Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Good news in Iraq is rare, but this is encouraging: “Powerful Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr extended his Mehdi Army militia ceasefire by six months on Friday, a decision U.S. officials said would help foster reconciliation among Iraq’s divided communities. The renewal was welcomed by the Iraqi and U.S. governments, which both say the initial six-month truce has helped reduce attacks on U.S. and Iraqi troops and the tit-for-tat sectarian violence that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war.” The next round of elections is in October.
* This should be interesting: “The Justice Department announced it has launched an investigation into who authorized the use of waterboarding at the department, following a request from Democratic Sens. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. After the two sent the DOJ a letter asking who authorized the use of the controversial interrogation technique, H. Marshall Jarrett, the head of DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility, wrote the senators that this issue is “included in a pending OPR investigation into the circumstances surrounding the drafting” of a 2002 Office of Legal Counsel memo on interrogation standards.”
* When it comes to surveillance, Bush wants it all and he wants it now: “Asked about a potential deal with Democrats, Bush said, ‘I would just tell you there’s no compromise on whether these phone companies get liability protection.’ The administration says it needs the help of the phone companies for its post Sept. 11, 2001, surveillance. Bush said his strategy for breaking the deadlock on the surveillance bill will be to keep talking about why it should be passed on his terms. ‘The American people understand we need to be listening to the enemy,’ he said.” Bush does know that the expiration of the PAA has had no effect on us listening to the enemy, doesn’t he? Sometimes I feel bad for the poor guy; he just seems so confused….
* On a related note, the House Republicans have a new ad suggesting that Democrats are trying to get us all killed, and the GOP is cool because it walked out of work last week. Or something. It all looks like a bad “24” trailer.
* Two can play at that game — Howard Dean and the DNC are now trying to raise money off of McCain’s and the RNC’s efforts to raise money from yesterday Iseman story in the NYT.
* Surprisingly enough, Bill O’Reilly doesn’t have journalistic standards: “While discussing a New York Times article on Sen. John McCain’s relationship with a lobbyist, Bill O’Reilly aired a clip of McCain’s attorney Robert Bennett defending McCain against the article’s allegations, but did not disclose that Bennett represents McCain and was reportedly hired for the explicit purpose of dealing with the controversy.”
* Very good Michael Kinsley piece on Iraq today: “We needn’t quarrel about all this, or deny the reality of the good news, to say that at the very least, the surge has not worked yet. The test is simple, and built into the concept of a surge: Has it allowed us to reduce troop levels to below where they were when it started? And the answer is no.”
* There’s been a fair amount of interest which presidential candidate Sen. Russ Feingold prefers. He acknowledged today that he voted for Obama in Wisconsin’s primary and will be “extremely likely” to cast his superdelegate vote for Obama at the convention.
* Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) looks to be so corrupt that House Minority Leader John Boehner, not exactly Mr. Ethics and Propriety, thinks Renzi should resign. John McCain, however, says he doesn’t “know enough of the details to make a judgment.” The multi-count indictment, including charges on wire fraud, extortion, and money laundering, apparently aren’t quite clear enough for the GOP frontrunner.
* Sorry, SMU: “Representatives of President Bush announced this afternoon that Southern Methodist University in Dallas will be the home of the library housing his presidential papers and a public policy institute.”
* I’m glad HBO is going to air “Taxi to the Dark Side.”
* And finally, George Clooney on being up against Daniel Day-Lewis for the Best Actor Oscar: “For me, it’s like being Hillary Clinton. If it weren’t for Barack Obama, it would have been a very good year.”
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.