TUESDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* HRC continues to step up: “Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled a $17 million plan on Tuesday to fight the widespread sexual violence in eastern Congo, a problem she said was ‘evil in its basest form.’ Speaking during an unprecedented visit by an American secretary of state to Goma, in the epicenter of Congo’s war-torn east, she said the American government would help train gynecologists, supply rape victims with video cameras to document violence and send military engineers to help train Congolese police officers to crack down on rapists.”
* A Burmese court convicted pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kui yesterday, after being charged with allowing a U.S. national into her home. The White House condemned the conviciotn.
* Rove was far more deeply involved with the U.S. Attorney purge scandal than previously known. More on this tomorrow.
* Gen. Stanley McChrystal wants 45,000 additional U.S. troops in Afghanistan and to see the number of U.S. government civilian workers doubled.
* On a related note, Marc Lynch’s concerns about U.S. policy in Afghanistan are compelling
* Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) seems to know how to handle obnoxious far-right hecklers.
* Is Baitullah Mehsud alive or dead?
* Congress may not buy those unwanted C-37s after all.
* IF GM’s Volt, a rechargeable electric car, can really get 230 miles per gallon, it’s a real game-changer.
* White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs would like to see news outlets explain to the public that Sarah Palin’s “death panel” garbage isn’t true. I don’t blame him.
* Add Roger Simon to the list of conservatives disgusted with Palin’s recent antics.
* And speaking of Palin, the Republican-led state legislature overrode the former governor’s veto and accepted $28 million in federal stimulus money for energy cost relief.
* Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D-Conn.) cancer surgery was today, and it reportedly went well.
* Eunice Kennedy Shriver dies at age 88.
* Impeachment talk resurfaces for South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R).
* More confusion about Medicare being a government program.
* Niall Ferguson compared President Obama to Felix the Cat because they’re both “black” and “lucky.” I have no idea what Ferguson was thinking, or why his editors published this.
* Quote from today’s presidential town-hall meeting that helped remind folks that Obama is not Bush: “Okay, I’ve only got time for a couple more questions. Somebody here who has a concern about health care that has not been raised, or is skeptical and suspicious and wants to make sure that — because I don’t want people thinking I just have a bunch of plants in here.”
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
