Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Remember when we were counting on Moqtada al-Sadr and his forces to lay low while U.S. troops tried to bring some semblance of stability to Iraq? Never mind: “[I]n a message sent to an anti-American demonstration today in Najaf, Sadr urged Iraqi security forces to stop working with American troops, saying Iraqis should fight the ‘occupiers’ rather than join them. Alluding to reports that Iraqi Army and police were fighting alongside U.S. forces against his Mahdi Army fighters in the town of Diwaniyah, Sadr said, ‘Don’t walk alongside the occupiers, because they are your archenemy.”
* On a related note, today is the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad. A Washington Post reporter tracked down the Iraqi who took a hammer to Saddam’s statue, who feels a lot differently today. The end of Saddam “achieved nothing,” Khadim al-Jubouri said. “We got rid of a tyrant and tyranny. But we were surprised that after one thief had left, another 40 replaced him. Now, we regret that Saddam Hussein is gone, no matter how much we hated him.” Hearts and minds….
* Spectacularly bad idea of the week: “Now, a few high-profile figures in high-tech are proposing a blogger code of conduct to clean up the quality of online discourse. Last week, Tim O’Reilly, a conference promoter and book publisher who is credited with coining the term Web 2.0, began working with Jimmy Wales, creator of the communal online encyclopedia Wikipedia, to create a set of guidelines to shape online discussion and debate.” I find it hard to imagine how any why anyone would take this seriously.
* Radio host Don Imus is trying to recover after referring to the Rutgers women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos.” Today, appearing on Al Sharpton’s radio show, Imus said, “Our agenda is to be funny and sometimes we go too far. And this time we went way too far.” The two reportedly butted heads during their on-air discussion — during one exchange, Imus said he can’t win with “you people,” which didn’t go over well.
* On a related note, Newsweek editor Howard Fineman appeared on Imus this morning with an odd perspective on the controversy: “[I]t’s a different time, Imus … it’s different than it was even a few years ago, politically,” and added that “some of the stuff that you used to do, you probably can’t do anymore.” It used to be acceptable to call young African-American women “nappy-headed hos”? When was that, exactly?
* Newt Gingrich is the latest to call on Alberto Gonzales to step aside as Attorney General. Asked on Fox News whether Gonzales should resign, he replied, “I cannot imagine how he is going to be effective for the rest of this administration,” adding, “I think the country, in fact, would be much better served to have a new team at the Justice Department, across the board.”
* Speaking of Fox News, the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol once again promoted the notion of a war with Iran yesterday morning, suggesting that the British hostages Iran held brought us to the brink. “We came closer to war with Iran this week,” Kristol said, complaining that the U.S. was “very passive.” Juan Williams then questioned, “Well, what was the alternative? To go in and strike them while the hostages were there?” Kristol said, “Yes.”
* The White House has never really received all the flack it deserves for nominating Bernie Kerik to be the Secretary of Homeland Defense.
* If a world-class violinist was playing in a subway station for spare change, would you notice? Does it matter?
* The State Department knows Pelosi didn’t violate the Logan Act with her trip to Syria — and should say so.
* Bush is still sending injured troops into battle. Remind me, who supports the troops?
* Tom DeLay still thinks liberals are like Hitler. He’s not kidding.
* Now here’s a Connecticut columnist who isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to Joe Lieberman: “He has to assume no one is paying attention. Otherwise, there’s no way Joe Lieberman could maintain his record of dissembling, prevarication and misrepresentation he’s been peddling about Iraq for the past four years. His new statements flatly contradict his old ones. He tells us things are finally turning around — but he said that a year ago, and two years ago. He has no credibility left.”
* And finally, during a photo-op at the White House last week, the president nearly caused a serious accident by attempting to plug an electrical cord into the hydrogen tank of a hybrid car. “I just thought, ‘Oh my goodness!’ So, I started walking faster, and the President walked faster and he got to the cord before I did,” Ford CEO Alan Mulally said. “I violated all the protocols. I touched the President. I grabbed his arm and I moved him up to the front,” Mulally said. “I wanted the president to make sure he plugged into the electricity, not into the hydrogen This is all off the record, right?”
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.