Top Items:
Tony Mauro / LAW.com:
Justice Department's Independence 'Shattered,' Says Former DOJ Attorney — Since the day he arrived at the Department of Justice in February 2005, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has "shattered" the department's tradition of independence and politicized its operation more than any other attorney general in more than 30 years.
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Alberto R. Gonzales / Washington Post:
Nothing Improper — My decision some months ago to privately seek the resignations of a small number of U.S. attorneys has erupted into a public firestorm. First and foremost, I appreciate the public service of these fine lawyers and dedicated professionals, each of whom served his or her full four-year term as U.S. attorney.
New York Times:
McCain Sees 'No Plan B' for Iraq War — Senator John McCain said that the buildup of American forces in Iraq represented the only viable option to avoid failure in Iraq and that he had yet to identify an effective fallback if the current strategy failed. — "I have no Plan B," Mr. McCain said in an interview.
Richard Behar / Fox News:
Documents May Give Wolfowitz New Lifeline in World Bank Scandal — World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz's career was hanging by a thread today, but new revelations in internal bank documents released by the bank seemed as if they would provide him a stronger lifeline.
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Washington Post:
Wolfowitz Dictated Girlfriend's Pay Deal — World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz personally dictated the terms under which the bank gave what it called his "domestic partner" substantial pay raises and promotions in exchange for temporarily leaving her job there during his tenure …
Richard Cohen / The Huffington Post:
Wolfowitz: Mission Accomplished? — As Paul Wolfowitz is proving, it turns out all is not fair in love and war. Only war. Take a nation to war for spurious reasons and no one much complains. But arrange a raise for your girlfriend, and you get booed in the atrium of the World Bank and have to visibly sweat in public.
Discussion:
A Tiny Revolution
Charlottesvillain / TigerHawk:
The Department of Peace — I haven't seen this widely reported but the Democrats are working to establish a Department of Peace and Nonviolence. If I recall correctly, this was a plank in the platform of the ill fated Kucinich Presidential campaign of 2004.
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Paul Elias / Associated Press:
Prosecutors will retry Ed Rosenthal, known as the `guru of ganja' — SAN FRANCISCO - Federal prosecutors said today they would retry marijuana grower Ed Rosenthal on cultivation charges, even after a federal judge urged them to drop the case and chastised the government for lodging charges solely …
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Washington Post:
White House E-Mail Mystery — e-mails is at that strange moment in the arc of a Washington uproar where it's not clear whether it will turn out to be scandal or sideshow. There was legitimate reason for the White House to seek to comply with Hatch Act strictures and separate political from official business.
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Brian Braiker / Newsweek:
A data-recovery specialist discusses whether missing White House …
A data-recovery specialist discusses whether missing White House …
Discussion:
Brian Beutler
Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:
Abstinence-only still doesn't work — I don't want to alarm anyone, but telling teenagers not to have sex apparently doesn't stop them from having sex. … The federal government currently spends $176 million a year on abstinence-only education, which only supplements the millions more spent …
Discussion:
Sister Toldjah, Jon Swift, Washington Post, Pandagon, The Gun Toting Liberal™, AMERICAblog and Pam's House Blend
Ilya Somin / The Volokh Conspiracy:
GARY KASPAROV ARRESTED: Russian opposition leader and former chess world champion Gary Kasparov has been arrested in Moscow while leading a demonstration protesting the government's policies. Here is the New York Times account, and a shorter one by CNN. Kasparov is arguably …
Discussion:
Wizbang
Bill Hobbs:
Suing A Blogger: Fifth Update — WKRN's Brittney Gilbert reports on the saga of JL Kirk Associates, a critical blogger, and a lawsuit threat that backfired big time. Also, "S-Town Mike" at Enclave has more on JL Kirk Associates' new-found online fame. — And it's not good fame: the story …
New York Times:
Eye on Iran, Rivals Pursuing Nuclear Power — Two years ago, the leaders of Saudi Arabia told international atomic regulators that they could foresee no need for the kingdom to develop nuclear power. Today, they are scrambling to hire atomic contractors, buy nuclear hardware and build support for a regional system of reactors.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Bob Geiger:
The Saturday Cartoons — I'm very happy to announce that editorial cartoonist Ben Sargent, of the Austin American-Statesman, has given me permission to run his work and we lead our cartoon round-up today with some of his work. — Ben won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1982 …
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The Shamelessness of Cheney — Now he tells us: … I'm not defending Democratic pork - any more than Republican pork. But, again, what's staggering about these Republicans is their total shamelessness. No administration in recent history has presided over anything like the explosion …
Matthew Yglesias:
The Judgment Factor — Unlike Matt Stoller, I don't have a big problem with the plans for Iraq put forward by either Barack Obama or John Edwards. I think the notion of keeping troops in the region (also Jack Murtha's idea, for the record) for various purposes makes sense.
Thers / Eschaton:
Conspiracy theories — Matt Yglesias notes that Jonah Goldberg is complaining of "Goldberg Derangement Syndrome." This is a similar complaint to that of his fellow NROer Cliff May, who recently wrote: … If the question is, "how come the left blogosphere is so reflexively derisive whenever …
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