Today's edition of quick hits:
* The protests in Egypt's Tahrir Square were quite a sight.
* More on the protests: "Thousands of people flowed into the streets of Cairo, the Egyptian capital, Tuesday afternoon for a day of protest against President Mohamed Morsi's attempt to assert broad new powers for the duration of the country's political transition, dismissing his efforts just the night before to reaffirm his deference to Egyptian law and courts."
* There were multiple bomb threats targeting U.S. courthouses today, including calls in Tennessee: "Tennessee state officials were responding to a rash of bomb threats called in to county courthouses and government offices in 29 counties on Tuesday, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said."
* Economy: "Consumer confidence rose to a four-and-a-half-year high in November as consumers became more optimistic about the outlook for the economy, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday."
* Speaking of the economy, more than 2 million Americans are poised to lose federal jobless benefits, and there's every reason to include this in the fiscal talks.
* Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Kay Bailey (R-Texas), both of whom are retiring from Congress next month, have a new immigration bill. It doesn't include a pathway to citizenship.
* Could Senate Republicans, in a fit of partisan spite, make the chamber even more dysfunctional? Probably.
* After yesterday's on-air incident, Fox News is targeting Tom Ricks, including dubious claims that he apologized off the air -- an apology the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism insists he did not make.
* I'm always pleased when the Congressional Research Service gets a little time in the public eye.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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Forget Pennsylvania Avenue in DC. The street that had the biggest impact this year is Sesame Street.
"Big Bird" almost got fired, "Elmo" lost his puppeteer, and now some people are running away from "Grover"
With regard to the possibility of an even more dysfunctional Senate due to Republican intransigence, I've been of the opinion that their obstruction is only a bad thing in as much as there's no political exposure to their actions. If one of them does feel strongly about something, fine, but they should have to put their name on it so that their constituents can pass judgement on you in the next election cycle.
The voters can and should be the balancing force against inanity. Like obstruction, congress can pass just about any law they like. There are plenty of horrible, but constitutional things they could do. The only reason they don't do it (other than personal morality, I'd hope), is that it's not politically feasible. They'd lose their jobs, and the next congress would undo it.
The current state of affairs pushes the blame of obstruction from the individuals to the party as a whole, and that's a more nebulous thing to judge.
No more anonymous holds.
Where can we chip in for plane tickets to Benghazi for the three stooges (senators). I am sure their righteous indignation will keep them safe while they search for clues to discredit the Prez.
Your idea is Award-Winning! Really, where do I contribute??! I can do PayPal!
Re: The Ricks Treatment
Man oh man, those folks over there at FOXNEWS CORP are a bunch of whiners! A gaggle of feather brains! A gang of layabouts! Glue sniffers extraordinaire!
Or more pertinently, a pack of pusillanimous peckerheads! -Kevo
Oh, my, it is so good to see Faux News get kicked in the -- er, get kicked.
Gotta love the man who knows the right thing to say and when to say it . . . kudos to Tom Ricks . . .
Thanks to the inability of Fox News to let the Tom Ricks incident die, I watched the clip today (having not bothered yesterday). Keep arguing about it, Fox "News." More and more people will hear him and notice that he has nothing to apologize for; all of the evidence supports his statement.
Gotta Love Fox New's stance om "freedom of speech" during a news show. My news or no news!
It is time for TRMS to use the fact-finding power of MSNBC to tell us exactly why Tahrir _Square— is round like a circle.
CEOs, 'cause they were 'uncertain',
Wouldn't hire those folks who were hurtin'...
Now, that's changing, because,
Like the Wizard of Oz,
Norquist's been found, hiding behind the curtain...
"...the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism [sic] insists he did not make." :-?