memeorandum: H'WOOD'S 9/11 IDIOT BRIGADE (New York Post)

2:55 PM ET, March 23, 2007

Top Items:

House Dems more confident on Iraq vote — WASHINGTON - House Democrats are increasingly confident they have the votes to pass legislation designed to force an end to the war in Iraq next year. — Several party members dropped their opposition to the bill following days of wrangling within a deeply divided caucus.

Discussion: Donklephant, The Carpetbagger Report, Skeptical Brotha, Wizbang, Little Green Footballs and TIME: Swampland

Washington Post:

Retreat and Butter — TODAY THE House of Representatives is due to vote on a bill that would grant $25 million to spinach farmers in California. The legislation would also appropriate $75 million for peanut storage in Georgia and $15 million to protect Louisiana rice fields from saltwater.

Discussion: Power Line, Horses Mouth, Salon, Gateway Pundit, Captain's Quarters, TalkLeft, Sadly, No! and JustOneMinute

New York Times:

Democrats Shore Up Support for Iraq Votes — For days, Democratic leaders have scrambled to shore up enough support to pass their Iraq legislation. They delayed the final vote by a day, fearful that a few undecided lawmakers — on the left and right — could jeopardize their plan to set …

Discussion: The American Street, My Left Wing, The Jawa Report and ScrappleFace

CNN:
House passes spending bill with Iraq deadline

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Reaction

New York Times:
House Narrowly Backs Iraq Timetable

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!

Washington Post:

E-Mails Show Machinations to Replace Prosecutor — Administration Worked for Months to Make Rove Aide U.S. Attorney in Arkansas — Two months before Bud Cummins was fired as U.S. attorney in Little Rock, a protege of presidential adviser Karl Rove was maneuvering with the Justice Department to take his place.

Discussion: New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Swamp, Prairie Weather, The Carpetbagger Report, Firedoglake, USA Today, Facing South, TPMmuckraker and Oliver Willis

Crew / Citizens Blogging for Responsibility …:

New e-mails prompt the question: Did Bush make the decision to fire the U.S. Attorneys? — McClatchy's article from earlier today discusses the potentially overlooked role of President Bush in the decision to fire the U.S. Attorneys: … As you can see by reading that e-mail interaction here …

Discussion: Opinions You Should Have, Discourse.net and MyDD

Joe Conason / Salon:

Rove, proven liar — President Bush's "offer" to let Congress interview Karl Rove about the U.S. attorney firings without an oath is a joke. As we learned in Plamegate, Rove cannot be trusted to tell the truth. — White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove (L) and Press Secretary Tony Snow listen …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Just a Bump in the Beltway and Norwegianity

David Ignatius / Washington Post:
An Inside-the-Bushies Mentality — If you read the obituary pages …

Discussion: TPMCafe blogs, Balloon Juice, Multi Medium, The Impolitic, Middle Earth Journal, TIME: Swampland and The Washington Note

Robert Barr / Associated Press:

Iran nabs British sailors in Iraq waters — LONDON - Iranian naval vessels seized 15 British sailors who had boarded a ship suspected of smuggling cars in the Persian Gulf off the Iraqi coast on Friday, officials said. — The British government demanded "the immediate and safe return of our people and equipment."

Discussion: New York Times, Guardian, Scotsman, GINA COBB, Gateway Pundit, NO QUARTER, Atlas Shrugs, Jules Crittenden, Blue Crab Boulevard and TigerHawk

MSNBC:

U.K. says 15 soldiers detained by Iranian navy — Ministry summons Iranian ambassador, seeks immediate return of troops — The HMS Cornwall on patrol in the North Arabian Gulf earlier this month. — NBC VIDEO — March 23: Fifteen British sailors have been detained by Iranian vessels.

Discussion: The Washington Note and NewsHog

CNN:
Iran 'seizes' 15 British sailors

Discussion: New Pairodimes, Political Discontent and Outside The Beltway

Dr. Rusty Shackleford / The Jawa Report:
Hostage Crisis: Iran Captures 15 British Sailors & Marines

Discussion: Sky News, Telegraph, Hot Air, Reuters and Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler

Jennifer Loven / Associated Press:

White House Spokesman to Undergo Surgery — WASHINGTON (AP) - Presidential spokesman Tony Snow is undergoing surgery Monday to remove a growth in his lower abdomen, a procedure he said was being done "out of an aggressive sense of caution" because he had colon cancer two years ago.

White House:
Press Briefing by Tony Snow

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Heretik, White House Watch, The RBC, The Caucus, On Deadline and First Draft

New York Post:

H'WOOD'S 9/11 IDIOT BRIGADE — SOME celebrities don't know when to keep their traps shut - like Charlie Sheen and Rosie O'Donnell, who are throwing their weight behind the twisted theory that the United States government was behind the 9/11 terror attacks. — Page Six has learned that Sheen …

Discussion: Hot Air, Right Wing News, Moonbattery, QandO and Wonkette

William Branigin / Washington Post:

House OKs Timetable for Troops in Iraq — $124B Emergency Bill Sets Binding Benchmarks for Progress in Iraq — The House of Representatives today passed a $124 billion emergency spending bill that sets binding benchmarks for progress in Iraq, establishes tough readiness standards …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, INTEL DUMP, Reason Magazine and The Strata-Sphere

Jackie Calmes / Wall Street Journal:

From Obama's Past: An Old Classmate, A Surprising Call — In High School, 'Ray' and 'Barry' — Were Friends, Then Took Different Paths — Sen. Barack Obama had just come off the Senate floor last Thursday, rushing to get to New Hampshire for a weekend of campaigning for president …

Discussion: Wonkette, Michelle Malkin, TIME and Riehl World View

Pew Research Center:

Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007 — Political Landscape More Favorable To Democrats — Summary of Findings — View the complete report in pdf format — Increased public support for the social safety net, signs of growing public concern about income inequality …

Discussion: MyDD, The Carpetbagger Report, DownWithTyranny!, Los Angeles Times, Middle Earth Journal and Hullabaloo

Jamie Glazov / Front Page Magazine:

Symposium: The First Nuclear Terrorist Power — An Islamist insurgency is afoot in Pakistan, posing a dire threat of overthrowing Musharraf. — And this may happen sooner rather than later. — If the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is created, it means Islamists get their hands on Pakistan's nuclear weapons.

Discussion: The Corner

Ann Scott Tyson / Washington Post:

GAO Faults U.S. Military Over Munitions in Iraq — Report Says Insurgents Took Unsecured Explosives — The U.S. military's faulty war plans and insufficient troops in Iraq left thousands and possibly millions of tons of conventional munitions unsecured or in the hands of insurgent groups …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and politburo diktat 2.0

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

Politico Rushes to Crack the Story And Ends Up With Egg on Its Face — One hour and 4 minutes before John Edwards began a news conference yesterday on the recurrence of his wife's cancer, a two-month-old Web site blared what looked like a major exclusive: "Edwards to Suspend Campaign."

Discussion: FishBowlDC, Beltway Blogroll, The Politico, The Democratic Daily, Cliff Schecter, On Deadline and Public Eye

Henry C. Jackson / Associated Press:

Vilsack to endorse Clinton for president — DES MOINES, Iowa - Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, in a major political coup, captured the endorsement of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who recently abandoned his own presidential bid, officials told The Associated Press on Friday.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, PSoTD and Skeptical Brotha