memeorandum: GM, UAW Reach Tentative Agreement (Wall Street Journal)

8:15 PM ET, September 26, 2007

Top Items:

Couric weighs in on Iraq, Rather — Her take on the news — Speaking at the National Press Club Tuesday evening, CBS "Evening News" anchor Katie Couric pulled back the curtain on her personal views of both the war in Iraq and former "Evening News" anchor Dan Rather.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Commentary, Daily Kos, Brilliant at Breakfast, Flopping Aces, Think Progress, The Jawa Report, Patterico's Pontifications, PoliPundit.com, Right Voices, My Left Wing, NewsBusters.org, Hot Air, Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and The Globe and Mail

The Corner:

The Nefarious "We" — Close readers may have noticed that I am increasingly vexed by cosmopolitanism, the idea that we are not citizens of a country or products of a place but rather "citizens of the world." See this old G-File, particularly the second half for a fuller explanation of my views.

Discussion: The Anchoress, Sadly, No!, The Sundries Shack and VodkaPundit

Yeas & Nays:

Rather chokes up, and hunkers down — "I'm not in this — mostly — with anybody else." — Former CBS "Evening News" anchor Dan Rather choked back tears on several occasions today when discussing his decision to file a lawsuit against CBS and he left many audience members with a sense …

Discussion: Roger L. Simon

Eric Boehlert / Media Matters for America:
Dan Rather is right

Discussion: Liberal Values, TalkLeft and The Democratic Daily

Greg Gordon / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Ohio, Florida laws could dampen Democratic voting — WASHINGTON — Ohio and Florida, which provided the decisive electoral votes for President Bush's two razor-thin national election triumphs, have enacted laws that election experts say will help Republicans impede Democratic-leaning minorities from voting in 2008.

Discussion: Comments From Left Field, Prairie Weather, The BRAD BLOG, Corrente and Sister Toldjah

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:
Dem Defection Sends Voter Fraud Guru to Full Senate

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Think Progress and The Carpetbagger Report

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
Do Not Vote for This Guy

Discussion: Think Progress, The BRAD BLOG, The Carpetbagger Report, Lawyers, Guns and Money and MoJoBlog

Susan Crabtree / The Hill:
Senate Rules panel moves controversial FEC pick

Discussion: Firedoglake

Greg Sargent / Election Central:

Kyl-Lieberman Iran Amendment Passes By Huge Margin — The Kyl-Lieberman Iran amendment — which ratchets up the confrontation with Iran by calling for the designation of its Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization responsible for killing U.S. troops — just passed overwhelmingly, 76-22.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, On Deadline, Talking Points Memo, The Carpetbagger Report, MyDD, Comments From Left Field, NO QUARTER, The Politico and Agence France Presse

Think Progress:

BREAKING: Lieberman-Kyl's Iran amendment passes. — By a vote 76-22, the Senate passed the Lieberman-Kyl amendment, which threatens to "combat, contain and [stop]" Iran via "military instruments." Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) called the amendment "Cheney's fondest pipe dream" and said it could …

Discussion: U.S. Senate, My Left Nutmeg, Booman Tribune, CommonDreams.org, Open Left, CANNONFIRE, Corrente, Wake up America, TalkLeft, skippy the bush kangaroo and TPM Election Central

David Saltonstall / NY Daily News:

Rudy Giuliani fires chief fundraiser — In a sign of potential money woes, Rudy Giuliani has fired his presidential campaign's chief fundraiser and brought in a top rainmaker for President Bush, The Daily News has learned. — Anne Dunsmore, who took control of Giuliani's …

Discussion: Eschaton, The Trail and The Atlantic Online

CNN Political Ticker:

Giuliani catches Romney in New Hampshire — HANOVER, New Hampshire (CNN) — It's a dead heat in New Hampshire, according to our new poll of likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters. — Mitt Romney's lead in the battle for the GOP presidential nomination in the all important Granite State …

Discussion: The Politico, Taegan Goddard's …, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, MyDD and Pollster.com

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Rudy makes change atop finance team

Discussion: MSNBC

Editor and Publisher:

Scoop for Spanish Daily: Transcript of Private 2003 Bush Talk Promising Iraq Invasion — NEW YORK El Pais, the highest-circulation daily in Spain, today published what it said was the transcript of a private talk between President George W. Bush and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar on February 22 …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, MoJoBlog, The American Street and The Moderate Voice

Ali / Think Progress:
Spanish Notes Reveal Bush Was Hell-Bent On War, Despite Claiming 'I've …

Discussion: Mercury Rising

Kcurie / European Tribune:
Bush words. Big Scoop.

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Discourse.net

Richard Stengel / Time:

My Dinner with Ahmadinejad — The invitation was on creamy stationery with fancy calligraphy: The Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran "requests the pleasure" of my company to dine with H.E. Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The dinner is at the Intercontinental Hotel …

Discussion: Reuters, NewsBusters.org, Payvand Iran News, Hot Air, On Deadline, Publius Pundit, Eunomia, bustardblog and Babalu Blog

Michelle Malkin:
Who are the bed-wetters? — A left-wing screed by one Rick Perlstein …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money, New York Sun, Reason Magazine, Webloggin, ProgressiveHistorians, Daniel W. Drezner, Right Wing Nut House and Townhall.com

Annie Karni / New York Sun:
Backlash Against Bollinger Hits Columbia

Discussion: Hot Air, New York Times, Sister Toldjah, Liberty Street, City Room, The Daily Gut, Blue Crab Boulevard, Jules Crittenden, Gateway Pundit, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Wake up America, Power Line, Central Sanity, Take Our Country Back, Boker tov, Boulder!, The Carpetbagger Report and Fars News Agency

Reuters:

"Childrens do learn," Bush tells school kids — NEW YORK (Reuters) - Offering a grammar lesson guaranteed to make any English teacher cringe, President George W. Bush told a group of New York school kids on Wednesday: "Childrens do learn." — Bush made his latest grammatical slip …

Discussion: The Rachel Maddow Show

Peter Baker / Washington Post:
Bush: No Child Left Behind Is Working

Discussion: The Gate

Mark Finkelstein / NewsBusters.org:

Fallen Soldier MSNBC Used for 'Gotcha' Game With Rep. Blackburn Did Not Live in Her District — UPDATE — SHUSTER APOLOGIZES: At 6:44 PM EDT, MSNBC broke into the Tucker Carlson show to air a terse apology from Shuster. For my thoughts on it, see "My Take" at foot. — View video of Shuster apology here.

Discussion: The Corner, Hot Air, Redstate, Conservative Belle, Webloggin, Media Blog, The American Pundit and INSTAPUTZ

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:

Biden Iraq plan passes — From NBC's Ken Strickland — In a strong rebuff to the Bush Administration on Iraq, the Senate overwhelming approved a plan by Biden that essentially calls for breaking Iraq into three sections: Kurd, Sunni, and Shia. While the amendment is nonbinding …

Discussion: Hot Air, Gateway Pundit, Comments From Left Field, Taylor Marsh, The American Street and The American Pundit

CNN:

Source: Craig won't resign if judge hasn't ruled — EDINA, Minnesota (CNN) — Sen. Larry Craig won't resign from the Senate while awaiting a judge's ruling on his effort to get a guilty plea withdrawn in a restroom sex sting, a source said Wednesday. — A judge in Minnesota was to hear arguments Wednesday afternoon in the case.