memeorandum: Thompson gives no opinion on Schiavo (Brendan Farrington/Associated Press)

8:10 PM ET, September 13, 2007

Top Items:

Pundit Review Radio / BLACKFIVE:

COMPLAINT FILED WITH FEC OVER BETRAY US AD — Guess what I did at lunch? That's right, I petitioned my government for redress of grievances, specifically illegal political advertising practices by the New York Times and MoveOn.org. We are all well aware of the sorry political advertisement calling the General a traitor.

Discussion: protein wisdom, The Democratic Daily, Hot Air, The Huffington Post, NewsBusters.org and Gateway Pundit

Charles Hurt / New York Post:

TIMES GIVES LEFTIES A HEFTY DISCOUNT FOR 'BETRAY US' AD — The New York Times dramatically slashed its normal rates for a full-page advertisement for MoveOn.org's ad questioning the integrity of Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. — Headlined "Cooking the Books …

Rasmussen Reports:

43% Support Petraeus Recommendation, 38% Oppose — Forty-three percent (43%) of Americans favor the recommendation made by General David Petraeus to withdraw 30,000 soldiers from Iraq but leave 130,000 troops in place at least through the summer. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found …

Discussion: Wake up America and protein wisdom

Shannon McCaffrey / Associated Press:
Giuliani: Clinton smeared Gen. Petraeus

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard, FRAMESHOP and National Review

Jennifer Parker / Political Radar:
Giuliani Takes On New York Times, MoveOn.org and Clinton

Discussion: QandO

Brian Ross Reports / The Blotter:

Clinton, Pelosi, Greenspan, Bloomberg, Gates, Annan Also Say Interviews 'Fakes' — Brian Ross Reports: — Former President Bill Clinton, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Microsoft founder Bill Gates …

Discussion: Attytood, War and Piece, The Newshoggers, MoJoBlog, On Deadline, NYT, Right Wing Nut House, Mercury Rising, CANNONFIRE, TVNewser and Romenesko

Lindsay Renick Mayer / Capital Eye:

The Other Iraq Surge — A sharp increase in contributions from the military to Democrats suggests the Republican commander-in-chief and his party are losing the troops' support. — Assessed favorably this week by the war's lead general, the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq appears to be causing …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, The Caucus, The New Republic, The Carpetbagger Report, TPM Election Central, INSTAPUTZ and Cliff Schecter

Foon Rhee / Boston Globe: Military shifting donations to Democrats

Marc Lynch / American Prospect:

Sunni World — The cheerleaders for the surge have constructed a Disney-esque fantasy of Iraq which might as well be in Orlando for all it has to do with the grim reality on the ground. And Abu Risha's assassination isn't likely to dim that fantasy. — During his visit to Iraq last week …

Discussion: Ezra Klein and TPMmuckraker

Abu Aardvark:

Abu Risha murdered — I was in the middle of putting the finishing touches on an short piece about Iraqi Sunni politics due out later today when I got an urgent flash that Abd al-Sattar Abu Risha had been murdered in Anbar. Nothing could have been more predictable than the murder of Abu Risha …

Discussion: Associated Press, Talking Points Memo, Firedoglake, New York Times, Washington Post, Three Wise Men, Daily Kos, TPMmuckraker, The Carpetbagger Report, American Footprints, rubber hose, The Garlic, The Next Hurrah, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, War and Piece and Taylor Marsh

Robert H. Reid / Associated Press:
Key anti-al-Qaida sheik slain in Iraq

Discussion: The Long War Journal, The Corner, Washington Monthly, Crooks and Liars, Macsmind, Hot Air, Publius Pundit, Booman Tribune, Shakespeare's Sister, 9/11 Families … and The Aristocrats

The Politico:

Bush speech to the nation: advance excerpts — Here are excerpts of the prepared text of President Bush's 9 p.m. Iraq address from the Oval Office, as released by the White House for use on dinnertime newscasts: — On keeping us safe here at home: — In Iraq, an ally of the United States is fighting for its survival.

Discussion: FP Passport, New York Times, AMERICAblog, Truthdig and Sister Toldjah

The Corner:
Speech Excerpts

Discussion: Vox Popoli

Brendan Farrington / Associated Press:

Thompson gives no opinion on Schiavo — THE VILLAGES, Fla. - Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson gave no opinion Thursday when asked about efforts by President Bush and Congress to keep Terri Schiavo alive, saying he does not remember details of the right-to-die case that stirred national debate.

Discussion: D-Day and BartBlog

George Bennett / Q: The Florida Politics Blog:

FRED: NOT SURE ABOUT NATIONAL CAT FUND, SCHIAVO — THE VILLAGES — Republican Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson, addressing some Florida-specific questions for a Tampa Bay-area cable program, says he doesn't have an opinion about a national catastrophic insurance fund or the 2005 congressional intervention in the Terri Schiavo case.

Kos / Daily Kos:

CT-Sen: Lamont would win rematch — Daily Kos commissioned the following poll from independent pollster Research 2000: — Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 9/10-12. Likely voters. MoE 4% (No trend lines) … Lieberman won 50-40-10 in 2006, so the poll tracks closely.

Discussion: Open Left, DownWithTyranny!, The Corner and MSNBC

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
If I Could Turn Back Time, Or, When Reality Intrudes...

Discussion: Open Left and Riehl World View

Daily Kos:
CONNECTICUT POLL RESULTS - SEPTEMBER 2007

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Firedoglake and Oliver Willis

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:

Dems Demand Boehner Apologize For "Small Price" Troop Deaths Remark — Okay, here we go. — Democratic leaders are now opening fire on GOP House leader John Boehner, demanding that he apologize for saying in an interview yesterday that troop deaths in Iraq would be a "small price" …

Discussion: Center for American Progress, Weekly Standard, Think Progress, The Politico, D-Day, MyDD, BuzzFlash.org, The Democratic Daily, Nitpicker, Crooks and Liars and TIME: Swampland

Horses Mouth:
I didn't do a good enough job yesterday explaining why the comment …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and The Aristocrats

Doug Kendall / Slate:

CALIFORNIA VOTERS CAN'T CHANGE THE 2008 ELECTION RULES ON THEIR OWN. — Republican presidential candidates are crossing the country promising voters that they'll pick judges who will be "strict constructionists" of the U.S. Constitution. Meanwhile, Republican activists in California …

Discussion: MoJoBlog and BartBlog

George Will / Real Clear Politics:

Is a Fred Thompson Campaign Necessary? — Fred Thompson's plunge into the presidential pool — more belly-flop than swan dive — was the strangest product launch since that of New Coke in 1985. Then the question was: Is this product necessary? A similar question stumped Thompson the day he plunged.

Discussion: Power Line, Chicago Sun Times, TIME, Comments From Left Field, PoliBlog (TM), The Corner, MSNBC, Shakespeare's Sister, Daily Kos, The Right's Field, Daily Pundit, No More Mister Nice Blog and Betsy's Page

Robert D. Novak / Washington Post:
Help Not Wanted — Almost immediately following the launch …

Discussion: Althouse, Wonkette, The Carpetbagger Report, The Impolitic, Los Angeles Times and HazZzMat

Mike Glover / Associated Press:

Obama: Congress Won't Challenge Bush — MAQUOKETA, Iowa — Despite the unpopularity of the Iraq war, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama predicted Thursday that Congress won't directly challenge President Bush's plans and will focus instead on putting a ceiling on the number of troops deployed to that country.

Discussion: Daily Kos, TalkLeft and Taylor Marsh

Chris Dodd for President:
Dodd to Bush: You're "Insulting Our Intelligence"

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Carpetbagger Report and All Spin Zone

Editor and Publisher:

As Bush Prepares for 'Surge' Address Tonight: Here Is What He Promised in January Speech — NEW YORK With President Bush reportedly ready to endorse a full continuation of the "surge" in Iraq through next summer in a speech to the nation tonight, a look back at what he promised in his address …

Discussion: Think Progress, The Carpetbagger Report and D-Day

Hindrocket / Power Line:

WOULD-BE TERRORIST CAPTURED IN DEARBORN — In a story that has gotten amazingly little national publicity, a medical student at Wayne State University named Houssein Zorkot was arrested in Dearborn Saturday night, dressed for combat and armed with an AK-47: … This report by a local television station is also interesting:

Discussion: Homeland Security …

Richard Esposito Reports / The Blotter:

How the CIA Broke the 9/11 Attacks Mastermind — Richard Esposito Reports: — When Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was strapped down to the water-board, he felt humiliated — not by the treatment but by the fact that a woman, a red-headed CIA supervisor, was allowed to witness the spectacle, a former intelligence officer told ABC News.

Discussion: Stop The ACLU