memeorandum: Obama Rebuffs Soros (Eli Lake/New York Sun)

6:25 PM ET, March 21, 2007

Top Items:

House panel defies Bush, votes for subpoenas … WASHINGTON (CNN) — House Democrats voted Wednesday to give their leaders the authority to force White House officials to testify on the firings of U.S. attorneys. — The House Judiciary subcommittee vote was to authorize subpoenas.

Discussion: Washington Post, Center for American Progress, Neptunus Lex, State of the Day, Unfogged, ACSBlog, Riehl World View, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Democratic Daily and New York Times

Nico / Think Progress:

VIDEO: Former Reagan U.S. Attorney Blasts Administration Over Purge — As Atrios noted, former Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), who served as a U.S. Attorney under President Reagan, appeared today on CNN. — Barr blasted the White House, saying "the integrity of the Department of Justice is being used …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and Shakespeare's Sister

New York Times:

House Panel Authorizes Subpoenas for Top Bush Aides — A House Judiciary subcommittee today authorized subpoenas for Karl Rove, President Bush's political adviser, and other senior White House officials in the investigation into the firing of eight United States attorneys.

Discussion: The Raw Story, Redstate, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Pam's House Blend

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:

An Email in The Gap — As Josh noted and The Politico reported last night, there appeared to be an 18-day gap in the emails released by the Justice Department Monday night, a gap right after Alberto Gonzales' chief of staff Kyle Sampson said that they should run the purge plan by the White House and Karl Rove in particular.

Laurie Kellman / Associated Press:

House panel OKs Rove, Miers subpoenas — WASHINGTON - A House panel on Wednesday approved subpoenas for President Bush's political adviser, Karl Rove and other top White House aides, setting up a constitutional showdown over the firings of eight federal prosecutors.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Gateway Pundit, DownWithTyranny!, 2Millionth Web Log, The Gun Toting Liberal ™, Stop The ACLU, NewsHog, The Carpetbagger Report and All Spin Zone

Nico / Think Progress:

A second set of emails from the gap. — We've tracked down another set of emails during the 18-day gap (available HERE) between Kyle Sampson and Brent Ward, the head of the federal obscenity task force. In the emails, Ward complains about resistance from several U.S. Attorneys …

Discussion: Salt Lake Tribune

MSNBC:
House panel subpoenas White House aides

Discussion: Political Radar and TPMmuckraker

Bob Geiger:
Study: White House Guilty Of "Political Profiling"

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Agonist and Michael P.F. van der Galiën

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:
"The Math" — (Electoral college numbers map via The Talent Show.)

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Lean Left

New York Times:
What People Really Need — In nasty and bumbling comments …

Discussion: TBogg, Newsweek, White House, The Impolitic, Middle Earth Journal, Balkinization, Political Radar, Firedoglake, The Heretik, Shakespeare's Sister, NewsHog, Tennessee Guerilla Women and Norwegianity

Arizona Republic:
Renzi inquiry at issue in ouster

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Shakespeare's Sister and The Nation

Richard A. Serrano / Los Angeles Times:
Making a list of reasons for firing U.S. attorneys

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, JustOneMinute, The Carpetbagger Report and Wizbang

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
The White House and Congress Seem Headed Toward a Familiar Collision

Discussion: White House Watch, The Carpetbagger Report and Law Blog

epw.senate.gov:

GORE REFUSES TO TAKE PERSONAL ENERGY ETHICS PLEDGE — WASHINGTON, DC - Former Vice President Al Gore refused to take a "Personal Energy Ethics Pledge" today to consume no more energy than the average American household. The pledge was presented to Gore by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) …

Discussion: Ace of Spades HQ, Flopping Aces and NewsBusters.org

Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:

Gore Implores Congress to Save Planet — WASHINGTON (AP) - Al Gore, who has reversed his political fortunes to become a potential contender in the 2008 presidential race, made an emotional return to Congress Wednesday in an appeal for an even more dramatic rescue—saving the planet.

Discussion: QandO, Don Surber and Cafe Hayek

David Roberts / The Huffington Post:
Al Gore's Legislative Recommendations to the House

Discussion: Gristmill and time-blog.com

David Roberts / Gristmill:
Al Gore's testimony to the Senate

Discussion: TAPPED and www.johnkerry.com blog

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Open thread: Goracle on Capitol Hill to talk about the weather …

Discussion: Washington Post, Riehl World View, Sister Toldjah and The Democratic Daily

Newsdesk / The Swamp:

Snow swallows own old words — "What kinds of conversations does executive privilege protect?...What are the limits on privilege?'' a newspaper columnist wrote in the spring of 1998 on a subject strangely familiar today. — "Evidently, Mr. Clinton wants to shield virtually any communications …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Pam's House Blend, The Democratic Daily and digg

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:

Snow Job — It's getting deep at the White House. Tony Snow, during today's daily briefing just said that the President has no recollection of ever being asked about the US attorney firings. — And that the White House has made a "generous offer" of having WH staffers and DoJ folks …

Discussion: Editor and Publisher, Taylor Marsh, Dick Polman's American Debate, Think Progress and Grasping Reality …

Lane Hudson / The Huffington Post:

Tony Snow: WH Asserts Privilege for Conversations That Never Took Place! — In the White House Press briefing that just concluded, press secretary Tony Snow said that he was not aware of the president being briefed on the US Attorney issue. He further said the president did not sign off on the firings.

Discussion: Think Progress and The Carpetbagger Report

Eli Lake / New York Sun:

Obama Rebuffs Soros — Billionaire's Comments on Aipac Are Scored — WASHINGTON — Leading Democrats, including Senator Obama of Illinois, are distancing themselves from an essay published this week by one of their party's leading financiers that called for the Democratic Party to …

Discussion: TIME, TigerHawk, Captain's Quarters, Political Insider and Sister Toldjah

Steve Bainbridge / ProfessorBainbridge.com ®:

Mahoney Must Go — The LA Times reports: … Canon 387 of the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church states that: … Can a Bishop who has lied to his flock on such a key mttner be said to be in compliance with Canon 387? No. Especially given Mahoney's long track record of other misfeasances …

Robert J. Samuelson / Washington Post:

Hollywood's Climate Follies — "My fellow Americans, people all over the world, we need to solve the climate crisis. It's not a political issue. It's a moral issue. We have everything we need to get started, with the possible exception of the will to act. That's a renewable resource.

Discussion: Gristmill, Blue Crab Boulevard, ShopFloor.org and Reason Magazine

Robert Salladay / Los Angeles Times:

Governor calls Limbaugh 'irrelevant' — Schwarzenegger's repudiation of the conservative talk show host comes as he is accused of betraying his party's values. — SACRAMENTO — After repeatedly being asked about his conservative critics, including talk show host Rush Limbaugh …

Discussion: CNN, Captain's Quarters and The Democratic Daily

Mark Mellman / The Hill:

Hounding Fox News coverage — Journalists strive to report the news, not to be the news. So Fox News should have been a bit embarrassed to headline a story that ended with the Nevada Democratic Party canceling Fox's sponsorship of a pre-caucus debate. — Then again, Fox is not a typical news organization.