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.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Think Progress, The Carpetbagger Report, Seeing the Forest, DownWithTyranny!, Wonkette and JustOneMinute
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:
New York Times, Power Line, time-blog.com, Right Wing News, Outside The Beltway, Los Angeles Times, Macsmind, TPMmuckraker, Sunlight Foundation blogs, Flopping Aces, The Mahablog, Captain's Quarters, democracyarsenal.org, The Carpetbagger Report, Daily Kos, Sister Toldjah, The Moderate Voice, BobGeiger.com, Democrats.com, Talking Points Memo, Heath Haussamen …, TAPPED, Firedoglake, The Swamp, At-Largely, Hullabaloo, PoliBlog (TM), DownWithTyranny!, PunditGuy, The RBC, The Heretik, f a t c a t politics, protein wisdom, Think Progress, PBD, CorrenteWire, All Spin Zone, Middle Earth Journal, Shakespeare's Sister, Discourse.net, Political Animal, Democratic Underground, Bring it On!, The Agonist, On Deadline and D-Day
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 …
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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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.
Devlin Barrett / Associated Press:
Clinton: Right-wing conspiracy is back — WASHINGTON - The "vast, right-wing conspiracy" is back, presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton is warning, using a phrase she once coined to describe partisan plotting. — Once derided for her use of the phrase, Clinton is now trying to turn the imagery to her advantage.
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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.
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
When No News Is Strange News — The 19th-century German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a giant in the field of logic. The 21st-century philosopher Chuck Hagel? Not so much. — The Republican senator from Nebraska, flirting with a 2008 presidential run, scheduled …
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 …
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.
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
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.