memeorandum: ‘FRIEND’ OF BIDEN'S DAUGHTER SHOPPING TAPE OF HER ALLEGEDLY DOING COCAINE (Brad Hamilton/New York Post)

1:55 AM ET, March 29, 2009

Top Items:

Spanish Court Weighs Inquiry on Torture for 6 Bush-Era Officials — LONDON — A high-level Spanish court has taken the first steps toward opening a criminal investigation against six former Bush administration officials, including former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales …

Discussion: The Gun Toting Liberal, MyDD, Pacific Views, The Daily Dish, Left in the West, Jules Crittenden, Daily Kos, Booman Tribune, The Mahablog, Hullabaloo, Riehl World View and Balloon Juice

Scott Horton / Harper's:

Bush Torture Lawyers Targeted in Criminal Probe — One of America's NATO allies—which supported the Bush Administration's war on terror by committing its troops to the struggle-has now opened formal criminal inquiries looking into the Bush team's legacy of torture.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, TalkLeft, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Moderate Voice, Newshoggers.com, The Mahatma X Files, The League of Ordinary …, The Raw Story, The Impolitic, The Daily Dish and Prairie Weather

Kathy Kattenburg / The Moderate Voice:
What Went Around Is Coming Around

Discussion: BeltwayBlips and Salon

David Dayen / Washington Monthly: SPANISH COURT OPENS TORTURE INQUIRY AGAINST GONZALES, ADDINGTON …

catholicnewsagency.com:

Hillary Clinton leaves flowers for Our Lady of Guadalupe, asks ‘Who painted it?’ — Mexico City, Mexico, Mar 27, 2009 / 04:59 pm (CNA).- During her recent visit to Mexico, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an unexpected stop at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and left a bouquet …

Discussion: Hot Air, Right Wing News, Gateway Pundit, Toby Harnden's blog listings, Babalú Blog and BeltwayBlips

John / Power Line:

MORE SMART DIPLOMACY? — The Catholic News Service reports that on her recent trip to Mexico, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. She left flowers on behalf of the American people. — The Basilica is the second most visited Catholic shrine in the world …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

David Dayen / Washington Monthly:

KRUGMAN OPENS THE OVERTON WINDOW... The upcoming cover of Newsweek, the Village weekly reader, will feature Paul Krugman, or at least 60%-65% of his face, with the headline “OBAMA IS WRONG: The Loyal Opposition of Paul Krugman.” … The full Newsweek article is here.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Evan Thomas / Newsweek:

Obama's Nobel Headache — Paul Krugman has emerged as Obama's toughest liberal critic. He's deeply skeptical of the bank bailout and pessimistic about the economy. Why the establishment worries he may be right. — From the magazine issue dated Apr 6, 2009 — Traditionally, punditry in Washington has been a cozy business.

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Krugman: the left's new anti-Obama — A stark image of Paul Krugman, the bearded New York Times op-ed columnist and Princeton economist, appears on the cover of next week's Newsweek, with the headline “OBAMA IS WRONG: The Loyal Opposition of Paul Krugman.” — Krugman, who won the Nobel Prize …

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Balloon Juice and American Power

David Dayen / Washington Monthly:

A NEW BRAND OF STUPID ON CLIMATE CHANGE... Today is the second annual Earth Hour, a worldwide campaign to raise awareness on the issue of climate change. At 8:30pm local time, major businesses, local and national points of interest, and individual homes will dim their lights for one hour.

Discussion: Green Tech, Firedoglake, Top of the Ticket, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Think Progress, Political Machine, MyDD, Daily Kos and BeltwayBlips

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Rep Shimkus Says We Need Uncapped Carbon Emissions Because Carbon is “Plant Food”

Discussion: Multi Medium

Vanessa Gera / Associated Press:
Antarctica to Pyramids — lights dim for Earth Hour

Discussion: OpenMarket.org and NewsBusters.org

Brad Hamilton / New York Post:

‘FRIEND’ OF BIDEN'S DAUGHTER SHOPPING TAPE OF HER ALLEGEDLY DOING COCAINE — A “friend” of Vice President Joseph Biden's daughter, Ashley, is attempting to hawk a videotape that he claims shows her snorting cocaine at a house party this month in Delaware. — The anonymous male acquaintance …

Discussion: The Agitator, Riehl World View, Daily Dose, Political Machine and BeltwayBlips

Rod Liddle / Times of London:

Brown snubbed over tax — Germans wreck ‘global new deal’ — GORDON BROWN'S carefully laid plans for a G20 deal on worldwide tax cuts have been scuppered by an eve-of-summit ambush by European leaders. — Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, last night led the assault on the prime minister's …

Discussion: Don Surber, Fausta's Blog, Gateway Pundit and BeltwayBlips

The Progress Report / The Huffington Post:

Stop The O'Reilly Harassment Machine — by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Ali Frick, and Ryan Powers — To receive The Progress Report in your email inbox everyday, click here. — Last Saturday, March 21, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly sent …

Garance Franke-Ruta / Washington Post:

Obama Town Hall Questioners Were Campaign Backers — President Obama has promised to change the way the government does business, but in at least one respect he is taking a page from the Bush playbook, stocking his town hall Thursday with supporters whose soft — though far from planted …

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, TigerHawk, protein wisdom, Instapundit, Hot Air, Sister Toldjah, Moe Lane, NewsBusters.org, 24Ahead and SEIU

Danny Glover / The Enlightened Redneck:

How Obama Ruined The Easter Egg Roll — Change has come to the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, and our family is not happy about it. The end result is that we won't get to go for the first time in nine years. — President Obama thought outside the box and decided it was better to move …

Discussion: Moe Lane and Washington Post

David Bauder / Associated Press:

CNN in third place in prime time for first time — NEW YORK - CNN is poised to finish March third in the prime-time weeknight ratings behind Fox News Channel and MSNBC, the first time this has ever happened for the channel that pioneered the cable news genre nearly three decades ago.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Hot Air and The Politico

John Markoff / New York Times:

Vast Spy System Loots Computers in 103 Countries — TORONTO — A vast electronic spying operation has infiltrated computers and has stolen documents from hundreds of government and private offices around the world, including those of the Dalai Lama, Canadian researchers have concluded.

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider and Gawker

Helene Cooper / New York Times:

Obama Will Face a Defiant World on Foreign Visit — WASHINGTON — President Obama is facing challenges to American power on multiple fronts as he prepares for his first trip overseas since taking office, with the nation's economic woes emboldening allies and adversaries alike.

Leora Broydo Vestel / New York Times:

Do New Bulbs Save Energy if They Don't Work? — SAN FRANCISCO — It sounds like such a simple thing to do: buy some new light bulbs, screw them in, save the planet. — But a lot of people these days are finding the new compact fluorescent bulbs anything but simple.

Discussion: RedState, American Power, The League of Ordinary …, JammieWearingFool, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!, Roger Ailes, Gawker, Room for Debate, The Corner, Instapundit and Bark Bark Woof Woof

Akmuckraker / The Mudflats:

In Exposing the Identity of Mudflats, Rep. Mike Doogan Exposes Himself. — Anonymity is an interesting thing. Anyone who has read my “About” page knows that Mudflats popped out of my head and on to my keyboard last May. I, like many of you, get frustrated with my government.