memeorandum: Debate Drunkblogging - LIVE! (Stephen Green/VodkaPundit)

8:35 AM ET, May 16, 2007

Top Items:

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Video: Rudy blasts Ron Paul's apology for 9/11 — Ahem. — The smartass reply would have been to ask Paul whether, if in fact conditions in Iraq precipitated 9/11, it wasn't perfectly appropriate then to take extreme measures to try to remedy those conditions afterwards.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, The American Mind, Iowa Voice, Bob Krumm and National Review

Michelle Malkin:

Liveblogging: The South Carolina debate is on - Video links adds, post-mortem reax — The stage will still be crowded. Elephants soon to be in the room. — Hot buttons: Iraq, Iraq, Iraq. Immigration, immigration, immigration. — What do you want to see asked tonight?

Discussion: CBN.com, Fox News, Townhall.com, Power Line, Don Surber, Sister Toldjah, Hot Air, Washington Post and Iowa Voice

Logan Murphy / Crooks and Liars:

GOP Debate II: Romney - "Double Guantanamo" — During the second GOP debate, Fox News' Brit Hume sets up a hypothetical situation where three terrorist attacks occur at shopping malls in major cities. A fourth attack is thwarted and that would-be attacker, who we know has information about an impending …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, DownWithTyranny! and Taylor Marsh

Andrew Sullivan / The Atlantic Online:

Palmetto Punditry — The debate took a while to gain any traction, but there were some clarifying moments for me. The questions were often excellent - especially the tough ones at the beginning about the war. The Republicans, we learned, have absolutely no idea what to do about Iraq.

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Power Line, Taylor Marsh, Iowa Voice and National Review

Stephen Green / VodkaPundit:

Debate Drunkblogging - LIVE! — 7:03 (All times Mountain) I hope they do the candidate introductions twice this time around. I promised myself, tonight I'd remember everybody's names. — 7:05 Already I don't miss Chris Matthews. I bet I'm not the only person to say that - tonight or any night.

Discussion: Reason Magazine, The Moderate Voice, The Impolitic and National Review

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

Giuliani Wins, But Paul Threw The Game — Team Rudy should send a hundred roses to Ron Paul — yellow roses, of course — after the Congressman essentially tossed the debate to Giuliani. Rudy had a pretty good night going anyway, but when Paul as much as said that the terrorists had a point …

Discussion: Michael P.F. van der Galiën, Right Wing News and NewsBusters.org

TigerHawk:
The GOP debate live-blog post

Discussion: Instapundit.com, Ankle Biting Pundits, Atlas Shrugs and Bluey Blog

Hotline On Call:
Pre-Spin Room Thoughts: McCain, Rudy, Romney

Discussion: eyeon08.com and Latest Politics

Roger Simon / The Politico: Gloves come off at second GOP debate

New York Times:
Republican Presidential Debate in South Carolina

Discussion: alicublog and The RBC

Logan Murphy / Crooks and Liars:
GOP Debate II: Fox Goes After Ron Paul

Discussion: John McCain 2008, AMERICAblog and The Impolitic

Nico / Think Progress:
Romney: 'We Ought To Double Guantanamo'

Discussion: World Public Opinion

National Review: The Debate — For what it's worth, Romney looks stronger and stronger to me.

Aaron Gould Sheinin / The State:
GOP rivals mix it up

Discussion: The Caucus, New York Times and No Left Turns

ABCNEWS:

Bush Taps New 'War Czar' — ABC News Learns Pentagon Official Selected to Oversee Iraq, Afghanistan Wars — After a frustrating search for a new "war czar" to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, ABC News has learned that President Bush has chosen the Pentagon's director of operations, Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, for the role.

Ben Feller / Associated Press:

Pentagon General to Be 'War Czar' — WASHINGTON — President Bush has chosen Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the Pentagon's director of operations, to oversee the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan as a "war czar" after a long search for new leadership, administration officials said Tuesday.

Discussion: INTEL DUMP, Jules Crittenden, The Heretik and Cliff Schecter

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times: Bush Picks Army General to Coordinate War Policy

Nico / Think Progress:
New 'War Czar' Advocated Troop Withdrawals To 'Undercut Perception Of Occupation'

Discussion: Hot Air and Danger Room

David Johnston / New York Times:

President Intervened in Dispute Over Eavesdropping — President Bush intervened in March 2004 to avert a crisis over the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping program after Attorney General John Ashcroft, Director Robert S. Mueller III of the F.B.I. and other senior Justice Department aides …

Discussion: Balkinization, The Anonymous Liberal, toohotfortnr, Ezra Klein, The Heretik, The Atlantic Online and Washington Post

Washington Post:

Mr. Comey's Tale — JAMES B. COMEY, the straight-as-an-arrow former No. 2 official at the Justice Department, yesterday offered the Senate Judiciary Committee an account of Bush administration lawlessness so shocking it would have been unbelievable coming from a less reputable source.

Discussion: Think Progress

Hindrocket / Power Line:
MAKING SENSE OF COMEY

Discussion: About U.S. Politics and News Bloggers Blog

David Stout / New York Times:
Gonzales Pressed Ailing Ashcroft on Spy Plan, Aide Says

Discussion: News Bloggers Blog, CNN, WorkingForChange, TIME: Swampland and The Moderate Voice

One Jerusalem:

VIDEO EXCLUSIVE:: Semi-protected Schools, Damaged Homes and Kassam Rockets: A Day in the Life of Sderot — Yesterday I had the privilege of visiting the city of Sderot. Sdert is a city of 20,000 people located directly east of Northern Gaza. In the last seven years …

Discussion: Mere Rhetoric, Little Green Footballs, Atlas Shrugs and Gates of Vienna

Steven Erlanger / New York Times: News Analysis: Reality Overtakes the Illusion of Unity in Gaza

Aussie Dave / Israellycool:
Qassam Attack: May 15th, 2007

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, Israpundit and snapped shot

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:

HEALTHCARE IN AMERICA....The Commonwealth Fund has released its latest comparison of healthcare performance among various countries, and you can read all about it here. However, since I know you're all busy people, I'll just cut to the chase: we suck. Despite the fact that we see doctors less often …

Discussion: Angry Bear

commonwealthfund.org:

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: An International Update on the Comparative Performance of American Health Care — Authors: … Overview — Despite having the most costly health system in the world, the United States consistently underperforms on most dimensions of performance, relative to other countries.

Bernard Lewis / Opinion Journal:

Was Osama Right? — Islamists always believed the U.S. was weak. Recent political trends won't change their view. — During the Cold War, two things came to be known and generally recognized in the Middle East concerning the two rival superpowers. If you did anything to annoy the Russians, punishment would be swift and dire.

Discussion: Publius Pundit and Betsy's Page