memeorandum @ 2:25 PM ET, March 28, 2006

2:25 PM ET, March 28, 2006

RELATED ITEMS:

White House Chief of Staff Card Resigns — WASHINGTON - White House chief of staff Andy Card has resigned and will be replaced by budget director Joshua Bolten, President Bush announced Tuesday amid growing calls for a White House shakeup and Republican concern about Bush's tumbling poll ratings.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, The Washington Note, PoliPundit.com, Outside The Beltway, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, THE BRAD BLOG, PSoTD and Feministe

Joe Strupp / Editor and Publisher:

Bush Holding Off-The-Record Meetings With Reporters — NEW YORK In an apparent effort to mend his relationship with the press, President George Bush has been holding off-the-record meetings with White House reporters for the past few days, an apparent first since he took office.

Discussion: FishBowlDC, The Carpetbagger Report, Donklephant, Daily Kos, Firedoglake and Rising Hegemon

Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:

The First Change? White House Chief Of Staff Andy Card Resigns — After weeks of calls from some Republicans for changes in the White House staff, White House Chief of Staff Andy Card has resigned — although White House officials insist it is his decision, not the president's:

Discussion: UNCoRRELATED, The Hotline's Blogometer, The Uncooperative Blogger and Middle Earth Journal

Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:

For Bush and Press, Informal Talks — President Bush has been holding informal off-the-record sessions with major news organizations over the last several days. — Starting Thursday, he began meeting with groups of about a half-dozen reporters from newspapers, television, news agencies and magazines.

Discussion: Mathew Gross, AMERICAblog, Pensito Review, The Heretik and Media Blog on National …

Charles Babington / Washington Post:

Off the Record, Bush Makes Media Inroads — Private Sessions Rare for Administration — As he defends his Iraq policy with a public campaign of speeches and a recent news conference, President Bush also has been waging a private campaign that has included off-the-record sessions with White House reporters, sources said yesterday.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, California Conservative and TAPPED

David Sanger / New York Times:

Bush Announces Resignation of Chief of Staff — President Bush today will announce the resignation of his chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., in the first major staffing change of his troubled second term, according to a senior White House official. — Mr. Card will be replaced by Joshua Bolten, the budget director.

Discussion: The Blogging of the President, Wonkette and Andrew Sullivan

White House:

President Thanks Andy Card, Announces Bolten as New Chief of Staff — THE PRESIDENT: Earlier this month, Andy Card came to me and raised the possibility of stepping down as Chief of Staff. After five-and-a-half years, he thought it might be time to return to private life, and this past weekend I accepted Andy's resignation.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, The Huffington Post, Vox Baby, apostropher, RightWinged.com and The Daily Brief

Dan Froomkin / Washington Post: The Card Sacrifice — Sacrificing Andy Card, his longtime chief …

H-Bomb / anklebitingpundits.com: Card's Departure — My sources tell me that White House Chief …

Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report: Maybe the wrong White House staffer is leaving

MSNBC:
White House shake-up - chief of staff resigns

Discussion: The Left Coaster

The Directors / RedState:
Welcome Josh Bolten

Discussion: Confederate Yankee, Captain's Quarters, Donklephant and Below The Beltway

Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:

Senators Back Guest Workers — A key Senate panel broke with the House's get-tough approach to illegal immigration yesterday and sent to the floor a broad revision of the nation's immigration laws that would provide lawful employment to millions of undocumented workers while offering work visas …

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt, PoliBlog, The Carpetbagger Report, PoliPundit.com, Bark Bark Woof Woof and LA Observed

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Martin Weil / Washington Post:
Strategist, Reagan Adviser Lyn Nofziger

Discussion: Associated Press, The Corner on National …, tapscottscopydesk.blogspot.com, Outside The Beltway, TAPPED, BrothersJudd Blog and Captain's Quarters

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:

Citizen Action Steps: Phase Two — UPDATE: Keith in Orlando (who for some reason has become the stamp chosen one) received another missive: … I've verified the above with the stamp company. You have to be certain to type in SPRING (in all caps) to get the discount. Thanks everyone and thanks to Keith!

Discussion: Unclaimed Territory, DownWithTyranny! and The Agonist

Washington Post:

U.S. Officials Defend Raid Following Shiite Backlash — Accounts of Deadly Attack Diverge Sharply — BAGHDAD, March 27 — Facing a scathing backlash from Shiite Muslim leaders a day after a deadly U.S.-Iraqi raid in Baghdad, U.S. military officials defended the mission Monday, saying it was a …

Discussion: Informed Comment, american footprints, Needlenose and Air America Radio

Jia-Rui Chong / Los Angeles Times:

Bird Flu Defies Control Efforts — The culling of flocks has failed to slow the rapid spread of the virus, due in North America this year. Vaccination of poultry is under study. — The spread of avian influenza to at least 29 new countries in the last seven weeks …

Discussion: Just a Bump in the Beltway, Instapundit.com and Penraker

Emily Bazelon / Slate:

Invisible Men — Did Lindsey Graham and Jon Kyl mislead the Supreme Court? — It's not within the Supreme Court's power to decide the constitutional challenges brought by Salim Ahmed Hamdan, the Guantanamo detainee whose case will be argued before the court tomorrow, say Sens. Lindsey Graham …

Discussion: Unclaimed Territory, The Left Coaster, ACSBlog, Simianbrain, Wonkette, Norwegianity, PBD, Booman Tribune and The Heretik

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

Fukuyama's Fantasy — It was, as the hero tells it, his Road to Damascus moment. There he is, in a hall of 1,500 people he has long considered to be his allies, hearing the speaker treat the Iraq war, nearing the end of its first year, as "a virtually unqualified success."

Discussion: JustOneMinute, David Frum's Diary …, Fausta's blog, Jay Reding.com, Betsy's Page, BrothersJudd Blog and Power Line

Los Angeles Times:

High School Students Extend Immigration Protests Into 4th Day — Thousands of students walked out of high schools in Los Angeles and across Southern California this morning as protests against restrictions on immigration spread across the city for a fourth day.

Discussion: nbc4.tv, Balloon Juice, Leaning Straight Up, The Democratic Daily Blog, LA Observed, Preemptive Karma, Michelle Malkin and Booman Tribune

Investor's Business Daily:

ISSUES & — INSIGHTS — Religion Of Peace? — War On Terror: In the wake of the cartoon jihad and mosque-on-mosque violence in Iraq, most Americans now think Islam has more violent believers than any other faith. Yet many still view it as a "peaceful religion."

Discussion: Clarity & Resolve

Scott Shane / New York Times:

Iraqi Documents Are Put on Web, and Search Is On — WASHINGTON, March 27 — American intelligence agencies and presidential commissions long ago concluded that Saddam Hussein had no unconventional weapons and no substantive ties to Al Qaeda before the 2003 invasion.

Discussion: TwoGlasses, Media Blog on National …, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Huffington Post, TBogg - ", Balloon Juice, Confederate Yankee, TAPPED, Barcepundit and Red Hot Cuppa Politics

Ron Brown / newsadvance.com:

McCain to speak at Liberty graduation — U.S. Sen. John McCain - a likely 2008 presidential candidate who once labeled the Rev. Jerry Falwell an "agent of intolerance" - will be Liberty University's graduation speaker on May 13. — "I was in Washington with him about three months ago," Falwell said.

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister and The Democratic Party