memeorandum: Snow Job — It's getting deep at the White House. (Christy Hardin Smith/Firedoglake)

5:05 PM ET, March 21, 2007

Top Items:

House panel defies Bush, votes for subpoenas … WASHINGTON (CNN) — House Democrats voted Wednesday to give their leaders the authority to force White House officials to testify on the firings of U.S. attorneys. — The House Judiciary subcommittee vote was to authorize subpoenas.

Discussion: Washington Post, Center for American Progress, State of the Day, New York Times, Unfogged, Riehl World View, Neptunus Lex, ACSBlog, The Volokh Conspiracy and The Democratic Daily

Nico / Think Progress:

VIDEO: Former Reagan U.S. Attorney Blasts Administration Over Purge — As Atrios noted, former Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), who served as a U.S. Attorney under President Reagan, appeared today on CNN. — Barr blasted the White House, saying "the integrity of the Department of Justice is being used …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and Shakespeare's Sister

Laurie Kellman / Associated Press:

House panel OKs Rove, Miers subpoenas — WASHINGTON - A House panel on Wednesday approved subpoenas for President Bush's political adviser, Karl Rove and other top White House aides, setting up a constitutional showdown over the firings of eight federal prosecutors.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Gateway Pundit, DownWithTyranny!, 2Millionth Web Log, Stop The ACLU, The Gun Toting Liberal ™, NewsHog, The Carpetbagger Report, All Spin Zone and New York Times

New York Times:

House Panel Authorizes Subpoenas for Top Bush Aides — A House Judiciary subcommittee today authorized subpoenas for Karl Rove, President Bush's political adviser, and other senior White House officials in the investigation into the firing of eight United States attorneys.

Discussion: The Raw Story, Redstate, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Pam's House Blend

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:

Snow Job — It's getting deep at the White House. Tony Snow, during today's daily briefing just said that the President has no recollection of ever being asked about the US attorney firings. — And that the White House has made a "generous offer" of having WH staffers and DoJ folks …

Discussion: Editor and Publisher, Taylor Marsh, Think Progress, Grasping Reality … and KnoxViews

MSNBC:

House panel subpoenas White House aides — Move sets up a constitutional showdown over firings of U.S. attorneys — WASHINGTON - A House panel on Wednesday defied the White House and authorized subpoenas for President Bush's political adviser, Karl Rove and other top aides …

Discussion: Political Radar and TPMmuckraker

New York Times:

What People Really Need — In nasty and bumbling comments made at the White House yesterday, President Bush declared that "people just need to hear the truth" about the firing of eight United States attorneys. That's right. Unfortunately, the deal Mr. Bush offered Congress …

Discussion: White House, TBogg, Newsweek, The Impolitic, Balkinization, Middle Earth Journal, Firedoglake, Political Radar, The Heretik, NewsHog, Shakespeare's Sister, Tennessee Guerilla Women, Norwegianity and Rising Hegemon

Bob Geiger:

Study: White House Guilty Of "Political Profiling" — In a study cited on the floor of the United States Senate earlier this week, two researchers have found that the Bush administration's Justice Department has persistently engaged in what they call "political profiling" and that there is a …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Agonist and Michael P.F. van der Galiën

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:

"The Math" — (Electoral college numbers map via The Talent Show.) — Readers will be happy to know that the House Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative law voted to authorize Full Committee Chairman Conyers to issue subpoenas for WH and DOJ officials and documents this morning.

Discussion: Lean Left and Hullabaloo

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
The White House and Congress Seem Headed Toward a Familiar Collision

Discussion: White House Watch, The Carpetbagger Report and Law Blog

Laurie Kellman / Associated Press:
Bush Aides Facing Subpoenas Over Firings

Discussion: State of the Day and Patterico's Pontifications

Newsdesk / The Swamp:

Snow swallows own old words — "What kinds of conversations does executive privilege protect?...What are the limits on privilege?'' a newspaper columnist wrote in the spring of 1998 on a subject strangely familiar today. — "Evidently, Mr. Clinton wants to shield virtually any communications …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Pam's House Blend and digg

Lane Hudson / The Huffington Post:

Tony Snow: WH Asserts Privilege for Conversations That Never Took Place! — In the White House Press briefing that just concluded, press secretary Tony Snow said that he was not aware of the president being briefed on the US Attorney issue. He further said the president did not sign off on the firings.

Discussion: Think Progress and The Carpetbagger Report

New York Times:

Ousted California Prosecutor Previously Had Disputes on Strategy — Among the cases of the eight federal prosecutors dismissed by the Department of Justice last year, none brought more accusations of egregious political retaliation than that of Carol C. Lam.

Discussion: Real Cities, Bloomberg, Talking Points Memo, The Mahablog, Macsmind and Patterico's Pontifications

Arizona Republic:
Renzi inquiry at issue in ouster

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Shakespeare's Sister and The Nation

Richard A. Serrano / Los Angeles Times:
Making a list of reasons for firing U.S. attorneys

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, JustOneMinute, Washington Post and Wizbang

Mark Mellman / The Hill:

Hounding Fox News coverage — Journalists strive to report the news, not to be the news. So Fox News should have been a bit embarrassed to headline a story that ended with the Nevada Democratic Party canceling Fox's sponsorship of a pre-caucus debate. — Then again, Fox is not a typical news organization.

Discussion: ProfessorBainbridge.com ®, AMERICAblog, MyDD, Liberal Values and Cliff Schecter

Paul Begala / The Politico:
Dems, It's Time To Go Fox Huntin'

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Daily Kos

Robert Salladay / Los Angeles Times:

Governor calls Limbaugh 'irrelevant' — Schwarzenegger's repudiation of the conservative talk show host comes as he is accused of betraying his party's values. — SACRAMENTO — After repeatedly being asked about his conservative critics, including talk show host Rush Limbaugh …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and The Democratic Daily

David Roberts / The Huffington Post:

Al Gore's Legislative Recommendations to the House — If you don't want to read my whole blow-by-blow of Gore's testimony to the House, here's a summary of his ten legislative recommendations. — An immediate "carbon freeze" that would cap U.S. CO2 emissions at current levels …

Discussion: Gristmill and time-blog.com

David Roberts / Gristmill:
Al Gore's testimony to the Senate

Discussion: TAPPED

Robert J. Samuelson / Washington Post:

Hollywood's Climate Follies — "My fellow Americans, people all over the world, we need to solve the climate crisis. It's not a political issue. It's a moral issue. We have everything we need to get started, with the possible exception of the will to act. That's a renewable resource.

Discussion: Gristmill, Blue Crab Boulevard, ShopFloor.org and Reason Magazine

Audrey Hudson / Washington Times:

Muslims offer to help 'John Does' sued by imams — Lawyers and a Muslim group say they will defend at no cost airline passengers caught up in a lawsuit between a group of imams and U.S. Airways if the passengers are named as "John Does" and sued for reporting suspicious behavior that got …

Discussion: Hot Air, JunkYardBlog, The Moderate Voice, Wake up America, Wizbang and Power Line

Bob Marshall / New Orleans Times-Picayune:

Corps caused disaster, report says — State inquiry finds decades of blunders — Decades of incompetence and neglect by the Army Corps of Engineers allowed Hurricane Katrina's storm surge to devastate New Orleans, according to a long-awaited report being released today …

Discussion: Facing South, The Huffington Post and On Deadline

Scott Shane / New York Times:

F.B.I. Is Warned Over Its Misuse of Data Collection — House Republicans joined Democrats on Tuesday in warning the F.B.I. that it could lose the power to demand that companies turn over customers' telephone, e-mail and financial records if it did not swiftly correct abuses in the use …

Discussion: Washington Post, Reason Magazine and The Heretik

Abu Aardvark:

Baathism on the Nile — In five days Egypt is scheduled to hold a national referendum on changes to its Constitution. Even veteran Egyptian opposition figures, well versed in the regime's authoritarian ways, have expressed shock at the choice of March 26 for the referendum.

Discussion: Political Animal, American Footprints and Global Voices Online