MONDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Tragic plane crash in Russia on Saturday: “Polish President Lech Kaczynski was killed early Saturday when the plane he was traveling in with his wife and a Polish delegation crashed at a western Russian airport, according to the Russian regional governor.” President Obama called the accident “devastating to Poland, to the United States, and to the world.”
* Also over the weekend, the four bodies of the missing West Virginia coal miners were found, raising the death toll to 29.
* Massey CEO Don Blankenship characterized the efforts of federal safety regulators “as silly as global warming.” [Update: Though it appears that quote may not be quite what it appears.]
* Afghanistan: “U.S. troops opened fire on a bus carrying Afghan civilians Monday, killing five people, officials said, setting off anti-American protests in a key southern city where coalition forces hope to rally the public for a coming offensive against the Taliban.”
* Pulitzer Prize awards announced.
* The effects of Republican obstructionism: thousands of home closings have been delayed because buyers cannot obtain flood insurance:
* Two new names for the Supreme Court short list: federal appeals court judge Sidney Thomas of Montana and former Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears.
* There was some chatter today about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton being considered for the high court. Administration officials quickly knocked down the rumors. We can probably discount scuttlebutt about Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), too.
* DNC launches a new ad in support of Wall Street reform.
* I’d be surprised if most voters were well versed on the subject, but for what it’s worth, a new CNN poll shows 70% of Americans want the Senate to ratify the New START.
* Stranger in a strange land: Blue Girl goes to a Tea Party gathering.
* President Obama ditched the press on Saturday to attend a soccer game of one of his daughters. Reporters were really not happy about this.
* Most colleges require students to have health insurance when they enroll. If students aren’t on their parents’ plans, they essentially have to enroll in the plan offered by the school. The trouble is that it turns out most of those plans are kind of terrible.
* Fact checking the Sunday shows.
* I never take internet-based polls seriously.
* Radical domestic extremists, including the KKK, are “‘roaring back‘ after years out of the limelight.”
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
