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3:50 PM ET, April 23, 2009

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Ali Soufan / New York Times:
My Tortured Decision  —  FOR seven years I have remained silent about the false claims magnifying the effectiveness of the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques like waterboarding.  I have spoken only in closed government hearings, as these matters were classified.
RELATED:
Scott Shane / New York Times:
Interrogations' Effectiveness May Prove Elusive  —  WASHINGTON — Even the most exacting truth commission may have a hard time determining for certain whether brutal interrogations conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency helped keep the country safe.  —  Last week's release …
The Huffington Post:
Boehner: Memos Outline “Torture Techniques”  —  While cable news outlets and major newspapers continue to use euphemisms such as “harsh interrogation tactics” to describe the Bush administration's approach to intelligence gathering, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) used a more succinct term Thursday: “torture.”
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
Scott Shane Does Some Homework
Ed Rollins / CNN:
Commentary: Obama waffled on torture, looks weak
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Cheney Succeeding In Shifting Torture Debate?
Discussion: Newshoggers.com and D-Day
Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:
Larry Summers falls asleep during Obama's meeting with credit card executives.  —  Today, President Obama met with credit card industry officials at the White House.  After the meeting, he pledged to push for a law that would offer “strong and reliable” protections for credit card users in the United States.
Discussion: TigerHawk
RELATED:
Victoria McGrane / The Politico:
Dems: Freeze rate hikes on credit cards  —  Two top Democratic senators are calling on the Federal Reserve to freeze interest rate hikes on consumer credit card balances, a dramatic move just ahead of a major meeting between credit card companies and the White House this afternoon.
Discussion: The Swamp
Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Larry Summers' cat-nap at credit talks
Discussion: The Politico
Ben Feller / Associated Press:
Obama pledges protections for credit-card users
Discussion: Associated Press, MSNBC and The Page
Ceci Connolly / Washington Post:
GOP Stymies Vote on Sebelius  —  President Obama will have to wait a bit longer to round out his Cabinet.  Senate Republicans refused today to allow a confirmation vote on his health secretary nominee Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kan.).  She is the last Cabinet member awaiting Senate approval.
RELATED:
David M. Drucker / Roll Call:
GOP Plots Revenge  —  Reconciliation May Shut Down Senate  —  As Senate Democrats move closer to using reconciliation to pass health care reform this year, key GOP Senators are signaling plans to avenge the move by employing parliamentary tactics to trip up even the most noncontroversial of agenda items.
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
John Ensign's Unapologetic Critique
Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog
Jeff Stein / SpyTalk:
Intelligence Officials Tipped Pelosi To Harman Wiretap  —  Intelligence officials, angry that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had blocked an FBI investigation into Democratic Rep. Jane Harman's interactions with a suspected Israeli agent, tipped off Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader …
RELATED:
Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:
Goss: Obama Decision “Crossed a Red Line”
Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog
The Hill:   Wiretap: The plot thickens in Harman drama
Theresa Cook / The Note:
Reid, Pelosi Split on Commissions
Discussion: The Politico and Think Progress
Michael Calderone / Michael Calderone's Blog:
WaPo hires Prospect's Klein  —  The American Prospect's Ezra Klein, one of the top bloggers on politics and policy, is heading to the Washington Post.  —  Rumors about Klein's upcoming move spread on Wednesday night during a reception thrown by The Nation magazine in honor of D.C. bureau chief Chris Hayes.
RELATED:
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Ezra Klein Hired by Washington Post  —  My very good friend Ezra Klein has been hired by The Washington Post to do a blog for their website, as reported by Mike Calderone.  So first off, congratulations to everyone—good for Ezra, great hire for the Post, etc.
Discussion: Outside The Beltway
CNN:
Johnston 'didn't think it was going to get this rough'  —  (CNN) — A year ago, few outside of Wasilla, Alaska, had ever heard of Levi Johnston.  All that changed last summer when Gov. Sarah Palin accepted the Republican vice presidential nomination.  —  Soon after she entered the national spotlight …
RELATED:
Drudge Report:
CNN ASKS PALIN DADDY IF SEX WAS IN THE HOUSE
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
CHU WASN'T THE ‘BAFFLED’ ONE.... Arrogance is almost always unseemly, but I think there's an important distinction to be made between conceit and misplaced arrogance.  The prior is merely unseemly; the latter is humiliating.  —  Yesterday, at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee …
RELATED:
Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
Steele urged to label Obama a socialist  —  State RNC leaders raise dissent  —  Republican state party leaders are rebelling against new Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele for failing to dub President Obama and the Democrats as “socialists.”  And the rebels insist that the label matters.
RELATED:
Stuart Rothenberg / Roll Call:
April Madness: Can GOP Win Back the House in 2010?
Discussion: Glenn Thrush's Blog
Pew Research Center:
Obama at 100 Days: Strong Job Approval, Even Higher Personal Ratings  —  Better Ratings for Foreign Policy than Domestic Issues  —  As he approaches the 100-day mark of his presidency, Barack Obama's job approval ratings are higher than those of his most recent predecessors.
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Any Indictment of Interrogation Policy Makers Would Face Several Hurdles  —  WASHINGTON — The release of four Bush administration memorandums approving the use of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques has increased momentum for an investigation into the architects of the program …
RELATED:
Steve Chapman / Reason:
Torturing the Truth  —  It's time to face the ugly reality about the use of harsh interrogation tactics  —  When the Russian dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote his epic, The Gulag Archipelago, some Americans read it to measure the gulf between the brute savagery of communism and the principled standards of free, civilized nations.
RELATED:
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Why Debate The T-Word?  —  Steve Chapman asks the torture supporters a question:
Discussion: Obsidian Wings
Associated Press:
AP Poll: After Obama's 100 days, US on right track  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - Millions of people jobless.  Billions of dollars in bailouts.  Trillions of dollars in U.S. debt.  And yet, for the first time in years, more Americans than not say the country is on the right track.
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
The President's Apology Tour  —  Great leaders aren't defined by consensus.  —  President Barack Obama has finished the second leg of his international confession tour.  In less than 100 days, he has apologized on three continents for what he views as the sins of America and his predecessors.
Joe Klein / Time:
Sizing Up Obama's First 100 Days  —  The President almost seemed apologetic.  “This may be a slightly longer speech than I usually give,” he told his audience at Georgetown University on April 14.  “This is going to be prose and not poetry.”  What followed, as promised, was not poetry.
Felix Salmon:
Notes for a speech to the Regional Bond Dealers Association  —  Blogging will be light today and tomorrow, since I'm flying to and from the annual meeting of the Regional Bond Dealers Association in Dallas.  They've asked me to give a speech: here are my notes.
Discussion: Portfolio and MoJo Blog Posts
 
 
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 More Items: 
Bridget Johnson / The Hill's Blog Briefing Room:
Rep. Mack's theoretical gift to Hugo Chavez
Lymari Morales / Gallup:
Americans Steady in Backing Friendlier U.S.-Cuba Relations
Frank J. Fleming / Pajamas Media:
Did We Elect Borat President?
Samuel Maull / Associated Press:
Author Jared Diamond sued for libel
Paul Bond / Hollywood Reporter:
Drama at GE shareholders meeting
 Earlier Items: 
Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:
Bill O'Reilly's response to waterboarding: ‘Torture, my ass.’
David S. Broder / Washington Post:
A Bravura Opening  —  As we approach the 100-day mark …
Discussion: The Politico, MSNBC and Washington Wire
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Why is the GOP Throwing Senate Races?
Timothy Williams / New York Times:
At Least 75 People Are Killed in Two Attacks in Iraq
Pew Research Center:
Fox News Stands Out as “Too Critical” of Obama
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Ellen Huet / Bloomberg:
Tech CEOs looking to “go direct” and avoid traditional media, which they view as unfairly critical, turn to friendly podcasters like Lex Fridman

Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Georgia lawmakers kill a plan to cap film and TV tax credits at ~$900M annually; existing incentives let Atlanta compete with California, New York, and others

James Pomfret / Reuters:
US-funded Radio Free Asia closes its Hong Kong bureau, citing concerns over staff safety after a stricter national security law came into effect on March 23

 
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