Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Stunning Reuters story: “Iraqi deaths hit a new high in October and 100,000 people are fleeing abroad every month to escape worsening violence that is segregating the country on sectarian lines, a U.N. report said on Wednesday. Painting a grim picture of a population caught in the cross-fire between insurgents, militias, criminal gangs and security forces, the bimonthly report put civilian deaths in October at 3,709 — 120 a day and up from 3,345 in September.”
* It’s been Bush’s war for nearly four years, and Dems haven’t even convened the 110th Congress and already we have House Republicans claiming that “the Democrats may not want to own Iraq but they own it now as much as this President.”
* Janet Reno has been very quiet, and has resisted the temptation to criticize her successors in the Bush administration, which is why I was delighted to see that she’s “openly criticizing the Bush administration’s anti-terrorism strategy — joining seven other former Justice Department officials in warning that the indefinite detention of U.S. terrorism suspects could become commonplace unless the courts intervene.”
* What kind of criminal robs the president’s daughter with Secret Service agents around? Apparently, a surprisingly successful one.
* Al Gore is not yet satisfied with what he’s heard from prospective presidential candidates when it comes to the environment. “I haven’t heard any of them make definitive and clear statements of a platform on this that I think is yet adequate,” Gore said. “But I’m confident that many of them will.” The first hint about a potential campaign?
* Scooter Libby’s lawyers submitted 17 questions they’d like potential jurors to answer before his criminal trial begins in mid-January. As Tim Grieve noted, it’d be kind of fun to hear the president’s responses to all 17.
* How did the various polling firms do in advance of this year’s Senate races? Wall Street Journal broke it all down for readers, but it looks like Rasmussen was probably the most accurate.
* If both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama run for president in 2008, Rahm Emanuel has a plan: hide under his desk.
* In a new CNN poll, a clear majority of Americans believe that the war in Iraq has turned into a situation like the United States faced in Vietnam, with 58% agreeing with the comparison, up six points since last month. Moreover, a whopping 63% of Americans now say they oppose the war in Iraq, while only 33% say they favor it.
* Jerry Falwell has said Mitt Romney’s Mormonism will “not be a factor” in 2008. First, I think that’s what Falwell is willing to say publicly, but I’d be quite surprised if that’s what he told his allies and followers privately. Second, people who share Falwell’s worldview appear to disagree.
* I can’t believe Orlando had snow flurries today.
* George Allen’s (R-Va.) final piece of legislation in the Senate? A bill to allow concealed handguns in national parks. Talk about going out with a bang…
* Education Secretary Margaret Spellings became the first cabinet secretary to ever appear on Jeopardy last night. She came in second to actor Michael McKean. Conservatives are none too pleased — she was apparently more than $20,000 behind at the start of Final Jeopardy.
If none of these particular items are of interest, consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.