memeorandum: Al Sharpton Federal Raid Ignites Pre-Holiday Talk Radio (Brian Maloney/The Radio Equalizer)

1:20 PM ET, December 13, 2007

Top Items:

Glenn Thrush / Newsday:

Clinton insiders question top aide's approach — Presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton speaks at a "town hall meeting" in San Francisco December 11. (McClatchy-Tribune / December 11, 2007) — DES MOINES - On the eve of the final Iowa debate before the Jan. 3 caucuses …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Weekly Standard, Taegan Goddard's …, Salon, RealClearPolitics, TIME, AMERICAblog, Telegraph Blogs and TPM Election Central

Anne E. Kornblut / Washington Post:

In Iowa, a Scrambling Lesson for Clinton — When senior advisers to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton awakened to the fact that they faced a serious problem in Iowa, they knew they needed a summit. For the divided staff, the question was where. — It made sense to fly to Iowa, where support for Clinton …

Discussion: MSNBC, Taylor Marsh and Riehl World View

Robert D. Novak / Washington Post:

A Dud From Team Clinton — David Axelrod, the seasoned Chicago Democratic operative who is chief strategist for Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign, was taken by surprise in the last minute of CBS's "Face the Nation" on Dec. 2. Howard Wolfson, Sen. Hillary Clinton's spokesman, accused Obama of running a "slush fund."

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Blue Crab Boulevard, Reason Magazine, Hot Air, Connecting.the.Dots and Real Clear Politics

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Clinton Aide Sees Problem for Obama

Discussion: Firedoglake, USA Today, New York Post, MSNBC, Bark Bark Woof Woof, PoliBlog (TM), Ace of Spades HQ, Hot Air and The Newshoggers

The Corner:
So Not Buying It — In the 1990s, the Clinton's mastered …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and TIME: Swampland

John Distaso / New Hampshire Union Leader:
John DiStaso's Granite Status: No firewall in NH for Hillary

Discussion: Boston Globe

Adam Nagourney / The Caucus:
Clinton's Caucus Crunch

Discussion: The New Republic and Ben Smith's Blogs

Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:

Democrats Bow to Bush's Demands in House Spending Bill — House Democratic leaders yesterday agreed to meet President Bush's bottom-line spending limit on a sprawling, half-trillion-dollar domestic spending bill, dropping their demands for as much as $22 billion in additional spending …

Discussion: New York Times, Firedoglake, The Newshoggers, Captain's Quarters, Reuters, Buck Naked Politics, The Hill, Dr. Sanity, Right Voices and CNN

John Bresnahan / The Politico:
Judiciary approves contempt resolutions

Discussion: Think Progress

Washington Post:
Democrats Blaming Each Other For Failures

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Pat Dollard, Wake up America and Booman Tribune

Matthew Yglesias:
Feeling Depressed — New Democratic congress, massively …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Needlenose and Corrente

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Democrats show Beltway "strength," avoid being depicted as weak

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Sideshow, macsmind.com/wordpress, Firedoglake, Cliff Schecter, Wizbang, Outside The Beltway, Open Left, The Heretik, Brilliant at Breakfast, New York Times, The Strata-Sphere and The Hill

New York Times: A Shameful Presidential Threat

NY Daily News:

Subpoenas for Al Sharpton's aides — Teams of federal agents swooped down on up to 10 close associates of the Rev. Al Sharpton Wednesday, demanding the flamboyant clergyman's financial records since 2001. — Sharpton's former chief of staff said he was roused at his Harlem home about 6:30 …

Discussion: NYT, Wonkette, Betsy's Page, Big Head DC and Spin Cycle

Brian Maloney / The Radio Equalizer:
Al Sharpton Federal Raid Ignites Pre-Holiday Talk Radio

Discussion: New York Post, michellemalkin.com and Pat Dollard

Pat Milton / Associated Press:
Sharpton Denounces Reports of Probe

Discussion: protein wisdom

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:

Mystery: Who's Behind Brutal Web Video Slamming Huckabee Over Paroled Rapist? — Okay, this is interesting. Take a look at this new and absolutely brutal Web video that slams Mike Huckabee over his role (first reported by The Huffington Post) in pushing for serial rapist Wayne Dumond:

Discussion: Democrats.com, Say Anything, Taylor Marsh and Corrente

ArkansasTimes:

Dumond goes viral UPDATE — Mike Huckabee's advocacy of rapist/killer Wayne Dumond's release has hit YouTube in a piece Talking Points Memo terms brutal in the course of looking into its provenance. The mother of Dumond's Missouri murder victim is featured. — An Arkansas Republican, Keith Emis, takes responsibility.

Discussion: The New Republic, Matthew Yglesias and Hot Air

Gene Lyons / NWAnews.com:
There's more to character than being charming

Discussion: Hullabaloo and BuzzFlash.org

Tapscott's Copy Desk:

A dream comes true: USASpending.gov goes live today — Nearly eight years ago, Bill Beach, director of The Heritage Foundation's Center for Data Analysis, and I invited Gary Bass of OMB Watch over for a chat about the possibility of our two organizations collaborating in an effort to put all federal spending on the Internet.

Discussion: Heritage Foundation

Elizabeth Williamson / Washington Post:
OMB Offers an Easy Way to Follow the Money

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Sunlight Foundation, Blue Crab Boulevard and Obama HQ

Scott Shane / New York Times:

C.I.A. Agents Sense Shifting Support for Methods — WASHINGTON — For six years, Central Intelligence Agency officers have worried that someday the tide of post-Sept. 11 opinion would turn, and their harsh treatment of prisoners from Al Qaeda would be subjected to hostile scrutiny and possible criminal prosecution.

Discussion: TPMmuckraker, The Daily Dish, Captain's Quarters, Empire Burlesque, Hot Air, Say Anything and The Heretik

Henry Kissinger / Washington Post:

Misreading the Iran Report — The extraordinary spectacle of the president's national security adviser obliged to defend the president's Iran policy against a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) raises two core issues: How are we now to judge the nuclear threat posed by Iran?

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Power Line, Commentary, NO QUARTER, Jules Crittenden, The American Street and Outside The Beltway

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:

Romney's (almost) Dean Scream speech — From NBC/NJ's Erin McPike — If anything is certain about the GOP presidential primary, it's that Romney really, really wants to win Iowa. Desperately. — After hitting a post-debate party around Des Moines on Wednesday, he flew to Cedar Rapids …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, TownHall Blog, Taylor Marsh and The Campaign Spot

Time:

Rudy: All Business — Not long after he stepped down as mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani received an intriguing offer. A group of officials from a Florida company called Seisint Inc. asked him to promote a powerful new database technology capable of tracking potential terrorists and other criminals.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
RUDY'S $30M PAYDAY

Discussion: TPMmuckraker

Marc Ambinder:

Minutemen Bash Founder Over Huckabee Endorsement — Jim Gilchrist likes Mike Huckabee, but the organization he founded sent a "special message" to members blasting Huckabee. The headline: "Real Minutemen Do Not Endorse Huckabee." — Here's the full text:

Discussion: Hot Air and Say Anything

USA Today:

Suspected Army suicides set record — WASHINGTON — A record number of soldiers — 109 — have killed themselves this year, according to Army statistics showing confirmed or suspected suicides. — The deaths occur as soldiers serve longer combat deployments and the Army spends $100 million on support programs.

Discussion: The Swamp and The American Street

Roger Cohen / New York Times:

Secular Europe's Merits — The cathedral here, on which work began in the 12th century, was once the largest in Scotland, until a mob of reformers bent on eradicating lavish manifestations of "Popery" ransacked the place in 1559, leaving gulls to swoop through the surviving facade.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, TPMCafe blogs, Eunomia and Liberal Values