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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.
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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, Bring it On!, chez Diva, 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 …
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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New York Times:
Bush Picks U.S. Trade Envoy to Run Budget Office — WASHINGTON — President Bush on Tuesday nominated Trade Representative Rob Portman as the White House budget director, turning to a Washington insider and longtime friend as part of an effort to re-energize the administration and boost the president's record-low approval ratings.
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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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 ...
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.
Jamie Glazov / Front Page Magazine:
Saddam and Osama: The New Revelations — Frontpage Interview's guest today is Thomas Joscelyn, an expert on the international terrorist network. Much of his research has focused on the role that nations such as Saddam's Iraq and the mullah's Iran have played in providing support …
John Gorenfeld / alternet.org:
Rev. Moon's Conjugal Visitations — We all know the religious Right wants to tell us what we can't do in the bedroom, but no one asks what they want us to do instead. — Tools — Among the trendier gripes about why liberals lack power in American politics is that there isn't enough tolerance for America's faithful.
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 …
Richard Morin:
Pink Is the New Red — As President Bush's Popularity Falls, the Nation's Color Divide Adds a Few Hues — It seems that only yesterday American politics appeared to have found its true colors: Republican Red and Democratic Blue, the visual shorthand for an electorate that most thought …
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 …
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.