TUESDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* It’s been that kind of disaster: “A drill ship resumed siphoning off oil gushing from a blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday after a bolt of lightning struck the vessel and ignited a fire that halted containment efforts, the company said.”
* Rumor has it that former Justice Department inspector general Michael Bromwich will, any minute now, be named the new director of the Minerals Management Service — the Interior Department agency severely corrupted during the Bush/Cheney administration.
* The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a tense hearing today, during which lawmakers demanded the CEOs of the world’s largest oil companies “justify offshore drilling and explain how their safety practices differed from BP’s.”
* The executives’ answers were not exactly well received.
* Just six days before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded: “BP took measures to cut costs in the weeks before the catastrophic blowout in the Gulf of Mexico as it dealt with one problem after another, prompting a BP engineer to describe the doomed rig as a ‘nightmare well,’ according to internal documents released Monday.”
* During his trip to the Gulf Coast, President Obama spoke at a rally with U.S. troops in Pensacola: “This is an assault on our shores, and we’re going to fight back with everything we’ve got,” the president told a fired-up crowd of Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine and Coast Guard troops this morning, to cheers. “And that includes mobilizing our resources with the greatest military in the world.”
* I guess old habits die hard: “Nearly two dozen members of the House GOP from the Gulf Coast region, joined by Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.), called Tuesday for President Obama to reverse the post-BP disaster moratorium on offshore drilling in deep water.”
* At first blush, preemptive relief well drilling seems entirely reasonable.
* Minor drug offenses will no longer trigger automatic deportation for documented immigrants.
* James Rubin offers a very compelling defense of U.S. foreign policy in the Obama era.
* Yes, it really does seem like we’re introduced to another Republican “nutjob” every week.
* The New York Times‘ Jim Risen does not seem to respond to criticism well.
* The U.S. education system still needs to catch up to economic realities.
* And finally, it appears that Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) really is on a roll this week. Last night, he took to the floor of the House to argue that Arizona law enforcement can also target undocumented immigrants by considering “what kind of shoes people wear” and through utilizing “a sixth sense.”
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
