memeorandum: Why I Declined To Serve (John J. Sheehan/Washington Post)

10:15 AM ET, April 16, 2007

Top Items:

Cheney Steers Clear Of Libby Mess — VP Says Some Democrats Have Been "Irresponsible" On Iraq In Pushing For Withdrawal Timetable — (CBS) Despite the conviction of his former chief of staff in a high-profile trial, Vice President Dick Cheney said today that he has not had an opportunity …

Discussion: WSJ.com

Adam Zagorin / Time:

Conservatives to Bush: Fire Gonzales — In what could prove an embarrassing new setback for embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on the eve of his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, a group of influential conservatives and longtime Bush supporters has written a letter to the White House to call for his resignation.

Discussion: TIME: Swampland and First Draft

Scot J. Paltrow / Wall Street Journal:

Justice Probes Abramoff Ties To White House — The Justice Department's Public Integrity Section is investigating connections between disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the White House, a probe that may be affected by missing White House emails. — Lawyers involved in the case …

Renee Schoof / Belleville News Democrat:

Gonzales says he has `nothing to hide' — WASHINGTON - Declaring he has "nothing to hide," embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Sunday said he never sought the resignation of any U.S. attorney to influence a prosecution for political ends, but acknowledged that he and other officials …

Discussion: The Next Hurrah and Talking Points Memo

Washington Post:
Ex-Justice Official's Statements Contradict Gonzales on Firings

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Moderate Voice, The Next Hurrah, On Deadline and Central Sanity

New York Times:
'Nothing to Hide,' Attorney General Insists

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker, The Carpetbagger Report, PoliBlog (TM), First Read, Matthew Yglesias and Washington Post

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:
Paper: Domenici Brought Prosecutor Complaint to White House

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Dan Boniface / 9NEWS:

Kerry reopens door to possible presidential run — DENVER - Sen. John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) reopened the door to a possible 2008 presidential campaign during a book signing in Denver and then again, in an interview with 9NEWS. — The 2004 Democratic nominee told a crowd of more than 250 …

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, Don Surber, Betsy's Page, Scared Monkeys, Sister Toldjah, Redstate and Michael P.F. van der Galiën

Jill / Brilliant at Breakfast: Oh, God, Please No

Opinion Journal:

The Wolfowitz Files — The anatomy of a World Bank smear. — The World Bank released its files in the case of President Paul Wolfowitz's ethics on Friday, and what a revealing download it is. On the evidence in these 109 pages, it is clearer than ever that this flap is a political hit based …

Discussion: Betsy's Page, Blue Crab Boulevard and normblog

Pew Research Center:

Public Knowledge of Current Affairs Little Changed by News and Information Revolutions — What Americans Know: 1989-2007 — Summary of Findings — Since the late 1980s, the emergence of 24-hour cable news as a dominant news source and the explosive growth of the internet have led …

Discussion: The Swamp, The American Street and Think Progress

John J. Sheehan / Washington Post:

Why I Declined To Serve — Service to the nation is both a responsibility and an honor for every citizen presented with the opportunity. This is especially true in times of war and crisis. Today, because of the war in Iraq, this nation is in a crisis of confidence and is confused …

Discussion: The Heretik, American Thinker, First Read, Wonkette and Michael P.F. van der Galiën

Kevin Drum / Political Animal: WHY THE WAR CZAR BALKED....General John Sheehan, who was recruited …

MSNBC:

MTP Transcript for April 15, 2007 — MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: The war in Iraq, are there any good options? With us, the former special envoy to the Middle East and author for "The Battle for Peace," retired General Tony Zinni. Then, the debate over Don Imus and his comments …

Discussion: Hot Air, mediabistro.com, TPMCafe blogs and PoliBlog (TM)

New York Times:

Donors Linked to the Clintons Shift to Obama — As Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton seeks to reassemble the Democratic money machine her husband built, some major fund-raisers long associated with her and him have signed on with Senator Barack Obama. — Among the biggest fund-raisers …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, QandO, TIME, The Swamp, On Politics, The Sideshow, The Democratic Daily and The Moderate Voice

Katherine Kersten / Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Ritual-washing area for Muslims at MCTC may be only the beginning — Last week, I wrote about Minneapolis Community and Technical College, which is planning to install facilities to help Muslim students perform ritual washing before daily prayers. It's a simple matter of extending …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters

The Big Trunk / Power Line: DO DO THAT WUDU THAT YOU DO SO WELL — Today Katherine Kersten …

The Agonist:

More Economic Lies From the White House — For economic commentary and analysis, go to the Bonddad blog … Let's look at this statement more carefully, shall we? — According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, Clinton's expansion laster from March 1991 to March 2001.

David Cay Johnston / New York Times:

I.R.S. Audits Middle Class More Often, More Quickly — Middle-class Americans, listen up: the I.R.S. is much more likely to audit you this year. Those caught cheating can expect to pay about $4,100 more on average in income taxes. — Since 2000, authorities at the Internal Revenue Service …

Discussion: Needlenose

Kevin Hassett / Washington Post:
Why We Pay Without A Whimper

Discussion: Iowa Voice, Angry Bear and The Moderate Voice

Nate Chinen / New York Times:

Don Ho, Hawaiian Musician, Dies at 76 — Don Ho, an entertainer who defined popular perceptions of Hawaiian music in the 1960s and held fast to that image as a peerless Waikiki nightclub attraction, died yesterday in Honolulu. He was 76. — The cause was heart failure, his daughter Dayna Ho said.

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

Prayers For WFB And The Anchoress — Patricia Taylor Buckley, the beloved wife of conservative godfather William F Buckley and mother of novelist Christopher Buckley (Thank You For Smoking), has passed away this weekend. National Review's The Corner has a number of touching tributes in remembrance.

Discussion: Leibowitz's Canticle

Media Matters for America:

Kurtz: "Imus made fun of blacks, Jews, gays, politicians. He called them lying weasels. This was part of his charm" — On April 12, during a report on the controversy sparked by Don Imus' remarks about the Rutgers University women's basketball team, ABC's World News aired comments …

Digby / Hullabaloo:
Coda — I missed this one, from Friday:

Discussion: AMERICAblog, Pandagon, Ezra Klein, Think Progress, Angry Bear and Eschaton