memeorandum: Obama WH falsely downplaying risks of retreat in Afghanistan … (Ed Morrissey/Hot Air)

8:40 AM ET, October 12, 2009

Top Items:

BREAKING FROM NBC: White House official calls gays part of “Internet left fringe” — UPDATE FROM PAM: … And let me just add that if we're all insignificant children who don't understand politics, and who the White House doesn't worry about, then why did a White House official feel the need …

Discussion: Pam's House Blend, Ruby Slippers, Another Black Conservative, Breitbart.tv, American Power, GayPatriot, The Stranger …, Mock, Paper, Scissors, Raw Story, Pundit & Pundette, Osborne Ink, RADAMISTO and TPM LiveWire

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

White House Thinks Demonstrators “Internet Left Fringe” Who Need to “Take Off The Pajamas” — Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy — Those anonymous White House aides are talking tough again, this time about what the New York Times calls …

Discussion: DISSENTING JUSTICE and Open Left

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Fox's Volley With Obama Intensifying — Attacking the news media is a time-honored White House tactic but to an unusual degree, the Obama administration has narrowed its sights to one specific organization, the Fox News Channel, calling it, in essence, part of the political opposition.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Clusterstock and The Nation

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Gay Rights Marchers Press Cause in Washington — WASHINGTON - Impatient and discouraged by what they see as a certain detachment by President Obama on their issues, gay rights supporters took to the streets of the capital on Sunday in the largest demonstration for gay rights here in nearly a decade.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, GayPatriot, The Stranger … and Firedoglake

John Cloud / Time:
Obama's Gay Outreach: All Talk, No Action

Discussion: Top of the Ticket

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Obama WH falsely downplaying risks of retreat in Afghanistan …

Discussion: McClatchy Washington Bureau, Betsy's Page, Cold Fury, RADAMISTO, Weasel Zippers and Weekly Standard

Ceci Connolly / Washington Post:

Insurance Group Says Health Bill Will Mean Higher Premiums — Report Issued Before Key Committee Vote — After months of collaboration on President Obama's attempt to overhaul the nation's health-care system, the insurance industry plans to strike out against the effort on Monday …

Discussion: The New Republic, TPM LiveWire, Scared Monkeys, Ruby Slippers, Angry Bear, The Politico and Talking Points Memo

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Insurance Industry Assails Health Care Legislation — WASHINGTON — In a blistering new attack, the health insurance industry said Sunday that health care legislation drafted by Senate Democrats would drive up premiums, rather than making coverage more affordable, as the White House contends.

Discussion: The Politico, Prairie Weather, And So it Goes in Shreveport, The Hill and The Reality-Based Community

Fox News:

Insurers Mount Attack Against Health Reform — Insurance industry sharply escalates its criticism of the Senate health care bill, charging that the legislation would shift costs to privately insured people, raising the price of policies — WASHINGTON — After working for months behind …

Discussion: Gateway Pundit

Katharine Q. Seelye / Prescriptions:
Democrats Heed Dole's Objection and Kill TV Ad

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard, Washington Monthly, The Politico, The Hill, KansasCity.com Prime Buzz and The Caucus

Political Punch:
At Dole's Request, White House Tells DNC to Pull Health Care Reform Ad

Discussion: Washington Wire, TPM LiveWire and Weasel Zippers

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

Heckuva Job, Barack — This was Barack Obama's chance. — Here was an opportunity to cut himself free, in a stroke, from the baggage that's weighed his presidency down — the implausible expectations, the utopian dreams, the messianic hoo-ha. — Here was a place to draw …

Discussion: PoliBlog, No More Mister Nice Blog, Lawyers, Guns and Money and Balloon Juice

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
The Peace (Keepers) Prize

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Comments from Left Field, neo-neocon, BLACKFIVE and Maggie's Farm

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Gandhi Wuz Robbed

Discussion: The Independent, The New Republic, NewsBusters.org and Pajamas Media

Michael Scherer / Swampland:

Cable News Irony Alert: CNN, Fox and The Disappearing General Audience — White House Communications Director Anita Dunn appeared Sunday morning on Howard Kurtz's CNN show Reliable Sources to discuss her comments in my TIME magazine story this week. She continued her criticism of Fox News:

Discussion: Another Black Conservative, TVNewser, Hot Air, Blogs and Stories, TPM LiveWire, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Political Carnival and The Hill

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
HOW IT'S DUNN.... Time's Michael Scherer had a piece this week …

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, Jules Crittenden and Raw Story

Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:
WH communications director: Fox News operates as ‘a wing of the Republican Party.’

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Crooks and Liars, Jules Crittenden, The Political Carnival, Liberal Values, News Hounds and The Impolitic

New York Times:

Civilian Goals Largely Unmet in Afghanistan — WASHINGTON — Even as President Obama leads an intense debate over whether to send more troops to Afghanistan, administration officials say the United States is falling far short of his goals to fight the country's endemic corruption …

Discussion: Lens, The Reality-Based Community, George's Bottom Line and The Page

Christina Lamb / Times of London:
Barack Obama ready to pay Afghan fighters to ditch the Taliban

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, Donklephant, At-Largely and Balloon Juice

Lewis Sorley / Wall Street Journal:

The Real Afghan Lessons From Vietnam — The ‘clear and hold’ strategy of Gen. Creighton Abrams was working in South Vietnam. Then Congress pulled the plug on funding. — Printer — Friendly — More than 30 years have passed since North Vietnam, in gross violation of the 1973 Paris Peace Accords, conquered South Vietnam.

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Jessica E. Vascellaro / Wall Street Journal:

Why Email No Longer Rules... And what that means for the way we communicate — Services like Twitter, Facebook and Google Wave create a constant stream of interaction among users—for better or worse. — Email has had a good run as king of communications. But its reign is over.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Outside The Beltway and TechCrunch

Chris Mortensen / ESPN:

Smith sends e-mail detailing opposition — NFL Players executive director DeMaurice Smith on Saturday made a move to solidify the union against a bid by conservative talk show radio host Rush Limbaugh as part of a group that aims to purchase the St. Louis Rams.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, Think Progress, Power Line, Weasel Zippers and NewsBusters.org

ABCNews.com:

Transcript: Feinstein, Chambliss, McGovern, Keane — “This Week” Transcript with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, Rep. Jim McGovern, Gen. Jack Keane — ABC NEWS, THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS INTERVIEW WITH SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN, SENATOR SAXBY CHAMBLISS …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars