memeorandum: Journeys to the Distant Fields of Prime (Kenneth Chang/New York Times)

8:50 PM ET, March 13, 2007

Top Items:

Gonzales Accepts Resignation of Top Aide — WASHINGTON — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales abruptly canceled travel plans Tuesday amid growing calls for his ouster over the firings of eight federal prosecutors during a White House-directed housecleaning of U.S. attorneys.

Discussion: Think Progress, TPMmuckraker, Is That Legal?, PunditGuy, Wonkette, TBogg, Macsmind and Shakespeare's Sister

CNN:

Gonzales: 'Mistakes were made' in U.S. attorneys' firings … WASHINGTON (CNN) — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday that "mistakes were made" regarding the firing of eight U.S. attorneys and he accepts responsibility for the ordeal. — "My pledge to the American people is to find out what went wrong here," he said.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Redstate, Booman Tribune, The Moderate Voice, Wonkette, Kiko's House and PoliBlog (TM)

Crew / Citizens Blogging for Responsibility …:

BREAKING: CREW wants Special Prosecutor to investigate potential criminal violations in U.S. Attorney firings — CREW wants the immediate appointment of a Special Prosecutor to investigate potential criminal violations related to the recent dismissals of eight U.S. Attorneys.

Discussion: TPMmuckraker, Think Progress, Flopping Aces, DownWithTyranny!, Seeing the Forest, Wonkette, protein wisdom, JustOneMinute and The Carpetbagger Report

Bill Brubaker / Washington Post:

Gonzales Accepts Responsibility for 'Mistakes' — Schumer Warns Sampson's Resignation Does Not Absolve Attorney General — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said today he does not regret firing eight federal prosecutors last year, but he accepts responsibility for "mistakes" …

Discussion: Salon, Dick Polman's American Debate, NewsBusters.org, Macsmind, Wonkette, MyDD and Sunlight Foundation blogs

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:

Gonzales: I'm "Dismayed" — We just watched Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' press conference here. The gist: Gonzales said that he accepts responsibility for the "mistakes" made at the Justice Department... but argued that he is not "aware" of "all decisions" at the Justice Department.

Discussion: Sunlight Foundation blogs, The Huffington Post and Attytood

Jay Carney / time-blog.com:

Where Credit Is Due — Twelve days ago, after David Iglesias went public, I said that if there turned out to be a broad conspiracy behind the firing of the U.S. Attorneys, "I will take my hat off to Marshall and others in the blogosphere and congratulate them for having been right …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Mahablog, The Carpetbagger Report, D-Day and The Agonist

TRex / Firedoglake:

That's All, Folks! — TINAT (This is not a transcript.) — Weee-heh-heell, Porky's little 2:00 presser didn't go very well, did it? Gonzo walked into that one like the proverbial man in a pork chop suit walking into the lion cage. — For those of you who missed it …

Discussion: TalkLeft and Needlenose

David Bowermaster / Seattle Times:
McKay "stunned" by report on Bush

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Booman Tribune, Comments From Left Field, Political Animal and CorrenteWire

Amanda / Think Progress:
Gonzales Lied Under Oath, Said All Bush-Appointed Attorneys …

Discussion: New York Times, Outside The Beltway, The Mahablog, Midtopia, Captain's Quarters, Sister Toldjah, TAPPED, The Swamp, At-Largely, PoliBlog (TM), DownWithTyranny! and Firedoglake

Lara Jakes Jordan / Associated Press:
Gonzales rejects calls for resignation

Discussion: Firedoglake, Heath Haussamen …, Outside The Beltway and New York Times

Andrew Cohen / CBS News:
Gonzales & The White House: The Plot Thickens

Discussion: NewsBusters.org

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:
DoJ Claimed "No Role" in Rove Aide's Hiring

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and Citizens Blogging …

MSNBC:
Gonzales acknowledges mistakes in firings

Discussion: Bring it On!, War and Piece and Shakespeare's Sister

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:
How U.S. Attorneys Get Appointed

Discussion: Power Line, Right Wing News, Washington Post, PoliBlog (TM), TigerHawk, Talking Points Memo, Wizbang, PBD and The RBC

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:
What Rove Knew — One point that needs to be made about the flurry …

Discussion: Associated Press and Washington Post

John Aravosis / AMERICAblog: Gonzales speaks — UPDATE: As Atrios notes, if Harriet Miers …

Aamer Madhani / Chicago Tribune:

Don't drop `don't ask, don't tell,' Pace says — Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday that he supports the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays serving in the military because homosexual acts "are immoral," akin to a member of the armed forces conducting …

Discussion: At-Largely and Donklephant

CNN:
Top general: Remarks on gays were 'personal moral views'

Discussion: The Lede, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and The Moderate Voice

Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:
Republican Rebukes Pace, but Defense Secretary Defends 'Don't Ask' Policy

Discussion: Reuters, Box Turtle Bulletin, D-Day, The Daily Dish, AMERICAblog, Taylor Marsh and Chicago Tribune

Ian Swanson / The Hill:

Pelosi hears boos at AIPAC — Members of the main pro-Israel lobbying group offered scattered boos to a statement by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that the Iraq war has been a failure on several scores. — The boos, mixed with some polite applause, stood in stark contrast …

Discussion: Power Line, The Nation, New York Times, Crooks and Liars, American Prospect, Hot Air, Hang Right Politics, Atlas Shrugs and Booman Tribune

CNN:
Poll: 58 percent want Iraq withdrawal by 2008 or sooner

Discussion: The Coffee House, BobGeiger.com, Associated Press, Booman Tribune, Pollster, DownWithTyranny!, Sirotablog and The Democratic Daily

Washington Post:
The Pelosi Plan for Iraq

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Austin Bay Blog, Horses Mouth, The Influence Peddler, Jules Crittenden, Confederate Yankee, Captain's Quarters, Argghhh!, The Glittering Eye, Don Surber, Viking Pundit, Los Angeles Times, The American Mind, Neocon Express, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Strata-Sphere, TigerHawk and Hot Air

Mark Green / The Politico:

Air America's Invitation — Tweaking the Fox News Channel, the president of liberal Air America Radio this morning sent a letter to the chairmen of four state Republican parties, offering to host and broadcast the state parties' upcoming presidential debates.

Discussion: MyDD, The Carpetbagger Report, Big Lizards, Daily Kos, The American Mind, Tennessee Guerilla Women, The Impolitic and Think Progress

The Blotter:

Exclusive: Curveball, the Defector Whose Lies Led to War — Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz Report: — The Iraqi defector known as Curveball, whose fabricated stories of "mobile biological weapons labs" helped lead the U.S. to war four years ago, is still being protected by the German intelligence service …

Discussion: The American Street, Political Animal, The Daily Dish and Think Progress

Matt Stoller / MyDD:

List of Blue Dog Saboteurs — From a source close to the House Democratic caucus, here's a list of Blue Dogs that don't want to vote for this bill because it has a certain date for withdrawal. — Michael Arcuri (NY-24) — John Barrow (GA-12) — Melissa Bean (IL-08) — Dan Boren (OK-02)

Discussion: Firedoglake, Daily Kos, DownWithTyranny! and TalkLeft

Minneapolis Star Tribune:

One of imams removed from plane says incident caused them extreme harm — Six Muslim imams ordered off a US Airways flight at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport last November want to hold the airline responsible for how it treated them, one of the imams on the flight …

Discussion: Power Line, Jihad Watch and Riehl World View

Michael Yon / Fox News:

ERNIE IS DEAD: WEB CORRESPONDENT MICHAEL YON REPORTS FROM IRAQ — Michael Yon is an independent writer, photographer and former Green Beret who was embedded in Iraq for nine months in 2005. He has returned to Iraq for 2007 to continue reporting on the war. Here is a portion of his first dispatch for FOXNews.com.

Discussion: Confederate Yankee and Media Blog

Associated Press:

Lange: May cut social service funds to pass budget — HELENA - The Republican House leader said he is prepared to strip $2 billion in federal money out of the social services budget if that's what it takes to advance the GOP budget bills. — The announcement comes as the House gets ready …

Discussion: Sirotablog and Left in the West