memeorandum: The Surge: First Fruits (Charles Krauthammer/Washington Post)

3:00 PM ET, April 13, 2007

Top Items:

Lawyer: Rove didn't delete e-mails in fired attorneys case … WASHINGTON (AP) — Karl Rove's lawyer on Friday dismissed the notion that President Bush's chief political adviser intentionally deleted his own e-mails from a Republican-sponsored server, saying Rove believed the communications …

Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post:

Rove E-Mail Sought by Congress May Be Missing — RNC Took Away His Access to Delete Files in 2005 — A lawyer for the Republican National Committee told congressional staff members yesterday that the RNC is missing at least four years' worth of e-mail from White House senior adviser Karl Rove …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Huffington Post, The Raw Story, NewsHog, CorrenteWire, First Read, Shakesville, The Carpetbagger Report, Firedoglake, TPMmuckraker and Think Progress

John Bresnahan / The Politico:

White House Tells Democrats No Deal on Rove Testimony or E-mails — White House Counsel Fred Fielding, in a letter today, told Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary committees, that the White House has not budged in its refusal …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Reason Magazine and Daily Kos

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Missing E-Mail May Be Related to Prosecutors — The White House said Thursday that missing e-mail messages sent on Republican Party accounts may include some relating to the firing of eight United States attorneys. — The disclosure became a fresh political problem for the White House …

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

The Bush administration's terrible luck with finding documents — (updated below - Update II - Update III) — I feel — in this vaguely intuitive sort of way — as though there is some kind of a pattern buried within this set of facts, but as much as I search, I just can't quite figure out what it might be:

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Sigmund, Carl and Alfred, The Gun Toting Liberal™, The Sideshow, On Deadline, Rising Hegemon, NewsHog and Angry Bear

Nico / Think Progress:
Exclusive: White House Held Meeting To Pressure Reporters …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and NION

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:
Today's Must Read

Discussion: Firedoglake and indict dick cheney

Washington Post:

Wolfowitz Apologizes For 'Mistake' — At World Bank, Boos Over Pay for Girlfriend — World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz publicly apologized yesterday for the "mistake" of personally orchestrating a high-paying job and guaranteed promotions for a bank employee with whom he is romantically involved …

Discussion: Shakesville, The Galloping Beaver and AMERICAblog

BBC:

Pressure grows on World Bank boss — The executive board of the World Bank has said it did not approve a hefty pay rise ordered by its president Paul Wolfowitz for his partner. — Mr Wolfowitz has faced calls to resign after admitting he helped Shaha Riza win a promotion to a high-paying job at the international lender.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and PoliBlog (TM)

Krishna Guha / Financial Times:
World Bank pledges action on Wolfowitz

Discussion: Think Progress, Daily Kos and The Moderate Voice

IPS Inter Press Service:
Wolfowitz Contradicted on Family Planning Claim

Discussion: Think Progress

Financial Times:
Wolfowitz must be told to resign now

Discussion: Washington Post, Obsidian Wings, Outside The Beltway, A Tiny Revolution, The Heretik, The Washington Note, New York Times and Grasping Reality …

web.worldbank.org:
Statement by Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank Group

Discussion: WSJ.com and FP Passport

Joe Klein / TIME: Swampland:

The Worst Person in the World—Continued — Solidarity with Karen...Keith Olbermann and I share a beloved high school English teacher—Arthur Naething. We've done tributes together for the guy. I love the way Keith writes and thinks. I love his program.

Discussion: TAPPED and Olbermann Watch

Karen Tumulty / TIME: Swampland:
The Worst Person in the World: Me, I'm Told

Discussion: Sister Toldjah and Eschaton

TerryMoran:

DON'T FEEL TOO SORRY FOR THE DUKIES — Mike Nifong, the North Carolina prosecutor who pursued a case of rape and kidnapping against three Duke University lacrosse players, has been found to have been reckless and deceitful in the discharge of his duties according to the state's attorney general.

Discussion: The Corner, Betsy's Page, Attytood, QandO, The Navel of the Internet, Confederate Yankee, NewsBusters.org, Wizbang and New York Post

Ann Friedman / TAPPED:

CONSERVATIVES DECRY POLITICIZATION OF THE FDA. Oh, this is rich: The Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America are suing the FDA over the agency's approval of Plan B emergency contraception for over-the-counter sale. Their complaint? The FDA's decision was politically motivated.

Amy Fagan / Washington Times:
Family groups sue FDA over contraceptive

Discussion: Feministing

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

The Surge: First Fruits — By the day, the debate at home about Iraq becomes increasingly disconnected from the realities of the war on the ground. The Democrats in Congress are so consumed with negotiating among their factions the most clever linguistic device to legislatively ensure …

Discussion: NewsHog, FP Passport, Confederate Yankee, Matthew Yglesias, Neptunus Lex, Melanie Phillips's Diary and Betsy's Page

Matthew Yglesias:
He Said What Now? — Charles Krauthammer offers up his latest entry …

Discussion: The American Scene and Political Animal

Washington Post:

In White House Plan, War 'Czar' Would Cut Through Bureaucracy — When the commanding general in Iraq needed people for a rule-of-law initiative, he had to send a memo to the U.S. Central Command. That command forwarded it to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Joint Chiefs forwarded it to the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Discussion: FP Passport and Shakesville

Steve Connor / The Independent:

The prospect of all-female conception — Women might soon be able to produce sperm in a development that could allow lesbian couples to have their own biological daughters, according to a pioneering study published today. — Scientists are seeking ethical permission to produce synthetic sperm cells …

Discussion: Salon: Broadsheet, Clayton Cramer's BLOG, Outside The Beltway, Unfogged, On Deadline and Sister Toldjah

Peter Wallsten / Los Angeles Times:

Democratic politicians lose a soapbox with Imus — His show gave many of them a way to reach a national audience of white males — a crucial voting bloc. — WASHINGTON — They came by the hundreds that hot August day in tiny Johnson City, Tenn., gathering on an asphalt parking lot to meet …

Discussion: Top Sports News on AOL, Classical Values, CNN Political Ticker, The Gun Toting Liberal™, Hullabaloo, The Moderate Voice, The Influence Peddler, Daily Kos, Tennessee Guerilla Women and NewsBusters.org

Zogby:

Zogby Poll: Giuliani, Clinton Hold Wide Leads in Nevada — Giuliani leads Republicans with 37% support and Clinton tops Democrat rivals at 35% as other major candidates lag behind — Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has surged to a double-digit lead over his Republican rivals …

White House:

President Bush Attends National Catholic Prayer Breakfast — Washington, D.C. — THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all; please be seated. Good morning. Thank you. It's good to be with you. You know how to make a Methodist feel right at home. (Laughter.)

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Blogs for Bush

Bruce Kesler / Democracy Project:

Important Guest Post: Modern Foreign Policy Execution — Mark Safranski, the ZenPundit of 4GW (fourth generation warfare), has earned quite a deserved reputation for his studies. This, of course, is an essential subject - indeed, critical to the accomplishment of U.S. foreign policy in an asymmetrical warfare world.

Discussion: The Glittering Eye, NewsHog and Chicago Boyz