Top Items:
David Stout / New York Times:
In Testimony, Gonzales Says Firings Were Justified — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales encountered anger and skepticism from senators today as he insisted that he had nothing to hide in the dismissals of eight United States attorneys, an episode that has cast a shadow on the Justice Department and brought calls for his resignation.
RELATED:
MSNBC:
Embattled attorney general plays down role in attorneys' dismissals — LIVE VIDEO: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee following the firings of eight U.S. attorneys. — NBC News Live — See photos of quirky landmarks that you sent in! Click "launch."
Agence France Presse:
"War in Iraq lost": US Democrat leader — The war in Iraq "is lost" and a US troop surge is failing to bring peace to the country, the leader of the Democratic majority in the US Congress, Harry Reid, said Thursday. — "I believe ... that this war is lost, and this surge is not accomplishing anything …
RELATED:
Agence France Presse:
Iraq war is 'lost': US Democrat leader — The war in Iraq "is lost" and a US troop surge is failing to bring peace to the country, the leader of the Democratic majority in the US Congress, Harry Reid, said Thursday. — "I believe ... that this war is lost, and this surge is not accomplishing anything …
Washington Post:
Democrats Would Make Iraq Timetable in Bill 'Advisory' — Congressional Democratic leaders are moving to make their proposed timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq "advisory" as they seek to reconcile two versions of war spending legislation into a single bill that they plan to pass next week …
Scott Harper / zwire.com:
McCain visits Murrells Inlet — Even though he was nursing a cold, Republican Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain spent nearly 90 minutes talking to nearly 500 people who crammed into the Murrells Inlet VFW Hall Wednesday morning. — The "Straight Talk" tour, as it's called, included stops in Summerville and Charleston.
RELATED:
Political Radar:
American Idol for Politicians? — ABC News' Bret Hovell Reports: Sen. John McCain's, R-Ariz., campaign insists he was only kidding when he combined a Beach Boys impression with foreign policy Wednesday before a group of Veterans at a VFW hall in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. — See the YouTube video here.
Discussion:
democracyarsenal.org
Bill Carter / New York Times:
Package Forced NBC to Make Tough Decisions — The package that arrived yesterday at NBC headquarters in New York was almost immediately flagged as suspicious, because it had been mailed from Blacksburg, Va., and bore the return name A. Ishmael. — Last night, the anchor of "The NBC Nightly News …
RELATED:
David Maraniss / Washington Post:
'That Was the Desk I Chose to Die Under' — The roommates crossed paths near the bathroom door at 5 in the morning. In the Monday darkness, another school week at Virginia Tech was about to begin. Karan Grewal had pulled an all-nighter to finish his accounting paper.
Discussion:
The Corner, A Blog For All, The Strata-Sphere, Hot Air, TIME: Swampland and theGarance.com
Barbara Oakley / New York Times:
The Killer in the Lecture Hall
The Killer in the Lecture Hall
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Joanne Jacobs, small dead animals, Overlawyered and Neptunus Lex
John Edwards '08 Blog:
I'm Signing On — I really thought that the 2004 presidential campaign would be the last I would be involved in. I have always wanted to make a difference, but for me I thought those days were over. — A few weeks ago, John and Elizabeth Edwards made their decision to continue …
Nazila Fathi / New York Times:
Iran Exonerates Six Who Killed in Islam's Name — The Iranian Supreme Court has overturned the murder convictions of six members of a prestigious state militia who killed five people they considered "morally corrupt." — The reversal, in an infamous five-year-old case from Kerman …
Discussion:
Michael P.F. van der Galiën, QandO, Captain's Quarters, Overlawyered, Riehl World View, Atlas Shrugs and Sweetness & Light
RELATED:
Nathan Newman / The Coffee House:
Supreme Ct Kills Range of State Banking Laws in Gift to Predatory Lenders
Supreme Ct Kills Range of State Banking Laws in Gift to Predatory Lenders
New York Times:
Denying the Right to Choose
Denying the Right to Choose
Discussion:
About Conservative Politics, blogs.usatoday.com, New York Sun, Los Angeles Times and Don Surber
Erica Werner / Associated Press:
Embattled lawmaker gives up panel seat — WASHINGTON - Rep. John Doolittle (news, bio, voting record) has decided to temporarily give up his House Appropriations Committee seat after FBI agents searched his house in a congressional influence-peddling investigation.
Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:
Gonzales: Criticism Damages DoJ Employees — Under questioning from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Gonzales cautioned against criticizing the good employees of the Justice Department: "when there are attacks against the department, you're attacking the career professionals."
Liz Mair / GOPProgress.com:
Which lame-o Senator likes dark-ages campaign finance reports and secret holds? — Great. I thought we were done with this nonsense about certain Senators placing secret holds on legislation that might cause them a spot of bother, back last year when this site, together with Porkbusters and TPM …
Discussion:
Sunlight Foundation blogs, the david all group, Redstate, Bluey Blog and Beltway Blogroll
George F. Will / Washington Post:
Drinking Age Paradox — Public policy often illustrates the law of unintended consequences. Society's complexity — multiple variables with myriad connections — often causes the consequences of a policy to be contrary to, and larger than, the intended ones.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
David S. Broder / Washington Post:
The Media in the Mud — It pales in comparison to the carnage and loss of life this week at Virginia Tech. But last week the tattered reputation of journalism in this country saw severe damage. The role of the media in the phony Duke lacrosse rape story and the Don Imus firing left large parts …