Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Afghanistan: “The most prominent Afghan official trying to negotiate a reconciliation with the Taliban was assassinated Tuesday night by a suicide bomber with explosives tucked in his turban who had been brought to his home by a trusted emissary.”
* The execution is set for tomorrow night: “Georgia’s board of pardons rejected a last-ditch clemency bid from Troy Davis on Tuesday, one day before his scheduled execution, despite support from figures including an ex-president and a former FBI director for the claim that he was wrongly convicted of killing a police officer in 1989.”
* The Big Dog is right: “Former President Bill Clinton has some tough words for Republican climate-change deniers: quit making the U.S. ‘look like a joke.’”
* Two veto threats in two days: “President Obama’s advisers will recommend that he veto pending House legislation that would block two key Environmental Protection Agency air-pollution rules, a White House official said.”
* Texas’ growing Latino population has given the state several new U.S. House seats, and yet, there are no new Latino districts: “The Justice Department said Monday that Texas’ state House and congressional redistricting plans didn’t comply with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), indicating they thought the maps approved by Gov. Rick Perry (R) gave too little voting power to the growing Latino population in the state.”
* There has to be a pretty interesting story behind this: “Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander has informed his colleagues that he is dropping his Whip bid and will step down from leadership in January.”
* Good point from Stan Collender: “The question that everyone should be asking is: Why is the House GOP only proposing a short-term continuing resolution?”
* Good piece from Brad Plumer on the “pseudo-debate over Solyndra.”
* In case you missed it, Elaine Kamarck had a fascinating item today on the 15th anniversary of welfare reform: “Progressives must wage many fights to shore up the safety net. Re-litigating welfare reform shouldn’t be one of them.”
* South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) recently made up some ridiculous claims about drug-testing. Yesterday, she admitted getting all of the relevant details wrong.
* Do Republicans routinely lie about employment policy? As a matter of fact, yes, they do.
* Some photos just call out for caption contests, don’t they?
* Rep. Hansen Clarke’s (D-Mich.) “Forgive Student Debt to Stimulate the Economy” plan is worth a closer look.
* A far-right state lawmaker in Texas was asked whether Republican efforts to target family planning are part of a war on birth control, and admitted it is. “Well of course this is a war on birth control and abortions and everything, that’s what family planning is supposed to be about,” Texas Rep. Wayne Christian (R) said.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
