Top Items:
Wall Street Journal:
Karl Rove to Resign At the End of August — Karl Rove, President Bush's longtime political adviser, is resigning as White House deputy chief of staff effective Aug. 31, and returning to Texas, he said in an interview with Paul Gigot, editor of The Wall Street Journal's editorial page.
Discussion:
The Newshoggers, Captain's Quarters, BBC, Think Progress, Townhall.com, MyDD, Outside The Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, PoliticsTV.com, Balloon Juice, Bluey Blog, The American Mind, MSNBC, Wake up America, Daniel W. Drezner, The Swamp, Comments From Left Field, the talking dog, Middle Earth Journal, QandO, Atlantic Free Press, Brian Beutler, On Deadline, Oliver Willis, A Blog For All and Macsmind
RELATED:
Paul A. Gigot / Wall Street Journal:
'The Mark of Rove' — These are the days of Republican doubt, with President Bush fighting an unpopular war, Congress in opposition hands, and a 2008 presidential field trailing Democrats in nearly every poll. But don't tell that to Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's political alter ego …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Moderate Voice, Shakespeare's Sister, The Sleuth, The Atlantic Online, Althouse, Think Progress, The Corner, Reuters, Neptunus Lex, Betsy's Page, Reason Magazine, Achenblog, Captain's Quarters, Taylor Marsh, race42008.com, Middle Earth Journal, Let Freedom Ring, Power Line, Dick Polman's American Debate, TIME: Swampland, The Next Hurrah, Wonkette, DownWithTyranny!, Political Punch, The American Scene and The BRAD BLOG
Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
Karl Rove, Top Strategist, Is Leaving the White House — Karl Rove, the political adviser who masterminded President Bush's two winning presidential campaigns and secured his own place in history as a political strategist with extraordinary influence within the White House, is resigning, Mr. Rove announced today.
Discussion:
The Hill, Guardian, Firedoglake, culturekitchen, ACSBlog, AMERICAblog, Central Sanity, The American Street and The Mahablog
CNN:
Karl Rove to leave White House — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Karl Rove, President Bush's senior political adviser, will voluntarily step down from his White House post at the end of the month, senior administration officials said Monday. — "Obviously it's a big loss to us, said deputy White House press secretary Dana Perino. "
Washington Post:
Karl Rove, Adviser to President Bush, to Quit — Karl Rove, chief architect of the Bush presidency and the premier Republican strategist of the last decade, will step down as White House deputy chief of staff Aug. 31. — Rove revealed his plans to the Wall Street Journal …
Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
The Rove Legacy — Karl Rove leaves the White House in anything but victory. His legendary reputation was seriously diminished by the Republican defeat in the 2006 midterm elections, and has been eroded almost every day since then, as President Bush has struggled through his second term.
Emptywheel / The Next Hurrah:
My Guesses on Why Rove Resigned — By now you've heard the news: Rove is stepping down. So here's my treatment of possible reasons why he's leaving, in reverse order of their likelihood: — Time with the Family — As he said to the WSJ, he wants to spend more time with this family.
Discussion:
The Hill, The Seminal, The Lede, MSNBC, Ezra Klein, Prairie Weather, Firedoglake, The Sideshow and Lawyers, Guns and Money
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
EXIT ROVE — So Karl Rove is resigning. I got up in the middle …
EXIT ROVE — So Karl Rove is resigning. I got up in the middle …
Real Clear Politics:
On Karl Rove — Before taking my job as director of the Office …
On Karl Rove — Before taking my job as director of the Office …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online
Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:
Sudden Timing Of Karl Rove's Departure Surprises And Intrigues Most
Sudden Timing Of Karl Rove's Departure Surprises And Intrigues Most
USA Today:
Major attacks decline in Iraq — The number of truck bombs and other large al-Qaeda-style attacks in Iraq have declined nearly 50% since the United States started increasing troop levels in Iraq about six months ago, according to the U.S. military command in Iraq.
New York Times:
Wrong Way Out of Iraq — As Americans argue about how to bring the troops home from Iraq, British forces are already partway out the door. Four years ago, there were some 30,000 British ground troops in southern Iraq. By the end of this summer, there will be 5,000. None will be based in urban areas.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, The Strata-Sphere, Gateway Pundit, Prairie Weather and NewsBusters.org
RELATED:
Michael Yon:
Three Marks on the Horizon — Almost everyone (by now) must have heard about the "lazy" Iraqi parliament members who, like so many Neros fiddling while Rome burns around them, are taking a month off. Yet comparatively few Americans will ever hear or read about IA Scorpion Company Commander Captain Baker …
Gina Kolata / New York Times:
The Myth, the Math, the Sex — EVERYONE knows men are promiscuous by nature. It's part of the genetic strategy that evolved to help men spread their genes far and wide. The strategy is different for a woman, who has to go through so much just to have a baby and then nurture it.
Brian C. Mooney / Boston Globe:
Giuliani continues his conservative shift — Favors fewer rights for same-sex unions — Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani continues to discard the moderate and liberal positions of his past. The latest is civil unions for same-sex couples, which the Republican presidential candidate has been backing away from in recent months.
Rob Stein / Washington Post:
America Loses Its Stature as Tallest Country — Pundits often opine that America's stature is declining on the global stage. It turns out that Americans — literally — are not standing as tall, compared with the rest of the world, as they used to. — U.S. adults lost their position …