memeorandum: W. F. Deedes dies (Nigel Reynolds/Telegraph)

5:15 PM ET, August 18, 2007

Top Items:

Obama to turn down additional fall debates — Inundated by dozens of invitations, Sen. Barack Obama will turn down requests to join future debates and forums this fall, his Democratic presidential campaign announced Saturday. — Obama will honor his commitment to eight more debates …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Captain's Quarters and CNN Political Ticker

David Plouffe / Obama HQ:

Debates and forums going forward — As we head into the fall, the campaign is entering a new more engaged phase that will give voters an even greater sense of Barack's message of change and require the campaign to make decisions that balance the important role of debates and maximize time to run the kind of campaign we need to.

Discussion: The Fix, Liberal Values, The Swamp and TIME: Swampland

The Atlantic Online:

Enough's Enough: Obama Will Limit Forum/Debate Participation — Frustrated with the volume of interest group forums and non-party sponsored debates, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign manager has put his foot down: Obama won't attend any more debates that aren't sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee …

Discussion: Daily Kos

The Corner:

Nix That — From Team Thompson:

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Townhall.com and Stop The ACLU

The Atlantic Online:
Here's How Fox News Covered Fred Thompson In Iowa

Discussion: Stop The ACLU, Daily Kos, Open Left, The Impolitic, Hot Air, Cliff Schecter and NewsBusters.org

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Fred Thompson...He looks terrible..Oh, and he may get in when he gets in...

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Moderate Voice, Associated Press and ABCNEWS

New York Times:

Concern Over Wider Spying Under New Law — Broad new surveillance powers approved by Congress this month could allow the Bush administration to conduct spy operations that go well beyond wiretapping to include — without court approval — certain types of physical searches of American citizens …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Greenlee Gazette, Corrente and Prairie Weather

Faiz / Think Progress:

McCain: 'I Was The Greatest Critic' Of The Iraq War Over The Last Four Years — Yesterday on CNN, host Kiran Chetry suggested to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) that he's been unfairly "painted as being a huge supporter of the president's Iraq strategy. Is that an accurate portrayal?" she asked.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, TalkLeft, The Carpetbagger Report and Eschaton

Suzan Fraser / Associated Press:

Turkish plane hijacking ends peacefully — ANKARA, Turkey - Two men who hijacked a Turkish passenger plane in an apparent protest against the U.S. surrendered to authorities Saturday after holding some crew members and passengers hostage for more than four hours. No one was hurt.

Discussion: The Corner and Gateway Pundit

Washington Post:

Qualified to Serve — BEFORE BEING nominated by President Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, Leslie H. Southwick served for almost 12 years on the Mississippi Court of Appeals, where he participated in thousands of cases spanning the gamut of civil and criminal law.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Obsidian Wings, Norwegianity, Lawyers, Guns and Money and Wizbang

Ayad Allawi / Washington Post:

A Plan for Iraq — Next month, Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker will report to Congress on the situation in my country. I expect that the testimony of these two good men will be qualified and nuanced, as politics requires.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Booman Tribune, Back to Iraq, The Glittering Eye, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Outside The Beltway and The Newshoggers

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Maliki Tries Statesmanship

Discussion: Informed Comment, The Moderate Voice, The Influence Peddler, Lawyers, Guns and Money and Wake up America

Edward Wyatt / New York Times:

A CBS Reality Show Draws a Claim of Possible Child Abuse — The ads promoting "Kid Nation," a new reality show coming to CBS next month, extol the incredible experience of a group of 40 children, ages 8 to 15, who built a sort of idealistic society in a New Mexico ghost town, free of adults.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Wake up America, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Carpetbagger Report and Captain's Quarters

Redstate:

Michael Deaver 1938-2007 — "Almost instantaneously, he responded, 'Ronald Reagan was my issue.'" — Since Ronald Reagan passed away a few years ago, we have seen several members of his inner circle follow him once again. Lyn Nofzinger, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, and Cap Weinberger all helped craft …

Discussion: The American Mind

Jonathan Finer / Washington Post:

Green Zone Blinders — Late last month the Brookings Institution's Kenneth Pollack and Michael O'Hanlon, just back from a quick trip to Baghdad, proclaimed in the New York Times that "we are finally getting somewhere in Iraq." In June, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, fresh from his latest whirlwind tour …

Discussion: Rising Hegemon, D-Day, Daily Kos and The Carpetbagger Report

James Joyner / Outside The Beltway:

The Real Crime is What's Legal — Congressmen running for re-election routinely tout all the money they've brought to the district and presidents love to personally hand out disaster relief funds during election season. While unseemly, that's just the way the game is played.

Discussion: The Mahablog, Talking Points Memo, About.com U.S. Politics, The Carpetbagger Report and Connecting.the.Dots

Atrios / Eschaton:

The Highest Form of Wankery — From the article linked below: … There is a bunch of stuff here. Obviously, if the necons were so absurdly wrong one would've imagined that those in the "clerisy" would have taken a strong public stand against them. What we saw and still see, of course …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:

After Loss of Majority, Several Republicans Head for Exits — A rash of retirements among House Republicans is adding to the party's electoral challenges and raising questions about a rush for the exits. — Four House Republicans — Representatives J. Dennis Hastert and Ray LaHood …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Take Our Country Back

Michael Rubin / The Corner:

More Academic Free Speech Hypocrisy — Cambridge University Press—in sharp contrast to Yale University Press—has agreed to recall and destroy copies of Alms for Jihad, a critically-acclaimed examination of terror finance which a Saudi businessman found inconvenient (I'd link to the Amazon.com page …

Discussion: Campus Watch

Faiz / Think Progress:

If It's Sunday, It's Karl Rove — Karl Rove will be a guest this Sunday on Face the Nation, Meet the Press, and Fox News Sunday (ABC's This Week is hosting a Democratic presidential debate). — Thus far, Rove's farewell media blitz has simply provided him a platform to offer partisan attacks.

Discussion: NY Daily News, TPMCafe blogs and JammieWearingFool