memeorandum: Senate Budget Would Expand Health Care (Lori Montgomery/Washington Post)

6:10 PM ET, March 14, 2007

Top Items:

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

White House:

President Bush and President Calderón Participate in a Joint Press Availability — PRESIDENT CALDERÓN: (As translated.) Good morning, Mr. President, dear friends from the media. I thank you for being here in this press conference. I would like to thank …

Discussion: TPMmuckraker and First Draft

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 and Crooks and Liars

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, The Mahablog, Opinion Journal, Scared Monkeys, Polimom Says, Macsmind, The Carpetbagger Report, Donklephant, ABCNEWS and Gateway Pundit

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 …

Discussion: PoliBlog (TM), TalkLeft and Prairie Weather

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: Hullabaloo

Laurie Kellman / Associated Press:
Republican says Gonzales should be fired

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and Washington Post

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

Discussion: Think Progress, Firedoglake, First Draft and Extreme Mortman

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
The Trap That Gonzales Fell Into

Discussion: Betsy's Page, MyDD and Donklephant

Washington Post:
Gonzales:'Mistakes Were Made' — But Attorney Genera Defends …

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

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

Discussion: Firedoglake

CNN: Fired attorneys say apologies are in order

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

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

Discussion: Ezra Klein

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, protein wisdom, The Jawa Report and Hang Right Politics

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

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

Discussion: TalkLeft and No More Mister Nice Blog

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.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Hullabaloo, Washington Post and AMERICAblog

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.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Liberal Values, Shakespeare's Sister, Hotline On Call and Daily Kos

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, Captain's Quarters, Think Progress, Political Animal, The Carpetbagger Report, Pam's House Blend, 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

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