Yesterday’s Mini-Report

October 19, 2007

Yesterday’s edition of quick hits.

* So, around 2:50 eastern yesterday afternoon, I noticed that my site was down. Then I noticed that my host’s site was down, and every site on its servers. Fine, I thought, it happens. But in the ensuing hours, it never came back. I could access everything except sites from my host’s servers. Apparently, most folks could access Carpetbagger by late yesterday afternoon, but because of some kind of “node” problem, I couldn’t — until this morning. And so, 12 hours later, here’s yesterday’s mini-report.

* Blasts rock Pakistan: “A suicide bombing in a crowd welcoming former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto killed at least 126 people Thursday night, shattering her celebratory procession through Pakistan’s biggest city after eight years in exile. Two explosions went off near a truck carrying Bhutto, but police and officials of her party said she was not injured and was hurried to her house. An Associated Press photo showed a dazed-looking Bhutto being helped away.”

* In response to news that the Senate has struck a deal with the White House on retroactive telecom immunity, senator and presidential hopeful Chris Dodd (D) announced today he would put a hold on the legislation. Dodd notified Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of the decision this afternoon. The block will, at a minimum, delay the bill for quite a while.

* On a related note, want more information about Senate holds? Kagro X has a primer, including an explanation of why senators don’t place more holds on bills all the time.

* For what it’s worth, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) is also thoroughly unhappy about the immunity deal, and implored his colleagues not to “cave” to the White House on “illegal conduct.”

* USAT: “A State Department review of private security guards for diplomats in Iraq is unlikely to recommend firing Blackwater USA over the deaths of 17 Iraqis last month, but the company probably is on the way out of that job, U.S. officials said Wednesday. Blackwater’s work escorting U.S. diplomats outside the protected Green Zone in Baghdad expires in May, one official said, and other officials told the Associated Press they expect the North Carolina company will not continue to work for the embassy after that.” Still, May is seven months off — and Maliki may not want to wait that long.

* This is definitely worth watching: “The head of the Federal Communications Commission has circulated an ambitious plan to relax the decades-old media ownership rules, including repealing a rule that forbids a company to own both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city. Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the commission, wants to repeal the rule in the next two months — a plan that, if successful, would be a big victory for some executives of media conglomerates. Among them [is] Rupert Murdoch, who has lobbied against the rule for years so that he can continue controlling both The New York Post and a Fox television station in New York.”

* Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey’s confirmation hearings haven’t had too many speedbumps, but today would have been far more encouraging if he were willing to acknowledge that waterboarding is torture. He wasn’t.

* Speaking of Attorneys General, Murray Waas has another gem at the Huffington Post: “Alberto Gonzales was briefed extensively about a criminal leak investigation despite the fact that he had reason to believe that several individuals under investigation in the matter were potential witnesses against him in separate Justice Department inquiries.”

* Even by the standards of House Republicans, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) is surprisingly dumb. He’s such an embarrassment to himself, I almost feel bad for the guy.

* Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) is about as bad.

* The good news is, Hannity was able to get through his interview with Giuliani without drooling on the candidate. The bad news is, Hannity neglected to mention that he’s campaigned for, and raised money for, the candidate. If Fox News had professional ethics, this might pose a problem.

* Phill Kline, now a district attorney for a county in Kansas, looks more and more like Captain Ahab all the time.

* Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s resignation might have a little something to do with the creeping corruption scandal headed towards his office.

* And finally, the military may continue to adhere to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” but somehow, that’s not reflected in the Pentagon’s advertising: “The Army, Navy and Air Force unwittingly advertised for recruits on a website for gays, who are barred from military service if they are open about their sexual orientation. When informed Tuesday by USA TODAY that they were advertising on GLEE.com, a networking website for gay professionals, recruiters expressed surprise and said they would remove the job listings.” Or, as an alternative, they can keep the ad listings in place, and drop DADT. That would make more sense.

Anything to add? Consider this an beginning-of-the-day open thread.

welcome back, cb…..we missed you

  • A wonderful way to start the morning, CB—referring to Phill Kline as Captain Ahab, and following right behind is Dennis “the great white whale” Hastert. Pure poetry!

  • So…out of a hundred men and women sworn to uphold the Constitution, Dodd appears to be the only one who was paying attention when he took the oath.

    I have never even considered him as a presidential contender before this, but he will have my vote and money now. He makes the rest of the Democrats look like mealy mouthed cowards.

  • “I have never even considered him as a presidential contender before this, but he will have my vote and money now.”

    lek: he’s a great candidate for a lot more reason that this. i hope you and others check out more of his positions. i think you’ll find them to be pretty progressive and creative.

  • Dodd voted for the “Patriot” Act twice. Kucinich did not. I appreciate what Dodd is doing to at least feign saving the Constitution, but I think Kucinich has been more consistent in that area.

    Kucinich: Congress Must Stand Up To The President’s Dangerous Rhetoric On Iran

    Washington, Oct 18 – Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) released a statement today in response to President Bush’s belligerent statement toward Iran. The President said, “So I’ve told people that if you’re interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.”

    “After the lies and deception used to lead us to war in Iraq, the belligerent Bush Administration cannot be given leeway with statements that suggest a preemptive attack on Iran is necessary to avoid a larger war,” Kucinich said.

    “This has a feeling of déjà vu,” Kucinich said. “The Bush Administration is once again attempting to convince the American public to accept that a war with Iran is inevitable. Congress must exercise the power granted to it under the Constitution and rein in the President’s power.

    “Bush’s deliberate and calculated comments are setting the stage for more chaos in the world and in the process is making the United States less safe. It is time to begin a serious discussion of impeachment.”

  • Among them [is] Rupert Murdoch, who has lobbied against the rule for years so that he can continue controlling both The New York Post and a Fox television station in New York.”

    So he has been owning both a newspaper and a television station in the same city for years, despite the existing “rule”?

  • This morning I read that Bhutto blamed AQ and the Taliban.

    Considering the Pakistani governemnt’s position that Afghanistan isn’t doing enough to stem Islamic radicals from entering Pakistan, any chance that Musharraf might use this incident to emulate the Turkey/Iraq crisis?

  • Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey’s confirmation hearings haven’t had too many speedbumps, but today would have been far more encouraging if he were willing to acknowledge that waterboarding is torture. He wasn’t.

    I wonder what he’d call it if it was done to him or to his family. Bullying?

  • I actually hadn’t been able to get to the site for a week or two, i had to use a proxy server. I had just moved and thought Comcast was blocking the site!!

  • I wonder what he’d call it if it was done to him or to his family. Bullying? -Swan

    Aggressive interrogation? Creative questioneering? Swimming lessons?

    “Bush’s deliberate and calculated comments are setting the stage for more chaos in the world and in the process is making the United States less safe. It is time to begin a serious discussion of impeachment.” -Kucinich

    Here, here.

  • * This is definitely worth watching: “The head of the Federal Communications Commission has circulated an ambitious plan to relax the decades-old media ownership rules, including repealing a rule that forbids a company to own both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city. Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the commission, wants to repeal the rule in the next two months — a plan that, if successful, would be a big victory for some executives of media conglomerates. Among them [is] Rupert Murdoch, who has lobbied against the rule for years so that he can continue controlling both The New York Post and a Fox television station in New York.”

    Decades-old? I thought they just relaxed these rules back in 2003 or something. Anyway, then as now it’s a bad idea. We need more diversity and local ownership, not more centralized ownership and fewer, bigger voices.

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