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, Sadly, No!, Bring it On!, CorrenteWire, Blog for America and Liberty Street
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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 ...
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 …
David S. Broder / Washington Post:
Listen to the Brass — Several months ago, when Rep. John Murtha …
Listen to the Brass — Several months ago, when Rep. John Murtha …
Rose Garden / White House:
President Bush Nominates Rob Portman as OMB Director and Susan Schwab for USTR — THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Today I'm announcing my nomination of two outstanding individuals to serve in my Cabinet and on my economic team. — First, I will nominate Rob Portman to be the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
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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 …
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.
New York Times:
Tensions Rise as Blast Hits Tel Aviv — TEL AVIV, Israel, April 17 — A Palestinian suicide bomber killed nine people and wounded dozens today when he detonated a bag of explosives at a falafel restaurant in a gritty, working-class section of Tel Aviv, further inflaming tensions between Israel …
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Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
A "Pulitzer Prize for Treason" — (updated below with transcript of Bill Bennett's comments) — Several weeks ago, The Washington Post published an Op-Ed jointly written by Bill Bennett and his neoconservative comrade Alan Dershowitz, in which Bennett — of all people …
Discussion:
Norwegianity, Blinq, Proof Through the Night, The Carpetbagger Report, Running Scared and Eschaton
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CNN:
Two Duke lacrosse players charged with rape — Investigation under way to determine identity of third suspect — DURHAM, North Carolina (CNN) — Two members of the Duke University lacrosse team were arrested and charged early Tuesday with raping a woman hired as a dancer at a team party, jail officials said.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Gawker, ACSBlog, PoliticalSports, Oliver Willis and Preemptive Karma
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Bobbie Johnson / Guardian:
Ignore bloggers at your peril, say researchers — Bloggers and internet pundits are exerting a "disproportionately large influence" on society, according to a report by a technology research company. Its study suggests that although "active" web users make up only a small proportion …
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 …
Discussion:
Asia Times, Captain's Quarters, TAPPED, AMERICAN FUTURE, A Blog For All and Blue Crab Boulevard
Richard Cohen:
A Campaign Gore Can't Lose — Boring Al Gore has made a movie. It is on the most boring of all subjects — global warming. It is more than 80 minutes long, and the first two or three go by slowly enough that you can notice that Gore has gained weight and that his speech still seems oddly out of sync.
David Horovitz / Jerusalem Post:
Lieberman: US could attack Iran's nukes — The US is probably incapable of completely destroying the Iranian nuclear program, but as a last resort it could attempt to knock out "some of the components" in order to "delay and deter it," Senator Joe Lieberman, the former Democratic vice presidential candidate …
Elwin Green / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Black business owners on rise — Black Americans are becoming entrepreneurs at a rapidly increasing rate and Pittsburgh is following the trend, a new report issued by the Census Bureau suggests. — The report, "Survey of Business Owners: Black-Owned Firms: 2002," says that between 1997 and 2002 …
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 …
Fred Kaplan / Slate:
You Wanna Talk? Let's Talk — The case for negotiating with Iran. — The Iranians' call for more nuclear talks is probably a snare, designed to knot up the West in fruitless diplomacy while they accelerate their drive to build atomic bombs. Yet President Bush should take them up on their offer …
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) …