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

7:00 PM ET, March 13, 2007

Top Items:

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 and Macsmind

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, TPMmuckraker, Seeing the Forest, DownWithTyranny!, Wonkette, 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, The Moderate Voice, Wonkette, Outside The Beltway, Kiko's House, PoliBlog (TM) and New York Times

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: The Huffington Post, Sunlight Foundation blogs and Attytood

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.

Discussion: The Mahablog, Washington Post, The Swamp, Talking Points Memo, PoliBlog (TM), DownWithTyranny!, TAPPED, The Carpetbagger Report, The RBC and The Heretik

TRex / Firedoglake:

That's All, Folks! — TINAT (This is not a transcript.) — Weee-heh-heell, Porky's little 2:00 presser didn't go very well, did it? Gonzo walked into that one like the proverbial man in a pork chop suit walking into the lion cage. — For those of you who missed it …

Discussion: TalkLeft and Needlenose

Bill Brubaker / Washington Post:
Gonzales Accepts Responsibility for 'Mistakes'

Discussion: Salon, Dick Polman's American Debate, Wonkette, Heath Haussamen …, Sister Toldjah and Firedoglake

Deacon / Power Line:
ABOUT THOSE FIRED U.S. ATTORNEYS

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Right Wing News, The Mahablog, Flopping Aces, Macsmind, TigerHawk and Wizbang

Jay Carney / time-blog.com:
Where Credit Is Due — Twelve days ago, after David Iglesias …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Mahablog, The Carpetbagger Report and The Agonist

MSNBC:
Gonzales acknowledges mistakes in firings

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

David Bowermaster / Seattle Times:
McKay "stunned" by report on Bush

Discussion: Comments From Left Field, Political Animal, CorrenteWire, The Carpetbagger Report and Tennessee Guerilla Women

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:
Today's Must Read

Discussion: Associated Press, Firedoglake, Outside The Beltway, Booman Tribune, TalkLeft, The Daily Dish, Macsmind, Captain's Quarters, The Huffington Post, MyDD, Sunlight Foundation blogs, The Moderate Voice, At-Largely, Shakespeare's Sister and Pajamas Media

John Aravosis / AMERICAblog: Gonzales speaks — UPDATE: As Atrios notes, if Harriet Miers …

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: The Nation, New York Times, American Prospect, Crooks and Liars, Hang Right Politics, Power Line, Atlas Shrugs and Booman Tribune

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 …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Austin Bay Blog, The Influence Peddler, Captain's Quarters, Jules Crittenden, Confederate Yankee, Don Surber, Los Angeles Times, Argghhh!, The Glittering Eye, Blue Crab Boulevard, The American Mind, The Strata-Sphere, TigerHawk, The Sideshow, Hot Air and Betsy's Page

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

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

Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:

Republican Rebukes Pace, but Defense Secretary Defends 'Don't Ask' Policy — GOP Senator 'Strongly Disagrees' With Pace Comments That Homosexuality Is 'Immoral' — In a rare rebuke of the nation's top military officer, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., says he strongly disagrees with Gen. Peter Pace's views that homosexuality is "immoral."

Discussion: Reuters, Box Turtle Bulletin, Taylor Marsh, D-Day, The Daily Dish, AMERICAblog and Chicago Tribune

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 …

Discussion: At-Largely and Donklephant

CNN:
Top general: Remarks on gays were 'personal moral views'

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

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: The Carpetbagger Report, Daily Kos, The Impolitic and Think Progress

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: Political Animal, The Daily Dish and Think Progress

Associated Press:

Lange: May cut social service funds to pass budget — HELENA - The Republican House leader said he is prepared to strip $2 billion in federal money out of the social services budget if that's what it takes to advance the GOP budget bills. — The announcement comes as the House gets ready …

Discussion: Sirotablog and Left in the West

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

Justices to Hear Landmark Free-Speech Case — Defiant Message Spurs Most Significant Student 1st Amendment Test in Decades — The most important student free-speech conflict to reach the Supreme Court since the height of the Vietnam War hinges on a somewhat absurd, vaguely offensive, mostly nonsensical message of protest.

Discussion: The BLT, Lean Left and SCOTUSblog

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.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Minnesota Campaign Report and Daily Kos