memeorandum: '08 slate without standout for GOP (Ralph Z. Hallow/Washington Times)

9:35 AM ET, February 9, 2007

Top Items:

Official's Key Report On Iraq Is Faulted — 'Dubious' Intelligence Fueled Push for War — Intelligence provided by former undersecretary of defense Douglas J. Feith to buttress the White House case for invading Iraq included "reporting of dubious quality or reliability" …

Discussion: Firedoglake, TPMmuckraker, Booman Tribune, Donklephant, AMERICAblog, The Democratic Daily, Political Animal, Polimom Says, The Heretik and Amygdala

New York Times:

Pentagon Group Criticized for Prewar Intelligence Analysis — A Pentagon investigation into the handling of prewar intelligence has criticized civilian Pentagon officials for conducting their own intelligence analysis to find links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, but said the officials …

Discussion: Horses Mouth and Think Progress

Robert Burns / Associated Press:
Pentagon Says Pre-War Intel Not Illegal

Discussion: TPMmuckraker

Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
They Were For Dissent And Alternative Analysis Before They Were Against It

Discussion: Dean's World

Hindrocket / Power Line:
THE BUREAUCRATS' WAR CONTINUES

Discussion: Flopping Aces

Edward Epstein / San Francisco Chronicle:

Pelosi finds unlikely ally in flight fuss — Bush spokesman calls GOP's attacks unfair — (02-09) 04:00 PST Washington — The capital saw an unusual tag team in action Thursday when President Bush's spokesman Tony Snow supported House Speaker Nancy Pelosi against an escalating attack …

White House:
Press Briefing by Tony Snow

Discussion: TPMmuckraker, First Draft, Redstate, Democrats.com and American Footprints

Digby / Hullabaloo:
They're Baaack — If you doubt that we are now operating under …

Discussion: Brilliant at Breakfast and All Spin Zone

Carl Hulse / New York Times: Speaker's Plane Becomes a Point of Criticism

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Rep. Gordon quotes Tony Snow to squash the phony Pelosi plane nonsense

Discussion: Think Progress, Tennessee Guerilla Women, News Hounds, San Francisco Chronicle and KnoxViews

John M. Broder / New York Times:

Edwards Learns Campaign Blogs Can Cut 2 Ways — John Edwards learned the hard way this week of the perils of grafting the raucous culture of the Internet to the decidedly staider world of a presidential campaign. — Mr. Edwards announced on Thursday, after 36 hours of deliberation …

Discussion: BuzzMachine, Unclaimed Territory, Discourse.net, Ankle Biting Pundits, the talking dog and Pam's House Blend

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Edwards Blogger Flap Discomforts Religious Left — As the flap over alleged anti-Catholic writings by two John Edwards campaign bloggers devolves into a shouting match between conservative religious voices and liberal bloggers, some members of the "religious left" say they feel - again - shoved to the margins of the Democratic Party.

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House, The Political Pit Bull, Captain's Quarters, Outside The Beltway, PoliPundit.com and Decision '08

Chris Bowers / MyDD:
This Isn't Over — Both Democrats and the netroots won …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Fix, Daily Kos, The American Mind, Decision '08 and CorrenteWire

Dan Eggen / Washington Post:

Fired Prosecutor Disputes Justice Dept. Allegation — He Calls Testimony 'Unfair'; Meanwhile, Senate Panel Votes to Limit Attorney General's Power — A recently fired U.S. attorney based in Seattle said yesterday that he was told of no performance problems when he was asked to resign …

Laurie Kellman / Associated Press:
Senate panel reacts to attorney firings

Discussion: DownWithTyranny! and TPMmuckraker

Javad Zarif / New York Times:

How Not to Inflame Iraq — BEFORE the United States invaded Iraq on false pretexts nearly four years ago, the overwhelming view of analysts and diplomats was that war would plunge the region and the world into greater turmoil and instability. Echoing the views of my colleagues from the region and beyond …

Discussion: The Washington Note and TPMCafe blogs

Kim Murphy / Los Angeles Times:
Dissent grows in Iran

Discussion: Hot Air and Political Animal

Nasser Karimi / Associated Press:
Iran warns U.S. it will retaliate if hit

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, Washington Post, PoliBlog (TM) and The Left Coaster

Spencer Ackerman / TPMmuckraker:

Ex-Rice Aide: Memory Lapse on Iran "Really Quite Curious" — I just got off the phone with Flynt Leverett, a former CIA Mideast analyst and National Security Council staffer during President Bush's first term. Leverett says he finds it "really quite curious" that Secretary Rice is pleading …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Brilliant at Breakfast and Discourse.net

Sldn / The Frontlines:
Ackerman's Lesbian Platoon

Discussion: sldn.org and AlterNet.org

Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:

'08 slate without standout for GOP — Many conservatives say they pick "none of the above" when faced with a choice of Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani as the 2008 Republican presidential nominee.

Discussion: Power Line and Daily Pundit

Anna Gorman / Los Angeles Times:

Latinos lob a few words at governor — Leaders label remarks on immigration, heard on tapes, as offensive. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's off-the-cuff comments in recently released audio recordings about illegal immigration and the unwillingness of Mexicans to assimilate into American society …

Discussion: ImmigrationProf Blog

Ian Sample / Guardian:

The brain scan that can read people's intentions — Call for ethical debate over possible use of new technology in interrogation — A team of world-leading neuroscientists has developed a powerful technique that allows them to look deep inside a person's brain and read their intentions before they act.

Discussion: Gun Toting Liberal ™

Financial Times:

Climate change concerts 'to dwarf Live Aid' — A series of concerts "bigger than Live Aid" is being planned for July, in a bid to put the subject of climate change before an audience of a global audience of 2bn. — The event, scheduled for July 7, will feature co-ordinated film …

Discussion: Ankle Biting Pundits, The Carpetbagger Report, NewsBusters.org and Liberal Values

Edward Cody / Washington Post:

Despite a Ban, Chinese Youth Navigate to Internet Cafes — GEDONG, China — There was no sign, but Gedong's teenagers knew the way. Down a dusty alley just off Jicui Park and a few minutes' walk from local schools, the curtained door beckoned. Inside, in a dingy back room off the kitchen …

Peter Slevin / Washington Post:

Obama Forged Political Mettle In Illinois Capitol — When Sen. Barack Obama heads downstate to Springfield on Saturday to announce his candidacy for president, he will speak in lofty tones of America and Abraham Lincoln, but also of a more prosaic topic: his own eight years in the Illinois Senate.

Discussion: The Daily Background

Robert R. Reilly / Washington Post:

Britney vs. The Terrorists — In the spring of 2003, across a field of rubble in Baghdad, a young Iraqi journalist accosted me and demanded: "Why did you stop broadcasting substance and substitute music?" The year before the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the government entity in charge …

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard

Edward Wyatt / New York Times:

Fox to Begin a 'More Business Friendly' News Channel — No one has ever accused CNBC, the cable TV home of Jim Cramer, Larry Kudlow and Maria Bartiromo, of being antibusiness. Until now. — Yesterday, Rupert Murdoch confirmed one of the worst kept secrets in the media industry …

Discussion: The Big Picture