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor. Past recipients include John Wayne, Norman Rockwell and Vaclav Havel. This year, one of the 16 recipients President Obama selected (along with such worthies as Sen. Edward Kennedy and the late Jack Kemp) …

Discussion: Commentary, Bookworm Room, Ben Smith's Blog, Gateway Pundit, Capital J | JTA and JammieWearingFool

Wall Street Journal:

Why Revive the Cold War? — Russia and the U.S. were reducing their nuclear arsenals without ‘arms control.’ — Multimedia — Health Care Reform — President Obama's effort to overhaul the health-care system may have momentum. See past attempts at reform. — Health Overhaul Quiz

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

And for the Blue Team? — We spent most of Monday reporting on these tea-bagging crowds going to Democratic health care town hall meetings to shout down the hosts and shut the events down. It's classic agitprop, very akin to the ‘Brooks Brothers riot’ down in Florida during the recount.

Discussion: The Plum Line, No More Mister Nice Blog and Zandar Versus The Stupid

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:

Brennan To Give Counterterrorism Speech — John Brennan, the president's chief counterterrorism adviser and a survivor of the Bush-era Central Intelligence Agency, will speak in public for the first time since the inauguration. On Thursday, he's slated to deliver a speech on counterterorrism …

Discussion: ATTACKERMAN