memeorandum: Ashcroft Pizza Party Raises Ethics Eyebrows (Chitra Ragavan/US News)

8:45 PM ET, February 27, 2007

Top Items:

Cheney OK after Afghan blast; 23 killed — BAGRAM, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber attacked the entrance to the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan on Tuesday during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney, killing up to 23 people and wounding 20. Cheney was unhurt in the attack …

Discussion: News Bloggers Blog, All Spin Zone, driftglass and The Daily Whim

Michelle Malkin:
Assassination chic, Cheney edition

Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS: Cheney Targeted in Assassination Attempt

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
A hallmark of idiocy — (updated below - updated again)

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Wonkette, Crooks and Liars, Media Matters for America and Macsmind

Holly Bailey / Newsweek:
A Rough Ride on Air Force Two

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, On Deadline, A Blog For All, Norwegianity, Outside The Beltway, The Heretik, Daniel W. Drezner and Mia Culpa

Thalia / Associated Press:
Over 20 Die In Attack Aimed At Cheney

Discussion: Pajamas Media, WILLisms.com, Blogs for Bush and Riehl World View

Abdul Waheed Wafa / New York Times:
Cheney Unhurt After Bombing in Afghanistan

Discussion: The Impolitic, TIME, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Wonkette, The Radio Equalizer, NO QUARTER, NewsBusters.org, The Democratic Daily, TPMmuckraker, Happy Furry Puppy Story …, The Corner, Jules Crittenden and Hullabaloo

Jeff Goldstein / protein wisdom:
Greenwald(s): "We are not the haters. …

Discussion: Ace of Spades HQ

Scott Helman / Boston Globe:

Document shows Romney's strategies — Plan addresses faith, rivals, shift on issues — Here are some views of Mitt Romney causing concern inside his campaign: His hair looks too perfect, he's not a tough war time leader, and he has earned a reputation as "Slick Dancing Mitt" or "Flip-Flop Mitt."

Daniel Gross / Slate:

The CEO Candidate — HOW MITT ROMNEY'S CORPORATE SUCCESS EXPLAINS HIS CAMPAIGN—AND HIS FLIP-FLOPS. — For Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the transition from moderate, gay-friendly, abortion-tolerating Massachusetts governor to a certified social conservative isn't going smoothly.

Discussion: Eunomia

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:

Today's Must Read — Two weeks ago, the Bush administration organized an intelligence briefing for journalists in Iraq to demonstrate that Iran was providing weapons to Iraqi insurgents. According to the anonymous briefers, the weapons — particularly explosively formed penetrators or E.F.P.s …

Discussion: The Road to Surfdom, Balloon Juice, Talking Points Memo, Discourse.net, Hullabaloo and New York Times

New York Times:
U.S. Displays Bomb Parts Said to Be Made in Iran

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and Gateway Pundit

Kevin Drum / Political Animal:
EFP UPDATE....On Monday the U.S. Army discovered a new cache …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

New York Times:

Wall Street Plummets After Chinese Stocks Take a Big Hit — Stocks retreated sharply Tuesday after a sell-off in China rattled markets worldwide and data on durable goods orders came in well below expectations. — After reaching record highs on Monday, China's stock markets reversed course drastically …

Discussion: The American Scene, Norwegianity, Matthew Yglesias and ACSBlog

Madlen Read / Associated Press:

Stocks have worst day since 9/11 attacks — NEW YORK - Stocks had their worst day of trading since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks Tuesday, hurtling the Dow Jones industrials down more than 400 points on a worldwide tide of concern that the U.S. and Chinese economies are stumbling and that share prices have become overinflated.

Redstate:

Carl Levin Calls for Attacks On Syria. Admits Al-Qaeda In Iraq & Troops Need to Stay — UPDATE: The video is here. — Get ready for Carl Levin to get shot by Cindy Sheehan or some other angry lefty. I'm not sure what happened to him, but he's making sense right now.

Discussion: QandO, Wizbang, The Political Pit Bull, PoliPundit.com and Outside The Beltway

Associated Press:

Gen. Pace: Military capability eroding — WASHINGTON (AP) — Strained by the demands of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is a significant risk that the U.S. military won't be able to quickly and fully respond to yet another crisis, according to a new report to Congress.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Liberty Street, The Gavel, The Carpetbagger Report, The American Street and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Payson / Think Progress:
Snow Trumpets U.S. Troop Readiness: 'Unprecedented In Time of Warfare'

Discussion: The Impolitic

Quin Hillyer / American Spectator:

Jeb in 2008? — Don't be surprised if, come November of 2008, voters are choosing between Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush for president. — But how can that be? Jeb's not running. — Well, he isn't running now, but the new, front-loaded primary system may, counterintuitively …

Discussion: Redstate, Reason Magazine, Hot Air and Middle Earth Journal

Associated Press:

Rice: U.S. joining Iraq in inviting Iran, Syria to 'neighbors meeting' — The United States and the Iraqi government are launching a new diplomatic initiative to invite Iran and Syria to a neighbors meeting on stabilizing Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Donklephant and TPMCafe blogs

Chitra Ragavan / US News:

Ashcroft Pizza Party Raises Ethics Eyebrows — A pizza luncheon to be hosted this Wednesday by former Attorney General turned consultant John Ashcroft for some of his old political appointees has raised eyebrows in the Justice Department's ethics office, U.S. News has learned.

Discussion: Citizens Blogging …

Washington Post:

Clintons' Charity Not Listed On Senate Disclosure Forms — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former president Bill Clinton have operated a family charity since 2001, but she failed to list it on annual Senate financial disclosure reports on five occasions. — The Ethics in Government Act …

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, Hullabaloo, The Carpetbagger Report, CJR Daily, The New Republic, Political Animal, The Caucus, Macsmind, Michelle Malkin, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Talking Points Memo and On Deadline

The Politico:

Pelosi Falls Short On Election Promises — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is discovering the cold truth about governing with a slim majority: It's much easier to promise behavioral change for Congress than to deliver it. — Pelosi vowed that five-day workweeks would be a hallmark of a harder-working Democratic majority.

Discussion: MyDD, Betsy's Page and The Political Pit Bull

Los Angeles Times:

Gen Y's ego trip takes a nasty turn — A new report suggests that an overdose of self-esteem in college students could mean a rough road ahead. — No wonder YouTube is so popular. — All the effort to boost children's self-esteem may have backfired and produced a generation of college students …

Discussion: Joanne Jacobs, Sister Toldjah and On Deadline

Little Green Footballs:

Deranged Diggbats Raving About LGF Again — Here's a good example of how dishonest and just plain evil the modern left has become, in a comment posted at Digg about LGF: Digg - Cheney OK After Islamic Attack, Metafilter Disappointed. … Don't even try to make sense of that; you'll just get a headache.

Discussion: Hot Air and The Political Pit Bull

Chuck Philips / Los Angeles Times:

L.A. madam's 'trick book' is unsealed — Jody 'Babydol' Gibson's list of alleged clients includes Tom Lasorda and Bruce Willis. They both deny using her services. — When Hollywood madam Jody "Babydol" Gibson was busted eight years ago, word that police had seized her list …

Discussion: The Lede, On Deadline and The Corner

Greg Sargent / Horses Mouth:

Yep, it appears that The Politico may indeed have done just that. — On Feb. 16, The Politico turned over its front page to a long hit piece on liberal bloggers by Liebermanite Dan Gerstein. In the piece — titled "Liberal Bloggers Demonstrate Their Political Immaturity, Democrat Says" …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, My Left Nutmeg, Taylor Marsh and The Politico