Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The bomb found in London this morning wasn’t the only one: “Police in London’s bustling nightclub and theater district on Friday defused a car bomb that could have killed hundreds after an ambulance crew spotted smoke coming from a Mercedes filled with a lethal mix of gasoline, propane and nails. Hours later, police confirmed a second explosives-rigged car was found nearby…. In Washington, two officials said British authorities found no link between the defused car bomb and any terrorist group during the early hours of the investigation. The officials, who were briefed on the inquiry, said the investigation had yielded no suspects and no definitive description of anyone leaving the vehicle.”
* House Dems put up a good fight, but they were not able to defund Dick Cheney’s office: “The vote, on an amendment to a 2008 spending bill for the Treasury Department and executive branch agencies, was defeated 217 to 209. Representative Rahm Emanuel, Democrat of Illinois and author of the amendment, said it was the logical outgrowth of Mr. Cheney’s claim that his office was outside the scope of rules imposed on other executive offices.”
* Speaking of Cheney: “Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) told Vice President Dick Cheney to ‘resign or face impeachment’ Thursday night as three more House Democrats lent their support to a plan to impeach the vice president. ‘The vice president holds himself above the law, and it is time for the Congress to enforce the law,’ McDermott said in a floor speech. ‘For the good of the nation, the vice president could leave office immediately.'” Kucinich’s impeachment resolution now has 10 co-sponsors.
* This ought to be interesting: “A federal appeals court will release some of the documents it reviewed when deciding whether to force journalists to testify in the CIA leak investigation for which a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for obstructing…. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the materials no longer needed to be restricted since former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, the original source for the newspaper article naming Plame, has publicly identified himself.”
* Usually, when it comes to political infrastructure, the left is trying to catch up to the right. When it comes to MoveOn.org, however, the right hopes to catch up to the left.
* Before it mattered, White House officials acknowledged Dick Cheney’s role in the executive branch over and over again. Good thing the Bush gang dropped the fourth-branch talking point.
* TPMM: “Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), ever the optimist, thinks it’s just peachy that federal investigators have contacted as many as six of his former aides.” Yeah, sure he does.
* I think it’s safe to say Colin Powell isn’t impressed with Dick Cheney: “Last night in an interview with Larry King, Powell criticized Cheney, saying, ‘[He] sometimes went directly to the president and the rest of us weren’t aware of what advice he was giving.’ He also chastised the White House’s manner of doing business. ‘It was not a system where we routinely exposed all points of view,’ he said.”
* The public may want more of its Democratic Congress, but voters still seem to like Dems quite a bit (especially when compared to the GOP).
* Josh Marshall reminds David Broder that some of us realized Dick Cheney’s tenure was a disaster before this week.
* Fred Thompson is being awfully coy about his presidential ambitions. As it turns out, his coyness may be violating federal election law.
* If you’re going to steal a Fox News microphone while it’s being used on the air, you’ll have to run a lot faster than this guy.
* Have you ever asked yourself, “Can my boss legally do that?” Take a look at the AFL-CIO’s “Ask a Lawyer” campaign.
* And finally, an MSNBC personality asked Elizabeth Edwards yesterday why she helped give Ann Coulter more publicity. Alas, MSNBC apparently didn’t appreciate the irony.
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.