memeorandum: Civil Liberties and Terrorism (David Neiwert/Firedoglake)

3:30 AM ET, December 14, 2007

Top Items:

Hardball fun — Hardball tonight was great political TV, Penn and Axelrod sparring pretty hard while Joe Trippi sticks in the knife where he can. — Also, Matthews introduces the three as "starfighters." — Highlights include Axelrod making clear that his campaign only grudgingly …

Discussion: Obsidian Wings

Mevanh / The Page:

Bill Shaheen Resigns from Clinton Campaign — New Hampshire pol, husband of former Gov. Jeanne, quits national co-chair position over Wednesday's drug comment about Obama. — "I made a mistake and in light of what happened, I have made the personal decision that I will step down ...." Read his full statement.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News Blogs, The Carpetbagger Report, JunkYardBlog, Associated Press, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Moderate Voice, The Daily Dish, Roger L. Simon, Slog, TIME: Swampland, Riehl World View, Oliver Willis, The Caucus, Hot Air and Connecting.the.Dots

Mark Murray / MSNBC:

Did meeting lead to Shaheen ouster? — From NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan — JOHNSTON, IA — In the spin room after today's debate, Obama adviser David Axelrod said that Obama had told Clinton today that "leadership came from the top" in regards to negative attacks and campaigning.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and The RBC

John Distaso / New Hampshire Union Leader:

Bill Shaheen quits Clinton campaign — Bill Shaheen has resigned as a co-chair of Hillary Clinton's national campaign, UnionLeader.com has learned. — Shaheen last night apologized for telling a reporter that if Barack Obama becomes the Democratic presidential nominee, Republicans will use his admitted past drug use against him.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Comments from Left Field, Washington Wire, Wake up America, State of the Day and New York Daily News Blogs

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Democratic Debate: Winners and Losers

Discussion: The Caucus and John Edwards for President

Charles Babington / Associated Press:

Pelosi: Republicans `like' Iraq War — WASHINGTON (AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lashed out at Republicans on Thursday, saying they want the Iraq war to drag on and are ignoring the public's priorities. — "They like this war. They want this war to continue," Pelosi, D- Calif., told reporters.

Discussion: Hot Air, BLACKFIVE, The Moderate Voice, The Strata-Sphere, Blue Crab Boulevard, Gateway Pundit, PoliPundit.com and QandO

Pamela Hess / Associated Press:

House OKs bill banning CIA waterboarding — WASHINGTON - The House on Thursday approved an intelligence bill that bans the CIA from using waterboarding, mock executions and other harsh interrogation methods. — The 222-199 vote sent the measure to the Senate, which still must act before it can go to President Bush.

Discussion: Comments from Left Field

Mike Soraghan / The Hill:
After losing spending battle, Pelosi eyes '08 election

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, Flopping Aces, Daily Kos, Power Line and Right Voices

Sean Hackbarth / Fred File:

Fred Thompson Campaign Apologies — From Karen Hanretty, Deputy Communications Director: — In light of Mike Huckabee's heartfelt apology to Mitt Romney for making reference to Romney's religion in the New York Times Magazine, we at the Thompson Campaign would like to offer Huckabee …

Discussion: The Campaign Spot, The Swamp, Stop The ACLU, Jonathan Martin's Blogs, Redstate, Hot Air, Riehl World View and Los Angeles Times

Ben Smith / The Politico:

HRC struggles for points at last debate — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's shift from confident front-runner to scrappy, challenged candidate became clear at the final Democratic debate before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, as she strained against the limits of the staid event to draw contrasts with her rivals.

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker, The Swamp and Examining Presidential …

Marc Ambinder:
Democratic Debate: First Take — Everyone had a good debate.

Discussion: Reason Magazine, The New Republic, Concord Monitor, The Swamp, Spin Cycle, MyDD, Wake up America and Salon

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
Edwards Debate Performance Wows CNN And Fox Focus Groups

Discussion: Political Radar and John Edwards for President

Armando Rios / ESPN:

Players listed in the Mitchell Commission report … Here are players mentioned in the Mitchell Commission report and how it links them to performance-enhancing substances: — Information Learned During this Investigation Concerning BALCO and Major League Baseball (9 players/3 active in MLB in 2007)

Discussion: Washington Post, JammieWearingFool, The Volokh Conspiracy and Below The Beltway

New York Times:
Steroid Report Cites "Collective Failure"

Discussion: Norwegianity, Connecting.the.Dots, The Agonist, Abovethelaw.com, Associated Press, The Moderate Voice, neo-neocon and JustOneMinute

ESPN:
Mitchell report: Baseball slow to react to players' steroids use

Discussion: The New Republic, Taylor Marsh, Right Wing Nut House, LAist, Crooks and Liars, Outside The Beltway, Patterico's Pontifications and THE LIBERAL JOURNAL

David Hazinski / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Unfettered 'citizen journalism' too risky — You're beginning to get a lot more news ... from you. — It ranges from the CNN YouTube debates to political blogs to cellphone video of that sniper who opened fire at an Omaha Mall. These are all examples of so called "citizen journalism," …

Discussion: Hot Air, Comments from Left Field, QandO, Blue Crab Boulevard, TigerHawk, Riehl World View and Instapundit.com

epw.senate.gov:

Global Carbon Tax Urged at UN Climate Conference — BALI, Indonesia - A global tax on carbon dioxide emissions was urged to help save the Earth from catastrophic man-made global warming at the United Nations climate conference. A panel of UN participants on Thursday urged the adoption …

Discussion: Reason, Hot Air, Blue Crab Boulevard, Silent Running, Say Anything and Right Voices

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:

Govt's Kooky Cult Terrorism Case Goes Bust — The Miami "Seas of David" terror bust was such an important blow in the War on Terror that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales himself gave a press conference in July of 2006. Federal agents had stopped a plot to blow up the Sears Tower, he said.

Discussion: Middle Earth Journal

Reuters:

Vuitton-clad Venezuela minister spouts socialism — CARACAS (Reuters) - A video of a Gucci- and Louis Vuitton-clad politician attacking capitalism then struggling to explain how his luxurious clothes square with his socialist beliefs has become an instant YouTube hit in Venezuela.

Discussion: Say Anything and Blue Crab Boulevard

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Military Leaders: Ignore Bush Veto Threat, Ban Waterboarding — Thirty retired admirals and generals have penned a letter to key Democrats, urging them to defy President Bush's veto threats and pass legislation requiring U.S intelligence agents to follow strict standards for detainee treatment.

Discussion: The Gavel, Daily Kos, The Carpetbagger Report, Think Progress, ArchPundit and Riehl World View

Julian Assange / wikileaks.org:

Wikileaks busts Gitmo propaganda team — Guantanamo Bay deletes detainee ID numbers, labels Fidel Castro "an admitted transexual" and more. — WASHINGTON—The US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay has been caught conducting covert propaganda attacks on the internet.

Discussion: MoJoBlog, Associated Press and The BRAD BLOG