memeorandum: End of multiculturalism — PRIME Minister John Howard officially … (NEWS.com.au)

4:05 PM ET, January 23, 2007

Top Items:

Prosecutor: Libby 'wiped out' Cheney memo — Defense in CIA leak trial counters that White House tried to set up Libby — WASHINGTON - Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald used his opening statement in the CIA leak trial Tuesday to allege that Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff lied …

Discussion: Washington Post, Attytood, Crooks and Liars, The Washington Note, ACSBlog, NO QUARTER, Outside The Beltway, Tennessee Guerilla Women and Democratic Underground

Think Progress:

BREAKING: Libby Destroyed Evidence Prior To Testifying, Cheney 'Deeply Involved' — Under oath, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff Scooter Libby told a grand jury that he first learned that Joe Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was a CIA agent from conversations with the media.

Discussion: Hardblogger, The Carpetbagger Report, DownWithTyranny!, Political Animal, Prairie Weather and The Mahablog

Digby / Hullabaloo:

Holy Moly — Norah O'Donnell is asking Andy Card and Leon Panetta if the president is going to have to ask Dick Cheney to resign as a result of what's being alleged at the Libby Trial. (They both punted.) — If that's the beltway chatter, look for the Republican noise machine to go into high gear.

Discussion: Democrats.com, Balloon Juice and Daily Kos

Emptywheel / Firedoglake:

Libby Liveblog: Well's Opening Statement, Part One — Wells up. — As you learned a few days ago, my name is Ted Wells. And I speak for Scooter Libby. Scooter Libby is innocent. Totally innocent. — He is an innocent man and he has been wrongly and unfairly accused.

Discussion: TalkLeft and Booman Tribune

Emptywheel / Firedoglake:

Libby Liveblog: Fitzgerald's Opening Statement — Here goes Fitzgerald... It will be utterly fascinating to see how Fitzgerald operates. I'm most interested, though, in how Fitzgerald will describe the obstruction charge and Libby's motive. What will Fitzgerald say Libby was obstructing, and why?

Matt Apuzzo / Associated Press:

Lawyers Paint Libby As Sacrificial Lamb — WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorneys for former White House aide ``Scooter'' Libby said Tuesday that Bush administration officials tried to blame him for the leak of a CIA operative's name to cover up for Bush political adviser Karl Rove's own disclosures.

Emptywheel / Firedoglake: Libby Liveblog: Wells' Opening Statement, Part Two

New York Times:

Bush, at Low Point in Polls, Will Push Domestic Agenda — Carrying some of the worst public approval ratings of any president in a generation, President Bush is heading into his State of the Union address on Tuesday night seeking to revitalize his domestic agenda but facing stiff resistance …

Discussion: Ezra Klein, Washington Post, Captain's Quarters, The Mahablog, Jules Crittenden, PoliBlog (TM), Gun Toting Liberal ™ and Oliver Willis

Atrios / Eschaton:
Swampland — In this edition, Jay Carney demonstrates …

Discussion: Morning Call and Daily Kos

Jay Carney / Swampland:
The Clinton Playbook — When George W. Bush takes the podium …

Discussion: The Caucus

Jay Carney / Swampland:
Re: The Clinton Playbook

Discussion: Personal Democracy Forum blogs and Seeing the Forest

Michael J. Totten:

Hezbollah Riots in Lebanon — While I was in Lebanon gathering the material I've been publishing, Hezbollah kept threatening to strangle the country by seizing major roads, including the one that leads to the airport. I was worried I might get stuck there, but I didn't.

Discussion: From Beirut to the Beltway, Blogs of War, A Blog For All and Blue Crab Boulevard

Abu Kais / From Beirut to the Beltway:
Black vs. White in Lebanon

Discussion: snapped shot and Publius Pundit

Los Angeles Times:

Scant evidence found of Iran-Iraq arms link — U.S. warnings of advanced weaponry crossing the border are overstated, critics say. — BAQUBAH, IRAQ — If there is anywhere Iran could easily stir up trouble in Iraq, it would be in Diyala, a rugged province along the border between the two nations.

Discussion: Democrats.com, Think Progress, TAPPED and The American Street

Fox News:

WEB SITE KICKS SAND IN FACES OF GIS IN IRAQ ASKING FOR MATS TO EASE HARDSHIP OF SLEEPING ON GROUND — An American GI assigned to one of the harshest posts in Iraq had a simple request last week for a Wisconsin mattress company: send some floor mats to help ease the hardship of sleeping on the cold, bug-infested ground.

Discussion: Andrew Olmsted dot com, NewsBusters.org, The Strata-Sphere, digg and Atlas Shrugs

Annysa Johnson / JSOnline:
E-mail to soldier spurs outrage

Discussion: BLACKFIVE, Hot Air and On Deadline

Ed Morrissey / Examiner:

Richardson could be '08's most dangerous candidate — WASHINGTON - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's entry into the 2008 presidential sweepstakes Sunday garnered little notice, overshadowed as it was by the announcement of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., the day before.

Discussion: TIME, Captain's Quarters and Reason Magazine

Liz Cheney / Washington Post:

Retreat Isn't an Option — Sen. Hillary Clinton declared this weekend, " I'm in to win." Anyone who has watched her remarkable trajectory can have no doubt that she'll do whatever it takes to win the presidency. I wish she felt the same way about the war.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, The American Street, PoliPundit.com, The Reaction, Gateway Pundit, Matthew Yglesias, Political Animal, Don Surber, Armchair Generalist and Blue Crab Boulevard

Kevin Freking / Associated Press:

Bush Insurance Plan Gets Cold Reception — President Bush's proposed tax deduction for health insurance appears to be shaping up as a tough sell in the Democratic Congress. — Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., said Monday that the tax changes, which Bush will promote in Tuesday night's State …

Discussion: Outside The Beltway and Economist's View

Michael van der Galien / The Moderate Voice:
Guest Voice: Governor Schwarzenegger's Office on Health Care

Discussion: Polimom Says and Washington Post

PJM / Pajamas Media:

The State of the Union is a Disaster: — The Speech George Bush Should Make Tuesday Night — Don't bother standing up or clapping, any of you. I already know who won the election, and I know how you feel. — I come before you tonight not to make amends, not to make it good, curry any favor or find any middle ground.

Discussion: Power Line, The Sundries Shack, Jules Crittenden, Dr. Sanity, The Democratic Daily, Daily Pundit, Blogs of War, Blinq, Ed Driscoll.com, The Glittering Eye, Kiko's House, BLACKFIVE and Centerfield

New York Times:

General Petraeus's Opening Statement — Following is the opening statement by Lieutenant General David H. Petraeus this morning before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on his nomination to be the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, as recorded by Federal News Service.

Discussion: Washington Post and The Moderate Voice

Washington Post:
Petraeus Confident in New Iraq Strategy

Discussion: New York Times

Josephine Hearn / politico.com:

Black Caucus: Whites Not Allowed — Freshman Rep. Stephen I. Cohen, D-Tenn., is not joining the Congressional Black Caucus after several current and former members made it clear that a white lawmaker was not welcome. — "I think they're real happy I'm not going to join," said Cohen …

Discussion: Right Wing News, Redstate, Hot Air and digg

Roger Si / politico.com:

McCain Bashes Cheney Over Iraq Policy — With his presidential hopes tied to an administration whose Iraq policy he supports but cannot control, John McCain for the first time blamed Vice President Cheney for what McCain calls the "witch's brew" of a "terribly mishandled" war in which U.S. forces are on the verge of defeat.

Discussion: PittsburghLIVE.com, The Carpetbagger Report, Middle Earth Journal, DownWithTyranny!, The Heretik, Reason Magazine, Kiko's House and Andrew Sullivan

Confederate Yankee:

CRACKDOWN: Iraqi PM Locks Down Official Media Access to Key Government Ministries — An anonymous source from within Baghdad's Green Zone has provided me with a copy of a document issued from the office of Iraqi Prime Minster Nouri Al-Malki, ordering the shutdown of contacts with the world press on …

Discussion: protein wisdom, The Jawa Report and Hot Air

Washington Post:

Abortion Foes to Renew Efforts — Activists Rally on Mall, Vow to Keep Pressure on Congress — Tens of thousands of abortion opponents marched through melting snow on the Mall yesterday and vowed to work harder — since Democrats have taken control of the Capitol — to overturn …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Michelle Malkin and ABCNEWS