FRIDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* POTUS in Lisbon: “President Obama and dozens of other world leaders began a NATO summit meeting Friday to set strategy in Afghanistan for the next four years and agree to a new global mission to take the alliance into the 21st century. In the opening session of the two-day meeting, the 28 alliance members plan to adopt a new Strategic Concept, their first in more than a decade.”
* Our NATO allies want the U.S. Senate to ratify the New START treaty. Republicans seem more inclined to make Iran and North Korea happy.
* Irish rescue gets a price tag: “The financial support program being discussed between Ireland and potential donors should amount to at least 50 billion euros, officials with knowledge of the talks said Friday.”
* Have I mentioned how much I love the White House White Board? I really do, and I’m delighted Austan Goolsbee keeps doing them. (If I worked in the White House, this is exactly the kind of stuff I’d be pushing all the time.)
* The utility of the Stuxnet worm: “Experts dissecting the computer worm suspected of being aimed at Iran’s nuclear program have determined that it was precisely calibrated in a way that could send nuclear centrifuges wildly out of control.”
* A day after recommending censure for Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), the House ethics committee delayed indefinitely a trial for Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).
* It’s probably fair to say the Transportation Security Administration’s more aggressive pat-downs of passengers at airport security checkpoints isn’t going over well with the traveling public.
* Most of the country doesn’t know that there will be a Republican majority in the House next year. Have I mentioned lately that informed electorate is a prerequisite to a thriving democratic system of government?
* It wasn’t easy, but the Senate approved the Pigford II settlement. It’s about time.
* Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) wants Attorney General Eric Holder to resign. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) is either pretty dumb, or he’s pretending to be pretty dumb to curry favor with the GOP base.
* Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) really needs to go away and enjoy a lengthy period of quiet time.
* CREW’s Melanie Sloan is going where? Glenn Greenwald noted, “Leaving CREW to work for Lanny Davis would be like leaving the ACLU to work for Dick Cheney.”
* I’ve heard of creative campus protests before, but a “yawn in” is a new one.
* David Frum finds Sarah Palin’s tweets rather horrifying. He’s not alone.
* And I’d find Glenn Beck less scary if he didn’t do things like suggest military coups against America’s elected leadership.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
