memeorandum: Hillary's too vane to be president (Arianna Huffington/Los Angeles Times)

4:55 PM ET, December 7, 2006

Top Items:

IRAQ 'APPEASE' SQUEEZE ON W. — * PANEL KISSES UP TO IRAN & SYRIA — * PLAN WOULD PULL TROOPS OUT IN '08 — What do you think of the report's recommendations? Click the discussion board link below the photo to post your comments. — WASHINGTON - The Iraq Study Group report delivered …

Discussion: The Raw Story, Wizbang, INDCJournal, New York Sun, Wake up America, Don Surber, A Blog For All, Gateway Pundit and Macsmind

John Podhoretz / New York Post:

PARIS' PEACE PLAN — JIM BAKER'S HOT IRAQ IDEAS — December 7, 2006 — THE profound quality of the suggestions offered by the Iraq Study Group - the panel headed by former Secretary of State James Baker that presented its report with such fanfare to the president yesterday morning …

Discussion: Security Watchtower and PrairiePundit

New York Times:

Welcome Political Cover — When President Bush insisted that the Iraq Study Group would not provide cover for the White House to chart a "graceful exit" of American troops, he was missing the whole point. The much-anticipated report from the bipartisan panel is precisely about political cover.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Democratic Daily, Townhall.com Blog's …, Newsweek, AMERICAblog, Joust The Facts, Prairie Weather, Outside The Beltway, The American Street and Decision '08

Guardian:

Warning over spiralling Iraq refugee crisis — Matt Weaver and agencies — The surging violence in Iraq has created what is becoming the biggest refugee crisis in the world, a humanitarian group said today. — A report (pdf) by Washington-based Refugees International said an influx …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and War and Piece

William M. Arkin / Early Warning:
Not What the American or Iraqi People Want

Discussion: Eschaton and Political Animal

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Will It Work in the White House?

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, The Moderate Voice, The Horse's Mouth, CBS News, Kiko's House and On Deadline

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
In Theater of War, It's Iraq Study Group's Turn to Take the Stage

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and Think Progress

White House:

President Bush Meets with British Prime Minister Tony Blair — Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building — PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all. Please be seated. I just had a good visit with Prime Minister Tony Blair. I appreciate you coming back, Mr. Prime Minister.

Discussion: Townhall.com Blog's …, Think Progress, First Draft, Obsidian Wings and The Carpetbagger Report

Deb Riechmann / Associated Press:

Bush: To win in Iraq, beat extremists — WASHINGTON - President Bush, admitting that "it's bad in Iraq," acknowledged Thursday that the United States needs a new approach in the unpopular war and promised to unveil details in an upcoming speech. — Bush said he was disappointed in the progress in Iraq …

Discussion: AMERICAblog and Democrats.com

Fred Kaplan / Slate:

So Much for Plan B — THE IRAQ STUDY GROUP CHICKENS OUT. — So many careers and reputations have been ravaged by Iraq. Even James Baker, the canniest of operators, has now met his Waterloo. — The report of the Iraq Study Group—which Baker co-chaired with Lee Hamilton …

Discussion: New York Times, Andrew Sullivan, One Hand Clapping, Matthew Yglesias, The Mahablog, The Carpetbagger Report, Taylor Marsh, Hyscience and The American Scene

CNN:

Bush tells Iran, Syria how they can join Iraq talks … WASHINGTON (CNN) — After talks with his top Iraq war ally President Bush on Thursday indicated that Iran and Syria might be included in regional talks about Iraq, if they meet certain conditions. — Speaking a day after a bipartisan report called …

Victor Davis Hanson / Real Clear Politics:

Our Pearl Harbor — On Dec. 7, 1941 - 65 years ago this week - pilots from a Japanese carrier force bombed Pearl Harbor. They killed 2,403 Americans, most of them service personnel, while destroying much of the American fleet and air forces stationed in Hawaii.

Discussion: Power Line, CJR Daily, Atlas Shrugs, The Heretik, The Wide Awake Cafe, Blue Crab Boulevard, Hyscience and PrairiePundit

Jaymes Song / Associated Press:
Pearl Harbor survivors meet for last time

Discussion: Washington Post, Captain's Quarters, Hot Air, PSoTD, Scared Monkeys, the talking dog and Blue Crab Boulevard

Kirsten Scharnberg / Chicago Tribune:
Pearl Harbor survivors gather for `final reunion'

Discussion: Townhall.com Blog's …, Debbie Schlussel, shotinthedark.info and Argghhh!

Rick Moran / Right Wing Nut House:
A DAY OF INFAMY — PEARL HARBOR FROM AIEA HEIGHTS, DECEMBER 7, 1941

Discussion: The Political Pit Bull and Macsmind

Cillizzac / The Fix:

McCain Continues to Win Over Bush Insiders — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) continues to recruit top GOP political operatives in expectation of a presidential run. According to a source close to the McCain operation, the candidate has lined up Terry Nelson to serve as campaign manager …

Discussion: MyDD, Taylor Marsh and Ankle Biting Pundits

Political Radar:
McCain Picks Campaign Chief

Discussion: electioncentral.tpmcafe.com, The Carpetbagger Report, AMERICAblog, Outside The Beltway, Shakespeare's Sister and NO QUARTER

Johanna Neuman / Los Angeles Times:

A pregnant pause in right wing — Social conservatives remain silent or temper their criticism about news that Cheney's gay daughter is expecting. — WASHINGTON — No Republican in Washington is more beloved by social conservatives than Vice President Dick Cheney, who with his wife …

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister, Booman Tribune, CNN Political Ticker and The Caucus

Associated Press:
Mixed reaction to Cheney's daughter's pregnancy

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Political Punch, Captain's Quarters, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Sundries Shack, Andrew Sullivan, Demagogue, All Spin Zone and TPMCafe blogs

Real Cities:

Legislators may reconsider suspending habeas corpus for detainees — WASHINGTON - President Bush's victory in getting the rules he wanted to try suspected terrorists could be diminished. — The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee signaled this week that he'll join prominent Democrats …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, New York Times and TPMmuckraker

Zzaki / Political Punch:

A Note on the Jimmy Carter dust-up at Emory — Protesting former President Jimmy Carter's controversial new book on Israel — with the provocative title, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." — Dr. Ken Stein resigned this week from the Carter Center of Emory University.

Discussion: Confederate Yankee and Let Freedom Ring

Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:

Democratic Wave in Congress Further Erodes Moderation in GOP — Iowa Rep. Jim Leach (R) seemed a natural to weather voters' antiwar sentiment this fall. His independent streak and moderate views had engendered the allegiance of his Democratic-leaning district for the past 30 years …

Discussion: AMERICAblog, The Carpetbagger Report, The Caucus and PrairiePundit

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:

Is It January Yet? — Not that I want to rush right past Christmas morning at our house or anything (because, really, The Peanut is at the perfect age this year where the whole tree and lights and Santa are magic, and that is a LOT of fun)...but I've spent a little time trying to figure …

Discussion: Hullabaloo and skippy the bush kangaroo

Arianna Huffington / Los Angeles Times:

Hillary's too vane to be president — It didn't matter much that Sen. Clinton is a fickle leader — until Obama came along. — WHILE THE country is urgently engaged in finding a way out of the quagmire in Iraq, Hillary Rodham Clinton is busy holding private dinners for key Democrats …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin and NewsBusters.org

Maia Szalavitz / The Huffington Post:

Cruel and Unusual: 25 Years for Taking Own Pain Meds — In a mind-boggling act of sadistic legal legal buck-passing (I can't bring myself to glorify it with the word "reasoning"), the Florida District Court of Appeals upheld a 25 year mandatory minimum sentence for a Florida man convicted of …

Discussion: Outside The Beltway and The Agitator

Maggie Michael / Associated Press:

Arabs Say Report Shows Bush's Failure — Many Arabs on Thursday interpreted an American advisory panel's bleak assessment of President Bush's Iraq policies as proof of Washington's failure in the Middle East. — But others worried about the consequences if the U.S. follows …

Discussion: Blogs of War, TigerHawk, PoliPundit.com and Jihad Watch

Jed Babbin / Real Clear Politics:

Exit Rumsfeld, Smiling — One day in the next two weeks there will be a departure ceremony at the Pentagon. Flags will fly, bands will play and the liberal media will calumniate. Should the president choose to add the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the other honors rendered …

Discussion: TCS Daily, Flopping Aces, Soccer Dad and Instapundit.com

Austan Goolsbee / New York Times:

Lean Left? Lean Right? News Media May Take Their Cues From Customers — When Matt Lauer declared on the "Today" show last week that NBC would start referring to the conflict in Iraq as a "civil war," he inadvertently started his own civil war within the news media.

Discussion: Beat the Press, CBS News, Ezra Klein, BuzzMachine and Economist's View

Extreme Mortman:

Top Ten Funniest Political Moments Of 2006 — Try to name the funniest moments in politics this year, and you'll immediately think of violent assaults with deadly, hilarious weapons. Yes, this was the year that politics met broad physical humor. And crime. Lots and lots of crime.

Discussion: Blogometer