memeorandum: States may force megaprimary, winnow the 2008 field early (Susan Milligan/Boston Globe)

10:20 AM ET, March 6, 2007

Top Items:

Former Prosecutor Says Departure Was Pressured — The former federal prosecutor in Maryland said Monday that he was forced out in early 2005 because of political pressure stemming from public corruption investigations involving associates of the state's governor, a Republican.

Discussion: Firedoglake, MyDD, Think Progress and Prairie Weather

Washington Post:

Rep. Wilson Says She Contacted Prosecutor — Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) acknowledged today that she contacted a federal prosecutor to complain about the pace of his public corruption investigations, as the Senate Ethics Committee signaled that it had opened a preliminary inquiry …

Discussion: New Mexico Politics …, Citizens Blogging …, The Carpetbagger Report, At-Largely, Talking Points Memo, DownWithTyranny!, TPMmuckraker, Heath Haussamen …, All Spin Zone, MyDD, TBogg, Associated Press, CREW and Daily Kos

Marisa Taylor / Real Cities:

U.S. attorney worried 'gloves would come off' over criticism of ouster — WASHINGTON _ A high-ranking Justice Department official told one of the U.S. attorneys fired by the Bush administration that if any of them continued to criticize the administration for their ousters …

Discussion: The RBC, TPMmuckraker, Talking Points Memo and Balloon Juice

Evan Perez / Wall Street Journal:
Gonzales Defends Move to Fire Attorneys, Denies Political Role

Discussion: TPMmuckraker

David Johnston / New York Times:
Messenger in Prosecutors' Firings Quits

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Peter Hamby / CNN:

Companies to pull ads from Coulter's Web site … WASHINGTON (CNN) — At least three major companies want their ads pulled from Ann Coulter's Web site, following customer complaints about the right-wing commentator referring to Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards as a "faggot."

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Heading Left and The Populist

Jack Shafer / Slate:

Our Ann Coulter Problem — WHY THE PRESS CAN'T IGNORE HER. — Ann Coulter shocked nobody last week by calling presidential candidate John Edwards a "faggot" during her appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference. — Here's the YouTube video, as well as the quotation captured by the Associated Press:

Discussion: The Indepundit, Attytood, King of Zembla and Liberty Street

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
The Long Fuse on Ann Coulter's Bomb

Discussion: Simianbrain

Nico / Think Progress:
Coulter: The Conservative Movement Will Stick By Me

Discussion: AMERICAblog, The Moderate Voice, The Absurd Report, The Sundries Shack, Shakespeare's Sister, Hullabaloo, Riehl World View, Argghhh!, The Huffington Post, Nitpicker and At-Largely

SilentPatriot / Crooks and Liars:
Coulter: Edwards Slur Was A "Schoolyard Taunt"

Discussion: State of the Day, TalkLeft and The Agonist

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Video: Michelle talks Coulter and Maher on O'Reilly; Update …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Ace of Spades HQ, Wizblog, Riehl World View, PostWatch and Little Miss Attila

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Keene on Coulter — I just got an email from the American Conservative Union.

Discussion: Pam's House Blend and INSTAPUTZ

New York Times:

9 U.S. Troops Killed in Blasts North of Baghdad — The American military command in Iraq reported today that nine American servicemen were killed in two blasts north of Baghdad on Monday, making it the deadliest day in weeks for U.S. troops. — Six soldiers were killed and three others wounded …

Discussion: TAPPED

Lauren Frayer / Associated Press: 9 U.S. soldiers killed north of Baghdad

CNN:
Blasts kill 9 U.S. soldiers in Iraq

Discussion: AMERICAblog

Shaun Mullen / The Moderate Voice: Iraq: Trying to Wish the War Away

The Blotter:

Kidnapped or Defected? Top Iranian General Disappears — Hoda Osman and Christopher Isham Report: — The mysterious disappearance of an Iranian general in Turkey in early February has led to speculation he either was kidnapped or defected. — Iran has reportedly asked Interpol to investigate the general's disappearance.

Discussion: Ynetnews, Hot Air, Don Surber, The Belmont Club, Redstate, The Moderate Voice, Ace of Spades HQ, JammieWearingFool, The Political Pit Bull and The Jawa Report

Yoav Stern / Haaretz:
Missing Iranian official may have information on Ron Arad

Discussion: Israel Matzav and Obsidian Wings

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters: Where In The World Is Ali Reza Asgari?

Washington Post:

Apologies, Anger at Walter Reed Hearing — Army Chiefs Plead Ignorance, But Lawmakers Are Skeptical — Senior commanders of the Army offered profuse apologies yesterday for the poor treatment accorded many soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but lawmakers expressed skepticism …

Discussion: All Spin Zone and On Deadline

Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:
Walter Reed commanders admit fault

Discussion: All Spin Zone and Stop The ACLU

Michael McAuliff / NY Daily News:

Hil & Bam gear up for battle over Jewish vote — WASHINGTON - Fresh off their battle for the hearts of black Americans, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are about to go head to head for Jewish votes. — The leaders for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 plan dueling receptions Monday …

Discussion: The Caucus

Robert Collier / San Francisco Chronicle:

A WARMING WORLD — China about to pass U.S. as world's top generator of greenhouse gases — Far more than previously acknowledged, the battle against global warming will be won or lost in China, even more so than in the West, new data show. — A report released last week …

Discussion: QandO, Iowa Voice, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Belmont Club and Jay Currie

Susan Milligan / Boston Globe:

States may force megaprimary, winnow the 2008 field early — 19 states look to have early say in '08 race — WASHINGTON — States with more than half the nation's population are zeroing in on Feb. 5 next year to stage their presidential primaries, creating a single day that could determine …

Discussion: The News Buckit

Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:

Democrats Alter Plan To Restrict Iraq War — Senior House Democrats, seeking to placate members of their party from Republican-leaning districts, are pushing a plan that would place restrictions on President Bush's ability to wage the war in Iraq but would allow him to waive them if he publicly justifies his position.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Daily Kos and Decision '08

Fox News:

WEBB INTRODUCES BILL BARRING FUNDING FOR MILITARY ACTION AGAINST IRAN — WASHINGTON — A Democratic senator on Monday introduced legislation that in some cases would deny funding for the Bush administration to take military action against Iran without first getting congressional approval.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Taylor Marsh, GOP Bloggers, Jules Crittenden and The Political Pit Bull

Associated Press:

Russian Journalist Dies in Fall From Window — A military correspondent for Russia's top business daily has died after falling out of a window, and some media alleged Monday that he might have been killed for his critical reporting. — Ivan Safronov, the military affairs writer for Kommersant …

Discussion: Redstate, Blue Crab Boulevard, At-Largely and GOP Bloggers

Hope Yen / Associated Press:

Privacy board clears U.S. spy programs — WASHINGTON - A White House privacy board is giving its stamp of approval to two of the Bush administration's controversial surveillance programs — electronic eavesdropping and financial tracking — and says they do not violate citizens' civil liberties.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and Iowa Voice