memeorandum: In Novels, an Ex-Spy Returns to the Fold (Julie Bosman/New York Times)

12:45 PM ET, March 19, 2011

Top Items:

Obama Takes Hard Line With Libya After Shift by Clinton — WASHINGTON — In a Paris hotel room on Tuesday night, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton found herself juggling the inconsistencies of American foreign policy in a turbulent Middle East. She criticized the foreign minister …

Discussion: Power Line, Althouse, The Nation, Swampland, Outside the Beltway, National Review, The Atlantic Online, American Power, JustOneMinute, Pundit & Pundette, The Cable and NewsBusters.org blogs

Times of India:

‘To my Dear Obama, our son’, says Gaddafi, defending attack on rebels — CAIRO: Calling Barack Obama as “our son”, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi sent a message to the US President defending his decision to attack the rebels fighting to overthrow him. — Gaddafi (68) also wrote a letter …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Guardian

New York Times:

France Sends Military Flights Over Libya — TRIPOLI, Libya — French military jets have flown reconnaissance missions over Libya, the first sign of the largest military intervention in the Arab world since the invasion of Iraq. President Nicolas Sarkozy said the jets had begin enforcing …

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite and Booman Tribune

CNN:

French fighter jets deployed over Libya — Tripoli, Libya (CNN) — French fighters jets soared over Libya on Saturday to counter Moammar Gadhafi's military forces who were intent on destroying the opposition as they pushed into the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, BBC, The Jawa Report and Next Big Future

Washington Post:

Gaddafi's forces enter Benghazi as U.S., allies prepare military action against Libya — Gallery: A mass exodus from Libya: Escaping fighting in Libya, tens of thousands of guest workers from Egypt and other countries are fleeing to bordering Tunisia, which faces a humanitarian emergency.

Discussion: BBC and National Review

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The Imperial President — The president's speech was disturbingly empty.

Discussion: Foreign Policy, Eunomia, democracyarsenal.org, Guardian and Gawker

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
The Libya Question is Only About Libya — There's an argument …

Discussion: Salon, Yglesias, The Daily Dish, Washington Post, Eschaton and Opinionator

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Reid predicts Gadhafi's days are numbered

Discussion: The Hill

CNN:

Nuclear plant's power restoration closer — Tokyo (CNN) — Efforts accelerated Saturday to restore power to nuclear reactors' cooling systems at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant, with government and power company officials citing a need to increase the limit of permissible radiation exposure …

Discussion: New York Magazine and The Jawa Report

New York Times:

Japan Confirms High Radiation in Spinach and Milk Near Nuclear Plant — TOKYO — The government said on Saturday that they had found levels of radioactive materials above safe limits in spinach and milk in Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures, the first confirmation by officials …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Post, Ecocentric, Kyodo News, Boing Boing and ProPublica

Kate Sheppard / MoJo Articles:
How Bad Could Japan's Nuclear Crisis Get?

Discussion: Frank Munger's Atomic …, Mother Jones, Philly.com, Next Big Future, The BRAD BLOG, Kyodo News, Salon and Booman Tribune

Daily Mail:
The moment nuclear plant chief WEPT as Japanese finally admit that radiation leak is serious enough to kill people

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Daily Kos, Doug Ross and Dean's World

CNN:

Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher dies — Washington (CNN) — Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher died Friday from complications of kidney and bladder cancer, his family said. He was 85. — As America's chief diplomat for four years during President Bill Clinton's administration …

Discussion: New York Magazine

Robert D. Hershey Jr / New York Times:
Warren Christopher, Ex-Secretary of State, Dies at 85

Discussion: Althouse, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway and Guardian

James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:
Warren Christopher, 1925-2011 — Let me break into the sequence …

Discussion: Gawker

NASA Science:

Super Full Moon — March 16, 2011: Mark your calendar. On March 19th, a full Moon of rare size and beauty will rise in the east at sunset. It's a super “perigee moon”—the biggest in almost 20 years. — “The last full Moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993,” …

Discussion: Making Light

Yahoo! News:
‘Supermoon’ Rises: Biggest Full Moon in 18 Years Occurs Saturday Night

Discussion: The Raw Story and Outside the Beltway

Kerry Picket / Washington Times:

DOJ to white male bullying victims: Tough luck — The viral video sensation showing a bullying incident at an Australian school has brought the issue of bullying back into the spotlight. Here in the United States, the Obama administration has made school bullying a federal issue.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Weasel Zippers and The Volokh Conspiracy

Sam Youngman / The Hill:

At campaign event Biden mentions rape in criticizing Republicans — Vice President Joe Biden, speaking at a fundraiser in Philadelphia Friday, compared Republicans in Congress to people who excuse rapists by blaming their victims. — The vice president, known for speaking his mind …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, CNN, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, JammieWearingFool and Ballot Box

Associated Press:

Giuliani mocks Obama as foreign policy weakling … MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose drive-by approach to campaigning in New Hampshire drove his 2008 presidential campaign into the ground, is setting the stage for a do-over.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Politico, Cubachi and Weasel Zippers

Karoli / Crooks and Liars:

Takedown: Ed Schultz Destroys Fox News' “No Looting in Japan” Theme — Boy, am I glad Ed Schultz dealt with this. It's been a Fox theme since yesterday, beginning on Megyn Kelly's show and continuing on all the way through tonight's O'Reilly Factor. It goes like this: Unlike here after Katrina …

Discussion: The Mahablog

James O'Keefe / APP.com:

Hidden-camera activist James O'Keefe turns away APP videographer — have made headlines, apparently was not thrilled about the idea of being videotaped himself during a speech he gave Thursday evening. — O'Keefe, who spoke to about 100 members of the Bayshore Tea Party and their supporters …

Discussion: FreakOutNation