TUESDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Nuclear Security Summit: “The final communique of President Obama’s nuclear summit would commit the 47 nations in attendance to secure all nuclear material in four years, according to a draft of the document obtained by The Washington Post.”
* Michelle Obama and Jill Biden make a surprise stop in Haiti.
* In a surprise move, Service Employees International Union President Andrew Stern is stepping down from his post, with significant repercussions for the labor movement.
* Gen. Ray Odierno is leaving his post in Iraq, and will be succeeded by Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin.
* Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sketched out his vision for what the Senate will work on over the next seven weeks. Immigration reform will have to wait until after Memorial Day.
* Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) wants hearings to investigate the Upper Creek mining disaster.
* In the meantime, Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship may have a problem with his shareholders.
* And on a related note, Limbaugh thinks the union members at the mine should have done more — not realizing this was a non-union mine.
* Another step backwards for reproductive rights in Nebraska.
* Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned Republicans today to expect up-or-down votes on all of President Obama’s judicial nominees
* After evaluating Sarah Palin’s remarks on nuclear arms, Fred Kaplan concludes she’s a “total idiot.”
* When institutions of higher ed get more selective and less generous at the same time.
* Conservatives won’t like it, but the American mainstream wants the White House to care what international leaders think.
* A nutty birther in the Army refused to deploy to Afghanistan because he thinks the president wasn’t born in Hawaii, and was will be promptly court-martialed.
* Ta-Nehisi Coates with the post of the day: “The Ghost of Bobby Lee.”
* Given the “You lie!” fiasco, it’s always just a little more interesting when Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) blatantly, shamelessly lies.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
