memeorandum: Mukasey plans rare appearance before high court (Bill Mears/CNN)

3:05 PM ET, March 12, 2008

Top Items:

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

Spitzer Resigns, Citing Personal Failings — Gov. Eliot Spitzer, whose rise to political power as a fierce enforcer of ethics in public life was undone by revelations of his own involvement with prostitutes, resigned on Wednesday, becoming the first New York governor to leave office amid scandal in nearly a century.

Discussion: Hot Air, Newsday, Matthew Yglesias, Jezebel, BlueOregon, Guardian Unlimited, DownWithTyranny!, Outside The Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, ConnecticutBLOG, Wake up America and The Agonist

Fredric U. Dicker / New York Post:

SPITZER TO RESIGN IN THE HOUR, SOURCES SAY — Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned this morning, effective Monday, after news broke this week that he had frequented prostitutes for as long as 10 years. — The Post first reported the news of his decision today. — In making his announcement …

CNN:

Sources: Spitzer to resign amid talks of plea deal — ALBANY, New York (CNN) — New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer will resign Wednesday, his aides said, as he faces allegations — but no charges — that he is tied to an international prostitution ring ensnared in a federal probe.

Discussion: Shakesville, Pam's House Blend and Gateway Pundit

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:

Spitzer's Media Enablers — The fall of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer holds many lessons, and the press will surely be examining them in coming months. But don't expect the press corps to delve into the biggest lesson of all — its own role as his enabler. — Journalists have spent the past …

Discussion: protein wisdom, The Corner, Transterrestrial Musings, Megan McArdle, New York Times, Achenblog, Dealbreaker and QandO

New York Times:

Spitzer Aides Say Governor Will Resign This Morning — Gov. Eliot Spitzer, reeling from revelations that he had been a client of a prostitution ring, will resign today, some of his staff members said they have been told. Mr. Spitzer is scheduled to speak today at 11:30 a.m. at his Manhattan office, a top aide said.

Discussion: Hot Air, Marist Poll, ABCNEWS, TalkLeft, Reason Magazine, Little Green Footballs, Wonkette, Washington Post, PoliBlog (TM), MyDD, Connecting.the.Dots, NewsBusters.org and Middle Earth Journal

Eric Konigsberg / New York Times:
Silda Wall Spitzer: Public Ordeal of Private Person

Discussion: Feministe, Top of the Ticket, New York Magazine, American Power, Althouse, NY Daily News, BAGnewsNotes, New York Sun and New York Post

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
WHAT WERE THE FEDS AFTER? — This morning's Washington Post suggests …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, The Swamp and D-Day

City Room:
Full Text of Spitzer Resignation

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Abovethelaw.com and Emptywheel

Daphne Retter / New York Post: HIS PUSHY PLAN TO BE IN DC FOR TRYST

Lisa Schiffren / The Corner: What the Neighbors are Saying — A little local reporting here …

John Podhoretz / Commentary:
The Meaning of Spitzer's Fall

Discussion: The Current

Rick Klein / ABCNEWS:

Time on Her Side: Obama Maintains Lead, but Clinton Might Have the Edge — Intense Democratic Primary Voting Takes a Break as Intense Contest Continues — The Clinton campaign plans to use the coming six-week gap in primary voting to aggressively push its case that Sen. Barack Obama …

Discussion: New York Times, Hot Air, PSoTD and A Chequer-Board of Nights …

Jed / The Jed Report:

The GOP is now gaming our primary for Hillary Clinton. It's time to end it. — Now that John McCain has won the GOP nomination, Republicans are voting in the Democratic primary in increasing numbers, hoping to pick their opponent for the November election, or at least cause more turmoil in our already divisive nomination battle.

Discussion: The Daily Dish and The Politico

Ben Smith / The Politico:
Rush's effect? — I have to say, I'm mystified by the large number …

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
Self-Loathing Democrats? — Ben Smith at the Politico notes …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Publius Pundit

David Mamet / Village Voice:

Why I Am No Longer a ‘Brain-Dead Liberal’ — John Maynard Keynes was twitted with changing his mind. He replied, “When the facts change, I change my opinion. What do you do, sir?” — My favorite example of a change of mind was Norman Mailer at The Village Voice.

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, Shakesville, The Glittering Eye, Dean's World, NewsBusters.org, QandO, Cato-at-liberty, The American Scene, Commentary, Jules Crittenden and Redstate

The Huffington Post:

Keith Olbermann To Do “Special Comment” About Hillary Clinton Tonight — First Time Targeting A Democrat — On last night's “Countdown,” Keith Olbermann announced that tonight he'd be delivering another of his “Special Comments” — his impassioned, angry monologues fueled by outrage …

Discussion: The Swamp, NewsBusters.org, Political Machine, I Am TRex and The Raw Story

ABCNEWS:

Ferraro Defends Comments: Obama Is Where He Is Because He's Black — Clinton Backer, Geraldine Ferraro Defends Her Record of Fighting Racism After Controversial Remarks — Geraldine Ferraro stood by her controversial comments about Sen. Barack Obama's presidential candidacy today.

Discussion: The New Republic, Associated Press, Fox News, Press Association, Talking Points Memo and Connecting.the.Dots

Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Why Obama Should Ignore Ferraro

Discussion: Attytood, Washington Monthly, MoJoBlog, JustOneMinute, The Carpetbagger Report, Daily Kos and QandO

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
Obama Campaign: Hillary Is Already “Waving White Flag” …

Discussion: The Fix, Washington Wire, MSNBC, Lean Left and Slog

Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:
Maybe Geraldine Ferraro decided stature and goodwill are overrated

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, New York Times, skippy the bush kangaroo, Feministing, The Moderate Voice, PolState.com and Boston Globe

Nturitz / PageSix.com:

Spitzer's Hooker “Revealed” — PageSix.com can reveal a portfolio description from the Emperors Club web site which could depict the “Kristen” mentioned in the Governor Eliot Spitzer prostitution case. — The 5-foot-5-inch brunette likes dining at fancy restaurants and will show up wearing very high heels.

Discussion: Salon, Dealbreaker, Wonkette, The American Mind and Tammy Bruce

Associated Press:

Kevorkian Plans Congressional Run — PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian says he plans to run for Congress. — Kevorkian is on parole since his release from prison last year after serving the minimum of a term for second-degree murder in one man's death.

Discussion: Wake up America

Ken Thomas / Associated Press: Suicide doctor plans congressional run

Laura McKenna / Pajamas Media:

HILLARY VOTERS ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN — You don't have to be a “shoulder-pad feminist” to cast a gender-driven vote. Laura McKenna looks at why many women have chosen Hillary. — Support Pajamas Media; Visit Our Advertisers — With so few real policy differences between …

CAMERA:

BBC Fabricates Home Demolition Report — On Friday, March 7, 2008, the BBC's World News with Jonathan Charles (seen in the U.S. on PBS stations as part of BBC America) aired footage purporting to show the demolition and burning of a house that belongs to the family of Ala Abu Dheim …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Spectator and Atlas Shrugs

Ryan J. Davis / The Huffington Post:

Barack Obama, The Musical... When Joe Drymala and I first began working on what would become Street Lights over two years ago, Barack Obama was barely known to us. Like many other Democrats, we'd both flipped out over his 2004 convention speech, but we figured he was probably a nice …

Discussion: Marc Ambinder