memeorandum @ 4:20 PM ET, April 4, 2006

4:20 PM ET, April 4, 2006

RELATED ITEMS:

DeLay to Leave Congress, Officials Report — WASHINGTON, April 4 — Representative Tom DeLay, the relentless Texan who helped lead House Republicans to power but became ensnared in a corruption scandal, said publicly today that he had decided to leave Congress.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Booman Tribune, PrawfsBlawg, Obsidian Wings and Daily Kos

R. Jeffrey Smith / Washington Post:

Federal Probe Has Edged Closer to Texan — Two Ex-Aides Convicted, Another Also Named in Lobbying Investigation — The pending resignation of former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), once one of the most powerful lawmakers in Washington, comes amid a federal criminal investigation …

Discussion: Firedoglake, TPM Muckraker, The Left Coaster, TAPPED, Mercury News, The Democratic Daily Blog, WTF Is It Now??, TalkLeft and Talking Points Memo

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

DeLay Is Quitting Race and House, Officials Report — WASHINGTON, April 3 — Representative Tom DeLay, the relentless Texan who helped lead House Republicans to power but became ensnared in a corruption scandal, has decided to leave Congress, House officials said Monday night.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Next Hurrah, Associated Press, The Carpetbagger Report, Think Progress, NewDonkey.com, Democrat Taylor Marsh …, Firedoglake, TPM Muckraker, Scott Rosenberg's Links …, Air America Radio, WTF Is It Now??, A Blog For All, Hullabaloo and Shakespeare's Sister

Hindrocket / Power Line:

DELAY STEPS DOWN — Former Majority Leader Tom DeLay apparently has announced that he will not seek re-election in the fall. No indication, yet, of his reasons. — It's too bad, I think. DeLay was an effective leader, albeit too liberal in recent years. It's possible, of course, that he did something wrong along the way.

Discussion: Hotline On Call, Outside The Beltway, The Peking Duck, Betsy's Page, Donklephant, Crooked Timber, Balloon Juice, Democrat Taylor Marsh …, driftglass, NewsHog, Gateway Pundit, Tennessee Guerilla Women and MSNBC

Rick Hasen / Election Law:

CAN REPUBLICANS NAME A REPLACEMENT FOR TOM DELAY? — With news that Tom DeLay is withdrawing from his House reelection contest, the question is what happens now in his race. It appears that the following is the applicable Texas law (putting aside any caselaw that might affect interpretation of these chapters):

Discussion: Daily Kos, TPRS, Shakespeare's Sister, Swing State Project, The Liberal Coalition, Burnt Orange Report, THE DAILY DELAY, Capitol Annex, Outside The Beltway, A Newer World and PoliBlog

Houston Chronicle:
Many show interest in seat

Discussion: JAB, Off the Kuff, Tom DeLay v. the World, TexasRainmaker, PoliPundit.com, TPM Muckraker and Greg's Opinion

Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
DeLay Steps Down, This Time For Good — Former House Majority …

Discussion: The Political Pit Bull, Off the Kuff, Outside The Beltway, Associated Press, QandO, Sister Toldjah, All Things Beautiful, Michelle Malkin, THE BRAD BLOG, No More Mister Nice Blog, news, The Carpetbagger Report, New York Times and Danny Carlton

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

CBS Prepares to Land a New Anchor — Katie Couric Set to Leave NBC's 'Today' — NBC executives expect Katie Couric to leave the "Today" show and accept an offer from CBS to become the first woman to anchor a network evening newscast on her own, with an announcement of her departure likely …

Discussion: philly.com, Rantingprofs, The Moderate Voice, The Strata-Sphere, PSoTD, Outside The Beltway and Lost Remote TV Blog

RELATED ITEMS:

Peter Wehner / Opinion Journal:

The Wrong Time to Lose Our Nerve — A response to Messrs. Buckley, Will and Fukuyama. — A small group of current and former conservatives—including George Will, William F. Buckley Jr. and Francis Fukuyama—have become harsh critics of the Iraq war. They have declared, or clearly implied …

Discussion: PrestoPundit and Think Progress

Fareed Zakaria:

To Become an American — Seven years ago, when I was visiting Germany, I met with an official who explained to me that the country had a foolproof solution to its economic woes. Watching the U.S. economy soar during the 1990s, the Germans had decided that they, too, needed to go the high-technology route.

Discussion: UNCoRRELATED, Norwegianity, Amygdala and Donklephant

Duane Bourne / Virginian-Pilot:

Virginia Beach agrees to change the way it scores police math exams — VIRGINIA BEACH — The city has reached a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department to resolve allegations that it discriminated against black and Hispanic police recruits. — Under a consent decree filed Monday …

Discussion: Right Wing News, Hit and Run, Sister Toldjah and GOP Bloggers

Matt Stoller / MyDD:

The Right-wing Seeks to Take Your Internet — You can follow this in detail on Public Knowledge's blog or on the special section of Ed Markey's site dedicated to Net Neutrality. — Remember this interview with Edward Whiteacre, the CEO of SBC Communications?

Discussion: The Agonist, The Blogging of the President and Eschaton

Robert Roy Britt / livescience.com:

Churchgoers Live Longer — There are many things you can do to increase your life expectancy: exercise, eat well, take your medication and ... go to church. — A new study finds people who attend religious services weekly live longer. Specifically, the research looked at how many years are added to life expectancy based on:

Discussion: Donklephant, Hit and Run and Vox Popoli

Kirk Semple / New York Times:

Americans in Iraq Face Their Deadliest Day in Months — BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 3 — In the deadliest day for American forces since the beginning of the year, at least nine members of the military were killed in the insurgent stronghold of Anbar Province, including four in a rebel attack …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Rantingprofs and Air America Radio