Today’s edition of quick hits.
* CNN: “Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on Tuesday called on President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to immediately step down in the wake of a mass crackdown on the opposition this week. Protesters in Karachi meanwhile reportedly opened fire on two police stations in protest as Bhutto remained under house arrest in Lahore, according to The Associated Press. ‘It’s time for him to leave,’ said Bhutto in a phone interview with CNN Tuesday morning, as Pakistani riot police arrested her supporters.”
* After refusing to say whether he’d support the eventual Democratic nominee, John Edwards has clarified his position: “I fully expect to support the Democratic nominee, and I fully expect to be the Democratic nominee.” For those paying close attention, the other candidates have said they “will” support the nominee; Edwards has now said he “expects” to support the nominee. This one’s not quite over yet.
* I’d like to think this might move us a little further away from the brink: “Iran has met a key demand of the U.N. nuclear agency, handing over long-sought blueprints showing how to mold uranium metal into the shape of warheads, diplomats said Tuesday. Iran’s decision to release the documents, which were seen by U.N. inspectors two years ago, was seen as a concession designed to head off the threat of new U.N. sanctions.”
* I’d also like to think this is a good start to Michael Mukasey’s AG tenure: “The Justice Department has reopened a long-dormant inquiry into the government’s warrantless wiretapping program, a major policy shift only days into the tenure of new Attorney General Michael Mukasey. The investigation by the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility was shut down after the previous attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, refused to grant security clearances to investigators.” (I’ll have more on this tomorrow.)
* All the key administration players, including Gen. Petraeus to Amb. Crocker, have described the “Joint Campaign Plan” as the key military and diplomatic strategy to stabilize Iraq. Members of Congress have been asking for a copy of the plan for several months. The Bush gang refuses to make a copy available, even after excerpts were leaked to the WaPo and the NYT.
* If you stop by Capitol Hill, and see congressional Republicans sweating, it’s because the Abramoff probe is still ongoing.
* This could be a major policy sea-change: “An independent panel is considering reducing the sentences of inmates incarcerated in federal prisons for crack cocaine offenses, which would make thousands of people immediately eligible to be freed. The U.S. Sentencing Commission, which sets guidelines for federal prison sentences, established more lenient guidelines this spring for future crack cocaine offenders. The panel is scheduled to consider today a proposal to make the new guidelines retroactive. Should the panel adopt the new policy, the sentences of 19,500 inmates would be reduced by an average of 27 months.”
* It’s probably best not to count on Bob Novak’s prognostication skills. He’s been off quite a bit lately.
* For quite a while now, the Wall Street Journal has been the only major newspaper with content hidden behind a pay-wall. Rupert Murdoch apparently plans to set the paper free: “Murdoch said that instead of boasting 1 million subscribers, a free version of the online newspaper could draw ’10 million to 15 million’ readers from ‘every corner of the earth…. We are studying it and we expect to make [the site] free.'”
* Remember the Iowa waitress who claims Clinton didn’t give her a tip? That story hasn’t quite gone away yet, either.
* When the GOP congressional majority disappears, so too does the protection for the tobacco industry: “On Tuesday, a Senate committee plans to release documents that reveal the tobacco industry knew as early as 1975 that ‘light’ cigarettes tend to pass as much if not more tar into smokers’ lungs as regular smokes, and government tests on these cigarettes were inaccurate. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who will chair a Senate Commerce panel hearing, plans to not only criticize the tobacco industry for its decades-long knowledge that light cigarette smokers inhale just as much tar and nicotine — he will show that the Federal Trade Commission used faulty methods in measuring delivery of toxins.”
* Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D) recent voting record is really not going over well among California Democrats.
* And finally, I’m pleased to report that Bush’s media operation is branching out. This week, the president is sitting down for two fairly lengthy television interviews — one with Fox News Channel, and the other with the Fox Business Channel.
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.