memeorandum: Hope In Baghdad? (Andrew Sullivan/The Daily Dish)

6:05 PM ET, March 15, 2007

Top Items:

Internal Affairs — Aborted DOJ Probe Probably Would Have Targeted Gonzales — Shortly before Attorney General Alberto Gonzales advised President Bush last year on whether to shut down a Justice Department inquiry regarding the administration's warrantless domestic eavesdropping program …

Discussion: Obsidian Wings, New York Times, The Carpetbagger Report, The Moderate Voice, Prairie Weather, MyDD, Discourse.net, TPMmuckraker, Unqualified Offerings, The American Street, Angry Bear and Macsmind

Jan Crawford Greenburg / ABCNEWS:

EXCLUSIVE: E-Mails Show Rove's Role in U.S. Attorney Firings — Unreleased E-Mails Contradict White House Assertions That the Firings Originated With Harriet Miers — New unreleased e-mails from top administration officials show that the idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys was raised …

Discussion: Think Progress, Donklephant, The Gavel and Citizens Blogging …

Sidney Blumenthal / Salon:

All roads lead to Rove — The Bush administration's first instinct was to shield Karl Rove from scrutiny when Congress began inquiring about the unusual firings of eight U.S. attorneys. Among the replacements, the proposed new U.S. attorney for Arkansas happened to be one of Rove's most devoted underlings …

Discussion: Think Progress

Laurie Kellman / Associated Press:

Panel OKs subpoenas in attorney probe — WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday cleared the way for subpoenas compelling five Justice Department officials and six of the U.S. attorneys they fired to tell the story of the purge that has prompted demands for the ouster of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, TPMmuckraker and War and Piece

CNN:

Subpoenas target Justice; White House could be next … WASHINGTON (CNN) — The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said he doesn't care what the White House and Justice Department think of his subpoenas — he wants answers. — The committee Thursday authorized the use of subpoenas …

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister, Comments From Left Field and Wonkette

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:
CREW: White House Breaking Records Law?

Discussion: CREW, Citizens Blogging …, Talking Points Memo and CorrenteWire

Lincoln Caplan / Slate:
Hyper Hacks — WHAT'S REALLY WRONG WITH THE BUSH JUSTICE DEPARTMENT.

Discussion: Bench Conference, PoliBlog (TM), CBS News, Real Cities, New York Times, NewsBusters.org, The Mahablog, Middle Earth Journal, About U.S. Politics and DownWithTyranny!

Jess Bravin / Wall Street Journal:
Still Vague: Why Were Prosecutors Fired?

Discussion: CJR Daily

Ian / Hot Air:

Video: Rosie dismisses KSM, says he is not "be all, end all" of terrorism Update: Rosie defends KSM; robbed of his "humanity" — UPDATE: Rosie defends KSM: — In the segment prior to what we originally posted, Rosie defended Khalid Shaikh Mohammed's "humanity", remarking terrorists aren't treated like …

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Don Surber, Fox News, Wake up America, Shakespeare's Sister, democracyarsenal.org, No More Mister Nice Blog, NewsBusters.org, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Jihad Watch, Secular Blasphemy and The Jawa Report

Mike Mount / CNN:

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed: I beheaded American reporter … WASHINGTON (CNN) — Admitted 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told a U.S. military tribunal he personally beheaded Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002, the Pentagon revealed Thursday.

Discussion: Associated Press, Firedoglake, Reuters, DownWithTyranny!, GINA COBB, Law Librarian Blog, Gateway Pundit and Hot Air

Katherine Shrader / Associated Press:

9/11 mastermind admits killing reporter — WASHINGTON - Suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessed to the beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl and a central role in 30 other attacks and plots in the U.S. and worldwide that killed thousands of victims …

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Jihad Watch, The Jawa Report and Counterterrorism Blog

Debbie Schlussel:
OUTRAGE: Rosie O'Donnell Feels Bad for 9/11 Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Discussion: NewsBusters.org

Noah Shachtman / Danger Room:
9/11 "Confession": How Real? (Updated)

Discussion: The Smoking Gun, INTEL DUMP, FP Passport, Political Animal, New York Times, The Blotter, TalkLeft, Think Progress, NewsHog, The Huffington Post and Ace of Spades HQ

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

At Candidates Forum, Silence About the War Speaks Volumes — John McCain — fighter pilot, prisoner of war, tormentor of Pat Robertson — is seldom wanting in courage. But even so, what he did yesterday was noteworthy. — The Republican senator from Arizona was one of 11 presidential candidates …

Discussion: The Caucus, Michael P.F. van der Galiën and Extreme Mortman

David S. Broder / Washington Post:
Reports of the GOP's Death . . .

Discussion: Horses Mouth, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, TAPPED, Blue Crab Boulevard and Grasping Reality …

Karen Tumulty / Time: How The Right Went Wrong

Scott Lilly / Center for American Progress:

"Liberal Idiots" — Reality Check for Iraq War Opponents — As the result of a concealed camera and the miracle of YouTube, my old boss, Dave Obey (D-WI), roiled the political waters last week by using the term "liberal idiots" during an argument with an Iraq War protestor.

Discussion: Sirotablog and The American Street

Big Tent Democrat / TalkLeft:
Endorsing Doing Nothing on Iraq

Discussion: workingforchange.com … and Sirotablog

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Hope In Baghdad? — We shouldn't rule it out. There's solid data on a real drop in bombings and murders in Baghdad since Plus Up began. It's almost solely because the Shiite militias are just lying low. But it's still a good thing. Money quote: … This isn't normality; the carnage is still awful.

Discussion: Redstate and Wake up America

Sam Harris / Los Angeles Times:

God's dupes — Moderate believers give cover to religious fanatics — and are every bit as delusional. — PETE STARK, a California Democrat, appears to be the first congressman in U.S. history to acknowledge that he doesn't believe in God. In a country in which 83% of the population thinks …

Discussion: Preemptive Karma, Hot Air, protein wisdom, The Moderate Voice, NewsBusters.org and The Navel of the Internet

The Hill:

2008 and counting: Using praise as a weapon on the trail — Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) slipped in a compliment — of sorts — about a fellow 2008 hopeful during his appearances on the Iowa stump last weekend. — "I want to wait and hear what John Edwards has to say, he's kind of good-looking …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Scared Monkeys, Riehl World View, Tennessee Guerilla Women and The Corner

Jonathan E. Kaplan / The Hill:

Emanuel tells freshmen to avoid Stephen Colbert — Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the Democratic Caucus chairman, has told new Democratic members of Congress to steer clear of Stephen Colbert, or at least his satirical Comedy Central program, "The Colbert Report."

Discussion: CorrenteWire, My Left Wing, TAPPED, Firedoglake, The Swamp, Outside The Beltway, Preemptive Karma, DownWithTyranny! and Wizbang

Patricia Cohen / New York Times:

Stop the Presses, Boys! Women Claim Space on Op-Ed Pages — Whatever other reasons may explain the lack of women's voices on the nation's op-ed pages, the lack of women asking to be there is clearly part of the problem. Many opinion page editors at major newspapers across the country …

Discussion: Instapundit.com and Gawker

Rocky Mountain News:

Loud and divided on Iraq — Committee rejects escalation after emotional debate — Both served in the military. Both ran for Congress. And on Wednesday they found themselves on opposite sides of an intense debate at the state Capitol on a statement against sending more troops to Iraq.

Discussion: BLACKFIVE and protein wisdom

Paul Watson / Los Angeles Times:

As a child, Obama crossed a cultural divide in Indonesia — JAKARTA, INDONESIA — As a boy in Indonesia, Barack Obama crisscrossed the religious divide. At the local primary school, he prayed in thanks to a Catholic saint. In the neighborhood mosque, he bowed to Allah.

Discussion: TAPPED, Jihad Watch, NewsBusters.org, Hotline On Call, Hot Air, Volunteer Voters, The Huffington Post, protein wisdom and Riehl World View

Katherine Kersten / Minneapolis Star Tribune:

The real target of the 6 imams' 'discrimination' suit — The "flying imams' " federal lawsuit, filed this week in Minneapolis, has made headlines around the country. The imams are demanding unspecified damages from US Airways and the Metropolitan Airports Commission, both with deep pockets.