TUESDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The “truce” in Gaza is already looking shaky, in light of a Palestinian roadside bomb that killed an Israeli today, which sparked an Israeli “airstrike that wounded a Hamas militant.”
* No brainer: “The Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, announced on Tuesday that he would crack down on lobbying to influence the $700 billion financial bailout program by the companies that are receiving billions in taxpayer funds.”
* Speaking of which, Geithner was confirmed late yesterday, following a 60-34 vote. Threee Democrats (Harkin, Feingold, and Byrd) voted against him, as did one of the independents (Sanders) caucusing with the Dems.
* Climate researcher Susan Solomon, of the NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory, believes “many damaging effects of climate change are already largely irreversible.” Solomon explained, “People have imagined that if we stopped emitting carbon dioxide the climate would go back to normal in 100 years, 200 years; that’s not true.”
* The Lily Ledbetter measure is headed to the White House for the president’s signature.
* Al-Arabiya’s Hisham Melhem thinks it makes sense for al Qaeda to be “nervous” about Barack Obama.
* Surprise, House Republicans not only fail to negotiate in good faith, but they also fail to maintain any kind of ideological consistency.
* Thanks to still more Republican objections, progress on S-CHIP has stalled once again.
* CNN’s Ed Henry is confused about why the CBO incomplete “report” on the stimulus became controversial.
* The digital TV deadline has been extended to the summer.
* Congressional Republicans may not like Obama, but they do want their picture taken with him.
* Defense Secretary Bob Gates sets the record straight on Guantanamo detainee recidivism numbers.
* Is the far-right still repeating ACORN nonsense? Yep.
* Fox News’ ridiculous “report” in Murtha’s district on Guantanamo detainees was wrong on so many levels.
* Glenn Greenwald 1, Richard Cohen 0.
* R.I.P., John Updike.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
