memeorandum: House of Horrors: War Debate Live Blog (Pachacutec/Firedoglake)

10:50 PM ET, May 24, 2007

Top Items:

POLL SHOWS OPPOSITION TO IRAQ WAR AT ALL TIME HIGH — Americans now view the war in Iraq more negatively than at any time since the war began, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. — Six in 10 Americans say the United States should have stayed out of Iraq and more than three …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Sirotablog, DownWithTyranny!, Prairie Weather, Taylor Marsh and Pollster.com

CBS News:

CBS Poll: 76% Say War's Going Badly — Record Number In CBS/NYT Survey Say Getting Involved In Iraq Was A Mistake — (CBS) As President Bush and Congress hammer out an Iraq war funding bill, a CBS News/New York Times poll shows the number of Americans who say the war is going badly has reached a new high …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Democratic Daily, TalkLeft and Taegan Goddard's …

Greg Sargent / Election Central:

Dem Leadership: If We'd Confronted Bush On Iraq, White House Would Have Criticized Us — With the House set to vote on the no-timelines Iraq War funding bill later today, The New York Times provides a glimpse into the thinking among top Dems that led to the current proposal: … Oooooooooooooo, scary!

Discussion: The Newshoggers, First Draft, The Carpetbagger Report, MSNBC, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Matt Stoller / MyDD:

The Capitulation Bill: "Obviously it's a good move" — The crazy thing about the fight is that Democratic insiders are convinced that capitulation is the right strategy. They actually believe that this will put pressure on the Republicans in the fall, and that standing up to Bush is a bad idea.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Politico, Daily Kos, The Hill, Brilliant at Breakfast, Taylor Marsh, The Huffington Post, Shakesville, Interesting Times, Whiskey Fire, Left in the West and Balloon Juice

Susan Ferrechio / CQ.com:

Democrats Set Stage for Next War Debate — Before deciding to blink in the long standoff over war spending and troop withdrawal, House Democrats convinced themselves President Bush is scoring only a short-term victory. — The House is expected to send to the Senate late Thursday …

Discussion: Left in the West, DownWithTyranny!, AMERICAblog and TalkLeft

Faiz / Think Progress:
Feingold: 'This Is No Time To Back Off'

Discussion: Firedoglake

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
News Analysis: On War Funds, Democrats Saw No Option but to Cede Ground to Bush

Discussion: Tom Watson, JustOneMinute, The Huffington Post, The Politico, MSNBC, Shakesville and Jules Crittenden

Nicole Belle / Crooks and Liars: Where They Stand — h/t to Tom Mattzie for suggesting the kind …

Chris Bowers / MyDD:
Why Some Democrats Are More Scared Of Bush Than Their Base

Discussion: Brilliant at Breakfast and Daily Kos

Bob Geiger: Leahy To Vote Against Bogus Supplemental Compromise

Jim Martin / The Impolitic: The Liberal Media At Work

Sara Just / Political Radar:

Bush In Line of Fire — ABC's Ann Compton reports: An outdoor news conference in perfect spring weather, with birds chirping loudly in the magnolia trees, is not without its hazards. — As President Bush took a question Thursday in the White House Rose Garden about scandals involving his Attorney General …

Discussion: MSNBC, On Deadline, Hotline On Call, mediabistro.com and The Impolitic

SilentPatriot / Crooks and Liars:
Bird Sh*ts on Bush During Press Conference

Discussion: MSNBC

Rose Garden / White House:

Press Conference by the President — THE PRESIDENT: Please be seated. Thank you, all. Good morning. — Today, Congress will vote on legislation that provides our troops with the funds they need. It makes clear that our Iraqi partners must demonstrate progress on security and reconciliation.

Discussion: TPMmuckraker, The Carpetbagger Report, Happy Furry Puppy Story …, First Draft, CFR.org, Eschaton, Wizbang and Truthdig

Huffington Post:
President To Reporter: "They Are A Threat To Your Children, David"

Discussion: First Draft

Steve Clemons / The Washington Note:

Cheney Attempting to Constrain Bush's Choices on Iran Conflict: Staff Engaged in Insubordination Against President Bush — There is a race currently underway between different flanks of the administration to determine the future course of US-Iran policy. — On one flank are the diplomats …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Guardian, Reuters, The Next Hurrah, CANNONFIRE, The Newshoggers, Confederate Yankee, The Atlantic Online, Hot Air, Cliff Schecter, Booman Tribune and Middle Earth Journal

Think Progress:

Sen. Whitehouse: Gonzales May Be Guilty Of Obstruction Of Justice — The Senate's no-confidence vote on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will be held in mid-June, Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) announced today.

Discussion: Shakesville, The Carpetbagger Report, PERRspectives Blog, The Blue State, Salon, Capitol Briefing and Faithful Progressive

Laurie Kellman / Associated Press:
Senate Sets Mid-June Vote on Gonzales

Discussion: bustardblog and Macsmind

Dale Franks / QandO:

QUESTIONS FOR OUR LIBERAL FRIENDS — Bruce is a big boy, and certainly doesn't need me to help him out, but let's talk about Iraq for a moment. Because I have questions for people like Oliver Willis to which I'm curious to hear the answers. And I'm not asking in a snarky way. I'm honestly interested.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, The Impolitic, Oliver Willis, Michael P.F. van der Galiën and The Glittering Eye

Oliver Willis:
AN ANSWER TO OUR CONSERVATIVE FRIENDS

Discussion: Riehl World View, JustOneMinute and Shakesville

The Smoking Gun:

Torture, Al-Qaeda Style — Drawings, tools seized from Iraq safe house in U.S. military raid — In a recent raid on an al-Qaeda safe house in Iraq, U.S. military officials recovered an assortment of crude drawings depicting torture methods like "blowtorch to the skin" and "eye removal."

Discussion: The Jawa Report, No More Mister Nice Blog, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Gateway Pundit, Iowa Voice and Hot Air

Howard Fineman / Newsweek:

Fineman: McCain and the upside of anger — McCain's outbursts are the understandable byproduct of a candidate whose courage is constantly tested by bad luck. — The nasty words are flying between the camps. By now, political junkies know how it escalated.

Discussion: Ezra Klein, Outside The Beltway, The Atlantic Online and The Gun Toting Liberal™

Spiegel Online:

France to Pay Immigrants to Return Home — New French President Nicolas Sarkozy made immigration a central issue of his campaign. Now, his new minister for immigration and national identity says its time to start paying immigrants to leave the country. — France is home to over 5 million immigrants …

Discussion: Fausta's blog and Israel Matzav

Digby / Hullabaloo:

Missin' It — Atrios mentioned this unusually obtuse Jack Shafer article in Slate in which he writes that Gore's critique of the media is all about Britney Spears: … He went on to cleverly suggest that Gore should actually take issue with sports because far more people read the sports page.

Discussion: Slate, Pacific Views, Gristmill, Eschaton, The Daily Howler and Althouse

Greg Palast / The BRAD BLOG:

Palast Exclusive: The Goods on Goodling and the Keys to the Kingdom — And The No Longer 'Missing' Rove Emails Revealing the Cagey Scheme to Steal 2008... *** Special to The BRAD BLOG by Greg Palast — This Monica revealed something hotter — much hotter — than a stained blue dress.

Discussion: Balkinization and Election Law