memeorandum: IS A LOOMING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN UNAVOIDABLE?.... Last week … (Steve Benen/Washington Monthly)

1:55 PM ET, March 26, 2011

Top Items:

Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links — Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi's regime. — Mr al-Hasidi admitted he had earlier fought …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, FP Passport, Neptunus Lex, Outside the Beltway, Swampland, Atlas Shrugs, LewRockwell.com Blog, Fox News, Sense of Events, A Chequer-Board of Nights …, Reuters, Wake up America, The Jawa Report, The Gateway Pundit, Maggie's Farm, Maggie's Notebook, Clayton Cramer's Blog and Right Wing News

New York Times:

Qaddafi Forces Pull Back as Rebels Retake Ajdabiya — AJDABIYA, Libya — Rebels seized Ajdabiya on Saturday, government and rebel forces said, succeeding in an effort to retake this key town in the east following another night of allied air strikes against forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Daily Dish and The Page

Bob Leavitt / White House.gov Blog:
President Obama's Message to the People of Cote D'Ivoire

Discussion: Aljazeera, Booman Tribune and Ben Smith's Blog

Bruce Ackerman / Foreign Policy:
Obama's Unconstitutional War

Discussion: Althouse, Eunomia, The Cable, Firedoglake, Washington Post and The Hill

Keith Johnson / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Considers Arming Libyan Rebels

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Jordy Yager / The Hill:
Peter King will support more funds for military operations in Libya

Discussion: CNN

Bob Herbert / New York Times:

Losing Our Way — So here we are pouring shiploads of cash into yet another war, this time in Libya, while simultaneously demolishing school budgets, closing libraries, laying off teachers and police officers, and generally letting the bottom fall out of the quality of life here at home.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Tennessee Guerilla Women, Daily Kos, Wonkette and Balloon Juice

T. A. Frank / Washington Monthly:

Why Is Bob Herbert Boring? — The perils of punditry for the powerless — TThe first thing you need to know about New York Times columnist Bob Herbert is that he's always right. No, not in the way a drunk in a bar is always right—Herbert's genuinely right, or at least close enough that it'd be petty to look for exceptions.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Jeremy W. Peters / Media Decoder:
Bob Herbert to Leave The Times

Discussion: Poynter, The Daily Caller, Runnin' Scared and Shakesville, more at Mediagazer »

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Media Matters' war against Fox — David Brock described Media Matters' campaign against Fox as ‘guerrilla warfare and sabotage.’ — The liberal group Media Matters has quietly transformed itself in preparation for what its founder, David Brock, described in an interview as an all-out campaign of …

Discussion: Right Wing News, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, iOwnTheWorld.com, Wake up America, The Right Sphere, The Greenroom and JammieWearingFool

Geraldine Ferraro / NBC New York:

Geraldine Ferraro Dead at 75 — Geraldine A. Ferraro, who earned a place in history in 1984 as the first woman to run on a major party national ticket for vice president, has died. She was 75-years-old. — Ferraro, who was born in Newburgh, New York, passed away today at Massachusetts General Hospital …

Discussion: Mediaite and Sky Dancing

Gautham Nagesh / The Hill:

Geraldine Ferraro, first female vice presidential candidate, dies — Geraldine Ferraro, who made history in 1984 as the first woman nominated on the ticket of a major national party, died on Saturday. She was 75 years old. — According to a statement from her family …

Discussion: The Politico

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Ferraro — Geraldine Ferraro, the New York Congresswoman …

Discussion: Conservatives4Palin

JSOnline:

Collective bargaining law published despite restraining order — Fitzgerald, Barca disagree on whether law goes into effect Saturday — By Patrick Marley and Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel — Madison — In a stunning twist, Gov. Scott Walker's legislation limiting collective bargaining …

David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Wisconsin: Anti-Union Bill Published Despite Restraining Order

Discussion: host.madison.com and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

IS A LOOMING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN UNAVOIDABLE?.... Last week, facing the latest in a series of deadlines, there was bipartisan support for another budget extension, funding the federal government through April 8. It gave policymakers three weeks to craft a deal that would finance the rest of the fiscal year …

Discussion: The Politico, Eschaton, majorityleader.house.gov and The Hill

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Budget Impasse Increasing Risk of U.S. Shutdown

Discussion: The Page, Prairie Weather and Booman Tribune

Meredith Shiner / The Politico:
Sen. Chuck Schumer: ‘Some progress’ on a budget

Discussion: Washington Post and Daily Kos

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:

Libyan Woman Struggles to Tell Media of Her Rape — TRIPOLI — A Libyan woman burst into the hotel housing the foreign press in Tripoli Saturday morning and fought off security forces as she told journalists that she had been raped and beaten by members of the Qaddafi militia.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, more at Mediagazer »

Stable Hand / The Jawa Report:

Libyan Woman Struggles to Tell media of Her Rape — Qaddafi's human shields were unable to help her … She was taken away by security with the foreign minister later implying “her reports of abuse were “fantasies.

Joe Nocera / New York Times:

In Prison for Taking a Liar Loan — A few weeks ago, when the Justice Department decided not to prosecute Angelo Mozilo, the former chief executive of Countrywide, I wrote a column lamenting the fact that none of the big fish were likely to go to prison for their roles in the financial crisis.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Clusterstock, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Big Picture and Prairie Weather

BBC:

Honduras drops arrest warrants for ousted Manuel Zelaya — Mr Zelaya denies he planned to change the constitution to allow his re-election — A Supreme Court judge in Honduras has dismissed three arrest warrants for former President Manuel Zelaya. — The move allows Mr Zelaya …

Discussion: PoliBlog

Kyle / Right Wing Watch:

Barbour: Reinstate DADT Because An “Amorous Mindset” Will Interfere With Decision Making — As we noted yesterday, Bryan Fischer has broadcasting his radio program live from the Rediscover God in America conference in Iowa. Yesterday he had Rep. Michele Bachmann on the program and today …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, TPMDC, Joe. My. God., Wonk Room and Daily Kos