memeorandum: The Lies They Told (Jacob Heilbrunn/New York Times)

5:05 PM ET, November 14, 2009

Top Items:

How low will he go? Obama gives Japan's Emperor Akihito a wow bow (Updated with video, pic) — (UPDATES: 12:22 p.m. A brief news video has been added below, showing the greeting in this photograph. Contrary to some claims, the video shows no reciprocal bow by the emperor, who traditionally bows to no one.

Discussion: Hot Air, Riehl World View, Gateway Pundit, The Swamp, Another Black Conservative, Donklephant, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Left Coast Rebel, Scared Monkeys, HillBuzz, Infidels Are Cool, Rumproast, Sister Toldjah, Commentary and Confederate Yankee

Scott / Power Line:

Why is this man bowing? — We criticized Barack Obama when he bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia. Americans do not bow to royalty. When the royal is the ruling tyrant of a despotic regime, the wrong is compounded. Obama's bowing to the King was deeply offensive.

Discussion: American Thinker, Macsmind, Althouse, Newshoggers.com, Maggie's Farm, Viking Pundit and Sadly, No!

Meredith Jessup / Townhall.com:

This Is Getting Embarrassing... First this... Now this... Even the LA Times is asking, “How low will the new American president go for the world's royalty?” — President Obama first denied he had bowed to the Saudi royalty, but his actions were crystal clear during his visit to Japan this week.

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Flashback: NYT blasts Clinton for ... almost bowing to Akihito — Both Allahpundit and I referenced this blast from the past at the time Barack Obama bowed to Abdullah earlier this year. It's worth posting again, not just because Obama pulled another boneheaded protocol violation and bowed to an emperor …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Weasel Zippers

Danielle Demetriou / Telegraph:

Barack Obama bows and talks of green tea icecream as he pushes US ties in Asia — President Barack Obama has bowed to the Emperor of Japan and revealed his childhood affection for green tea icecream as he pushes stronger US ties with Asia. — There was talk of green tea ice cream …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and protein wisdom

Mike Allen / The Politico:
'America's first Pacific president'

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, Hot Air, The Swamp and American Power

Andy Barr / The Politico:

Palin's five book tour goals — Sarah Palin's new book isn't even on shelves, but it's already a phenomenon. — “Going Rogue” is Amazon's best-selling pre-order and the mere whiff of its contents, which have trickled out despite a tight embargo, has stirred up a media frenzy.

Discussion: Politics Daily

Jon Meacham / Newsweek:

Why Palin Matters to Obama—And to You — From the magazine issue dated Nov 23, 2009 — Richard Nixon sensed trouble. seated in the cow palace in San Francisco at the GOP convention in 1964, he listened as Barry Goldwater said: “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty—is—no— vice.”

Discussion: CBS News and Hot Air

The Huffington Post:
Sarah Palin “Going Rogue”: Takes Aim At McCain Campaign, Steve Schmidt

Discussion: New York Times, GOP 12 and Wall Street Journal

Peter Hamby / CNN:
McCain received signed copy of ‘Going Rogue’

Discussion: The Hill and Hot Air

Associated Press:
FACT CHECK: Palin's Book Goes Rogue on Some Facts

Discussion: The Huffington Post

The Politico:
McCain camp: Palin account ‘all fiction’

Discussion: Conservatives4Palin.com, Liberal Values, Riehl World View, Power Line, The Page and msnbc.com

New York Times:

A Return to American Justice — Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. took a bold and principled step on Friday toward repairing the damage wrought by former President George W. Bush with his decision to discard the nation's well-established systems of civilian and military justice in the treatment …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, QandO, Right Wing Nut House, NewsBusters.org, Room for Debate, DailyFinance, Infidels Are Cool, ProPublica, The Moderate Voice and The Opinionator

Wall Street Journal:

KSM Hits Manhattan—Again — Eric Holder's decision to move a trial on war crimes to American soil is morally confused, dangerous and political to a fault. — Printer — Friendly — Coming soon to a civilian courtroom blocks from Ground Zero: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the four other al Qaeda planners of 9/11.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Christian Science Monitor, At-Largely, Stop The ACLU and RedState

Carrie Johnson / Washington Post:
For Holder, much wrestling over decision

Discussion: Politics Daily, Stop The ACLU and Betsy's Page

New York Times:
9/11 Trial Poses Unparalleled Legal Obstacles for Both Sides

Discussion: The Caucus, POWIP and the talking dog

Philip Klein / AmSpecBlog:
Mukasey Blasts Pre-9/11 Mentality in KSM Decision

Discussion: Stop The ACLU, Power Line and Hot Air

Jacob Heilbrunn / New York Times:

The Lies They Told — When Sept. 11, 2001, dawned, the Northeast Air Defense Sector in Rome, N.Y., went on full alert — to prepare for a training exercise that envisioned a sneak attack by Russian planes flying over the North Pole to bomb the United States, a prospect that Defense Secretary Robert McNamara …

Discussion: The Impolitic and Emptywheel

Wall Street Journal:

Obama Is Losing Independent Voters — A number of recent polls show the president would be wise to shift right. — Printer — Friendly — The announcement a week ago of 10.2% unemployment is a significant political event for President Barack Obama.

Discussion: Commentary, The Confluence, Shot in the Dark and RedState

Paul Krugman:

It's the stupidity economy — OK, maybe a more polite way to say it is this: bad ideas are acting as serious constraints on policy. — We're in a liquidity trap, with interest rates up against the zero bound. This means that conventional monetary policy isn't sufficient. What should we do?

Discussion: TheMoneyIllusion and Matthew Yglesias