memeorandum: College offers medical plan to employees' pets, denies it to their human companions (PageOneQ)

3:25 PM ET, November 26, 2007

Top Items:

Qassim Abdul-Zahra / Associated Press:

Iraqis may offer US deal to stay longer — BAGHDAD - Iraq's government, seeking protection against foreign threats and internal coups, will offer the U.S. a long-term troop presence in Iraq in return for U.S. security guarantees as part of a strategic partnership, two Iraqi officials said Monday.

Discussion: White House, New York Times, The Moderate Voice, TPMmuckraker, The Newshoggers, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Macsmind, Flopping Aces, The Glittering Eye, Gateway Pundit, Left I on the News, Sweetness & Light, Associated Press and Cheat Seeking Missiles

Spencer Ackerman / TPMmuckraker:

White House Releases "Principles" for Permanent Iraqi Presence — So it begins. After years of obfuscation and denial on the length of the U.S.'s stay in Iraq, the White House and the Maliki government have released a joint declaration of "principles" for "friendship and cooperation."

Discussion: United Nations, The Next Hurrah and The Impolitic

White House:

Fact Sheet: U.S.-Iraq Declaration of Principles for Friendship and Cooperation — The U.S. and Iraqi "Declaration of Principles" is a shared statement of intent that establishes common principles to frame our future relationship. This moves us closer to normalized, bilateral relations between our two countries.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, The Swamp and TPMmuckraker

Spencer Ackerman / TPMmuckraker:
U.S. To Stay In Iraq Forever

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and The Atlantic Online

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters: Iraqis Offer Long-Term Security Partnership

MSNBC:

Trent Lott announces his resignation — Minority whip says he will leave Senate before end of the year — Pascagoula, Mississippi - Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott, the Senate's No. 2 Republican, announced Monday he will retire from the Senate by end of year.

The Politico:

Top official: Lott to resign — Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) plans to resign his seat by year's end, a senior Republican official told Politico. — The announcement took Capitol Hill by surprise because Lott, the former majority leader, seemed to be relishing his job as minority whip, the second-ranking GOP leadership job.

Discussion: Associated Press, MSNBC, The Swamp, SunHerald.com, Daily Kos, The Newshoggers, Booman Tribune, the albany project, UrbanGrounds and Think Progress

Matt / Think Progress:
Lott Resigns To Enter 'Lucrative' World Of Lobbying That He Worked …

Discussion: MoJoBlog, Washington Post, The Carpetbagger Report, Political Machine and DownWithTyranny!

Drudge Report:

DON'T GO THERE: BRIT PAPER STARTS 'UGLIEST MONTH' — The TIMES of London starts 'The Ugliest Month' with a full page photo takeout on Hillary Clinton and her beautiful personal assistant. — "Hillary Clinton has been accused of having an affair with Huma Abedin," reads the caption.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, No More Mister Nice Blog, Jihad Watch, Atlas Shrugs, Assorted Babble, Reason Magazine and Weasel Zippers

Patrick Ruffini / Townhall.com:

Ron Paul Has Won — He won't win the nomination. He won't win any primaries. But for Ron Paul's quixotic bid for the White House, it's "Mission Accomplished." — Take a look at this from Sunday's Washington Post. Not just the article but the killer packaging:

Discussion: Hot Air, Publius Endures, LewRockwell.com Blog and All American Blogger

Andrew Sullivan / The Atlantic Online:

Fighting Over Libertarianism — You can see some of the many competing and contradictory themes within contemporary conservatism in Patrick Ruffini's blogpost on Hewitt's blog today. His heart is with libertarianism; but his head is with the Bush security state and current Republican coalition.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, The Newshoggers and Outside The Beltway

Robert D. Novak / Washington Post:

The False Conservative — Who would respond to criticism from the Club for Growth by calling the conservative, free-market campaign organization the "Club for Greed"? That sounds like Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich or John Edwards, all Democrats preaching the class struggle.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, MoJoBlog, Hot Air, CNN Political Ticker, Weekly Standard, michellemalkin.com, The Mahablog, Detroit Times, NewsBusters.org, The Anonymous Liberal, Firedoglake, Outside The Beltway, Transterrestrial Musings, Vox Popoli, The Carpetbagger Report, BitsBlog, Paul Krugman and Confederate Yankee

The Politico:

Clinton and Obama switch roles in Iowa — DES MOINES — In a reversal of fortune, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is barnstorming Iowa with a front-runner's swagger while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) scrambles like an underdog. — In ways big and small over the weekend …

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker and Washington Post

ABCNEWS:
Obama in Iowa: Gloves Off!

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Sara A. Carter / Washington Times:

Islamists target Arizona base — Fort Huachuca, the nation's largest intelligence-training center, changed security measures in May after being warned that Islamist terrorists, with the aid of Mexican drug cartels, were planning an attack on the facility. — Fort officials changed security measures …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, AMERICAN DIGEST, Argghhh!, YID With LID, Say Anything, Wizbang and PrairiePundit

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington:

CREW wants to know: What is the current e-mail policy for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice? And why did it change? — Earlier this year, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed technology and e-mails with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo. Rice indicated that the State Department has changed …

Discussion: Think Progress and Crooks and Liars

Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
Rice's Turnabout on Mideast Talks

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Age, PERRspectives Blog, Guardian, Think Progress, The Carpetbagger Report, Commentary, BBC, Comments from Left Field, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Connecting.the.Dots, Israel Matzav, Yahoo! News, Baltimore Sun and Associated Press

Joe Hagan / New York Magazine:

Dan Rather's Last Big Story Is Himself — If he weren't famous, he'd be mistaken for a veteran of a long-ago war: khaki safari shirt on his back, scuffed combat boots on his feet, that wiry crest of a brow, rheumy eyes under heavy lids, lower lip jutting out like an ornery fish resisting a hook.

Discussion: Redstate, Connecting.the.Dots and Gawker

Stephanie Coontz / New York Times:

Taking Marriage Private — WHY do people — gay or straight — need the state's permission to marry? For most of Western history, they didn't, because marriage was a private contract between two families. The parents' agreement to the match, not the approval of church or state, was what confirmed its validity.

Discussion: Blue Mass. Group

PageOneQ:

College offers medical plan to employees' pets, denies it to their human companions — A Florida college, after denying employees' domestic partners access to medical insurance, has in turn offered a medical plan for employees' household pets, the Palm Beach Post reports.

Discussion: The Republic of T.