memeorandum: In Big Shift, U.S. Imposes Tariffs on Chinese Paper (Steven R. Weisman/New York Times)

6:10 PM ET, March 31, 2007

Top Items:

Ex-Aide Details a Loss of Faith in the President — In 1999, Matthew Dowd became a symbol of George W. Bush's early success at positioning himself as a Republican with Democratic appeal. — A top strategist for the Texas Democrats who was disappointed by the Bill Clinton years …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Prairie Weather and The Mahablog

Larry McShane / Associated Press:

Gallery told to shut down chocolate Jesus display — NEW YORK — A planned Holy Week exhibition of a nude, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ was canceled Friday after Cardinal Edward Egan and other outraged Roman Catholics complained.

Discussion: The American Street and On Deadline

Zuzu / Feministe:

Outrage comes cheap these days, and death threats come cheaper … My God! What could it be? What could be making the little vein throb in the forehead of anti-Semite and professional pearl-clutcher Bill Donahue now? ONE OF THE WORST ASSAULTS ON CHRISTIAN SENSIBILITIES EVER???

Discussion: The Sideshow

Digby / Hullabaloo:
Piss Donohue

Discussion: Gawker

Kansas City Star:
Catholics outraged at `My Sweet Lord' chocolate crucifix display

Discussion: The American Street

Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:
This Week in God — Saturday-morning contributor Morbo tried …

Discussion: The Mahablog, Norwegianity, Midtopia, The Huffington Post and Reuters

Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:
Chocolate Jesus Meltdown As Controversial Exhibit Cancelled

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Sydney Morning Herald, The Reaction and Michelle Malkin

Nasser Karimi / Associated Press:

Iranian Official: Sailors May Be Tried — TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's ambassador to Russia renewed a threat Iranian officials made earlier this week, saying 15 British sailors held by Iran could be tried for violating international law, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported Saturday.

Discussion: Clayton Cramer's BLOG

Nicola Boden / Sydney Morning Herald:

Iran will punish 'guilty' British sailors: diplomat — On video ... Nathan Thomas Summers, left, with other British captives in Iran. — IRANIAN authorities have started legal proceedings against the British military personnel it has seized and said they would be punished if found guilty, Iran's ambassador to Moscow said last night.

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere

Telegraph:
Paraded on TV again, their ordeal goes on

Discussion: Power Line

This Is London:
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER CHANCE FOR IRAN TO HEAP ON THE HUMILIATION

Discussion: Times of London and The Jawa Report

Thomas Harding / Telegraph:
Without America's might the options are few

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Verum Serum and Outside The Beltway

Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:

Pelosi Going to Syria Despite Objections — WASHINGTON (AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will visit Syria, a country President Bush has shunned as a sponsor of terrorism, despite being asked by the administration not to go. — "In our view, it is not the right time to have these sort …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Booman Tribune, The Reaction, Tammy Bruce, DownWithTyranny!, Roger L. Simon, Think Progress and Hot Air

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

Feed A Foe, Starve A Friend — Let me see if I get this straight. The Democrats want to condemn Turkey for a genocide that the Ottoman Empire committed before the Turks overthrew them, in order to invest Congress with a certain level of moral authority, if not historical illiteracy.

Discussion: Washington Post and New York Times

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:

Planned Visit to Syria by Pelosi Is Under Fire From White House — A planned visit to Syria next week by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi drew criticism on Friday from the White House, which accused the Democratic Congressional leader of failing to heed the administration's admonitions against travel to Damascus.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Bloomberg, Reuters and Tennessee Guerilla Women

Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:
House Silent on British Hostage Crisis

Discussion: NewsHog, Right Wing Nut House and Gateway Pundit

Lexington Herald-Leader:

Terror suspect gets 9 months in plea deal — AUSTRALIAN WILL SERVE HIS SENTENCE IN HOMELAND, CAN'T ALLEGE ABUSE — Australian David Hicks pleaded guilty at the Guant‡namo Bay Navy Base yesterday to supporting terrorism in exchange for a nine-month prison sentence under a plea deal …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Middle Earth Journal, No More Mister Nice Blog and New York Times

The Age:

Govt denies it sweetened Hicks' sentence — The federal government denies it sweetened David Hicks' sentence for its election convenience. — Hicks will walk free from an Adelaide jail next New Year's Day, even though the confessed terrorist was recommended a seven year sentence by a US military commission.

Discussion: Kiko's House and The Moderate Voice

Michael Melia / Associated Press:
Australian Gitmo Detainee Gets 9 Months

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, PoliBlog (TM), The Impolitic and The Huffington Post

Bill Hess / svherald.com:

Kurd describes 'traumatized' Iraq, why his people worry about U.S. — SIERRA VISTA — The Kurds in Iraq are afraid they will again be left in a lurch if American troops are forced to leave next year, the Kurdistan representative to the United States said Thursday.

Discussion: NewsHog, The Belmont Club, Redstate and Washington Times

Edward Wong / New York Times:
Shiite Cleric Condemns U.S. as His Militia Takes to Streets

Discussion: The Daily Dish

Steven R. Weisman / New York Times:

In Big Shift, U.S. Imposes Tariffs on Chinese Paper — The Bush administration, in a major escalation of trade pressure on China, said Friday that it would reverse more than 20 years of American policy and impose potentially steep tariffs on Chinese manufactured goods on the ground that China …

Discussion: Cafe Hayek, Austin Bay Blog, Redstate, ShopFloor.org and Rising Hegemon

Steven Erlanger / New York Times:

Olmert Rejects Right of Return for Palestinians — Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in interviews published Friday that Israel would not allow a single Palestinian refugee to return to what is now Israel, and that the country bore no responsibility for the refugees because their plight resulted …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and Matthew Yglesias

Libby Purves / Times of London:
Olmert: Arab peace plan "revolutionary"

Discussion: Michael P.F. van der Galiën and The Moderate Voice

WSJ.com: Washington Wire:

'A Very Spartan Operation' — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who's running for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, established a low bar for rivals to clear in disclosing his initial campaign contribution totals. At a breakfast with reporters in Washington …

Peter Baker / Washington Post:

At Walter Reed, Bush Offers an Apology — After Touring Hospital and Visiting Patients, He Vows to 'Fix the Problem' — President Bush yesterday paid his first visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center since the uproar over shoddy conditions at the facility and emerged after a two-hour tour …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and The Caucus

White House:
President Bush Visits Troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos, INTEL DUMP, The Gun Toting Liberal™ and First Draft

Pajamas Media:

BAGHDAD DISPATCH: MIDNIGHT COMPANY — "I often find myself in arguments with people about the behavior of American soldiers when they search homes. Many of the people I talk to base their argument and negative impression on the footage of some raids we see on TV or on experiences of presumed relatives or friends.

Discussion: Roger L. Simon and Wizbang

Matthew Kaminski / Opinion Journal:

Joschka Fischer's Strange Trip — From street radical to the German foreign ministry—and now to Princeton. — PRINCETON, N.J.—"You have to try this," says the Frederick H. Schultz Class of 1951 Professor of International Economic Policy at Princeton, pushing his cup my way with an impish grin.