The right wing has repeatedly criticized the congressional leadership for staying silent on Iran’s capture of British hostages. Last night on Fox News’s Hannity and Colmes, Newt Gingrich said that “it would be wonderful if people on the left would speak up,” and was “saddened” that “the Democrats in Congress [failed to] pass any resolution before they left town indicating how wrong this was.” Watch it:

Both Republicans and Democrats have condemned the hostage situation. The Senate agreed to, and passed, S. Res. 136, a resolution “expressing the sense of the Senate condemning the seizure by the Government of Iran of 15 British naval personnel in Iraqi territorial waters, and calling for their immediate, safe, and unconditional release.” The bill was sponsored by Republican Sen. Norm Coleman (MN) and had 22 co-sponsors — 11 of whom were Democrats. The list of Democratic co-sponsors:

Sen. Joe Biden (DE)
Sen. Ben Cardin (MD)
Sen. Bob Casey (PA)
Sen. Hillary Clinton (NY)
Sen. Chris Dodd (CT)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (CA)
Sen. John Kerry (MA)
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (MD)
Sen. Bill Nelson (FL)
Sen. John Rockefeller (WV)
Sen. Charles Schumer (NY)

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Greg Sargent notes that the New York Times won’t even report Bush’s acknowledgment that Republican House members visited Syria. “Instead, the paper only reports Bush’s criticism of Pelosi’s trip.”

“House Democrats on Tuesday asked a top Justice Department aide to come to Capitol Hill for a private interview in the next week on the firing of federal prosecutors. They said she cannot simply refuse to testify on the matter,” the AP reports. “Monica Goodling, who has said she would assert her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid appearing at Senate hearings, must tell Congress which specific questions she’s refusing to answer, Democrats said in a letter to her lawyer.” Read the full letter at The Gavel.

Today, ThinkProgress is launching a blog fellows program.

ThinkProgress Fellows will be drawn directly from our readership and other progressive blogs, and will become an integral part of our team — writing for ThinkProgress and the Progress Report e-newsletter, monitoring media outlets and conducting other research projects.

Fellows will serve six-month terms, receive a monetary stipend ($3,000), and travel to Washington D.C. for a weekend of training at the Center for American Progress. You’ll be asked to work about 20 hours/week, and you don’t need to reside in Washington.

Applying is easy: just fill out this application and submit it to tpfellows@americanprogressaction.org by April 30 May 6. You can also email that address with questions.

Good luck!

and then takes one himself.

Bush: “And now they have left Washington for spring recess without finishing the work. Democrat leaders in Congress seem more interested in fighting political battles in Washington than providing our troops what they need to fight the battles in Iraq.”

CNN’s Elaine Quijano: “We should mention President Bush is heading to his ranch in Crawford, Texas tomorrow to begin his own Easter weekend break.”

Watch the two clips:

“John McCain has given exclusive rights to the video of his trip to CBS’s 60 Minutes Slogger has learned. Although the Presidential candidate has provided interviews and press conferences while in Baghdad, McCain is apparently saving the good stuff for this Sunday.”

Fox News host Bill O’Reilly has repeatedly gone after rapper Snoop Dogg, saying that he “likes to carry around guns that can kill people” and should be in jail. On a recent interview with Dutch television, Snoop hit back, saying, “F*ck Bill O’Reilly.” Last night, O’Reilly responded: “Yes, like Calvin lives in the ghetto. Is a pool boy going to beat me up there, Snoopy? And of course, he’s welcome to come in here to the No Spin Zone, but we do have drug testing.” Watch it:

Digg It!

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