memeorandum: Today's Must Read (Paul Kiel/TPMmuckraker)

11:30 AM ET, March 22, 2007

Top Items:

Edwards and Wife Plan News Conference — John Edwards, the North Carolina Democrat making a second bid for the presidency, announced late Wednesday night that he would hold a news conference Thursday, a day after he and his wife, Elizabeth, visited Mrs. Edwards' doctor to assess her health following her recovery from breast cancer.

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House, AMERICAblog, Firedoglake, Associated Press, Donklephant, Matthew Yglesias, My Left Wing, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, The American Street, Sister Toldjah and Pajamas Media

New York Times:

Edwards Plans Announcement With His Wife — John Edwards, the North Carolina Democrat making a second bid for the presidency, called a news conference for Thursday to discuss the future of his campaign, a day after he and his wife, Elizabeth, visited Mrs. Edwards's doctor to assess her recovery from a bout of breast cancer.

Discussion: Pam's House Blend, The Swamp, Crooked Timber, All Spin Zone and Brilliant at Breakfast

Anne E. Korblut / Washington Post:

Edwards Sets Announcement On Campaign — Former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) and his wife, Elizabeth, have scheduled a news conference for noon today in their home state of North Carolina, in what aides described as a major development in his 2008 presidential bid.

Discussion: TalkLeft, The Democratic Daily, QandO, Blue Crab Boulevard and Taylor Marsh

Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:

Edwards plans news conference after visiting doctor with his wife — Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards accompanied his wife, Elizabeth, who has been treated for breast cancer, on a doctor's visit Wednesday. His campaign said they would hold a news conference in their hometown Thursday to discuss her health.

Discussion: State of the Day

Kate Phillips / The Caucus:
Edwards Curtails Campaign Trip to Be With Wife

Discussion: TAPPED and Ezra Klein

Nedra Pickler / ABCNEWS:
John Edwards to Discuss Wife's Health

Discussion: Hotline On Call

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters: Edwards To Withdraw?

Maura Dolan / Los Angeles Times:

Bush loyalist among fired U.S. attorneys — Threatened controversy over a poor evaluation of federal prosecutor Kevin Ryan in San Francisco derailed plans to retain him. — SAN FRANCISCO — The "company man" hired and fired by the Bush administration as U.S. attorney in San Francisco …

Discussion: Political Animal

USA Today:

3 fired prosecutors were in top 10 for convictions, federal data show — Justice Department spokesman says rankings skewed — WASHINGTON — Three of the eight federal prosecutors ousted by the Justice Department as poor performers ranked in the top 10 for prosecutions and convictions …

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:

Today's Must Read — It's almost too perfect. The only U.S. attorney fired by the administration in December who undeniably had performance issues was begrudingly added to the list at the last minute — and only then because of a federal judge's threat that he would go to Congress with complaints about the prosecutor's performance.

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications and Mercury Rising

Kevin Bohn / CNN:
Gap in Justice, White House e-mails raises questions

Discussion: New York Times, News Bloggers Blog and The Volokh Conspiracy

Jim Kuhnhenn / Associated Press:

Mystery creator of anti-Clinton ad ID'd — WASHINGTON - The mystery creator of the Orwellian YouTube ad against Hillary Rodham Clinton is a Democratic operative who worked for a digital consulting firm with ties to rival Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record).

Discussion: Power Line, Ed Driscoll.com and Blue Crab Boulevard

The Huffington Post:
Phil de Vellis, aka ParkRidge47: I Made the "Vote Different" Ad

Discussion: Blue State Digital, Blog P.I., MSNBC, The Politico, MyDD, The Moderate Voice, No More Mister Nice Blog, Outside The Beltway, On Deadline, techPresident, CorrenteWire and the david all group

Arianna Huffington / The Huffington Post:
Who Created "Hillary 1984"? Mystery Solved!

Washington Post:

Political Spectacle — THE WHITE HOUSE and congressional Democrats have drawn deep lines in the sand over who will testify, and how, as Congress investigates the dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys. The stubbornness and overheated rhetoric on both sides threaten an unnecessary constitutional crisis …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, CorrenteWire, TalkLeft, The Heretik and Michael P.F. van der Galiën

New York Times:
Democrats See a 'Document Gap' in Dismissals

Discussion: Washington Post, The Carpetbagger Report, Riehl World View, Central Sanity, MyDD, Think Progress and TPMmuckraker

Boston Globe:
Let in the light — GEORGE BUSH is cementing his reputation as the closed-door president.

Discussion: New York Times and TalkLeft

Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:

Prosecutor Says Bush Appointees Interfered With Tobacco Case — The leader of the Justice Department team that prosecuted a landmark lawsuit against tobacco companies said yesterday that Bush administration political appointees repeatedly ordered her to take steps that weakened the government's racketeering case.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, The Mahablog, Shakespeare's Sister, CorrenteWire, TPMmuckraker, Crooks and Liars, The Impolitic, Macsmind, TalkLeft, Patterico's Pontifications, Mercury Rising, Angry Bear, Los Angeles Times, Arizona Republic, Liberal Values and Rising Hegemon

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:

House Democrats Weigh Plan for Iraq Withdrawal — Representative Dan Boren is a Democrat, but after visiting Iraq last week he announced a decision that puts him at odds with his party's leaders: he intends to vote against their plan to set a deadline for troops to leave Iraq.

Discussion: The Hill, JustOneMinute, DownWithTyranny! and Associated Press

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Democrats Undone Over Iraq

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard

Robert D. Novak / Washington Post:

Was She Covert? — Republican Rep. Peter Hoekstra could hardly believe what he heard on television Friday as he watched a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing. Rep. Henry Waxman, the Democratic committee chairman, said his statement had been approved by the CIA director, Michael Hayden.

Discussion: The Lede, Angry Bear, Think Progress and Macsmind

Think Progress:

Boxer Slams Down Inhofe's Global Warming Filibuster: 'You Don't Make The Rules Anymore' — Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) has said Al Gore is "full of crap" and compared people who believe in global warming to "the Third Reich." During today's Senate hearing, Inhofe used a considerable amount …

Discussion: Gristmill, epw.senate.gov, Media Matters for America, News Hounds, My Left Wing, The Intersection, The Sideshow, Hoffmania!, BlondeSense and CorrenteWire

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Some Heated Words for Mr. Global Warming

Discussion: Sadly, No! and NewsBusters.org

Sidney Blumenthal / Salon:

What Bush is hiding — In the U.S. attorney scandal, Alberto Gonzales gave orders, but he also took them — from Karl Rove, who plotted to turn the federal criminal justice system into the Republican Holy Office of the Inquisition. — Alberto Gonzales, right, and Karl Rove at the Jan. 31 …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Democratic Underground and Norwegianity

Kirk Johnson / New York Times:

In Utah, an Opponent of the 'Culture of Obedience' — SALT LAKE CITY — Rocky Anderson may not be the most liberal mayor in America. But here in the most conservative state, he might as well be. — Just being himself is enough to galvanize, divide or enrage people who have followed …

Discussion: Hotline On Call, Reason Magazine and The Gun Toting Liberal ™

Anthony Man / Sun-Sentinel:

Florida moves to wipe out clout of smaller states with Jan. 29 presidential primary — Tallahassee - Hoping to muscle Florida into a pre-eminent role in picking next year's Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, the state House voted Wednesday to leapfrog almost all the other states …

Discussion: shotinthedark.info/wp …

New York Times:

Congress's Challenge on Iraq — The House of Representatives now has a chance to lead the nation toward a wiser, more responsible Iraq policy. It is scheduled to vote this week on whether to impose benchmarks for much-needed political progress on the Iraqi government …

Discussion: Don Surber, TalkLeft and Decision '08