memeorandum: The Foley Fallout — Soon-to-be-speaker Nancy Pelosi is fond … (Ruth Marcus/Washington Post)

6:20 PM ET, December 13, 2006

Top Items:

Senator Tim Johnson reportedly suffers stroke; Senate power seen in the balance — Print page sponsored by Velvet Revolution. — MSNBC is currently reporting that Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) has suffered a stroke. — There is no word, currently, on the Senator's condition.

Discussion: Reuters, The Carpetbagger Report, TAPPED, Hot Air, CNN Political Ticker, Wonkette and The Moderate Voice

MSNBC:

S. Dakota's Sen. Johnson has possible stroke — Takes ill in Capitol Hill office, hospitalized for evaluation — NEW YORK - Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S. D., has been hospitalized with symptoms described as stroke-like. The seriousness of his illness has not been disclosed.

Discussion: Dick Polman's American Debate

Mary Clare Jalonick / Associated Press:

Sen. Johnson suffers possible stroke — WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson (news, bio, voting record) of South Dakota suffered a possible stroke Wednesday and was taken to a Washington hospital, his office said. If he should be unable to continue to serve, it could halt the scheduled Democratic takeover of the Senate.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Democratic Underground, FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog and The Political Pit Bull

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Sen. Tim Johnson Suffers Possible Stroke

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Guardian:

Move to bring genocide case against Ahmadinejad as Iran president repeats call to wipe out Israel — Robert Tait in Tehran, Ed Pilkington in New York — The outgoing US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, is backing a call for the president of Iran to be charged with inciting genocide …

Discussion: Pajamas Media

Anne Applebaum / Slate:

Holocaust Denial Is No Joke — THE IRANIAN HOLOCAUST CONFERENCE IS SORDID AND CYNICAL, BUT WE MUST TAKE IT SERIOUSLY. — Listen to the MP3 audio version of this story here, or sign up for Slate's free daily podcast on iTunes. — On Monday, the Iranian foreign ministry held an international conference.

Discussion: Is That Legal?, Orcinus, tehrantimes.com, Neocon Express, The Corner and Decision '08

Ann Scott Tyson / Washington Post:

Army, Marine Corps To Ask for More Troops — The Army and Marine Corps are planning to ask incoming Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Congress to approve permanent increases in personnel, as senior officials in both services assert that the nation's global military strategy has outstripped their resources.

Discussion: QandO, AMERICAblog, The Corner, Thomas P.M. Barnett, Political Animal, FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog, Tammy Bruce, jules crittenden, The Heretik, Daily Kos and Suburban Guerrilla

Julian E. Barnes / Los Angeles Times:

Pentagon's plan: More U.S. troops in Iraq — Boosting presence and aid, and an anti-Sadr offensive, carry risks but offer the best path to victory, military officials say. — WASHINGTON — As President Bush weighs new policy options for Iraq, strong support has coalesced in the Pentagon behind …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, Hot Air, Tom DeLay Blog, GINA COBB, Taylor Marsh, Middle Earth Journal, Redstate, Tennessee Guerilla Women, Daily Kos, The Corner and The Caucus

Pauline Jelinek / Associated Press:

Military Meets, Exceeds Recruiting Goals — WASHINGTON (AP) - Though Americans are increasingly pessimistic about the war in Iraq, the Pentagon said Tuesday it is having success enlisting new troops. The Navy and Air Force met their recruiting goals last month while the Army …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and Bill's Bites

Salt Lake Tribune:

Federal raid puts families in limbo — Immigration agents looking for stolen IDs detain scores in Hyrum — HYRUM - If only for a few minutes, Maria felt like an ''illegal alien'' in her homeland - the United States of America. — She thought she was going on break from her job …

Discussion: TPMmuckraker

Julia Preston / New York Times:

U.S. Raids 6 Meat Plants in ID Case — In simultaneous dawn raids, federal immigration agents swept into six Swift & Company meatpacking plants in six states yesterday, rounding up hundreds of immigrant workers in what the agents described as a vast criminal investigation of identity theft.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Captain's Quarters, Shakespeare's Sister, Riehl World View and La Shawn Barber's Corner

USA Today:
Immigration raid linked to ID theft, Chertoff says

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Scared Monkeys and FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

Little Green Footballs:

Democrat Bill Nelson Meets with Syrian Dictator — Hamas has been claiming that they've held meetings with top US Democrat leaders; I've been skeptical. — But this outrage makes their claims easier to believe. (Hat tip: Snapped Shot.) … UPDATE at 12/13/06 9:39:35 am: — It isn't just Bill Nelson.

Discussion: Hot Air, Atlas Shrugs and Macsmind

Monisha Bansal / CNSNews: Syrian Ambassador Slams US at CAIR-Hosted Conference

Matthew Daly / Associated Press:

Senator wants universal health care plan — WASHINGTON (AP) — A dozen years after Congress rejected a Clinton administration plan for universal health care, an Oregon Democrat is readying a proposal to provide health care coverage to all Americans through a pool of private insurance plans.

Discussion: Sirotablog, The Agonist, The Carpetbagger Report and BlueOregon

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Just Call Him Tony 'I Don't Know' Snow — To paraphrase Howard Baker's immortal question: What didn't Tony Snow know, and when didn't he know it? — The answer: A lot, and frequently. — When will President Bush roll out his new Iraq policy? "We do not know," Snow said at yesterday's White House briefing.

Discussion: Happy Furry Puppy Story …, CBS News, New York Times, White House, Riehl World View and TVNewser

New York Times:
Without Deliberate Speed

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, The Horse's Mouth, Opinions You Should Have and Washington Post

Mark Bauerlein / Chronicle of Higher Education:

How Academe Shortchanges Conservative Thinking — Notwithstanding the outcome of the recent election, in one respect, the last few decades mark a breakthrough era for conservative intellectuals. Their visibility has soared. Thirty years ago, the only place to find conservatives on television …

Discussion: JunkYardBlog, The Corner and alicublog

Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:

The Foley Fallout — Soon-to-be-speaker Nancy Pelosi is fond of mentioning that she's the mother of five, grandmother of six. The California Democrat should keep that in mind as she reviews the House ethics committee's report on former representative Mark Foley and considers proposals for tougher ethics enforcement.

Discussion: Washington Times, The Reaction, Gateway Pundit and Dick Polman's American Debate

Jeff Greenfield / CNN:

Point of personal privilege — (CNN) — "Humor is the nitroglycerin of politics," a political analyst wrote long ago. "Very powerful, but if it's not handled carefully, it can explode in your face." — Actually, I wrote those words in a widely un-read book.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Carpetbagger Report, skippy the bush kangaroo, Talking Points Memo and The Agonist

Ilene Lelchuk / San Francisco Chronicle:

'Convert or die' game divides Christians — Some ask Wal-Mart to drop Left Behind — Liberal and progressive Christian groups say a new computer game in which players must either convert or kill non-Christians is the wrong gift to give this holiday season and that Wal-Mart …

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister, Confederate Yankee, JunkYardBlog, Pharyngula and Suburban Guerrilla

Bob Biersack / fec.gov:

FEC COLLECTS $630,000 IN CIVIL PENALTIES FROM THREE 527 ORGANIZATIONS — WASHINGTON - The Federal Election Commission announced today that it has reached settlements with three 527 organizations accused of violating the federal campaign finance laws during the 2004 presidential election.

Discussion: TPMmuckraker, Democracy Project, The Caucus, Election Law and Bill's Bites

Peter R. Kann / Opinion Journal:

The Power of the Press — The media is in need of some mending. — Thomas Jefferson, a better president than we've had in a very long time, penned a line back in 1787: "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Daily Pundit, Blue Crab Boulevard, Media Blog and Ed Driscoll.com

Greg Giroux / New York Times:

Rodriguez's Upset Win in Texas 23 Yields Another Seat for Dems — Democratic former Rep. Ciro D. Rodriguez upset Republican Rep. Henry Bonilla in a House runoff election Tuesday in southwestern Texas' 23rd District, pushing the Democrats' net gain to 30 House seats and concluding Campaign 2006 …

Discussion: The Fix, Prairie Weather, DownWithTyranny!, DonkeyRising, The Reaction, Decision '08 and The Democratic Daily

Barry R. McCaffrey / Washington Post:

Beyond Baker-Hamilton — One Approach to a Last Try at Stability in Iraq — A collapse of the Iraqi state would be catastrophic — for the people of Iraq, for the Middle East and for America's strategic interests. We need a new political and military approach to head off this impending disaster …

Discussion: Redstate, New Sisyphus - PDX and American Footprints