Top Items:
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," …
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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.
Editor and Publisher:
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:
Los Angeles Times, The Moderate Voice, Jon Swift, The Heretik, Taylor Marsh, Crooks and Liars and Outside The Beltway
John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Bush defends Gonzales: Just some confusion and mismanagement is all.... Update: (second video added) George Bush was questioned about Alberto Gonzales' role in the firing of US Attorneys in Mexico today. He wasn't too happy about it. He used the "pleasure of the President" talking point-called it a problem of "mismanagement."
Discussion:
Liberal Values
New York Times:
Bush Defends Gonzales in Firing of Prosecutors — President Bush defended Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales today amid the furor over the firing of federal prosecutors, but he said he was troubled over the clumsy handling of the dismissals. — "I do have confidence in Attorney General Al Gonzales …
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.
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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:
Weekly Standard, Council for Secular Humanism, Obsidian Wings, Michael P.F. van der Galiën and TAPPED
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 …
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:
Daily Kos
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Andrew Zajac / Chicago Tribune:
Fitzgerald: Rove tried to limit choice — WASHINGTON — Former Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) said Tuesday that White House political adviser Karl Rove told him in the spring of 2001 that he should limit his choice for U.S. attorney in Chicago to someone from Illinois.
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.
Jim Abrams / Associated Press:
House presses on open government agenda — WASHINGTON - The House Wednesday pressed forward on bills to open government records to the public and protect whistleblowers, brushing aside White House warnings that the bills faced opposition and in some cases a veto.
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
Bloomberg:
Giuliani Law Firm Lobbies in Texas for Chavez-Controlled Citgo — Rudolph Giuliani's law firm lobbies for Citgo Petroleum Corp., a unit of the state-owned oil company controlled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the U.S.'s chief antagonist in the Western Hemisphere.
Simon Cameron-Moore / Reuters:
Ire grows in Pakistan over judge's removal — ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's government, accused of using strongarm tactics and acting unconstitutionally over moves to sack the country's top judge, faces the prospect of growing opposition protests. — Lawyers in cities around the country kept …
Discussion:
BBC, ZEENEWS.COM, The Moderate Voice, NewsHog, Polimom Says, DownWithTyranny! and The Australian
Nico / Think Progress:
BREAKING: CBC chooses CNN over Fox — Last week, the Prospect reported that the Congressional Black Caucus were close to nearing a deal to host two Democratic presidentialy primary debates in concert with Fox News: … Black online activists led by ColorOfChange.org partnered …
Discussion:
U.S. Newswire, The Huffington Post, culturekitchen, The Carpetbagger Report, Daily Kos, Taylor Marsh, CorrenteWire and MyDD
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.