memeorandum: No deal, Kerik says to plea offer & prison time (Robert F. Moore/NY Daily News)

4:15 PM ET, March 14, 2007

Top Items:

Editorial Pages Call for Axing Attorney General — NEW YORK The New York Times got the editorial ball rolling on Monday, calling for the firing of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales due largely, if not completely, to the burgeoning scandal involving the forced departure of eight U.S. attorneys.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Los Angeles Times, The Moderate Voice, Jon Swift, The Heretik, Taylor Marsh, Bench Conference and Outside The Beltway

Real Cities:

Current situation is distinct from Clinton firings of U.S. attorneys — WASHINGTON - The Bush administration and its defenders like to point out that President Bush isn't the first president to fire U.S. attorneys and replace them with loyalists. — While that's true, the current case is different.

Discussion: Think Progress, The Huffington Post, Polimom Says, Macsmind, The Carpetbagger Report and Donklephant

CNN:

Bush irked by 'mistakes' in attorney firings … WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush said Wednesday he is "not happy" about mistakes surrounding the decision to fire eight U.S. attorneys, but his faith in his attorney general is unwavering. — "I do have confidence in AG Al Gonzales," …

Discussion: New York Times, The Carpetbagger Report, My Left Wing, Citizens Blogging …, Central Sanity and TPMmuckraker

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

The Trap That Gonzales Fell Into — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has fallen into a tough spot, either through his ignorance or by his own machinations. Gonzales testified to Congress that the White House had no involvement in the firings of eight US Attorneys, but a series of memos …

Discussion: MyDD, Donklephant and Crooks and Liars

Washington Post:

Gonzales:'Mistakes Were Made' — But Attorney Genera Defends Firings ofEight U.S. Attorneys — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales took responsibility yesterday for "mistakes" related to the firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year but rejected calls for his resignation from Democrats who accuse him of misleading Congress.

Discussion: New York Times, About U.S. Politics, Talking Points Memo, Law Blog, Prairie Weather and TalkLeft

Opinion Journal:
The Hubbell Standard — Hillary Clinton knows all about sacking U.S. Attorneys.

Discussion: Washington Post, Patterico's Pontifications, Scared Monkeys, The Mahablog, Gates of Vienna, Macsmind, Betsy's Page, NewsBusters.org, Sister Toldjah, ABCNEWS, The Right Angle and Gateway Pundit

White House:
Press Briefing by Dan Bartlett, Counselor to the President

Discussion: Firedoglake, First Draft and Extreme Mortman

New York Times:
Bush Defends Gonzales in Firing of Prosecutors

Discussion: TalkLeft

CNN: Fired attorneys say apologies are in order

Peter Baker / Washington Post:
Bush Defends Gonzales's Decision

Discussion: Firedoglake

Patrick Healy / New York Times:

Clinton and Obama Court Jewish Vote — As Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama compete for Jewish donors and voters, Mrs. Clinton is following a tried-and-true rule of hers from New York — support Israel to the last — while Mr. Obama is trying a more delicate strategy that hit some bumps this week.

Discussion: Ezra Klein, Rootless Cosmopolitan, TIME: Swampland and Matthew Yglesias

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

The president receives "lessons" from his neoconservative tutors — (updated below - updated again) — On February 28, George Bush hosted what he called "a literary luncheon" to honor "historian" Andrew Roberts. Accounts of that luncheon — which describe the "lessons" …

Discussion: Council for Secular Humanism, Weekly Standard, Obsidian Wings, Michael P.F. van der Galiën and TAPPED

Scott McConnell / The American Conservative:
Bloggers vs. the Lobby

Discussion: Ezra Klein

Robert F. Moore / NY Daily News:

No deal, Kerik says to plea offer & prison time — Disgraced former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik borrowed a line from a popular game show after federal prosecutors made him a plea offer that would have required him to do time: — No deal. — "He rejected the plea deal because he paid …

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Daily Kos

New York Times:
Kerik Is Said to Refuse a Plea That Calls for Prison Time

Discussion: TalkLeft and No More Mister Nice Blog

kuna.net.kw:

MIL-IRAQ-US SOLDIERS — Baghdad security crackdown seriously curbs killings of US soldiers — The rate of killings of US troops in Iraq has been on the decline, down by 60 percent, since the launch of the new security measures in Baghdad, according to statistics revealed …

Discussion: Attytood, The Jawa Report and Hang Right Politics

Kevin Drum / Political Animal:

MORE NCLB....Matt Yglesias thinks I'm being paranoid when I say that some of NCLB's supporters view it as a clever Trojan horse designed to officially label public schools as failures: … Let me make several points in response. You can all decide whether they're fair ones:

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

Amit R. Paley / Washington Post:
'No Child' Target Is Called Out of Reach

Discussion: Eduwonk.com and The Sideshow

Alan K. Simpson / Washington Post:

Bigotry That Hurts Our Military — As a lifelong Republican who served in the Army in Germany, I believe it is critical that we review — and overturn — the ban on gay service in the military. I voted for "don't ask, don't tell." But much has changed since 1993.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Political Animal, Captain's Quarters, Pam's House Blend, The Carpetbagger Report, Pandagon, Midtopia, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Donklephant and ABCNEWS

Ynetnews:

London report: Senior Iranian officer 'disappears' — Tehran has lost contact with a senior Iranian officer serving in Iraq, according to London-based Arabic newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat. Iranian source speculates that he may have been taken into custody by Americans — Roee Nahmias

Discussion: Hot Air, Roger L. Simon and Confederate Yankee

Orin Kerr / The Volokh Conspiracy:

WHY HAVEN'T WE WRITTEN ABOUT THE US ATTORNEYS' STORY?: In an unrelated comment thread, anonymous commenter "CrazyTrain" writes: … First, I would like to clear up something: Of course we are all political hacks! Our secret trick is that we alternate which side to spin …

Discussion: NewsHog, Flopping Aces, Obsidian Wings, Right Wing Nut House, Confederate Yankee, QandO, Outside The Beltway, JustOneMinute, PrawfsBlawg and The Anonymous Liberal

Cain Burdeau / Associated Press:

Corps placed faulty pumps in New Orleans — NEW ORLEANS - The Army Corps of Engineers, rushing to meet President Bush's promise to protect New Orleans by the start of the 2006 hurricane season, installed defective flood-control pumps last year despite warnings from its own expert that the equipment …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Democratic Daily, Polimom Says, Eschaton and Brilliant at Breakfast

Nicolette Hahn Niman / New York Times:

Pig Out — WITH some fanfare, the world's largest pork producer, Smithfield Foods, recently announced that it intended to phase out certain cages for its breeding females. Called gestation crates, the cages virtually immobilize pigs during their pregnancies in metal stalls so narrow they are unable to turn around.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Donklephant and Gristmill