memeorandum: State legislators approve same-sex marriage bill; governor expected to veto (Haley Davies/San Francisco Chronicle)

6:25 PM ET, September 7, 2007

Top Items:

New OBL Tape: Iraq, Democratic Control — ABC News' Jonathan Karl Reports: ABC News has obtained a transcript of the latest taped message from Osama bin Laden. — Sources tell ABC News the tape, bin Laden's first message in three years, is approximately 30 minutes long, and does not contain overt threats to the United States.

Brian Ross Reports / The Blotter:

New Videotape From Bin Laden; Al Qaeda's No. 1 Still Alive — Brian Ross Reports: — Intelligence sources tell ABC News they believe the video message from Osama bin Laden is authentic, recently produced and evidence the al Qaeda leader is still alive. — According to government sources …

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, Daimnation!, The Detroit Times, Middle Earth Journal, Blue Crab Boulevard, National Review and Captain's Quarters

MSNBC:

Bin Laden criticizes Democrats over Iraq — Intelligence officials believe video to be authentic; no specific threat made — WASHINGTON - Osama bin Laden criticizes Democrats for failing to stop the Iraq conflict in a video, obtained Friday by the U.S. government, NBC News and other news organizations …

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Macsmind, The Blotter, Weasel Zippers, On Deadline, Liberty Pundit and Jihad Watch

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

U.S. intel: New Osama tape is authentic and recently produced; Update: Transcript — Osama slams Dems for failing to end war, praises Chomsky, laments ... global warming; Update: Full transcript added — A signal to attack? … Richard Clarke says he thinks the beard looks fake.

Discussion: Jihad Watch, The Corner, Little Green Footballs, Associated Press, Take Our Country Back and Pat Dollard

Mike Glover / Associated Press:

"(AP) Thompson campaign bus rumbles through rural Iowa" — Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson defended his support for the war in Iraq on Friday, saying public support for the war is beginning to grow. — Thompson was in Iowa, where he started the day meeting with residents …

Discussion: Brave New Films blog, The Carpetbagger Report and Democratic National Committee

Agence France Presse: Al-Qaeda planning fresh attacks on US: CIA chief

Jeff G. / protein wisdom: "Transcript — Osama slams Dems for failing to end war, praises …

Rusty / The Jawa Report:
UBL Video Intercepted! UPDATE: bin Laden Praises Chomsky/Left/Antiwar Voters!

Discussion: MSNBC

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Osama Scolds Democrats For Not Surrendering

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Transcript: Osama Bin Laden, socialist icon; Update: Partial Osama video added

Discussion: Daimnation!

John Edwards for President:
A New Strategy Against Terrorism — Pace University, New York, NY

Discussion: TalkLeft, Needlenose, Taylor Marsh and The Right's Field

Faiz / Think Progress:

New Twist In Saga Over 'Petraeus Report': There Will Be No Report — In the latest twist to the ongoing saga over the White House report, a senior military official tells the Washington Times today that there will actually be no report at all: … To recap, first the public was incorrectly led …

Discussion: Liberty Street, Prairie Weather and The Next Hurrah

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

[TS] Op-Ed Columnist: Time to Take a Stand — Gen. David Petraeus has a history of making overoptimistic assessments of progress in Iraq that happen to be convenient for his political masters.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, TalkLeft, Huffington Post, Hoffmania!, Thought Theater, The Carpetbagger Report, WorkingForChange, FP Passport, Middle Earth Journal, Prairie Weather, Brian Beutler, SWJ Blog and INSTAPUTZ

John Cole / Balloon Juice:
Report? What Report? — In case you wanted to fact check …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, QandO, Middle Earth Journal and The Impolitic

Jurassicpork / Pottersville:
Paul Krugman: Time to Take a Stand

Discussion: CNSNews, Slate, The Moderate Voice, Left in the West, skippy the bush kangaroo, Comments From Left Field, The Impolitic, The Detroit Times and No More Mister Nice Blog

Peggy Noonan / Opinion Journal:

Off to the Races — Surprisingly, the Republican presidential campaign comes into focus. — This week the Republican candidates for the presidency tried to make it new again. Summer's over, autumn's here, they're relaunching. I think they pretty much succeeded. Their debate Wednesday night had sparks and fire.

Discussion: Comment Central, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Atlantic Online, Riehl World View and GINA COBB

Lydia Saad / Gallup Poll:
Gallup Ranks the 2008 Candidates According to a Feeling Thermometer

Discussion: Comments From Left Field, The Moderate Voice, The Swamp and Blue Crab Boulevard

Kos / Daily Kos:
Where are Obama and Clinton? — So where are the two "front runner" candidates on Iraq?

Discussion: The Trail, Black Shards … and The Talent Show

The Raw Story:

Video: Dazed Bush forgets where he is — Want to get the news the media buries? Get Raw headlines in your browser. President Bush's trademark struggles with the finer points of public speaking were on full display Friday, when he thanked his "Austrian" hosts for inviting him to this year's "OPEC" summit.

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister, The Detroit Times, The Democratic Daily and WorkingForChange

Tom Raum / Associated Press:

Bush has bad day at Sydney Opera House — SYDNEY, Australia - President Bush had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day at the Sydney Opera House. — He'd only reached the third sentence of Friday's speech to business leaders, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, when he committed his first gaffe.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, TIME: Swampland, Wonkette and skippy the bush kangaroo

Douglas Martin / New York Times:

Madeleine L'Engle, Children's Writer, Is Dead — Madeleine L'Engle, who in writing more than 60 books, including childhood fables, religious meditations and science fiction, weaved emotional tapestries transcending genre and generation, died Thursday in Connecticut. She was 88.

Discussion: Liberty Street and Shakespeare's Sister

Drudge Report:

'GREEN' GORE GOES GULFSTREAM: VIDEO CATCHES ECO-WARRIOR ON LUXURY PRIVATE JET — As former Vice President Al Gore waits to hear if he has won this year's Nobel Peace Prize for his tireless effort on climate change, a new video will air this weekend capturing Gore on a fuel-guzzling private jet!

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Weasel Zippers and The American Pundit

Haley Davies / San Francisco Chronicle:

State legislators approve same-sex marriage bill; governor expected to veto — (09-07) 12:58 PDT Sacramento — For the second time in three years, the state legislature has approved a measure giving same-sex couples the right to marry in California, with today's Senate vote split along party lines …

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy and Truthdig

Catherine Donaldson-Evans / Fox News:

G.I. Joe to Become Global Task Force in Movie — Say it ain't so, G.I. Joe. — The popular all-American comic-book military man and action figure dating back to the 1940s is undergoing a significant transformation for the Paramount Pictures-distributed "G.I. Joe" film …