CNN Late Edition (Wolf Blitzer)

Below are the topics and guests announced for this program, along with my take on the "memes" that the show is trying to push.  With each guest's name are a series of links that I found in a web search that helped me get a handle on who they are and what their likely positions will be when they are interviewed.

• Meme:
  • Critics have been screaming that we need more troops in Iraq, now that there are more troops going anyone who supports that move must be destroyed
  • George Bush is running up the deficit with his war, he's even making the good fiscal conservatives mad at each other
  • We've got to figure out a way to get Bush to say "read my lips..."
  • Pay no attention to the graft and corruption by Democrats... they have pure motives
• Topics:
  • The Bush administration explains the billions of dollars spent on the war in Iraq
  • What role is Iran playing in Iraq?
• Guests
  • Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California
    • Senate web site | Bio
    • Senate Select Intelligence Committee member
    • Senate Judiciary Committee member
    • No Public Iraq NIE? (TPMmuckraker, NY - Feb 1, 2007)
    • Senator Feinstein's Iraq Conflict (Silicon Valley's Metro, CA - Jan 24, 2007)
    • Boxer, Feinstein support nationwide approach on global warming (North County Times, CA - Jan 30, 2007)
    • Senate panel concerned about holes in US-VISIT (FCW.com, VA - Feb 2, 2007)
    • Dianne’s war chest (Pasadena Weekly, CA - Feb 1, 2007)
  • Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Indiana
    • Senate web site | Bio
    • Foreign Relations Committee member
    • Iran winning in Iraq? (Washington Times, DC - Feb 2, 2007)
    • US Democracy Promotion Efforts Face New Resistance (Secrecy News, DC - Feb 1, 2007)
    • Lugar talks about senate vote (WTHR, IN - Jan 28, 2007)
    • Lugar Opposes Measure Critical of President (Fox 28, IN - Jan 24, 2007)
    • Debate over war resolution strengthens our democracy (Indianapolis Star, IN - Jan 31, 2007)
    • How Iraq affects DC reputations (Los Angeles Times, CA - Jan 28, 2007)
  • Rob Portman
    • White House Budget Director (OMB) | Bio
    • Bush budget asks quarter-trillion for Iraq War (Buffalo News, NY - Feb 3, 2007)
    • Bush Warns of Tax Hikes (New York Sun, NY - Feb 3, 2007)
    • Paulson May Find Bush Is Biggest Hurdle to Social Security Deal (Bloomberg - Jan 30, 2007)
    • Democrats Serve Up Clinton-Style Centrism at Retreat (New York Times, NY - Feb 2, 2007)
  • Tom Vilsack
    • Democrat presidential candidate | Campaign web site | Bio
    • Former Iowa governor
    • Thompson, Vilsack pitch longshot candidacies in Las Vegas (Janesville Gazette, WI - Feb 3, 2007)
    • Tom Vilsack '72 Will Teach at Drake University's School of Law (Hamilton College News, NY - Feb 1, 2007)
    • Reader will work hard for Vilsack campaign (Clinton Herald, IA - Feb 1, 2007)
    • Andy Borowitz: Kucinich-Vilsack Race Turns Nasty (YubaNet (satire), CA - Feb 1, 2007)
    • Hansen: Hillary shines, while Vilsack's a hyphen (DesMoinesRegister.com, IA - Feb 1, 2007)
    • The soundtrack of their campaigns (MSNBC - Feb 2, 2007)
  • Ralph Nader
    • Leftist activist Consumer advocate | web site | Bio
    • Former presidential candidate
    • Author The Seventeen Traditions
    • (Ralph Nader, Hero or Grinch?) (Village Voice, NY - Feb 1, 2007)
    • The Village Voice supports Ralph Nader for president. (Village Voice - Nov 1, 2000)
    • Ralph Nader as paradox (Newsday - Feb 2, 2007)
    • The Nader of Debate (New York Daily News, NY - Feb 2, 2007)
    • The Endlessly Maddening (for Liberals) Case of Ralph Nader (New York Times - Jan 31, 2007)
  • Robert Baer
    • Intelligence Columnist, TIME.com
    • Former CIA officer
    • Are the Iranians Out for Revenge? (Time Magazine - Jan 30, 2007)
    • See No Evil by Jamie Glazov (FrontPage Magazine - Feb 11, 2004)
    • Ex-CIA Agent Robert Baer, Inspiration for 'Syriana' (NPR - Dec 6, 2005) - Note: streaming audio
    • US and IRGC Cooperation in Iraq (The Conservative Voice, NC - Feb 1, 2007)
    • CNN: US suspects Iranian hand in Karbala killings of American soldiers (Hot Air, MD - Jan 30, 2007)
    • Only a dictator can end Iraq violence: debate audience (Gulf Times, Qatar - Jan 31, 2007)
  • John McLaughlin
    • CNN National Security Analyst
    • Former Deputy Director of CIA and acting CIA director
    • Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institute | Bio (From University of Oklahoma, Tulsa)
    • The New Intelligence Challenge (Washington Post, DC - Jan 5, 2007)
    • Analysts: Iraq report lays out tough road (CNN International - Jan 30, 2007)
    • The Public's Dilemma (Huffington Post, NY - Jan 30, 2007)
    • More on the CIA leak (Indianapolis Star, IN - Jan 22, 2007)
    • Potential witnesses in CIA Leak case (Belleville News-Democrat, IL - Jan 16, 2007)
    • Is the New York Times a law unto itself? (Power Line, MN - Jan 25, 2007)
    • The Secret Life of Houdini: the Making of America's First Superhero (Sydney Morning Herald, Australia - Jan 11, 2007)
  • Amine Gemayel
    • Former president of Lebanon
    • Gemayel to Washington Monday (Naharnet, Lebanon - Feb 2, 2007)
    • The Lebanese Dilemma: A Primer (Antiwar.com, CA - Feb 2, 2007)
    • Murr Mediation to Avert By-Elections Showdown in Metn (Naharnet, Lebanon - Jan 5, 2007)
    • Lebanon Prepares for 'Confrontation Phase-3' between Opposition and Majority (Naharnet, Lebanon - Jan 21, 2007)
    • Can Anyone Fix Lebanon? (Reason Online, CA - Jan 26, 2007)
    • Milestones in the Nation’s History (Egypt Today, Egypt - Jan 11, 2007)
  • Michael Gordon
    • New York Times chief military correspondent (but for how much longer?)
    • Author, Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq
    • NY Times Reporter Chastised for Saying He Wants US to Win in Iraq (NewsBusters - Jan 29, 2007)
    • Senators Challenge Post on Arkin Column (Power Line, MN - Feb 1, 2007)
    • Reporter Gets Called on the Carpet for his Comments About Bush's War Policy (FOX News - Jan 29, 2007)
    • Barnes, NYT's Gordon assigned blame for failed strategy to generals, not Bush (Media Matters for America, DC - Jan 8, 2007)
    • The Surge Pushers (ZNet, MA - Jan 18, 2007)
    • Bush’s man at the New York Times (First Post, UK - Jan 11, 2007)
• CNN Late Edition (web page for comments)