Today’s edition of quick hits.
* So much for political reconciliation in Iraq: “Iraq’s prime minister lashed out at the country’s Sunni Arab vice president in an interview published Tuesday, drawing attention to a bitter rift between two key politicians from rival sects at a time the U.S. is pressing for Iraqi unity…. In the interview, published by Al-Hayat, a London-based, Arabic-language daily, al-Maliki, a Shiite, said Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi was to blame for a backlog of legislation adopted by parliament but not yet ratified by the three-man presidential council of which the Sunni is a member.”
* There are occasional reports about stem-cell breakthrough, but this, if it holds up, sounds very promising: “Two research groups have found different genetic recipes to give ordinary skin cells the power to turn into virtually any kind of human tissue, just as embryonic stem cells do. If the recipes live up to their promise, they could someday end the ethical debate over embryonic stem cell research — and usher in an era when a person’s own cells could be manipulated to mend a broken spinal cord, heal a damaged heart or regenerate other failing tissues.” The recipes are, at this point, too risky for disease treatment, and potential therapies are still years away.
* The more we talk, the less likely we attack: “The United States has accepted an Iraqi proposal to hold new talks with Iran about the security situation in Iraq, the State Department said Tuesday. The as-yet unscheduled meeting would be the fourth round of talks between Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, and his Iranian counterpart. Two previous sessions ended inconclusively with Iran rejecting U.S. allegations that Iran is supporting Shia insurgent groups in Iraq by providing bombmaking material responsible for the deaths of American troops.”
* Just to reemphasize a point from earlier, House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) was surprisingly stern while talking about Iraq funding: “I mean, we have provided the money. I will repeat that 50 times. We have provided the money. The money is not the issue. The issue is that the president is simply refusing to accept the conditions under which the money is provided.” Obey said it like it he meant it — House Dems won’t fund the war without withdrawal dates.
* NYT: “In one of the clearest signs yet of Hurricane Katrina’s lasting demographic impact, the City Council is about to have a white majority for the first time in over two decades, pointing up again the storm’s displacement of thousands of residents, mostly black.”
* Dick Morris is a free American who can go where he pleases, but it pains me to think he’s bringing his “talents” to Kenya for a political campaign: “Leading presidential candidate Raila Odinga has brought Morris on as a consultant to help him beat incumbent President Mwai Kibaki in next month’s elections. Last week Morris arrived in Kenya on a tourist visa and held a press conference saying he believed Odinga was poised to win the election.”
* Karl Rove wanted to work for Time, not Newsweek. Time wouldn’t have him, boosting my opinion of the magazine.
* I’ve long wondered why Vote Vets doesn’t have a blog. Fortunately, the group launched one today.
* In his first paid appearance since resigning in disgrace, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales traveled to the University of Florida yesterday, giving a $40,000 speech. It didn’t go well: “Embattled former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was a few minutes into his speech Monday night when the first two protesters took the stage, their heads covered and hands tied behind their backs like Abu Ghraib prisoners.” (thanks to W.B. for the tip)
* Josh Marshall is one of GQ’s Men of the Year. How cool is that?
* John Gibson is still dumber.
* Digby had a real gem this week on defining deviancy down: “[H]ere we find ourselves more than 40 years after the conservatives began decrying the moral depravity of the left and 15 years after Patrick Moynihan told us that our liberal culture was defining deviancy down and we find that they were right all along. They just got one little detail wrong. It wasn’t the liberal left who were morally depraved. It was them.”
* And finally, apropos of nothing, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams told viewers last night, as matter of fact, that marriage “is under attack.” I haven’t the foggiest idea what Williams is talking about.
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.