memeorandum: Who Will Play Gonzales and Card and Addington in the Hollywood Movie … (Marty Lederman/Balkinization)

12:50 AM ET, May 16, 2007

Top Items:

Gonzales Pressed Ailing Ashcroft on Spy Plan, Aide Says — On the night of March 10, 2004, a high-ranking Justice Department official rushed to a Washington hospital to prevent two White House aides from taking advantage of the critically ill Attorney General, John Ashcroft, the official testified today.

Discussion: CNN, News Bloggers Blog, WSJ.com, WorkingForChange, The Moderate Voice and TIME: Swampland

Think Progress:

Former Deputy Attorney General James Comey, 5/15/07, Senate Judiciary Committee — COMEY: In the early part of 2004, the Department of Justice was engaged — the Office of Legal Counsel, under my supervision — in a reevaluation both factually and legally of a particular classified program.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Unqualified Offerings, TPMmuckraker, Obsidian Wings and War and Piece

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:

Comey Details White House Attempt to Force Approval of Secret Program — In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning, former Deputy Attorney General James Comey detailed the desperate late night efforts by then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and White House chief …

Discussion: Associated Press, Firedoglake, Balkinization, Think Progress, CANNONFIRE, The Carpetbagger Report, The Anonymous Liberal, Talking Points Memo, MotherJones.com, Norwegianity, NION, War and Piece, The Volokh Conspiracy, Washington Monthly and Hullabaloo

Marty Lederman / Balkinization:

Who Will Play Gonzales and Card and Addington in the Hollywood Movie of the Comey Testimony? — Really, if Comey has not already sold the screenplay, he's missing out on a big payday. If you haven't already done so, READ THE TRANSCRIPT. [This might tell you all you need to know …

Discussion: The Anonymous Liberal

David Johnston / New York Times:

President Intervened in Dispute Over Eavesdropping — President Bush intervened in March 2004 to avert a crisis over the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping program after Attorney General John Ashcroft, Director Robert S. Mueller III of the F.B.I. and other senior Justice Department aides …

Discussion: toohotfortnr and The Atlantic Online

Hindrocket / Power Line:
MAKING SENSE OF COMEY

Discussion: News Bloggers Blog

Faiz / Think Progress:
Gonzales Throws McNulty Under The Bus

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Blah3, WTF Is It Now?? and digg

Orin Kerr / The Volokh Conspiracy:
FULL TRANSCRIPT OF COMEY TESTIMONY ON NSA SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM …

Discussion: Power Line

Glenn Greenwald / Salon: Gonzales' yearlong effort to block Comey's testimony

Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:

Jerry Falwell dies at age 73 — One of the nation's most notorious TV preachers, Jerry Falwell, died today in Lynchburg, Va. … More soon. — Update: I have to admit, writing about Falwell's death poses an awkward challenge for me. When I worked at Americans United for Separation …

Discussion: Real Cities, NewsBusters.org, KnoxViews, Sadly, No!, The Huffington Post, DownWithTyranny!, Big Brass Blog, The Reaction, The Caucus, Think Progress, Jesus' General, Eschaton, Wonkette, Taylor Marsh, Mercury Rising, Balloon Juice and No More Mister Nice Blog

MSNBC:

Falwell in 'gravely serious' condition — Evangelical leader was found in his university office — LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Rev. Jerry Falwell — founder of the Moral Majority and the face of the religious right in the 1980s — was in "gravely serious" condition Tuesday after being found unconscious …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, David E's Fablog, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, Central Sanity, Think Progress, TAPPED, The Moderate Voice, Big Brass Blog, Blah3 and The Democratic Daily

Sue Lindsey / Associated Press:

Television evangelist Falwell dies at 73 — LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Rev. Jerry Falwell, the television evangelist who founded the Moral Majority and used it to mold the religious right into a political force, died Tuesday shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University.

Discussion: Associated Press, Right Wing Nut House, Captain's Quarters, Democratic Underground …, If I Ran the Zoo, Ankle Biting Pundits, Comments From Left Field, Gateway Pundit, The Newshoggers, Macsmind, BlueOregon, The Gun Toting Liberal™ and Liberal Values

CNN:

Rev. Jerry Falwell dead at 73 … (CNN) — Evangelist Jerry Falwell died Tuesday after he was found unresponsive in his office, an official at Liberty University told CNN. — Falwell, 73, was rushed to a Lynchburg, Virginia, hospital, where he was given CPR.

Discussion: Blog of the Moderate Left, The World Wide Rant, Central Sanity and The Talent Show

Digby / Hullabaloo:
"He Thought It Would Be Dramatic"

Discussion: Firedoglake and Campaign for America's …

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Breaking: Jerry Falwell in "gravely serious" …

Discussion: Confederate Yankee, AMERICAblog, WSJ.com, Wonkette, Iowa Voice, Right Wing News, TMZ.com, The American Mind, Blue Crab Boulevard and Gay Orbit

Washington Post:
Falwell's Sudden Death Jolts GOP Candidates

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Latest Politics, Hot Air and MSNBC

ABCNEWS:

Bush Taps New 'War Czar' — ABC News Learns Pentagon Official Selected to Oversee Iraq, Afghanistan Wars — After a frustrating search for a new "war czar" to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, ABC News has learned that President Bush has chosen the Pentagon's director of operations, Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, for the role.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, The Huffington Post, Comments From Left Field, The Talent Show, World-O-Crap, The Impolitic, The Carpetbagger Report, Middle Earth Journal, Blah3, The Democratic Daily, Daily Kos and rubber hose

Nico / Think Progress:
New 'War Czar' Advocated Troop Withdrawals To 'Undercut Perception Of Occupation'

Discussion: New York Times, Associated Press, Danger Room and Hot Air

Steve Soto / The Left Coaster:
Bush's "War Czar" Advocated Troop Drawdown - Why Was He Selected?

Discussion: MSNBC, The Next Hurrah and MotherJones.com

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Video: Rudy blasts Ron Paul's apology for 9/11 — Ahem. — The smartass reply would have been to ask Paul whether, if in fact conditions in Iraq precipitated 9/11, it wasn't perfectly appropriate then to take extreme measures to try to remedy those conditions afterwards.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Don Surber and Iowa Voice

Hotline On Call:

Pre-Spin Room Thoughts: McCain, Rudy, Romney — Invoking the Roger Simon rule: in my judgment, John McCain convincingly and incontrovertibly won tonight's debate. He was strong, confident, answered tough questions with ease and dispatch, and seemed the most presidential.

Discussion: eyeon08.com

Stephen Green / VodkaPundit:
Debate Drunkblogging - LIVE!

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, TigerHawk, Townhall.com, Reason Magazine, Sister Toldjah and Instapundit.com

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Video: MSNBC quotes WhiteHouse.org on Falwell's political influence — Yeah, WhiteHouse.org. The most infamous, relentlessly anti-Bush parody site on the 'Net. — You can imagine how it played out. Producer to intern: "We need a fawning description of him from the White House website …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, ProfessorBainbridge.com ® and National Review

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
MSNBC punks itself!

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Lizstephans / Breitbart.tv:

Exclusive: Thompson Responds to Michael Moore Challenge — Breitbart.tv Exclusive: The confrontation over Cuba continues. Michael Moore has challenged Fred Thompson to a health care debate. At issue — Moore's trip to Cuba and Thompson's criticism of that trip.

Discussion: Hot Air, Redstate, The Impolitic, Captain's Quarters, democracyarsenal.org, Blue Crab Boulevard, Wizbang, Ankle Biting Pundits, Heading Right and Babalu Blog

Andrew Sullivan / The Atlantic Online:

Palmetto Punditry — The debate took a while to gain any traction, but there were some clarifying moments for me. The questions were often excellent - especially the tough ones at the beginning about the war. The Republicans, we learned, have absolutely no idea what to do about Iraq.

Yossi Melman / Haaretz:

Experts: IAEA chief exaggerated Iranian nuclear progress — Reliable information or a diplomatic manipulation - that is the big question surrounding the statements on Monday by Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to the effect that Iran has achieved …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Mark Heinrich / Reuters:
World should adapt to Iran atom advances: ElBaradei

Discussion: AMERICAN FUTURE

ABCNEWS:

Wolfowitz Out? — White House Opens Door for Wolfowitz Ouster — World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is fighting for his job amid a conflict of interest controversy that centers around his personal relationship with his girlfriend — a longtime World Bank employee.

Discussion: Washington Post, Crooks and Liars, PoliBlog (TM) and All Spin Zone

The Atlantic Online:
Yes, Hypocrisy Matters

Discussion: The New Republic, The Reaction, Lawyers, Guns and Money and Mercury Rising

Redstate:

Sources: Senate GOP on Verge of Amnesty Deal — Sources on Capitol Hill tell me the Senate may be very close to a deal on comprehensive immigration reform. — But as the immigration deal comes together, Senate conservatives are growing uneasy about the state of the negotiations …

Discussion: The Politico, Los Angeles Times, National Review, Hot Air, Ankle Biting Pundits and Bluey Blog