Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Staggering: “The death toll from the cyclone that ravaged the Irrawaddy delta in Myanmar may exceed 100,000, the senior U.S. diplomat in the military-ruled country said Wednesday. ‘The information we are receiving indicates over 100,000 deaths,’ the U.S. Charge D’Affaires in Yangon, Shari Villarosa, said on a conference call. The U.S. figure is almost five times more than the 22,000 the Myanmar government has estimated.”
* On a related note, take a look at the satellite image of Burma before and after the cyclone. It’s reminiscent of New Orleans after Katrina, but with even more devastation.
* WaPo: “The Bush administration has not found disaster recovery files for White House e-mails from a three-month time period in 2003, according to court documents filed this week, raising the possibility that messages sent before and after the invasion of Iraq may never be recovered. The White House chief information officer, Theresa Payton, said in a sworn declaration that the White House has identified more than 400 computer backup tapes from March through September of 2003 but that the earliest recorded file was dated May 23 of that year. That period was one of the most crucial of the Bush presidency. The United States launched the invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003, and President Bush declared the end of major combat operations on May 1.”
* McClatchy: “The Iraqi government has all but given up on hopes it can persuade Iran and the United States to meet again to discuss security issues, the Iraqi foreign minister said Wednesday. Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said that his government has proposed four dates to the U.S. and Iran for tri-lateral talks, but that each has been rejected. He said the government will not propose another.”
* The Hill: “The Senate Judiciary Committee announced Wednesday that Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) plans to hold a hearing with oil industry executives on the high cost of oil. ‘American consumers continue to pay the price at the pump, while oil companies post record profits,’ said Leahy. ‘With food and transportation prices rising with the exploding price of oil, it is important to hear what the multibillion-dollar oil companies are doing to help ease the crunch, and consider what actions the federal government should take to help consumers.'”
* I admit it; I love the OSC soap opera: “Since 2005, Special Counsel Scott Bloch, whose office is charged in part with protecting federal whistleblowers, has been under investigation for retaliating against whistleblowers in his own office and generally politicizing the OSC. Now government watchdog POGO says they’ve discovered evidence that Bloch’s apparent motivation for launching a very well publicized probe was to make himself invulnerable.”
* I don’t know what he’s basing his optimism on, but I hope he’s right: “The worst of the nation’s credit crisis may have passed, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday, though he acknowledged rising gas prices will blunt the effect of 130 million economic stimulus checks.”
* This housing-bill fight is worth watching: “On the eve of a House floor debate on a plan to help homeowners in danger of foreclosure, the Bush administration said on Tuesday that it opposed the measure and that White House advisers would urge the president to veto it.”
* Gingrich’s tough love for the GOP: “Gingrich chastised an electoral strategy congressional Republicans are using to ‘nationalize’ the election by tying local races to national figures. ‘The Republican brand has been so badly damaged that if Republicans try to run an anti-Obama, anti-Reverend Wright, or (if Senator Clinton wins), anti-Clinton campaign, they are simply going to fail,’ Gingrich warned.”
* If you missed the Brazile-Begala smackdown on CNN last night, it made for some interesting political drama.
* Not that it really matters, but some emailers noted this afternoon that Clinton’s win in Indiana yesterday is now closer to a one-percentage-point margin instead of two.
* I’m always glad when Nazi-friendly Republican candidates lose primary races.
* The Gallup Daily Tracking poll shows Obama rebounding against McCain.
* Fred Barnes might want to be more careful when talking about “class.”
* The Defense Department has released a bunch of documents relating to the Pentagon Pundits controversy. There’s bound to be some interesting nuggets in there.
* Speaking of the Pentagon, support for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” may not be as strong as it was.
* I often wonder the same thing: “I gather that it’s conventional wisdom that there would be some tremendous backlash if Congress tried to do away with the penny, but I find that a bit puzzling. Do people love amassing large amounts of almost worthless spare change? Is it resistance from the dreaded Big Penny lobby?”
* And finally, I’ve watched this Iron Man vs. Batman clip more than once, and I laugh every time. It’s not for everybody, but I thought it might be a pleasant way to wrap up a busy day.
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.
