Today’s edition of quick hits.
* New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) held a press conference this afternoon, acknowledging that he had “acted in way that violates his obligation to his family,” but he did not answer questions and did not comment on his future plans. “I apologize first and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public, to whom I promised better,” he said, adding, “I am disappointed that I failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself.” There’s no shortage of rumors about possible resignation plans, but nothing confirmed yet. (Spitzer did vow to “report back” in “short order.”)
* A sign of the times: “As one reporter just quipped on the Clinton plane: ‘There goes another superdelegate.'”
* Bloodshed in Baghdad: “A suicide bomber killed five American soldiers on a foot patrol Monday after detonating his explosives vest in central Baghdad, the U.S. military said. It was the deadliest attack on American forces in Iraq since a Jan. 28 roadside bombing and ambush killed five soldiers in Mosul in northern Iraq…. An Iraqi police officer at the scene, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two civilians were also killed and another eight wounded in the attack which occurred outside a computer store.”
* Waxman to the rescue, again: “Because Blackwater had many fewer ’employees,’ for example, it made out with a number of contracts reserved for so-called small businesses: ‘at least 100 small business set-aside contracts. worth over $144 million, that have been awarded to Blackwater since 2000.’ Waxman wants the IRS, the Small Business Administration, and the Department of Labor to investigate. Blackwater is already the focus of its share of criminal investigations, but it may be that these, if they were to get off the ground, would do the most damage to the company’s bottom line.”
* I remember, eight years ago, when gas was about $32 a barrel and Bush complained that it was evidence of a failed Clinton energy policy: “U.S. average retail gasoline prices have reached a new high of almost $3.20 per gallon and will likely jump another 20 to 30 cents in the next month, worsening the pain of consumers struggling to make ends meet in an economic downturn…. The national average for self-serve regular unleaded gas was nearly $3.20 a gallon on March 7, up about 9.44 cents per gallon in the past two weeks, according to the nationwide Lundberg survey of about 7,000 gas stations. The price has risen 64 cents per gallon in the past 12 months.”
* The single best report ever on the NSA’s domestic surveillance program. Everything you ever wanted to know and more.
* The long-awaited “Phase II” report will likely be a letdown: “After an acrimonious investigation that spanned four years, the Senate Intelligence Committee is preparing to release a detailed critique of the Bush administration’s claims in the buildup to war with Iraq, congressional officials said. The long-delayed document catalogs dozens of prewar assertions by President Bush and other administration officials that proved to be wildly inaccurate about Iraq’s alleged stockpiles of banned weapons and pursuit of nuclear arms. But officials say the report reaches a mixed verdict on the key question of whether the White House misused intelligence to make the case for war.”
* Tucker Carlson’s MSNBC show was officially cancelled this afternoon. Instead of Rachel Maddow, whom I’d hoped would get her own show, the network will replace Carlson with a new program, “Race For The White House with David Gregory.” (As if MSNBC needed to devote more time to the horserace.) The other disappointing angle: Gregory was actually one of the best reporters in the White House press corps, of which he’ll no longer be a part.
* Would someone please tell Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) to quit while he’s behind?
* Unfortunately, I neglected to make fun of Michael O’Hanlon’s NYT piece yesterday on “progress” in Iraq, but Matt Yglesias, John Cole, Ilan Goldenberg, and Spencer Ackerman were on the case.
* Oops: “A British factory worker has shut down a tourism site he owned at the request of the U.S. air force after he received thousands of e-mails sent to his domain that were meant for military personnel — among them e-mails with flight plans for Air Force One, the U.S. presidential plane, as well as passwords and military procedures and tactics, according to the BBC.”
* And finally, while I’m not generally a fan of heckling, it sounds like Karl Rove’s reception at the University of Iowa was pretty lively: “At one point during the speech, Rove reportedly lashed out at some of the students, saying, ‘You got a chance to ask your questions later and make your stupid statements, let me make mine.’ Police also were forced to remove two people after they tried to perform a citizen’s arrest on Rove for what they said were his crimes while a member of the Bush Administration…. Toward the end of the speech a member of the crowd yelled, ‘Can we have our $40,000 back?’ Rove replied, ‘No, you can’t.'” (thanks to reader W. B. for the heads-up)
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.