MONDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Libya: “Libyan forces loyal to Moammar Gaddafi attacked rebel-held areas again on Monday, bombing the oil terminal of Ras Lanuf and battling to maintain control of a Mediterranean coastal town farther west, the opposition reported.”
* Talk of a no-fly zone intensifies: “Britain and France are drafting a U.N. resolution that would establish a no-fly zone over Libya. A British diplomat at the U.N. stressed Monday that the resolution is being prepared as a contingency in case it is needed, but no decision has been made to introduce it at the U.N. Security Council.”
* President Obama’s warnings to Libyan officials are also intensifying. “I want to send a very clear message to those who are around Colonel Qaddafi,” he said at the White House, after a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. “It is their choice to make how they operate moving forward and they will be held accountable for whatever violence continues to take place there.”
* Gitmo: “President Barack Obama on Monday lifted a two-year freeze on new military trials at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and suggested Congress was hurting national security by blocking his attempts to move some trials into U.S. civilian courts.”
* Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Afghanistan this morning for an unannounced visit.
* Democrats from Wisconsin’s state Senate once again invited Gov. Scott Walker (R) to discuss a resolution to the ongoing labor dispute. The governor refused, apparently because he disapproves of the senator who extended the invitation, state Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller (D).
* Also, without a hint of irony, Walker accused Miller of engaging in secret phone calls with special interest backers. Perhaps the governor no longer remembers the call he accepted from the fake David Koch?
* After a sarcastic comment from Pfc. Bradley Manning about committing suicide with his underwear, Manning has been forced to sleep naked in his cell at the Marine brig in Quantico.
* In the latest installment of the White House White Board, a series I support with some enthusiasm, Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, tackles patent reform.
* The Supreme Court doesn’t want to hear from Birthers. Imagine that.
* The National Constitution Center can do some fine work. Inviting John Yoo to a discussion on civility is not the organization’s finest hour.
* For the love of god, Mike Huckabee, please stop digging.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
