Today's edition of quick hits:
* As part of last year's raid on Osama bin Laden's compound, we obtained letters the al Qaeda leader wrote in the five years before his death. He fretted, among other things, about his terrorist network's dysfunction.
* Chen Guangcheng, still isolated in a Beijing hospital, told various news outlets today "that he now wants to leave China with his family for asylum in the United States."
* Murdoch media scandal: "Senate Commerce Committee Chair Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) sent a letter on Wednesday to the UK's Leveson Inquiry asking whether there is any evidence News International broke U.S. laws in the course of its phone hacking."
* Will the U.S. have to raise the debt ceiling before the election? Apparently not. For all of our sakes, that's good news.
* GOP lawmakers remain heavily focused on their top priority, which isn't the economy: "Acting on contentious legislation passed by the Republican-dominated state House and Senate, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) signed a bill Tuesday that forbids abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy except when the woman's life is at risk. No exceptions are allowed for rape or incest."
* Plenty of lawmakers and administration officials have weighed in on the Secret Service's prostitution scandal, but Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), who has an unfortunate background in this area, doesn't have much to say on the subject.
* Good news out of Chicago: Sen. Mark Kirk's (R-Ill.) condition has improved to the point where he's been released from a rehabilitation center and has returned home.
* Helpful tip for the Republican National Committee: if you're going to organize a conference call to complain about unemployment, use an American firm to host the call -- not a firm in the Philippines.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
Leave a Comment:
So....the U.S. may not have to raise the debt limit until after the elections. As church lady used to say on SNL, "well....isn't that convenient!". And if the situation arises that they can't wait, you know the Treasury department will do some smoke an mirror moves to delay it :).
Seriously our government's actions are more and more driven by the election cycle. Pretty damn funny. Really....it is hilarious.
Wait, David Vitter is/used to be a whore?
No. He just likes to sleep with them, thus making him an abortionist, since presumably someone is using contraception of some sort, and we all know what contraception *really* is. He may also have a mindbendingly creepy diaper thing going on. Stay tuned.
Please Please Please pronounce Beijing properly. The "j" sounds the way it does in jingle bells which I learned from a colleague fluent in many Chinese dialects who often serves as a simultaneous translator there and in the US. I am a big fan and cringe every time I hear it mispronounced. Warmest aloha and keep up the *fantastic* work!
"[Osama bin Ladin] fretted, among other things, about his terrorist network's dysfunction."
Much in the same way that John Boehner frets about the dysfunction of his OWN terrorist network.