memeorandum: Four Bolivian regions declare autonomy from government (Helena DeMoura/CNN)

3:35 PM ET, December 16, 2007

Top Items:

Playbook: President Clinton on speakerphone — Good Sunday morning, and welcome to a quick Sunday show/church pregame. — John Edwards is on Newsweek's cover as "The Sleeper." Hours before Gov. Romney goes on "Meet" for the full hour, the L.A. Times portrays his Bain style as grasping and greedy.

Discussion: The Swamp, race42008.com and First State Politics

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Lieberman to endorse McCain — Sen. Joseph Lieberman (Conn.), who was on the national Democratic ticket in 2000, will cross the aisle to endorse Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) tomorrow, Republican sources said. — The two will appear together on NBC's "Today" show tomorrow, then at an 8 a.m. town hall in Hillsborough, N.H.

Discussion: The Agonist

New Hampshire Union Leader:

Commander in chief: McCain is the best choice — Next year America will elect a war President who will have to be ready to take command of the United States armed forces and make life-or-death decisions starting on day one. With the war in Iraq having improved dramatically in the past six months …

Associated Press:
For Republicans: John McCain

Discussion: Wonkette, Political Punch, eyeon08.com and race42008.com

Des Moines Register:
Democratic endorsement editorial: Why Clinton

Des Moines Register:
Republican endorsement editorial: Why McCain

Discussion: Wake up America, MSNBC, The Carpetbagger Report, Outside The Beltway, Examining Presidential …, Hotline On Call, Salon, The New Republic and Talking Points Memo

Newsweek:

A Son's Past Deeds Come Back To Bite Huckabee — As Mike Huckabee gains in the polls, the former Arkansas governor is finding that his record in office is getting more scrutiny. One issue likely to get attention is his handling of a sensitive family matter: allegations that one of his sons …

Discussion: Corrente, Hullabaloo, Shakespeare's Sister, Riehl World View and TIME: Swampland

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Reefer Madness in Iowa — With the Iowa campaign in wild flux — and in the case of Hillary, acid reflux — The Des Moines Register decides to hold a tie-breaking debate with the two Democratic front-runners. — Carolyn Washburn, the phlegmatic editor of the paper, once more moderates.

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Frank Rich / New York Times:

Latter-Day Republicans vs. the Church of Oprah — THIS campaign season has been in desperate need of its own reincarnation of Howard Beale from "Network": a TV talking head who would get mad as hell and not take it anymore. Last weekend that prayer was answered when Lawrence O'Donnell …

Discussion: Middle Earth Journal, MyDD, Norwegianity, No More Mister Nice Blog, Prairie Weather, NewsBusters.org, Obama HQ, The Corner and Bark Bark Woof Woof

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:

"THEY WILL GET OVERRUN"....A couple of weeks ago I linked to a story about the initial troop drawdowns in Iraq and expressed surprised that they were taking place in Baghdad rather than in outlying provinces. Today, the LA Times reports that the military has had second thoughts about this too:

Discussion: The Newshoggers

Los Angeles Times: U.S. to keep most troops in Baghdad

Ann Althouse / Althouse:

Mitt Romney on "Meet the Press." — I'll write more when I can quote from a transcript, but I wanted to say that I thought Romney was excellent on "Meet the Press" just now. (And so was Tim Russert. Russert rules.) — Romney's voice was much improved over the high-pitched piping I've heard in the debates.

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Helena DeMoura / CNN:

Four Bolivian regions declare autonomy from government — (CNN) — Tensions were rising in Bolivia on Saturday as members of the country's four highest natural gas-producing regions declared autonomy from the central government. — Thousands waved the Santa Cruz region's green-and-white flags …

Discussion: QandO, Gateway Pundit, Captain's Quarters, The Glittering Eye, Marginal Revolution, Blue Crab Boulevard and Publius Pundit

Dennis Hartley / Hullabaloo:

How Things Work — What Atrios says here is absolutely true. A Democratic president, no matter who it is, is going to pay for the Republicans' sins. But it won't be just because the Republicans and Blue Dogs in congress suddenly "realize" they have co-equal power.

Discussion: The Sideshow and Eschaton

John Cochran / ABCNEWS:

Congress Defies Bush on CIA Tape Probe — House Will Continue Investigation Despite White House Request to Drop It — House Intelligence Committee chairman Silvestre Reyes told ABC News today that he will ignore the Bush administration's request to drop its investigation of why CIA interrogation tapes were destroyed.

Discussion: Macsmind, The Heretik, Big Brass Blog and PoliBlog (TM)

Dan Eggen / Washington Post:
Destruction of CIA Tapes Defended

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Newsweek:

Tracking a Paper Trail — A memo from a top intelligence official warned the CIA not to destroy its interrogation tapes — John Negroponte testifies before Congress in September … In the summer of 2005, then CIA director Porter Goss met with then national intelligence director John Negroponte …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Emptywheel

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

The Lawless Surveillance State — There are several vital points raised by the new revelations in The New York Times that "the N.S.A.'s reliance on telecommunications companies is broader and deeper than ever before" and includes both pre-9/11 efforts to tap without warrants …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, THE REACTION, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, RADAMISTO, Buck Naked Politics and The Newshoggers

Amanda / Think Progress:

Romney: 'Mike Huckabee Owes The President An Apology' — In a Foreign Affairs article, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee sharply criticizes the Bush administration's foreign policy, calling it indicative of an "arrogant bunker mentality": … This criticism was too much for former …

Discussion: CBS News, The Swamp, The Carpetbagger Report and The Raw Story

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:

Apparent Huckabee Backers Smear McCain — N.H. Phone Campaign Starts as Poll, Then Turns to Anti-McCain Ad — Bernie Campbell, a 26-year-old public school teacher in Laconia, N.H., was eating dinner at home Friday night with his wife, a graduate student at Dartmouth, when he got a phone call.

Discussion: Buck Naked Politics, Fred File and race42008.com

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:

Spotlight on John Edwards — John Edwards makes the cover of Newsweek and is the subject of a five page article. He's also on several of the Sunday morning shows today. — He's still fighting hard in Iowa, touting his willingness to fight for Democrats.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Donklephant