Top Items:
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.
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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.
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.
Amanda / Think Progress:
Gonzales Lied Under Oath, Said All Bush-Appointed Attorneys Would Be 'Senate-Confirmed' — A little-noticed provision slipped into the Patriot Act in 2005 allows the President to appoint "interim" U.S. attorneys for an indefinite period of time, without Senate confirmation.
Washington Post:
Firings Had Genesis in White House — Ex-Counsel Miers First Suggested Dismissing Prosecutors 2 Years Ago, Documents Show — The White House suggested two years ago that the Justice Department fire all 93 U.S. attorneys, a proposal that eventually resulted in the dismissals of eight prosecutors last year …
Discussion:
TPMmuckraker, Power Line, Right Wing News, Macsmind, Sunlight Foundation blogs, Flopping Aces, The Mahablog, Captain's Quarters, democracyarsenal.org, Daily Kos, BobGeiger.com, Democrats.com, Heath Haussamen …, TAPPED, At-Largely, The Swamp, Hullabaloo, f a t c a t politics, protein wisdom, CorrenteWire, Shakespeare's Sister, All Spin Zone, Discourse.net, The Carpetbagger Report, Bring it On!, The Agonist and D-Day
New York Times:
White House Said to Prompt Firing of Prosecutors
White House Said to Prompt Firing of Prosecutors
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway, Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, The Mahablog, The Daily Dish, TalkLeft, Sister Toldjah, BuzzFlash, The Moderate Voice, TPMmuckraker, Talking Points Memo, Firedoglake, PoliBlog (TM), The Carpetbagger Report, DownWithTyranny!, The RBC, Daily Kos, The Democratic Daily, Hullabaloo, The Heretik, Brilliant at Breakfast, Prairie Weather, Think Progress, PBD, Middle Earth Journal, Brendan Calling, Political Animal, The Sideshow, Left in the West, On Deadline, All Spin Zone and rubber hose
Aamer Madhani / Chicago Tribune:
Don't drop `don't ask, don't tell,' Pace says — Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday that he supports the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays serving in the military because homosexual acts "are immoral," akin to a member of the armed forces conducting …
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Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:
Republican Rebukes Pace, but Defense Secretary Defends 'Don't Ask' Policy
Republican Rebukes Pace, but Defense Secretary Defends 'Don't Ask' Policy
Discussion:
AMERICAblog
Washington Post:
The Pelosi Plan for Iraq — THE RESTRICTIONS on Iraq war funding drawn up by the House Democratic leadership are exquisitely tailored to bring together the party's leftist and centrist wings. For the Out of Iraq Caucus, which demands that Congress force a withdrawal of all U.S. troops …
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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 …
CNN:
Poll: 58 percent want Iraq withdrawal by 2008 or sooner … WASHINGTON (CNN) — Nearly six in 10 Americans want to see U.S. troops leave Iraq either immediately or within a year, and more would rather have Congress running U.S. policy in the conflict than President Bush, according to a CNN poll out Tuesday.
Discussion:
Associated Press, BobGeiger.com, Pollster, Booman Tribune, Sirotablog and The Democratic Daily
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.
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Clinton nabs K St. backers her rivals shun — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has a network of lobbyists and political insiders three times the size of her closest Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), but many influential party members inside the Beltway are holding back to see how their race plays out.
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Peter Finn / Washington Post:
Dispute Halts Delivery Of Atomic Fuel to Iran — Russian officials said Monday that nuclear fuel will not be delivered to Iran this month as planned and that the September completion of a Russian-built nuclear power plant will be postponed because of an escalating dispute between the two countries.
Jonah Goldberg / Los Angeles Times:
Unity is overrated — Calls to 'put politics aside' really mean 'stop disagreeing with me and shut up.' — BECAUSE WE'RE AT the start of the electoral roller coaster, the part where the car slowly chugs upward, building anticipation for the gut-wrenching plunges and loop-the-loops ahead …
John Tierney / New York Times:
What's So Funny? Well, Maybe Nothing — So there are these two muffins baking in an oven. One of them yells, "Wow, it's hot in here!" — And the other muffin replies: "Holy cow! A talking muffin!" — Did that alleged joke make you laugh? I would guess (and hope) not.
Discussion:
Balkinization
Rasmussen Reports:
MN Senate Poll: Coleman 46% Franken 36% — Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman (R) knows he is high on the Democrats' wish list this cycle and the first Rasmussen Reports Senate poll for Election 2008 shows the incumbent starting off below the 50% level of support.
Daniel Terdiman / CNET News.com:
Dan Rather: Journalism has 'lost its guts' — AUSTIN, TEXAS—To longtime CBS broadcaster Dan Rather, American journalism in recent years "has in some ways lost its guts." — During his hour-long keynote address at South by Southwest Interactive, Rather opined at length on the state of his profession …
Reuters:
Viacom in $1 bln copyright suit vs Google, YouTube — NEW YORK (Reuters) - Media conglomerate Viacom Inc. said on Tuesday it filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Google Inc. and its Internet video sharing site YouTube over unauthorized use of its copyrighted entertainment.