memeorandum: Senate scandal snares Obama's chief aide (Sarah Baxter/Times of London)

11:20 PM ET, December 14, 2008

Top Items:

Iraqi Journalist Throws His Shoes At Bush During Press Conference In Baghdad (Updated)» — President Bush is in Baghdad today on a surprise farewell visit highlighting the security deal recently reached between the U.S. and Iraq. CNN Baghdad correspondent Michael Ware reports …

Discussion: MoJoBlog, No More Mister Nice Blog, Jules Crittenden, Firedoglake, Newshoggers.com, Associated Press, American Street, Needlenose, Jesus' General and Don Surber

BBC:

Shoes thrown at Bush on Iraq trip — President Bush ducks as the shoes are thrown — A surprise visit by US President George Bush to Iraq has been overshadowed by an incident in which two shoes were thrown at him during a news conference. — An Iraqi journalist was wrestled to the floor …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Unqualified Offerings, Neptunus Lex, Minnesota Independent and Seeing the Forest

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Video: The obligatory “Iraqi journalist throws shoes at Bush” clip — Christmas comes early for the left. As one of our commenters snarked in Headlines, between this and the fact that the guy's in media, he's now qualified for his own show on MSNBC. — Maliki, to his credit, went for the block.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Patterico's Pontifications, Riehl World View, INSTAPUTZ, Whiskey Fire, Macsmind, Wizbang and Stop The ACLU

Juan Cole / Informed Comment:

Two BBC Stories 5 Years Apart: Leaders and Shoes — A journalist, Muntazir al-Zaidi of Baghdadiya Television, aimed two shoes at W. during a news conference in Baghdad during which Bush attempted to justify his invasion of Iraq. Baghdadiya, based in Cairo, Egypt, supports …

Discussion: The Daily Dish and Undiplomatic

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Bush ducks two shoes hurled by Iraqi — Welcome to Baghdad. An Iraqi reporter set off pandemonium Sunday by hurling two shoes at President Bush during a news conference that was the centerpiece of his secret goodbye visit. — Bush was cool under fire and prevented an even bigger incident …

Discussion: Fraters Libertas, Donklephant, Michael Calderone's Blogs and Babalu Blog

Gateway Pundit:
WOAH!... Troops Give Bush Tremendous Sendoff in Iraq (Video)

Discussion: Instapundit

Edwin Chen / Bloomberg:
Bush Ducks Shoes Thrown in Iraqi Leader's Office

Discussion: VOTE and Group News Blog

Mark Silva / The Swamp: Bush's Baghdad shoe-attack: ‘Size 10’

Adam Ashton / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Iraqi journalist hurls shoes at Bush during news conference

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Aswat Al Iraq

The Huffington Post:
Iraqi Throws Shoes At Bush During Press Conference (VIDEO)

Discussion: Associated Press, The Politico, Sister Toldjah, Agence France Presse, BAGnewsNotes, Reuters, Burnt Orange Report, Tennessee Guerilla Women, The Seminal, The Impolitic, Pharyngula and Firedoglake

Steven Lee Myers / New York Times:
Bush Arrives in Iraq for a Final Visit

Scarce / Crooks and Liars:
Iraqi journalist throws shoes at Bush during press conference

Discussion: World-O-Crap

CNN:
Angry Iraqi throws shoes at Bush

Discussion: Reuters, The Raw Story and Connecting.the.Dots

Sarah Baxter / Times of London:

Senate scandal snares Obama's chief aide — THE bullish, foul-mouthed but effective Chicago arm-twister Rahm Emanuel has come under pressure to resign as Barack Obama's chief of staff after it was revealed that he had been captured on court-approved wire-taps discussing the names of candidates for Obama's Senate seat.

Discussion: GINA COBB and NO QUARTER

Jitendra Joshi / NEWS.com.au:

Barack Obama chief Rahm Emanuel drawn into Rod Blagojevich corruption investigation — BARACK Obama's chief of staff is under pressure over reported contacts with Illinois's corruption-tainted governor, who faces impeachment proceedings this week. — Rahm Emanuel, a combative congressman …

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and Sweetness & Light

Peter Baker / New York Times:

The Lasting Effects of Political Poison — WASHINGTON — It came to John D. Podesta during a jog through the scenic Rock Creek Park over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. His boss was going to be impeached and there was no way around it. It took Rahm Emanuel a little longer to reach that conclusion.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, theheretik.us, Kevin Drum, No More Mister Nice Blog, Capital Gains and Games blogs and Hot Air

Mike Allen / The Politico:

McCain scolds GOP for whacking Obama — In a surprising rebuke to the warriors who fought for him through tough times, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday sided with President-elect Barack Obama and scolded the Republican National Committee for fanning the Illinois corruption scandal.

Discussion: The Marathon Blog, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, MyDD, Flopping Aces, Scared Monkeys, Riehl World View, The Fix, A Blog For All, JammieWearingFool, Sweetness & Light, Gateway Pundit, Macsmind and Reuters

The Huffington Post:
McCain Whacks RNC, Defends Obama Over Blagojevich (VIDEO)

Discussion: Pajamas Media, D-Day and The Moderate Voice

Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Obama team's ‘unanswered questions’

Discussion: NO QUARTER and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Amie Parnes / The Politico:

No Southerners yet in Obama Cabinet — Barack Obama is 15 picks into his Cabinet — he announced New Yorker Shaun Donovan as his Housing and Urban Development head on Saturday—but has yet to name one who hails from the South. — “Not a one,” grumbles a one senior Democratic aide who hails from the South.

Seth Borenstein / Associated Press:

Obama left with little time to curb global warming — WASHINGTON (AP) - When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, global warming was a slow-moving environmental problem that was easy to ignore. Now it is a ticking time bomb that President-elect Barack Obama can't avoid.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Don Surber

Michael Calderone / Michael Calderone's Blogs:

NYT wiretap source revealed — When the New York Times published its investigation of the NSA's warrantless wiretap program, the paper ignored President Bush's request to hold off on revealing details of the secret program. In an Oval Office meeting, Bush gave the following message …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, TalkLeft and Discourse.net

Hilzoy / Washington Monthly:
Whistleblowers — Newsweek has a fascinating story about the person …

Discussion: Amygdala, Emptywheel and The RBC

Carol E. Lee / The Politico:

Biden to shrink VP role — big time — Joe Biden is laying plans to significantly shrink the role of the vice presidency in Barack Obama's White House, according to an official familiar with his thinking. — It's not just that Biden won't sit in on Senate Democrats' weekly caucus meetings …

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, Washington Post, Commentary, Below The Beltway, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, The Caucus and Becoming 44

David Neiwert / Crooks and Liars:

Nazis in the military: 'I'm so proud of my kills' — [Shawn Stuart, Iraq War veteran, at a 2006 neo-Nazi rally in Olympia, WA.] — Two years ago, the Southern Poverty Law Center ran a devastating report describing the infiltration of neo-Nazis into the ranks of the American military.

Ben Craw / Talking Points Memo:

BUSH DODGES SHOES THROWN BY IRAQI JOURNALIST

Discussion: Bark Bark Woof Woof

Jordy Yager / The Hill:

State official says Blagojevich may step aside Monday — Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) may give up his seat on Monday, according to the state's attorney general. — “We have heard that there is a possibility that tomorrow he will make an announcement that he will step aside,” Lisa Madigan said Sunday on NBC's “Meet the Press.”

Discussion: The Moderate Voice