memeorandum: Harry Potter ... or Another Political Book (Washington Wire)

1:30 PM ET, May 24, 2007

Top Items:

News Analysis: On War Funds, Democrats Saw No Option but to Cede Ground to Bush — Congressional contortions over the Iraq spending bill could end up with most House Democrats momentarily occupying the position they were so desperate to vacate: the minority.

Discussion: The Politico, Shakesville, Jules Crittenden, MSNBC and Republic of Sestakastan

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: The Huffington Post, Taylor Marsh, Balloon Juice, DownWithTyranny! and Daily Kos

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: TalkLeft and AMERICAblog

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: Talking Points Memo

Mike Soraghan / The Hill:

House Democrats bracing for unpalatable Iraq vote — House Democrats head into their last vote on the Iraq supplemental budget today with a sense of resignation, with fewer than half expected to vote in favor of a bill that gives President Bush nearly everything he wants.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Sirotablog, CQ.com and Booman Tribune

Patrick O'Connor / The Politico:
GOP slams Pelosi in new ad campaign

Discussion: Bob McCarty Writes, Wizbang and Michael P.F. van der Galiën

New York Times:

EX-JUSTICE AIDE ADMITS POLITICS AFFECTED HIRING — A former top Justice Department aide testified on Wednesday that she had "crossed the line" in considering the political beliefs of applicants for nonpartisan legal jobs and suggested that earlier testimony by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Capitol Briefing, Suburban Guerrilla, Law Blog, Think Progress, Unfogged, The Carpetbagger Report, On Deadline, Michael P.F. van der Galiën and KnoxViews

Washington Post:
Goodling Says She 'Crossed the Line'

Discussion: PoliBlog (TM), Outside The Beltway, DownWithTyranny!, At-Largely, TPMCafe blogs, TIME: Swampland, Hullabaloo, the talking dog and Bring it On!

New York Times:
Editorial: Witness for the Prosecutors

Discussion: Minneapolis Star Tribune, Slate, Balkinization, Norwegianity and Prairie Weather

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Monica's Own Monica Problem

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, The Agitator, The Heretik, News Hounds, Salon and TPMmuckraker

Don Surber:
Scandal trolling

Discussion: The American Mind and The Impolitic

Susan Bell / Scotsman:

Raid on spy's home 'reveals details of Chirac's secret £30m bank account' — LONG-STANDING rumours that the former French president Jacques Chirac holds a secret multi-million-euro bank account in Japan appear to have been confirmed by files seized from the home of a senior spy.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Betsy's Page

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: Michael P.F. van der Galiën and The Glittering Eye

Oliver Willis: AN ANSWER TO OUR CONSERVATIVE FRIENDS

Keith Olbermann / MSNBC:

The entire government has failed us on Iraq — For the president, and the majority leaders and candidates and rank-and-file Congressmen and Senators of either party—there is only blame for this shameful, and bi-partisan, betrayal — SPECIAL COMMENT — A Special Comment about the Democrats' deal …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Outside The Beltway, Bring it On!, Liberal Values, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Neptunus Lex, The Democratic Daily, The Garlic, The Reaction, The Left End of the Dial v2.0, The Gun Toting Liberal™, Taylor Marsh, The Populist and TalkLeft

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Special Comment: "The only things truly "compromised" are the trust …

Discussion: BobGeiger.com, The Reaction, The Moderate Voice, The Mahablog, The Sideshow, The Impolitic and Blue Gal

Sudarsan Raghavan / Washington Post:

Morgue Data Show Increase In Sectarian Killings in Iraq — More than three months into a U.S.-Iraqi security offensive designed to curtail sectarian violence in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq, Health Ministry statistics show that such killings are rising again.

Discussion: Atlantic Free Press, Informed Comment, Michael P.F. van der Galiën and Truthdig

Opinion Journal:

Immigration and Welfare — Most of them will pay at least as much as they collect. — The immigration debate is roaring again, and we're happy to join the fun. One place to start is a myth that has become a key talking point among restrictionists on the right—to wit …

Discussion: ImmigrationProf Blog

George F. Will / Washington Post:
A Bill That Earned Its Doubters

Discussion: Hot Air and National Review

ABCNEWS:

Edwards Presses Democrats to Oppose War Funding — Votes in Congress Interfere With 2008 campaign — Democratic presidential contender John Edwards told the Council on Foreign Affairs the Bush administration "has not only mismanaged the war in Iraq, it has mismanaged the military itself."

Joan Walsh / Salon:
Can Dems spin Iraq war cave-in as a victory?

Discussion: Firedoglake, Hullabaloo and All Spin Zone

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Improvement in Iraq: Trust Joe Klein and his secret sources — Q. If you're a Bush administration official and you want to create a prominent headline in Time Magazine proclaiming what great improvement there is in Iraq, what do you do? — A. Have someone with a shiny military uniform …

Discussion: Instapundit.com, Booman Tribune, Time, The Belmont Club, TalkLeft and Michael P.F. van der Galiën

Gateway Pundit:

Grim Milestone: War on Terror Fatalities Reach Ominous Threshold — It is not an easy decision to vote for war. — It's not easy committing your soldiers to the battlefield. — Yet, the democratic-led Congress did just that in 2002. — Surely, they knew what their vote would mean …

Discussion: The Newshoggers and Confederate Yankee

Associated Press:

U.S. military continues to discharge gay Arab linguists, and Congress members seek hearing — WASHINGTON: Lawmakers who say the military has kicked out 58 Arabic linguists because they were gay want the Pentagon to explain how it can afford to let the valuable language specialists go.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Outside The Beltway, Brilliant at Breakfast and AMERICAblog

Gideon Rachman:

The collapse of Europe — If you happen to be passing though Malibu next month, why not pop into an intriguing-sounding conference at Pepperdine University on "The Collapse of Europe". One of the early sessions is entitled - "Eurabia: Is Muslim domination of Europe inevitable?"

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Atlantic Online