TUESDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The AP believes Gadhafi’s power may be slipping in Libya.
* NATO, meanwhile, is “stepping up attacks on palaces, headquarters, communications centers and other prominent institutions supporting the Libyan government.”
* As Syria deploys “tanks and troops against unarmed demonstrators,” Europe is threatening the Assad government with sanctions. The U.S. State Department is urging Americans in Syria “to depart immediately while commercial transportation is readily available” and advised those who must remain to limit travel within the country.
* Private-sector earnings reports have pushed Wall Street to three-year highs. How this is possible in the midst of a socialist agenda, I don’t know.
* I share his frustrations: “Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday slammed the debate over raising the debt ceiling as ‘ridiculous’ and said it is ‘irresponsible’ for policymakers to leave the impression that the U.S. might not pay its bills.”
* Doug Holtz-Eakin, a former McCain/Palin advisor and former director of the Congressional Budget Office, said today Congress “has to raise the debt limit… We have to be good stewards of the nation’s credit rating [and] doing it sooner is better than later.”
* State-sponsored prayers haven’t brought rain to Texas and “major wildfires continue to rage on across the state.”
* Conservatives in the Prop 8 case have resorted to arguing, in legal filings, that a gay judge shouldn’t be allowed to rule in cases related to gay rights.
* On a related note, gay-rights groups aren’t embarrassed at all about having pressured King & Spalding to drop their case defending the Defense of Marriage Act for House Republicans.
* New right-wing idea in Louisiana: simply ban abortion rights, Supreme Court be damned.
* The new “Countdown With Keith Olbermann” will debut on Current TV on June 20.
* Imagine that: “Greek austerity is failing even to do much to reduce the deficit, because the economy is shrinking. The usually discreet Calculated Risk sums it up: ‘More austerity coming — the beatings will continue until morale improves!’”
* Michael Kazin: “The Trouble With Independents: What if these voters are just a clueless horde?”
* With McCain’s trip to Libya in mind, let’s note the tradition of “high-profile U.S. political visits that often seem more about keeping the visitor in the news than changing conditions on the ground.”
* And Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) believes the nation’s liberal women are “neutering American men” and “bringing us to the point of this incredible weakness.” I don’t think he was kidding.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
