Top Items:
Dana Blanton / Fox News:
04/20/06 FOX Poll: Gloomy Economic Views; Bush Approval at New Low — NEW YORK — More Americans disapprove than approve of how George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Congress are doing their jobs, while a majority approves of Condoleezza Rice. President Bush's approval hits a record low …
Michelle Malkin:
VIDEO: SHOUTING DOWN A TYRANT — Drudge flash: … I have video coming...stay tuned. — Update: Here's the clip (thanks to Allah Pundit). — Download and watch the video (.wmv file). — Photos from Yahoo!... News coverage from AP: … Question: Will these photos and video be available on a Google search?
RELATED ITEMS:
White House:
President Bush and President Hu of People's Republic of China Participate in Arrival Ceremony — THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Laura and I are pleased to welcome President Hu Jintao and his wife, Madame Liu, to the White House. (Applause.) — The United States and China are two nations divided …
Will / Attytood:
Woman arrested for speaking freely right after Bush call for "freedom...to speak freely" — and CNN calls it "a blemish" on Hu visit — Usually watching CNN with one eye as we blog from our undisclosed location doesn't give us much new fodder, except for the occasional "stuck landing gear" crisis.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post
Jason Leopold / truthout.org:
Grand Jury Hears Evidence Against Rove — Just as the news broke Wednesday about Scott McClellan resigning as White House press secretary and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove shedding some of his policy duties, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald met with the grand jury hearing evidence …
RELATED ITEMS:
Dave Newbart / Chicago Sun Times:
Novak: Feds know who outed CIA agent — Robert Novak said Wednesday that special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald knows who outed a CIA agent to the Chicago Sun-Times columnist but hasn't acted on the information because Novak's source committed no crime. — Novak also hinted that he personally …
New York Times:
Things Change, and Stay the Same — President Bush wants to show the nation he's shaking things up in his administration, but it is clear that the people who messed everything up will remain in place. The press secretary goes; the political-and-domestic-policy adviser is losing half his portfolio.
RELATED ITEMS:
Jay Rosen / PressThink:
The Jerk at the Podium: Scott McClellan Steps Away
The Jerk at the Podium: Scott McClellan Steps Away
Discussion:
Rox Populi, Decision '08, The Gun Toting Liberal, Needlenose, The RCP Blog, Washington Post and NewsBusters.org
Richard A. Oppel Jr / New York Times:
Iraqi Premier's Offer to Step Aside Is Seen as Breakthrough — BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 20 - In a sudden reversal, embattled Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said today that he was willing to relinquish his job, a move that was hailed by the country's other leaders as a breakthrough …
RELATED ITEMS:
Washington Post:
Al-Jafari to Give Up Nomination for Iraqi Prime Minister — BAGHDAD, April 20 — Iraq's prime minister will give up his nomination for a new term as head of the country's new government, a senior member of his Shiite party announced, only a few hours before a long-delayed parliament meeting scheduled …
Michael Hiltzik / Golden State:
On Anonymity in Blogland — Some years ago, the New Yorker ran an amusing cartoon about one of the supposed virtues of the Internet, its anonymity. It showed two dogs in front a computer. One was saying to the other (I am working from memory), "On the Internet, no one knows you're a dog."
RELATED ITEMS:
Patterico / Patterico's Pontifications:
Three in One: Michael Hiltzik, Mikekoshi, and Nofanofcablecos — Is an L.A. Times columnist leaving comments on the Internet under assumed "sock puppet" identities — identities which he pretends is someone other than himself? — Read on and judge for yourself. As for me, I've made up my mind, and the answer is "yes."
Greg Mitchell / Editor and Publisher:
A Crisis Almost Without Equal — Republicans and Democrats alike are starting to face the prospect of what it means to have George W. Bush as their commander in chief for another 33 months — in a time of war, terrorism, and nuclear intrigue. How can the press contribute to confronting the crisis?
RELATED ITEMS:
Peggy Noonan / Opinion Journal:
Don't Wait, Calibrate — Learn to bend, Mr. Bush. You won't break. — There have been, and apparently will be, personnel changes in the administration. The charmless and much-abused Scott McClellan is out; the focus of Karl Rove's portfolio has shifted back to hardball politics …
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report, Angry Bear, TAPPED, No More Mister Nice Blog, Economist's View and Demagogue
CNN:
Immigration arrests 9 bosses along with 1,000 workers — Strategy to focus more on companies that employ illegal workers — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Federal immigration authorities arrested nine people linked to the firm IFCO Systems and rounded up more than 1,000 illegal immigrants in multistate raids …
RELATED ITEMS:
Ken Silverstein / Harpers.org:
The Curt Weldon Employment Agency — Representative Curt Weldon (R., Penn.), a powerful member of the House Armed Services Committee, has been a good friend to the Italian firm Finmeccanica, and it appears that his good deeds on its behalf have been rewarded.
Discussion:
Middle Earth Journal, The Left Coaster, Talking Points Memo, War and Piece and TPM Muckraker
Editor and Publisher:
'NYT' Sunday Preview: Madeleine Albright Can Leg-Press 400 Pounds — NEW YORK In an interview in the The New York Times Magazine that will appear this coming Sunday, Madeleine Albright reveals, among other things, that even at 68, she works out three times a week "and I can leg-press up to 400 pounds."
Discussion:
Riehl World View, The Claremont Institute, Wonkette, Blue Star Chronicles and A List Of Things Thrown …
Associated Press:
Reid blasts Bush during Reno visit — RENO, Nev. (AP) - The Bush administration is relying too heavily on other countries in the international effort to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, according to Sen. Harry Reid. — Reid, D-Nev., said the administration should be taking the lead …
Sean Wilentz / Rolling Stone:
The Worst President in History? — One of America's leading historians assesses George W. Bush — George W. Bush's presidency appears headed for colossal historical disgrace. Barring a cataclysmic event on the order of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, after which the public might rally around …