Top Items:
CNN:
Bush: 'I'm the decider' on Rumsfeld — Defense chief set to meet with so-called 'TV generals' — WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush sharply defended Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday, saying the embattled Pentagon chief is doing a "fine job" despite calls for his resignation from six retired military generals.
Discussion:
The Washington Note
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Washington Post:
The Generals' Revolt — There are many reasons for Donald Rumsfeld to leave. Finger-pointing by retired officers shouldn't be one. — PRESIDENT BUSH'S stubborn support for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has compounded U.S. troubles in Iraq, prevented a remedy for the criminal mistreatment …
Discussion:
hnn.us, Outside The Beltway, Booman Tribune, Dean's World, Instapundit.com, Wonkette, MaxSpeak and Daily Kos
E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Roots of the Uprising — Making Donald Rumsfeld the scapegoat for all that has gone wrong in Iraq is a way for other members of the administration to dodge responsibility for a misguided policy. — It makes perfect sense for a group of rebellious retired generals to demand that Rumsfeld go.
David S. Broder / Washington Post:
Listen to the Brass — Several months ago, when Rep. John Murtha, the Marine Corps veteran and longtime Democratic advocate for military preparedness, spoke out on the Iraq war, I received an interesting phone call from the Pentagon. When Murtha advocated a fundamental reassessment …
Raleigh News & Observer:
Two arrests made in Duke lacrosse case — Duke University lacrosse players Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty were charged today with first degree forcible rape, first degree sexual offense and kidnapping in connection with a reported rape at a Duke University lacrosse party, according to George Naylor, director of the jail.
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New York Times:
Two Duke Lacrosse Players Are Arrested and Charged — DURHAM, N.C., April 18 — Two Duke University men's lacrosse players were arrested today and charged with rape and kidnapping in a case involving a woman who has accused three team members of attacking her at a party last month.
Deepti Hajela / Associated Press:
Times-Picayune, Sun Herald Win Pulitzer — NEW YORK - The staffs of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans and The Sun Herald of south Mississippi captured Pulitzer Prizes for public service on Monday for chronicling the catastrophic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina despite life-changing damage to their own homes and workplaces.
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Peter Baker / Washington Post:
Bush Picks Portman as Budget Director — President Bush today selected U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman to be the new director of the Office of Management and Budget, moving quickly to revamp his team now that his new chief of staff is in place. — Portman, subject to Senate confirmation …
Discussion:
Wonkette
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Brit Hume / Fox News:
Zinni's Zinger? — Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine: — Former Clinton CENTCOM commander, Anthony Zinni — the most prominent of the retired generals attacking Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld — now says that, in the run-up to the war in Iraq, "What bothered me ...
Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Clinton Sets Bar for '08 Funds — Senator Has $20 Million for Reelection, Possible Presidential Bid — Candidates eyeing 2008 presidential bids collected millions for a variety of campaign committees over the first three months of the year, with New York Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton far ahead of the pack.
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway
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Danielle Braff / Chicago Sun Times:
Bush death threat tied to PU student — A Purdue University graduate student was arrested and charged with threatening to kill President George W. Bush, Laura Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. — Vikram Buddhi allegedly posted the detailed and threatening messages on an online message board.
Scott Carlson / Chronicle of Higher Education:
George Washington U. to Receive Jack Anderson's Papers — but FBI Wants to See Them First — During his life and career as a muckraking journalist in Washington, Jack Anderson cultivated secret sources throughout the halls of government — sources who passed on information that allowed Anderson …
Warren Hoge / New York Times:
U.S. Envoy to Expose 4 Sudanese in U.N. Debate About Darfur — UNITED NATIONS, April 17 — John R. Bolton, the United States ambassador, said Monday that he intended to offer a Security Council resolution on Tuesday that would publicly identify four Sudanese individuals responsible for atrocities …
Jason Leopold / truthout.org:
State Department Memo: '16 Words' Were False — Eleven days before President Bush's January 28, 2003, State of the Union address in which he said that the US learned from British intelligence that Iraq had attempted to acquire uranium from Africa - an explosive claim that helped pave the way to war …
Discussion:
The Left Coaster, Middle Earth Journal, Booman Tribune, Slate, Decision '08, Blogs for Bush, Democrats.com and TalkLeft
Hemmy So / Los Angeles Times:
Campus Lockdown Appalls Parents — Some students at an Inglewood elementary school were barred from using the restroom. — As students from neighboring secondary schools walked out of class recently to protest immigration legislation, one Inglewood elementary school imposed a lockdown …
Sobek / SobekPundit:
A Very Brief History of Art, Featuring Mr. Potato Head — As part of my never-ending quest to make the Llamabutchers one day say, "Holy crap, that Sobek fellow is so geeky, he makes us look flat out hip!" as well as part of certain court-ordered community service (I was framed, BTW) …
Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
Mississippi Senators' Rail Plan Challenged — War Bill Includes Millions to Move Just-Rebuilt Line — Mississippi's two U.S. senators included $700 million in an emergency war spending bill to relocate a Gulf Coast rail line that has already been rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina at a cost of at least $250 million.
Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:
Moussaoui's Childhood Is Presented as Mitigating Factor — ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 17 — Lawyers trying to persuade a jury to spare the life of Zacarias Moussaoui began presenting testimony about his childhood on Monday, to show that he grew up in a neglectful household in France where his father beat …