Top Items:
Alan Cooperman / Washington Post:
Bush Loyalist Rose Quickly at Justice — When a college intern in the Justice Department whined that all he was doing was filing and answering phones, Monica M. Goodling took him aside. If he wanted to do "substantive work," she told him, he was going to have to prove himself first.
RELATED:
New York Times:
Ex-Aide Rejects Gonzales Stand Over Dismissals — The former chief of staff to Alberto R. Gonzales testified on Thursday that he had consulted regularly with the attorney general about dismissing United States attorneys, disputing Mr. Gonzales's public account of his role as very limited.
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Taking One for the Team, When He Could Remember — Kyle Sampson, the former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, was in his fourth hour testifying yesterday about the firing of federal prosecutors when Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy cut him off.
Washington Post:
Ex-Aide Contradicts Gonzales on Firings — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales was more deeply involved in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys than he has sometimes acknowledged, and Gonzales and his aides have made a series of inaccurate claims about the issue in recent weeks …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Donklephant, Political Animal, Tennessee Guerilla Women, Boston Globe, TPMmuckraker and New York Times
William K. Rashbaum / New York Times:
Testimony by Giuliani Indicates He Was Briefed on Kerik in '00 — Rudolph W. Giuliani told a grand jury that his former chief investigator remembered having briefed him on some aspects of Bernard B. Kerik's relationship with a company suspected of ties to organized crime before Mr. Kerik's appointment …
RELATED:
Larry McShane / Associated Press:
Giuliani faces questions about Sept. 11 — NEW YORK - Rudy Giuliani's White House aspirations are inescapably tied to Sept. 11, 2001 — for better and for worse. — While the former mayor of the nation's largest city was widely lionized for his post-9/11 leadership — "Churchillian" …
Discussion:
Brilliant at Breakfast
Joshua Partlow / Washington Post:
Gunmen Go On Rampage In Iraqi City — Killings Are Revenge For Blasts in Tall Afar — A day after twin truck bombings laid waste to predominantly Shiite neighborhoods in the northern Iraqi city of Tall Afar, marauding Shiite gunmen and police executed dozens of Sunnis in retaliatory attacks …
Discussion:
Right Wing Nut House, Booman Tribune, The Democratic Daily, The Reaction and New York Times
RELATED:
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Which Is 'The Real War'? — "Our bill calls for the redeployment of U.S. troops out of Iraq so that we can focus more fully on the real war on terror, which is in Afghanistan." — The Senate and the House have both passed bills for ending the Iraq war, or at least liquidating the American involvement in it.
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Video: Rosie melts down on "The View" — I'm not exaggerating when I say that this is the video against which all future Rosie clips will be compared. Never has so much useful idiocy about so many subjects been compressed into so little time. — It's her finest hour.
RELATED:
New York Times:
Presidential Candidates Focus on Fund-Raising — Forget campaigning. Last week, Rudolph W. Giuliani held a presidential fund-raiser every day of the week. Senator John McCain raised money at three events on Wednesday and another Thursday, racking up 27 this month alone.
Discussion:
First Read
Rebecca Traister / Salon:
Fox's Ann Coulter 2.0 — Conserva-babe and star-in-the-making Rachel Marsden has a, um, colorful past. What was Fox thinking? — "Maybe [Pakistani cricket fans] should focus less on cricket and a little more on hygiene," opined Rachel Marsden on a recent episode of Fox News' middle-of-the-night talk oddity "Red Eye."
Faiza Saleh Ambah / Washington Post:
Arabs Call on Israel To Take Peace Offer — Arab leaders on Thursday reiterated their offer to normalize ties with Israel and showed signs of flexibility in their terms for peace. — At a news conference at the end of a summit where the Arab leaders' peace plan was the main issue on the agenda …
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters
Nico / Think Progress:
Sampson Admits He Made Call To Silence FBI Complaints Over Lam's Firing — During today's hearing, Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) questioned Kyle Sampson about the head of the FBI office in San Diego, Dan Dzwilewski, who told reporters in January that Carol Lam's firing was a blow to efforts to prosecute ongoing cases.
Discussion:
The Left Coaster
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Senate Sets Stage For Iraq Face-Off — Faced with his second rebuke in a week from congressional Democrats on Iraq policy, President Bush yesterday summoned Republican allies to his side in an effort to shift momentum in the escalating battle over the course of the war.
Discussion:
FP Passport
Elaine Sciolino / New York Times:
Tensions Over French Identity Shape Voter Drives — France's presidential campaign has been seized by a subject long monopolized by the extreme right: how best to be French. — The conservative candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, wants to create a ministry of "immigration and national identity" …
Linda Greenhouse / New York Times:
Justices Weigh Opening New Phase on Guantánamo — The start of military commission proceedings has opened one new chapter in the five-year saga of the detainees at Guantánamo Bay. The Supreme Court may soon open another. — The court is likely to announce within days whether …
Discussion:
SCOTUSblog