memeorandum: Things We'd Rather You Not Say on the Web, Or Anywhere Else (The China Beat)

12:50 PM ET, July 19, 2008

Top Items:

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: The Moderate Voice, Commentary, democracyarsenal.org, Matthew Yglesias, Political Machine, Washington Monthly, Think Progress, TIME.com, AMERICAblog News, www.redstate.com, Talking Points Memo, pandagon.net, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Carpetbagger Report, Harry's Place, BBC, Hullabaloo and The Political Carnival

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:

Obama Lands in Afghanistan for First Tour of War Zones — 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 …

Discussion: The New Republic, The Swamp, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Washington Post, Gateway Pundit, The Caucus, BuzzFlash.org, The Other McCain, Harry's Place, The Jed Report, Swampland, TIME.com and The Political Carnival

Spiegel Online:

Iraq Leader Maliki Supports Obama's Withdrawal Plans — In an interview with SPIEGEL, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Barack Obama's 16 timeframe for a withdrawal from Iraq is the right one. — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki supports US presidential candidate Barack Obama's plan …

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, Ben Smith's Blogs, Fox News and Political Punch

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:

MALIKI BACKS BARACK OBAMA'S IRAQ PLAN. — To really understand the importance of Maliki's comments, you need to consider their opposite. Imagine if Maliki had walked in front of the cameras and said, “at this stage, a timetable for withdrawal is unrealistic, and we hope our American friends …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Economist's View and politburo diktat 2.0

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.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Other McCain

Jim Lindgren / The Volokh Conspiracy:

BARACK OBAMA ON IRAQ.— The McCain campaign has a long, nearly 8-minute ad up on its website, which is mostly just video clips of Barack Obama's statements on Iraq, interspersed with derogatory slides expressing negative conclusions about Obama. Personally, I could do without the ominous music …

Discussion: protein wisdom and Open Left

Washington Post / The Trail:

Obama Travels to Afghanistan — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan Saturday, according to a campaign spokesman, the first stop on a weeklong foreign tour that will take him to seven countries, including Iraq. — Details of his itinerary in the war zone …

Discussion: The Fix and Commentary

Big Tent Democrat / TalkLeft:
Obama In Afghanistan; Iraqi PM Endorses Obama Plan Of Withdrawal

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, No More Mister Nice Blog and Corrente

Spiegel Online:
‘The Tenure of Coalition Troops in Iraq Should Be Limited’

Discussion: The Swamp and Hot Air

John McCormick / The Swamp:
Barack Obama arrives in Afghanistan

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs

Think Progress:

Live Blogging: Al Gore To Appear This Morning At Netroots Nation Convention — Live Blogging: Al Gore To Appear This Morning At Netroots Nation Convention — “Former Vice President Al Gore is scheduled to speak this morning to more than 2,000 bloggers and others meeting at the Netroots Nation convention.

Discussion: The Nation, Gristmill and Firedoglake

Katharine Q. Seelye / The Caucus:
Al Gore Is Special Guest Star at Netroots Nation

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Raven Brooks / Netroots Nation:
Netroots Nation Streaming - Watch it Live!

Discussion: Seeing the Forest, Blue Girl, Red State and The Field on the Narcosphere

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:

McCain, 71, nods off on ‘Late Night with Conan’ — By the time Sen. John McCain gets on NBC's “Late Night with Conan O'Brien” tonight, it's gonna look like it's way past the veteran senator's bedtime. — The show was, of course, taped this afternoon, a little bit late due to a very surprising event …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Outside The Beltway, Wake up America, Boston Globe, Wonkette and CNN

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Political harmony v. the rule of law: an easy choice for the political establishment — (updated below) — Former Congressman Harold Ford appeared at the Netroots Nation conference yesterday, argued that Bush officials shouldn't be held accountable for crimes they committed while in office …

Discussion: TalkLeft, The Nation and Hullabaloo

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Harold Ford Heckled Over Fox Comment At Netroots Nation

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

Washington Wire:
Democratic Party Unity Proves Elusive at Netroots Gathering

Discussion: The Caucus and The Raw Story

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 and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Gateway Pundit:

McCAIN CLAIMS VICTORY IN IRAQ— Let the Gnashing of Teeth Begin — My, what a difference 2 years and a successful surge make in a political landscape. — Two years ago Republicans cringed when Iraq was discussed. — ...Not any more. — Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrats could not surrender in time for defeat in Iraq.

Reuters:
McCain says Obama trip to Iraq may be soon

Discussion: Tales from the Trail and Boston Globe

The China Beat:

Things We'd Rather You Not Say on the Web, Or Anywhere Else — Following George Carlin's death last month, China Beat got to thinking about his “seven dirty words” and what those same “seven words” might be in China. We invited David Bandurski of China Media Project to write a satirical piece …

Dan Ariely / New York Times:

Eyes Off the Price — Durham, N.C. — AS I stand at the gas station filling my tank, the meter tallies how much it's going to cost me. At this station, a gallon is $4.26, and as the meter passes the $20 mark, then the $30, I realize that I am paying too much attention to the price of gasoline.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice