memeorandum: Elton John: ‘To hell with them’ (Ben Smith/Ben Smith's Blogs)

10:00 AM ET, April 10, 2008

Top Items:

Sources: Top Bush Advisors Approved ‘Enhanced Interrogation’ — Detailed Discussions Were Held About Techniques to Use on al Qaeda Suspects — By JAN CRAWFORD GREENBURG, HOWARD L. ROSENBERG and ARIANE de VOGUE — In dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House …

Discussion: The Reaction, DownWithTyranny!, The Carpetbagger Report, Macsmind, The Gun Toting Liberal™, RADAMISTO, American Street, War in Context, First Draft, The Mahablog, War and Piece, Think Progress, AMERICAblog, Comments from Left Field, Balkinization, Concurring Opinions and The Impolitic

Marc Ambinder:

War Crimes — A provocative headline, I know, perhaps needlessly so, but it remains one of those hidden secrets in Washington that a Democratic Justice Department is going to be very interested in figuring out whether there's a case to be made that senior Bush Administration officials were guilty of war crimes.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Right Wing Nut House, Newshoggers.com, Comments from Left Field, The Strata-Sphere and Weekly Standard Blog

Reuters:
Top Bush aides approved interrogation tactics: report

Discussion: Cliff Schecter … and Shakesville

Balkinization:
War Crimes Prosecutions in the U.S.? Dream On

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report

Rebecca Dana / Wall Street Journal:

CBS News, Katie Couric Are Likely to Part Ways — Barring a Change, Departure Could Follow the Election; — A Successor to Larry King? — After two years of record-low ratings, both CBS News executives and people close to Katie Couric say that the “CBS Evening News” …

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, New York Magazine, Outside The Beltway, Gawker, The News Junkie, Below The Beltway, Ed Driscoll.com, Truthdig, Romenesko and Wizbang

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Elton John: ‘To hell with them’ — There's a real crowd at Radio City, complete with scalpers, and lines around the block for Elton John and the Clintons. — Toward the back of one line: Frank Luntz, Lanny Davis, and Doug Schoen. ("I used to be in business with Mark Penn," Schoen joked.)

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Swamp, Althouse, New York Times, The Other McCain, Don Surber and The New Republic

Jo Piazza / NY Daily News:
Elton John Radio City fund-raiser earns Hillary Clinton $2.5M

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, The Washington Independent, Bang the Drum, The Page and TPM Election Central

New York Times:

Iraq's Military Seen as Lagging — WASHINGTON — The recommendation by the top American commander in Iraq to suspend troop reductions reflects a bleak assessment that Iraqi forces remain unprepared to take over the mission of securing their own nation, senior administration and military officials said Wednesday.

Discussion: The Swamp, Jules Crittenden, Washington Post, Connecting.the.Dots, Weekly Standard, Times of London, Wall Street Journal, RADAMISTO and Christian Science Monitor

Washington Post:
Bush to Cut Army Tours to 12 Months

Discussion: The Long War Journal, Real Clear Politics, Wall Street Journal, The Page, NY Daily News, Intel Dump and The Belmont Club

Steyn Online:

Hey, why bother with a trial? — As revealed here a few weeks ago, the investigative unit of the Ontario “Human Rights” Commission recommended to the Commissioners that they not proceed against Maclean's for having the temerity to publish an excerpt from my book.

Discussion: Dr. Sanity and National Post

Canada NewsWire Group:
Commission Issues Statement on Decision in Maclean's Cases

Discussion: Overlawyered

PewResearch.org:

Inside the Middle Class: Bad Times Hit the Good Life — Executive Summary — This report on the attitudes and lives of the American middle class combines results of a new Pew Research Center national public opinion survey with the center's analysis of relevant economic and demographic trend data from the Census Bureau.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Outside The Beltway, Below The Beltway, American Street and Washington Wire

Matthew Yglesias:
Pew on the Middle Class

Discussion: Eschaton

Peter Wallsten / Los Angeles Times:

Allies of Palestinians see a friend in Obama — They consider him receptive despite his clear support of Israel. — CHICAGO — It was a celebration of Palestinian culture — a night of music, dancing and a dash of politics. Local Arab Americans were bidding farewell to Rashid Khalidi …

Discussion: The Swamp, The Caucus and Top of the Ticket

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Former President Carter to Meet With Hamas Chief

Discussion: Sister Toldjah

Roger Simon / The Politico:

McCain not yet golden in California — Here are four things you need to know about John McCain and California: — 1. If McCain wins California in November, he almost certainly will become the next president of the United States. — The Democratic nominee would find it extremely difficult …

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Other McCain and MSNBC

James O'Toole / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Sophie Masloff to endorse Hillary Clinton — Former Pittsburgh Mayor Sophie Masloff will endorse Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton when the New York senator appears this evening for the Allegheny County Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner at Heinz Field. — “It's been very difficult …

Discussion: The Page

Dr. Barbara L. Carvalho / Marist Poll:

ü Democrats' “Dream Ticket” is a nightmare against McCain/Rice in New York ü NYS voters take a wait and see approach to new governor — Contact: Dr. Lee M. Miringoff — This WNBC/Marist Poll of New York State reports: — Presidential Campaign 2008

Discussion: Spin Cycle and Examining Presidential …

Ed O'Keefe / ABCNEWS:

EXCLUSIVE: Powell Praises Obama, Fears Afghanistan Growing ‘More Difficult’ Than Iraq — General Says Next President Will Face Long Struggle, Troop Strain in Two-Front Battle — Retired Gen. Colin Powell insists he hasn't yet decided who he'll back in the 2008 presidential election.

Discussion: The Swamp, Spin Cycle and The Page

Wall Street Journal:

Pelosi's Bad Faith — The Democratic Party's protectionist make-over was completed yesterday, when Nancy Pelosi decided to kill the Colombia free trade agreement. Her objections had nothing to do with the evidence and everything to do with politics, but this was an act of particular bad faith.

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and Betsy's Page

Ben Smith / The Politico:

David Brock, Dems plan $40M hit on McCain — Wealthy Democrats are preparing a four-month, $40 million media campaign centered on attacks on Senator John McCain. And it will be led by David Brock, the former investigative reporter who first gained fame in the 1990s as a right-wing, anti-Clinton journalist.

Discussion: The Washington Independent and The Page

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:

Gay press frustrated by Obama approach — Mark Segal didn't want to wait. After weeks of requests to interview Barack Obama, the publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News concluded the senator's aides may never make him available. — So even as the Obama campaign held out the possibility …

Discussion: Shakesville

Jeffrey Rosen / The New Republic:

States of Nature — How George Bush's legal war against the environment backfired. — In their long-standing campaign against environmental protections, American conservatives have taken a kitchen sink approach: First they exalted states' rights and attacked the Environmental Protection Agency …

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy