memeorandum: DoJ Claimed "No Role" in Rove Aide's Hiring (Paul Kiel/TPMmuckraker)

9:55 PM ET, March 13, 2007

Top Items:

Crew / Citizens Blogging for Responsibility …:

BREAKING: CREW wants Special Prosecutor to investigate potential criminal violations in U.S. Attorney firings — CREW wants the immediate appointment of a Special Prosecutor to investigate potential criminal violations related to the recent dismissals of eight U.S. Attorneys.

Discussion: Think Progress, MyDD, TPMmuckraker, Pam's House Blend, DownWithTyranny!, Flopping Aces, Wonkette, Seeing the Forest, protein wisdom, JustOneMinute and The Carpetbagger Report

CNN:

Gonzales: 'Mistakes were made' in U.S. attorneys' firings … WASHINGTON (CNN) — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday that "mistakes were made" regarding the firing of eight U.S. attorneys and he accepts responsibility for the ordeal. — "My pledge to the American people is to find out what went wrong here," he said.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Redstate, Booman Tribune, Wonkette, The Moderate Voice, PoliBlog (TM) and Kiko's House

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:

Gonzales: I'm "Dismayed" — We just watched Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' press conference here. The gist: Gonzales said that he accepts responsibility for the "mistakes" made at the Justice Department... but argued that he is not "aware" of "all decisions" at the Justice Department.

Discussion: CNN, Sunlight Foundation blogs, The Huffington Post, Attytood and Washington Post

Bill Brubaker / Washington Post:

Gonzales Accepts Responsibility for 'Mistakes' — Schumer Warns Sampson's Resignation Does Not Absolve Attorney General — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said today he does not regret firing eight federal prosecutors last year, but he accepts responsibility for "mistakes" …

Discussion: Salon, Dick Polman's American Debate, NewsBusters.org, Wonkette, Macsmind, MyDD and Sunlight Foundation blogs

Andrew Cohen / Bench Conference:

Alberto Gonzales: A Willing Accessory at Justice — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales is the 80th attorney general of the United States and if recent events in the law and at the Justice Department are any indication, he is rapidly staking a claim to being among the worst.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Prairie Weather and The Next Hurrah

Associated Press:

Gonzales Accepts Resignation of Top Aide — WASHINGTON — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales abruptly canceled travel plans Tuesday amid growing calls for his ouster over the firings of eight federal prosecutors during a White House-directed housecleaning of U.S. attorneys.

Discussion: Think Progress, TPMmuckraker, Is That Legal?, PunditGuy, Wonkette, TBogg, Macsmind, Shakespeare's Sister and Pajamas Media

TRex / Firedoglake:
That's All, Folks!

Discussion: TalkLeft and Needlenose

Lara Jakes Jordan / Associated Press:
Gonzales rejects calls for resignation

Discussion: Firedoglake, Heath Haussamen …, Outside The Beltway and New York Times

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:
DoJ Claimed "No Role" in Rove Aide's Hiring

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Citizens Blogging … and D-Day

Andrew Cohen / CBS News:
Gonzales & The White House: The Plot Thickens

Discussion: NewsBusters.org

SilentPatriot / Crooks and Liars:
Gonzales Admits Errors in Prosecutor Firings

Discussion: Discourse.net and On Deadline

MSNBC:
Gonzales acknowledges mistakes in firings

Discussion: AMERICAblog, Bring it On!, War and Piece and Shakespeare's Sister

Amanda / Think Progress:
Gonzales Lied Under Oath, Said All Bush-Appointed Attorneys …

Discussion: Donklephant, Outside The Beltway, The Mahablog, TAPPED, The Swamp, TPMmuckraker, Sister Toldjah, At-Largely, DownWithTyranny!, PoliBlog (TM), Captain's Quarters, The Heretik and Firedoglake

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:
How U.S. Attorneys Get Appointed

Discussion: Power Line, Right Wing News, Macsmind, PoliBlog (TM), TigerHawk, Wizbang, PBD and Washington Post

CNN:

Top general: Remarks on gays were 'personal moral views' … WASHINGTON (CNN) — The top U.S. military officer, Gen. Peter Pace, said Tuesday he should have focused more on military policy and less on his own opinion when he told a newspaper homosexual acts are immoral.

Discussion: The Lede, The RBC, The Moderate Voice, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Chicago Tribune

Aamer Madhani / Chicago Tribune:
Don't drop `don't ask, don't tell,' Pace says

Discussion: At-Largely and Donklephant

Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:
Republican Rebukes Pace, but Defense Secretary Defends 'Don't Ask' Policy

Discussion: Reuters, Box Turtle Bulletin, D-Day, The Daily Dish and AMERICAblog

Nico / Think Progress:
Pelosi: 'We Don't Need Moral Judgment From The Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs'

Discussion: Democracy Project, AMERICAblog, Pam's House Blend, Associated Press, SLDN, Taylor Marsh, The Carpetbagger Report and Central Sanity

Mark Green / The Politico:

Air America's Invitation — Tweaking the Fox News Channel, the president of liberal Air America Radio this morning sent a letter to the chairmen of four state Republican parties, offering to host and broadcast the state parties' upcoming presidential debates.

Discussion: Donklephant, MyDD, The Carpetbagger Report, Big Lizards, The American Mind, Daily Kos, The Impolitic, Tennessee Guerilla Women and Think Progress

Ian Swanson / The Hill:

Pelosi hears boos at AIPAC — Members of the main pro-Israel lobbying group offered scattered boos to a statement by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that the Iraq war has been a failure on several scores. — The boos, mixed with some polite applause, stood in stark contrast …

Discussion: Power Line, The Nation, New York Times, American Prospect, Crooks and Liars, Hot Air, Hang Right Politics, Atlas Shrugs, Washington Post and Neocon Express

CNN:
Poll: 58 percent want Iraq withdrawal by 2008 or sooner

Discussion: BobGeiger.com, Associated Press, The Coffee House, Booman Tribune, Pollster, DownWithTyranny!, Sirotablog and The Democratic Daily

Will / Attytood:

Why Bob Shrum is a loser...and what's so "serious" about invading other countries? — There was a reality show on TV not so long ago called "The Biggest Loser" — I'm pretty sure it was about shedding weight, since if it had been about politics, it would have simply featured 60 minutes every week …

Discussion: Hot Air and Matthew Yglesias

Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:
Adviser Regrets Pushing Edwards on Iraq

Discussion: TigerHawk

Matt Stoller / MyDD:

List of Blue Dog Saboteurs — From a source close to the House Democratic caucus, here's a list of Blue Dogs that don't want to vote for this bill because it has a certain date for withdrawal. — Michael Arcuri (NY-24) — John Barrow (GA-12) — Melissa Bean (IL-08) — Dan Boren (OK-02)

Discussion: Firedoglake, Daily Kos, DownWithTyranny! and TalkLeft

Michael Yon / Fox News:

ERNIE IS DEAD: WEB CORRESPONDENT MICHAEL YON REPORTS FROM IRAQ — Michael Yon is an independent writer, photographer and former Green Beret who was embedded in Iraq for nine months in 2005. He has returned to Iraq for 2007 to continue reporting on the war. Here is a portion of his first dispatch for FOXNews.com.

Discussion: Confederate Yankee and Media Blog

The Blotter:

Exclusive: Curveball, the Defector Whose Lies Led to War — Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz Report: — The Iraqi defector known as Curveball, whose fabricated stories of "mobile biological weapons labs" helped lead the U.S. to war four years ago, is still being protected by the German intelligence service …

Discussion: The American Street, Political Animal, The Daily Dish and Think Progress

Bruce Loudon / The Australian:

US looks at plan to oust Musharraf — THE US has indicated for the first time that it might be willing to back plans by elite echelons of the military in Islamabad to oust Pervez Musharraf from power, as the Pakistani President was beset by major new difficulties over his attempts to sack the country's chief justice.

Discussion: Pacific Views, Crooks and Liars and Middle Earth Journal

Jay Carney / time-blog.com:

Where Credit Is Due — Twelve days ago, after David Iglesias went public, I said that if there turned out to be a broad conspiracy behind the firing of the U.S. Attorneys, "I will take my hat off to Marshall and others in the blogosphere and congratulate them for having been right …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Mahablog, The Carpetbagger Report, D-Day and The Agonist