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

1:10 AM ET, May 25, 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!, TalkLeft, 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: Middle Earth Journal, 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: ABCNEWS, New York Times, The Impolitic, The Newshoggers, Jules Crittenden, Tom Watson, JustOneMinute, First Draft, The Carpetbagger Report, The Huffington Post, Shakesville, 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, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Huffington Post, Shakesville, Taylor Marsh, The Hill, Interesting Times, Whiskey Fire, Left in the West and Balloon Juice

New York Times:

Immigration Bill Provisions Gain Wide Support in Poll — As opponents from the right and left challenge an immigration bill before Congress, there is broad support among Americans — Democrats, Republicans and independents alike — for the major provisions in the legislation, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Discussion: TalkLeft and Prairie Weather

Susan Ferrechio / CQ.com:
Democrats Set Stage for Next War Debate

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

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

Discussion: Liberty Street, Brilliant at Breakfast and Daily Kos

Eric Kleefeld / Election Central:
Poll: Public Overwhelmingly Wanted Withdrawal Timetables

Discussion: The Huffington Post

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, The Daily Whim, Firedoglake, On Deadline, Hotline On Call, mediabistro.com, Amygdala 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: The Carpetbagger Report, TPMmuckraker, Happy Furry Puppy Story …, First Draft, CFR.org, Eschaton, Wizbang, Bring it On! and Truthdig

Huffington Post:

President To Reporter: "They Are A Threat To Your Children, David" — President Bush told NBC reporter David Gregory at a Rose Garden news conference today that terrorists are a "threat to your children, David." The President's reaction came after Gregory asked him why he should be considered a credible source on terror intelligence.

Discussion: First Draft

Lynn Sweet:
Bush press conference: "I'm credible" messenger on the war. Transcript.

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Connecting.the.Dots

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

Bob Geiger:

Leahy To Vote Against Bogus Supplemental Compromise — Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who voted against the original authorization to invade Iraq and who quickly signed on to cosponsor the Feingold-Reid bill, announced to supporters today that he will vote against the "compromise" …

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!

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

Discussion: Firedoglake and MSNBC

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

Discussion: Democrats.com

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, Faithful Progressive and Capitol Briefing

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

Discussion: bustardblog and Macsmind

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

Gerard Baker / Times of London:

Pretty bad - but not Jimmy Carter bad — America is in a funk, but it needn't be — You know how bad things have got when Jimmy Carter's critique of your presidency is taken seriously. This week the former US President attacked the current one, saying that, "as far as the adverse impact …

Discussion: Jules Crittenden