WEDNESDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Pakistan: “The arrival of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Pakistan was overshadowed Wednesday by a devastating car bomb that tore through a market in the northwest city of Peshawar, an attack aimed at civilians and marking a clear escalation in the Taliban campaign to undermine the government.” At last count, the bomb killed as many as 101 people, most of them women, and wounded about 160.
* Kabul: “Taliban militants wearing suicide vests stormed a guest house used by U.N. staff in the heart of the Afghan capital early Wednesday, killing 12 people — including six U.N. staff — in the biggest in a series of attacks intended to undermine next month’s presidential runoff election. One of the six U.N. dead was an American, the U.S. Embassy said.”
* Ahmed Wali Karzai, on the CIA’s payroll?
* President Obama signed the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act this afternoon in the East Room. In the process, an expanded hate-crimes measure also became law.
* Words fail.
* Expect the House health care reform bill tomorrow.
* Nevada Republicans may think it’s funny, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid really was targeted by a car bomb in 1981.
* Did Dick Cheney try to banish New York Times journalists from Air Force One? Dana Perino acknowledged today “it’s possible.” (Follow-up question for Perino and the media establishment: anyone prepared to condemn this as a Nixonian abuse reminiscent of Hugo Chavez?)
* In related news, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs reportedly met today with Fox News senior vice president Michael Clemente. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall….
* South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanfrod (R) might still get impeached, but probably not anytime soon.
* Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) recently called a Federal Reserve official a “K Street whore.” Yesterday, he apologized.
* The investigation into Census Bureau worker Bill Sparkman’s murder has been ongoing, albeit quietly. A local law enforcement official said the probe is progressing, and should be complete in a matter of weeks.
* Isn’t the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supposed to be against frivolous lawsuits?
* Can online learning help low-income students get degrees?
* Paul Begala labels Joe Lieberman “Traitor Joe.”
* Wealthy Democratic donors occasionally visit the White House. I’m not sure why anyone would find that shocking.
* Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says a lot of outrageous things. Opposing the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education isn’t one of them.
* If you missed it, my latest appearance on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” was last night. Keep in mind, the lighting was off, and my makeup was weird, so I look much paler in the video than I do in real life. (And I’m really not responsible for the fake-book backdrop.)
* And finally California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger got creative in a letter to state lawmakers this week, with a seven-line note. The first letter of every line collectively spells “f**k you.” The governor’s spokesperson called it a mere “coincidence.” There’s a one in 10 billion chance he’s telling the truth.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
