memeorandum: Marcy Wheeler on Hardball (John Amato/Crooks and Liars)

12:55 PM ET, July 3, 2007

Top Items:

Bush and Libby — The commutation is a profile in non-courage. — President Bush's commutation late yesterday afternoon of the prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby will at least spare his former aide from 2 1/2 years in prison. But by failing to issue a full pardon …

Washington Post:

Too Much Mercy — IN COMMUTING I. Lewis Libby's prison sentence yesterday, President Bush took the advice of, among others, William Otis, a former federal prosecutor who wrote on the opposite page last month that Mr. Libby should neither be pardoned nor sent to prison.

Discussion: Financial Times, Power Line, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Firedoglake, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Don Surber, Daily Kos, Angry Bear, Sadly, No!, All Spin Zone, The Heretik and The Politico

Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post:

A Decision Made Largely Alone — President Bush limited his deliberations over commuting the prison term of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to a few close aides, opting not to consult with the Justice Department and rebuffing efforts by friends to lobby on Libby's behalf, administration officials and people close to Bush said yesterday.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, Time, New York Times, Grasping Reality …, The Carpetbagger Report, The Volokh Conspiracy, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice, The Atlantic Online, PoliBlog (TM), Patterico's Pontifications, The Anonymous Liberal, Captain's Quarters, MyDD and Redstate

Atrios / Eschaton:
Rich — Inevitably, the subject of Marc Rich comes up every …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

Editor and Publisher: Editorials Hit Libby's Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card

David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
Bush spares Libby from jail

Discussion: Booman Tribune, The Galloping Beaver, BuzzFlash.org and skippy the bush kangaroo

Associated Press:
Reaction to Bush's Libby Decision

Discussion: Wizbang, Bluey Blog and Right Wing News

Digby / Hullabaloo: Bully For Him — Tim Noah says Bush did the right thing.

New York Times:
Bush Spares Libby From Prison Term

Discussion: TPMCafe blogs, Gawker, BuzzFlash.org, TPMmuckraker, ParaPundit, The Next Hurrah, The Daily Whim, CNN, Ace of Spades HQ and The Anonymous Liberal

Timothy Noah / Slate:
Why Bush Was Right To Spare Libby

Discussion: The Next Hurrah, The Anonymous Liberal and NO QUARTER

CBS News:

Al Qaeda In Iraq Behind U.K. Bomb Plot? — Sources Tell CBS News Suspects Recruited By Leader Of Terror Group's Iraq Branch — (CBS/AP) British intelligence services increasingly believe that the failed car bombings in London and Glasgow bare the fingerprints of al Qaeda in Iraq, CBS News has learned.

Discussion: Power Line, Captain's Quarters, Hot Air, The Glittering Eye, Gateway Pundit and Yourish.com

Wall Street Journal:

How Conservatives Enhanced Online Voice — Talk Radio Blends — With Blog Postings — To Boost Message — Political activism on the Internet — and in the so-called blogosphere, in particular — has long been considered a liberal stronghold. But conservative bloggers show increasing signs of their own coming of age.

Discussion: The Caucus and TIME

Dean Barnett / Townhall.com:
What Mort Doesn't Know — Markos Moulitsas and I disagree on a lot of things.

Discussion: Riehl World View

Associated Press:

Hillary Clinton breaks out Bubba in Iowa — DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Bill Clinton, one of the most popular figures in Democratic politics, embarked Monday on a Fourth of July tour with his wife, White House hopeful Hillary Clinton, in the leadoff voting state of Iowa in an effort to boost her campaign.

Washington Post:
In Iowa, Clinton Relies Heavily on Husband's Star Power

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, New York Times, The Politico, MSNBC and Michael P.F. van der Galiën

New York Times:

U.S. Says Iran Helped Iraqis Kill Five G.I.'s — Agents of Iran helped plan a January raid in Shiite holy city of Karbala in Iraq in which five American soldiers were killed by Islamic militants, an American military spokesman said Monday. The charge was the most specific allegation …

Discussion: Confederate Yankee, Jules Crittenden, INTEL DUMP, Gateway Pundit, Power Line and The Strata-Sphere

Rogers / Kung Fu Monkey:

L33T Justice — According to the Dictionary of Video Game Theory, an "exploit" is — … I'd been working on this post vis a vis the Gonzales situation. The DoJ situation, in it's own way, magnificent. They're averaging a DoJ resignation a week over the attorney scandal.

Discussion: Firedoglake and Unfogged

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:
And Now For Some Action... So, you can sit around grousing …

Discussion: The Nation and First Draft

New York Times:

Short on Money, McCain Campaign Dismisses Dozens — The presidential campaign of Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who once seemed poised to be his party's nominee in 2008, acknowledged yesterday that it was in a political and financial crisis as a drop in fund-raising forced …

Discussion: Washington Post, Arizona Republic, The Politico, Norwegianity, MSNBC and Associated Press

Joe Klein / Time:
Is John McCain's Candidacy Cooked?

Discussion: TIME: Swampland and The Gun Toting Liberal™

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:

Marcy Wheeler on Hardball — You go girl. Marcy Wheeler joined David Shuster on Hardball and represented the blogosphere on a topic she wrote a book about that's called "Anatomy of Deceit." She told MSNBC that Libby did the bidding of Bush and Cheney and we know that's all too true.

Discussion: Firedoglake

Richard Cohen / Washington Post:

A Local Lesson That Democrats Fail — The eight Democratic presidential candidates assembled in Washington last week for another of their debates and talked, among other things, about public education. They all essentially agreed that it was underfunded — one system "for the wealthy, one for everybody else," as John Edwards put it.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and The Moderate Voice

Byron Dziva / Telegraph:

Mugabe's 'inflation police' raid shopkeepers — Plain-clothes police sought to enforce Zimbabwe's new price controls by raiding shops yesterday as President Robert Mugabe's regime waged a desperate struggle against soaring inflation. — They roughed up shop owners and staff and arrested 20 businessmen.

Discussion: QandO, SCSUScholars, Tim Worstall and GINA COBB

Macer Hall / Daily Express:

BROWN: DON'T SAY TERRORISTS ARE MUSLIMS — Gordon Brown has banned ministers from using the word "Muslim" in connection with the terrorism crisis. — The Prime Minister has also instructed his team - including new Home Secretary Jacqui Smith - that the phrase "war on terror" is to be dropped.

Discussion: Melanie Phillips's Diary, Telegraph and Little Green Footballs

Rasmussen Reports:

Romney Holds Nine-Point Lead in New Hampshire — Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has the lead in the first Rasmussen Reports poll of New Hampshire's Republican Presidential Primary. Romney currently attracts support from 26% of Likely Primary Voters, nine points more than his nearest competitor.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and National Review

Seth McLaughlin / Washington Times:

Mark Warner weighs another bid for office — Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner has been reticent about his political future since leaving office a year and a half ago, but now sounds poised for a return to public life. — "I think I've got a voice that I would like to get back engaged in public service …

Discussion: MyDD and Donklephant

Washington Post:

Scooter Libby's Pals, Trusting In Providence — The men behind The Man Behind Dick Cheney are relieved. — They are people of means and influence, ambassadors and honorables, and they've raised millions to pay for the legal expenses of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Discussion: TPMmuckraker, The Atlantic Online and JURIST

Susie / Suburban Guerrilla:

James Capozzola, 1962-2007 — Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, — Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, — Silence the pianos and with muffled drum — Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. — "Funeral Blues," W.H. Auden. — My friend Jim died this evening.