memeorandum: Lugar's words reverberate (Manu Raju/The Hill)

9:45 AM ET, June 27, 2007

Top Items:

New Poll Finds That Young Americans Are Leaning Left — Young Americans are more likely than the general public to favor a government-run universal health care insurance system, an open-door policy on immigration and the legalization of gay marriage, according to a New York Times/CBS News/MTV poll.

Discussion: MSNBC, MyDD, TechRepublican.com, Sister Toldjah, Lonewacko, News Bloggers Blog, The Moderate Voice, TalkLeft, Oliver Willis, Thought Theater, JammieWearingFool, Prairie Weather and Brilliant at Breakfast

Bill Schneider / CNN:

Poll: GOP support for Iraq war wavering … WASHINGTON (CNN) — Public support for the war in Iraq has fallen to a new low. Not only that, but Republican support is beginning to waver. — President Bush's troop buildup, or "surge," meant to quell the sectarian violence is now in place.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Outside The Beltway, The American Street, Amygdala and Middle Earth Journal

CNN Political Ticker:
Poll: Support for Iraq war reaches new low

Discussion: All Spin Zone, The Gun Toting Liberal™ and DownWithTyranny!

Washington Post:

GOP Skepticism On Iraq Growing — Key Republican senators, signaling increasing GOP skepticism about President Bush's strategy in Iraq, have called for a reduction in U.S. forces and launched preemptive efforts to counter a much-awaited administration progress report due in September.

Discussion: New York Times, AMERICAblog and IraqSlogger.com

Manu Raju / The Hill:

Lugar's words reverberate — A senior Republican's sharp criticism of President Bush's handling of the Iraq war has emboldened anti-war activists, who are planning to ratchet up pressure on the Senate to take a more hard-line approach during the debate next month over defense authorization legislation.

White House:
Press Briefing by Tony Snow

Discussion: The Politico

Mike Dorning / Chicago Tribune:
Iraq policy is failing, says top senator

Discussion: TPMCafe blogs and The Belmont Club

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Lugar Urges Quick Shift in Iraq War Strategy

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Democratic Daily, Talking Points Memo, The Politico, Jules Crittenden, The Huffington Post, Macsmind and TIME: Swampland

Nico / Think Progress:

Elizabeth Edwards Confronts Coulter During Live Television Appearance — Elizabeth Edwards confronted right-wing pundit Ann Coulter during a live interview on MSNBC this afternoon, charging that Coulter's "personal attacks" on former senator John Edwards and others were based on "the language of hate."

Mike Baker / Associated Press:
Ms. Edwards asks Coulter to stop attacks

Discussion: The Hill and CNN Political Ticker

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Elizabeth Edwards confronts Ann Coulter

Discussion: Huffington Post, ABCNEWS, Hullabaloo, News Hounds, The Democratic Daily, The Moderate Voice, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Scrutiny Hooligans, The Impolitic, Comments From Left Field and The Agonist

John Aravosis / AMERICAblog:
Ann Coulter wishes John Edwards were assassinated

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Bark Bark Woof Woof

blog.washingtonpost.com:

Leaving No Tracks — Sue Ellen Wooldridge, the 19th-ranking Interior Department official, arrived at her desk in Room 6140 a few months after Inauguration Day 2001. A phone message awaited her. — "This is Dick Cheney," said the man on her voice mail, Wooldridge recalled in an interview.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Moderate Voice, The Impolitic, Prairie Weather, Taylor Marsh, Washington Monthly, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Comments From Left Field, Wampum, The Sideshow, The Raw Story, BuzzFlash.org, The American Street, Daily Kos, The Carpetbagger Report, Angry Bear and MSNBC

Ben Quinn / Telegraph:

Protests rage over petrol rationing in Iran — Angry Iranians have torched petrol stations in protests against the sudden imposition of fuel rationing in one of the world's most oil rich nations. — The rationing was announced on Tuesday only three hours before it was due to begin at midnight …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and Blue Crab Boulevard

Pajamas Media:
TEHRAN BURNS — VIDEO With virtually no warning …

Discussion: Guardian, The Spirit of Man, Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, Reuters, The Belmont Club, Don Surber, On Deadline and Kamangir

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

GOP preps for talk radio confrontation — House Republican lawmakers are preparing to fight anticipated Democratic efforts to regulate talk radio by reviving rules requiring stations to balance conservative hosts such as Rush Limbaugh with liberals such as Al Franken.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and Power Line

John L. Mitchell / Los Angeles Times:

Richardson leads Oropeza in race for Congress — The candidates seek to represent the 37th Congressional District. — Assemblywoman Laura Richardson pulled ahead of her closest Democratic rival, state Sen. Jenny Oropeza, and was leading a field crowded with 16 other candidates in early returns …

Henry Weinstein / Los Angeles Times:
3 wrongful conviction bills advance

Discussion: TalkLeft

John Leo / City Journal:

Bowling With Our Own — Robert Putnam's sobering new diversity research scares its author. — Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone, is very nervous about releasing his new research, and understandably so. His five-year study shows that immigration …

Discussion: Beliefnet, The American Scene, Right Wing Nut House, Outside The Beltway and Dr. Sanity

Bob Lewis / Associated Press:

Giuliani Slams Bill Clinton on Terrorism — VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday accused former President Clinton of not responding forcefully enough to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing or later terrorist attacks.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, TIME, PoliPundit.com and No More Mister Nice Blog

Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post:

Cheney Aide Explains Stance on Classified Material — Vice President Cheney's office offered its first public written explanation yesterday for its refusal to comply with an executive order regulating the handling of classified material, arguing that the order makes clear that the vice president …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Balkinization

Chris Good / The Hill:
Cheney's office dismisses Dems' outrage on documents

Discussion: The Raw Story and The Democratic Daily

Jonathan D. Salant / Bloomberg:

Clinton and Obama, Romney and Giuliani Seek Bragging Rights — Presidential candidates in both parties are scrambling to swell their bank accounts before June 30, the end of the second quarter for reporting campaign donations. — Contenders including Democratic Senators Barack Obama …

Discussion: Boston Globe, New York Post and MSNBC

Andrew Sullivan / Times of London:

Weeds and wasted lives on the farm run by UN's rural kingpin — The Environment Minister and world authority on sustainable development has let his once-thriving land go to rack and ruin — It looks as if no one has lived here for years. Tall, dense elephant grass grows everywhere.

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Senate Takes Up a Revised Immigration Bill, but Obstacles Remain — By a vote of 64 to 35, the Senate decided on Tuesday to take up a revised version of a comprehensive immigration bill that was pulled from the Senate floor nearly three weeks ago. — The vote did not guarantee passage of the bill …

Discussion: MSNBC and Washington Post