memeorandum @ 2:35 PM ET, April 26, 2006

2:35 PM ET, April 26, 2006

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Tony Snow to Be White House Press Secretary — Fox News commentator Tony Snow was named White House press secretary today after top officials assured him that he would be not just a spokesman but an active participant in administration policy debates, people familiar with the discussions said.

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt, The Moderate Voice, Outside The Beltway, Ezra Klein, The Washington Note, The Left Coaster, Shakespeare's Sister, Scared Monkeys, Middle Earth Journal and NewsBusters.org

Terence Hunt / Associated Press:

Bush Taps Snow As New Press Secretary — WASHINGTON - President Bush on Wednesday named conservative commentator Tony Snow as White House press secretary, putting a new face on a troubled administration. — Snow, a Fox news pundit and former speechwriter in the White House under Bush's father …

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, Associated Press, Demagogue, The Corner on National …, Suitably Flip and The Green Knight

White House:

President Announces Tony Snow as Press Secretary — THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. I'm here in the briefing room to break some news. I've asked Tony Snow to serve as my new press secretary. — Tony already knows most of you, and he's agreed to take the job anyway. (Laughter.)

Discussion: Sirotablog, Bring it On!, FP Passport and Gateway Pundit

Associated Press:

Text: President Bush and Tony Snow — news://newsclip.ap.org/WHGH10104261333@ news.ap.org — Text of President Bush's announcement Wednesday naming Tony Snow as — new White House press secretary, as transcribed by CQ Transcriptions. — BUSH: Good morning.

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Post, Dean's World, The Wide Awake Cafe, Stop The ACLU, Hot Air, The Political Pit Bull, Democrat Taylor Marsh …, Atlas Shrugs, Media Blog on National … and Gateway Pundit

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:

Fox News Commentator Joins White House — WASHINGTON, April 25 — Tony Snow, the Fox News radio and television commentator, has agreed to become the White House press secretary and could be officially named to the post as early as Wednesday, administration officials said on Tuesday.

Discussion: The Radio Equalizer, Norwegianity, Media Blog on National … and Air America Radio

Media Matters for America:

Suggested questions for the White House press corps to ask on Tony Snow's first day — National Journal's "The Hotline" reported on April 25 that "Republicans close to the White House expect Pres. Bush to formally name Tony Snow as his new press secretary."

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Hit and Run and State of the Day

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:

Bush Picks Fox Commentator as Spokesman — WASHINGTON, April 26 — President Bush today named Tony Snow, the Fox News radio and television commentator, as the new White House press secretary, despite Mr. Snow's past criticisms of his policies. — Mr. Bush, while praising Mr. Snow's long experience …

Discussion: The American Street, Think Progress and The Rude Pundit

Steve Doocy / Fox News: Tony Snow Is Moving On

Associated Press:

CIA Leak Prosecutor Goes to Grand Jury — WASHINGTON - Special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald early Wednesday went before a federal grand jury looking into the leak of the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame. — It is believed to be only the second session the prosecutor …

Discussion: The Corner on National …, Balloon Juice, Shakespeare's Sister, AGITPROP, The Carpetbagger Report and State of the Day

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Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:

BREAKING: Back in the Grand Jury Saddle This Morning — UPDATE: Crooks and Liars has the video of the MSNBC reporting from O'Donnell. (Thanks, John!) — Guess who went back before the Grand Jury this morning, according to the AP? Yep, it's our boy Fitz.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Eschaton and Decision '08

Opinion Journal:

Our Rotten IntelligenCIA — To media partisans, some leaks are more equal than others. — Fired CIA officer Mary O. McCarthy went on offense Monday, denying through her lawyer that she has done anything wrong. But the agency is standing by its claim that she was dismissed last week because she …

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, Cold Fury, Riehl World View, Blue Crab Boulevard, Media Blog on National …, patterico.com, PrairiePundit, Sweetness & Light and Hot Air

John Solo / Associated Press: Source: Rove to Testify in CIA Leak Case

MSNBC:
Rove testifying before CIA leak grand jury

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Eschaton, Macsmind and The Left Coaster

David E. Sanger / New York Times:

Bush Takes Steps to Ease Increase in Energy Prices — WASHINGTON, April 25 — President Bush announced a series of short-term steps on Tuesday intended to ease the rise in energy prices, including a suspension of government purchases to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Angry Bear and Economist's View

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Washington Post:
Bush Calls For Probe Of Rising Gas Prices

Discussion: Daniel W. Drezner, Asymmetrical Information, Associated Press, ShopFloor.org, Alternate Brain, The Carpetbagger Report, Brad DeLong's Semi …, Think Progress, The Heretik, Brilliant at Breakfast and Democratic Veteran

Nedra Pickler / ABCNEWS:
Bush Eases Environmental Rules on Gasoline

Discussion: News Hounds, Firedoglake, Washington Post, Donklephant, Secular Blasphemy, MSNBC, The Huffington Post and Daily Kos

Washington Post:

Rumsfeld and Rice Make Unannounced Visit to Iraq — BAGHDAD, April 26-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced joint visit to Iraq Wednesday to bolster the new emerging government and to ensure that the sometimes disjointed U.S. political …

Discussion: The Heretik, Air America Radio, Middle Earth Journal and The Democratic Daily Blog

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Charles Babington / Washington Post:

Senate Panel Considers Hearing on Rumsfeld — The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, underscoring lawmakers' concerns about the Iraq war's progress, said yesterday that he may invite testimony from retired generals who have called for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to resign.

Discussion: Riehl World View, The Carpetbagger Report, Andrew Olmsted dot com, Mudville Gazette and Bloomberg

Carol J. Williams / Los Angeles Times:

U.S. to Free 141 Terror Suspects — The Guantanamo prison detainees pose no threat, an official says. Most of those still in custody have no charges pending against them. — GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL STATION, Cuba — The Pentagon plans to release nearly a third of those held at the prison …

Discussion: The Sideshow, Unfogged, The Moderate Voice and Midtopia

Digby / Hullabaloo:

101st Fighting Keyboarder Uniforms — Whenever you visit a rightwing site, you are sure to see "those" tshirts. I saw an ad for them on the Washington Times the other day. Now, I know that wingnuts have great sense of humor as you can tell by the huge number of successful comedians and humorists on the right.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, The Mahablog, James Wolcott, Bring it On!, Dependable Renegade, Middle Earth Journal and The All Spin Zone

Drudge Report:

'PROGRESSIVE' MEDIA STALLS: 'AIR AMERICA' IN AUDIENCE PLUNGE NYC, 'DAILY KOS' BOOK SELLS ONLY 3,600 COPIES — Left-leaning new media has hit turbulence at the marketplace, newly released stats show. — A book hyped by major media as documenting a progressive revolution of "blogs" …

Discussion: Roger L. Simon, Power Line, Right Wing News, GOP Bloggers, Sister Toldjah, Blue Crab Boulevard, BitsBlog and lgf

BBC:

Experts make flatulence-free bean — A method of creating super-nutritious but flatulence-free beans has been developed by scientists. — Beans are a cheap and key source of nutrition especially in the developing world, but many people are thought to be put off by anti-social side-effects.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Reaction and PrairiePundit

Washington Post:

Bad Targeting — CIA Director Porter Goss has been busy chasing press leaks. It's easier than improving U.S. intelligence. — IF CIA OFFICIALS leaked information about the agency's secret prisons to The Post's Dana Priest, then the American public owes them a debt of gratitude.