MONDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* As of this afternoon, the gunman believed to be responsible for shooting four uniformed police officers in Tacoma, Washington, remains at large. (Because the suspect, Maurice Clemmons, had his sentence commuted by Mike Huckabee, there’s a political angle to the story.)
* In a brazen attempt to antagonize the world, Iran announced its intentions to build 10 new sites to enrich uranium, dramatically expanding the same nuclear program that has helped isolate the regime.
* Not encouraging: “President Asif Ali Zardari has ceded his position in Pakistan’s nuclear command structure to his prime minister, in a sudden political maneuver widely seen as a fresh sign of turmoil on the eve of President Obama’s strategy announcement for the region.”
* Expect President Obama to lay out “a time frame for winding down the American involvement in the war in Afghanistan” tomorrow night.
* The status quo needs improvement: “The administration said Monday that it would increase the pressure on banks to help troubled homeowners receive permanently lower mortgage payments. The Treasury Department said that mortgage servicers would be required to submit plans on how they would decide whether a loan would be permanently modified. Bank that fall short of the guidelines of their agreement could face fines or sanctions, the Treasury said.”
* Oh my: “With food stamp use at record highs and climbing every month, a program once scorned as a failed welfare scheme now helps feed one in eight Americans and one in four children.”
* Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo, of the traditional National Party, appears to have won Honduras’ presidential election.
* The Senate should expect to work quite a few weekends in December.
* A war tax is “probably not” going to happen.
* The White House press corps’ interest in the “party crashers” story seems more than a little excessive.
* The elite community college.
* Another potential domestic terrorist is caught with a bomb-making lab in his Ohio home.
* Smart piece from Marc Ambinder on the success of Obama’s Asia trip.
* Interesting: “Jeff Sharlet, who burst onto the scene with his book about The Family, the shadowy fundamentalist organization that has infested American politics like a nest of rabid termites, has leveled another revolting accusation at the group. His research and investigation into the group, which involved infiltrating them and living with them, reveals that U.S. lawmakers who are members of The Family are behind the atrocious, hateful Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2009 that is likely to become law in Uganda.”
* The Palin “bus” tour has apparently included some private-jet travel.
* I haven’t felt the need to write about the ridiculous “Climategate” nonsense, but Kevin’s post strikes all the right notes.
* There’s something deeply wrong with the right: “By a wide margin, Americans consider Rush Limbaugh the nation’s most influential conservative voice. Those are the results of a poll conducted by ’60 Minutes’ and Vanity Fair magazine and issued Sunday. The radio host was picked by 26 percent of those who responded, followed by Fox News Channel’s Glenn Beck at 11 percent. Actual politicians — former Vice President Dick Cheney and former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin — were the choice of 10 percent each.”
* A list to help motivate the liberal base a bit.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
