MONDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Over the weekend, Israel declared a cease fire to its three-week offensive in Gaza. Hamas, in response, declared a week-long truce, purportedly the time it should take for Israeli troops to withdraw from Gaza.
* On a related note, the Washington Post notes an uncomfortable truth about the break in the violence: neither Israel nor Hamas “made any concessions, except to stop fighting temporarily.”
* On “Oprah,” Jill Biden said Joe Biden was offered either the V.P. slot of the Secretary of State job. The soon-to-be vice president responded, “Shhhh.”
* The Rev. Gene Robinson’s invocation yesterday wasn’t televised on HBO, but the inaugural committee will rebroadcast it tomorrow on the Mall.
* Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell may be Obama’s special envoy to the Middle East.
* Paul Krugman responds to dumb Wall Street Journal editorials so we don’t have to.
* There are no doubt multiple factors at play, but this fiscal year has been great for military recruiting, “with all active-duty and reserve forces meeting or exceeding their recruitment goals for the first time since 2004.”
* Senate Republicans can’t defeat Hilda Solis’ nomination for Labor Secretary, but they apparently plan to slow it down an awful lot.
* The drop in interest rates has had “an unplanned and severe effect on legal aid societies, which depend heavily on revenues that are tied to the federal funds rate.” As a result, “Scores of legal aid societies that help poor people with noncriminal cases — like disputes over foreclosures, evictions and eligibility for unemployment benefits — are being forced to cut their staffs and services, even as requests for help have soared.” (thanks to T.D. for the tip)
* It looks like Obama’s OLC is going to be terrific.
* It’s a good thing Matthew Weiner and Lionsgate TV worked out a new two-year deal. “Mad Men” without Weiner at the helm would have been a serious problem.
* Sean Hannity blamed last week’s emergency landing on the Hudson on Chuck Schumer and bird-lovers. It was, of course, further evidence that Hannity is a parody of himself.
* And finally, it appears that the Bush gang will resist the urge to remove the “O’s” from White House keyboards. Given this, it’s probably worth mentioning that in 2002, a review by the General Accounting Office found that “while there were some pranks that caused minor damage to White House property, reports of widespread vandalism by outgoing Clinton officials had been exaggerated.”
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
