memeorandum: How to make fun of Obama — Tips for those who find it too hard … (Joel Stein/Los Angeles Times)

8:50 AM ET, July 19, 2008

Top Items:

DID HE REALLY JUST DO THAT? — This is the lead on a story just out over the Reuters wire ... The Reuters piece hints at it. But if Obama is going to be in Iraq this weekend, this is a major breach on McCain's part. As a knowledgeable insider notes ...

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Obsidian Wings, GINA COBB, FP Passport, TPM Election Central, The Huffington Post, The RBC, THE GUN TOTING LIBERAL™, Political Machine, Macsmind, Newshoggers.com, Riehl World View, Sister Toldjah, The Jed Report, Blue Girl, Red State and Wake up America

Reuters:

Iraqi PM backs Obama troop exit plan: report — BERLIN (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

McCain breaks embargo on Obama's schedule — Obama, you may have noticed, doesn't have a public schedule today. The press generally respects campaigns' and officials' security concerns, when voiced. — So Josh Marshall is probably right to raise an eyebrow that John McCain …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, politburo diktat 2.0, Salon and Taylor Marsh

Peter Wehner / Weekly Standard:

Obama, Democrats, and the Surge — They were against it before it worked. — This is the week that the Democratic party ran up the white flag when it comes to the surge in Iraq. Leading the surrender was none other than Barack Obama, the Democratic party's presumptive nominee for president …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Gateway Pundit, Weekly Standard Blog, www.redstate.com and Wall Street Journal

Reuters:
McCain says Obama trip to Iraq may be soon

Discussion: Tales from the Trail, Boston Globe, Firedoglake and AMERICAblog News

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:

Obama Lands in Afghanistan — WASHINGTON - Senator Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan early Saturday morning, opening his first overseas trip as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, to meet with American commanders there and later in Iraq to receive an on-the-ground assessment …

Discussion: The Caucus, The Trail, Washington Post, Swampland, The Jed Report, TIME.com, The Political Carnival and Pirate's Cove

CNN:

Obama lands in Afghanistan — KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) — Sen. Barack Obama arrived Saturday in Afghanistan on the first stop of his tour of the Middle East and Europe, aimed at boosting the U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful's foreign policy credentials, his campaign confirmed.

John McCormick / The Swamp:

Barack Obama arrives in Afghanistan — WASHINGTON — Sen. Barack Obama landed in war-torn Afghanistan early Saturday, his campaign confirmed, starting a weeklong effort to look presidential on the world stage while boosting his standing back home. — The stop is the first of a widely anticipated tour …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:

Gramm stands down — Former Sen. Phil Gramm is stepping down from his post as national co-chair for John McCain a week after creating headaches for the campaign by calling Americans “whiners” and saying the country was only experiencing a “mental recession.”

Discussion: Open Left, Angry Bear, The RBC and TPM Election Central

Washington Wire:
Sen. Gramm Leaves McCain Camp

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, MSNBC, The Corner, Buck Naked Politics and TalkLeft

Devlin Barrett / Associated Press: McCain adviser Gramm quits after ‘whiners’ remarks

Washington Wire:

Democratic Party Unity Proves Elusive at Netroots Gathering — Susan Davis reports from Austin, Texas, on Netroots Nation. — Can Democrats bridge the ideological divides within the party? A lunch keynote session at the Netroots Nation annual convention here in Austin tried to address …

Discussion: The Caucus and The Raw Story

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Harold Ford Heckled Over Fox Comment At Netroots Nation — Former congressman Harold Ford was billed as a sheep amidst the wolves when he was booked for an appearance at the Netroots Nation conference here in Austin. And while for the most part the DLC head and self-described ‘centrist’ Democrat received …

Discussion: American Power, Real Clear Politics, Booman Tribune, The Trail, TalkLeft and michellemalkin.com

Peter Hamby / CNN:

McCain: 'I don't know' if Obama is socialist — WARREN, Michigan (CNN) - John McCain on Thursday described Barack Obama's Senate record as “more to the left” than Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont — an independent who caucuses with Democrats but has described himself as an “independent Democratic socialist.”

Discussion: New York Times, The Political Carnival, Open Left, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, PrestoPundit and Get Drunk And Vote 4 McCain

Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:

‘Stunningly Shameful’ — The Bush administration flip-flops on Iran. — On January 23, 2008, during her keynote speech at the glitzy World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Condoleezza Rice made a surprisingly friendly gesture to the Iranian regime. She said, in this final year …

Discussion: Power Line

Fox News:

Elisabeth Hasselbeck in Tears After ‘View’ Discussion on N-Word — “View” co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck was in tears Thursday after a discussion about the use of the n-word, in which fellow co-host Whoopi Goldberg told her the two “don't live in the same world.”

Discussion: The Dish Rag, Right Wing News, Macsmind, Tennessee Guerilla Women and Don Surber

Steven Lee Myers / New York Times:

Bush, in Shift, Accepts Idea of Iraq Timeline — HOUSTON — President Bush agreed to “a general time horizon” for withdrawing American troops in Iraq, the White House announced Friday, in a concession that reflected both progress in stabilizing Iraq and the depth of political opposition …