Morning Must Reads

Now, the same hawkish faction in the administration that convinced the president releasing interrogation photos would do no good wants him to understand that some terrorists can’t be tried in court.

“Defense Secretary Robert Gates, at a hearing last month, hinted at the administration’s deliberations, saying that there were ‘50 to 100 [detainees] probably in that ballpark who we cannot release and cannot trust, either in Article 3 [civilian] courts or military commissions.’

The administration’s move to block the release of military detainee photos was welcomed by Republicans in Congress and by some military family groups but condemned by the ACLU and others.

Mr. Gates, Gen. David Petraeus and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had all raised concerns with the White House about releasing the detainee photos. Mr. Gates and the commanders worried that the pictures would spur new anti-American violence in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
 
New York Times — For Democrats, Unease Grows Over National Security Policy
 
For every move to the right that Obama has made on national security, there has been an equal reaction on his left.
Members of Congress who helped elect who they thought was an anti-War president now find Iraq still simmering, Afghanistan escalating, Guantanamo still detaining, and secrecy expanding.

Writer David Herszenhorn talks to the Dems who are fed up with the doubletalk they hear from the White House – with one now comparing Obama to Nixon in 1969.

And as votes on $97 billion to fund Iraq and Afghanistan for the next four months take place today and next week, the split will become more pronounced.

“Some liberal Democrats are expressing outright opposition to continuing the operations in Iraq or Afghanistan, and are planning to vote against the spending bill.

‘There is no need in the 21st century to do this, to make us safe,’ Representative Alan Grayson, a freshman Democrat from Florida, said of the continuing American-led wars. ‘This is a 19th-century strategy being played out at great expense in both money and blood in the 21st century, in the wrong time at the wrong place.’

‘It’s wrong,’ Mr. Grayson added. ‘That’s why I am going to vote against it.’”
 
Washington Post — Obama Plans A Weekend Review of Court Picks
 
According to those members of Congress who met with the president Wednesday to hear of his plan for naming a Supreme Court justice, Obama will likely take the weekend to consider his options and then let it fly early next week.

Writer Shailaigh Murray explains that the speed is necessary because Obama wants a new justice by September and in the glacial time of Congress, time is already running out – and the president has also demanded a health care bill done in two months.

“White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters afterward that Obama reiterated to the group that he “would choose a nominee who respects the Constitution and judicial precedent and also has the good judgment and common sense to reach fair decisions.”

Obama urged senators to act quickly to ensure that the new justice is confirmed before the court’s term begins in October.
Senate aides said Reid told Obama that the goal was a confirmation vote before the Senate departs on its summer recess. The official adjournment date is Aug. 7. No names were discussed, aides said.”
 
 
Bloomberg — Republicans Adopt Emanuel’s Tactics to Deliver 2010 ‘Thumpin’
 
Writer Heidi Przybyla does a very smart job of looking at the efforts of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who is charged with recruiting the talent for the 2010 congressional season.

One of McCarthy’s guides has been “Thumpin” – a book about how former DCCC Chairman Rham Emanuel sought out conservative Democrats to win southern and Midwestern seats needed to win the House majority in 2006.

McCarthy is trying to do the same thing with social moderates for races in places like New England and California, as well as looking for gender and ethnic diversity to reflect the districts.

On the one hand, Republicans are traditionally terrible at identity politics, but on the other, the GOP leadership seems to be getting on board.

“Last month, Texas Senator John Cornyn, who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee, also suggested he would seek candidates who deviate from the party platform.

House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, an anti-abortion rights conservative from Virginia, didn’t appear to rule it out when asked if he would back pro-choice candidates.

‘The essence of being a Republican is the belief in free markets, the belief in individual responsibility, the belief in the faith of the individual,’ he said. ‘This is what our party is about.’”
 
Pension Inquiry Reveals a Power Broker’s Web
 
Writer Mike McIntyre takes readers through the world of pay-to-play politics with Hank Morris – a top Democratic political strategist now facing a major federal prosecution for the finders fees he received for helping to steer investment contracts to brokerage houses – including that of White House Auto Czar Steve Rattner.

What’s interesting is how common the practice of politicos taking big bucks for convincing their clients to favor one firm or another is – and how blurry the line between legal and illegal can be.

Morris, who did national work and was considered the go-to guy n New York,  thought little of some pretty rank tactics and high-powered players like Rattner thought little of going along.

“As [former Morris client Alan] Hevesi was settling into the state comptroller’s office in 2003, Mr. Morris took another step that, prosecutors say, showed he was preparing to exploit the office’s sole authority over the state’s $122 billion public employee retirement fund. He obtained a securities broker’s license and became affiliated with Searle & Company, a small investment firm in Greenwich, Conn. How he came to work with Searle, which has a handful of employees and an office above a Christian Science reading room, is unclear.”