Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Breathtaking attack in Baghdad: “Remote-controlled explosives strapped to two mentally handicapped women detonated in a coordinated attack on pet bazaars Friday, police and Iraqi officials said, killing at least 73 people in the deadliest day since the U.S. sent 30,000 extra troops to the capital this spring…. Iraqi officials said the women in Friday’s attack apparently were mentally disabled and the explosives were detonated by remote control, indicating they may not having been willing attackers in what could be a new method by suspected Sunni insurgents to subvert stepped up security measures.”
* It’s a real shame that Bill O’Reilly, for all his talk about the troops, shows this kind of disrespect for homeless veterans: “Yesterday, several homeless veterans rose to this challenge, protesting outside O’Reilly’s office. MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann reports that O’Reilly ‘cold shouldered” the veterans and “did not even have the courage to meet them’: ‘Instead, a producer asked the woman, whose group provides transitional housing for 83 vets, whether they have an appointment…. The producer took them into the lobby so our cameras could not get a shot of him accepting their petition with 17,000 signatures…. Instead of meeting with those veterans, O’Reilly had [staff] tell the vets group, please leave a message, somebody will get back to you.”
* Last night was the “fourth CNN debate sponsored by coal front group Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC). Not one of the four has contained a question on climate.” Given the seriousness of global warming, the omission of even one question is glaring.
* Speaking of the debate last night, I have no idea who the “winner” on the stage was, but I guarantee CNN feels like a winner today: “Last night’s Democratic debate on CNN drew 8,324,000 million total viewers, making it the most-watched primary debate in cable news history, and the second-most watched on TV this election cycle (ABC’s Democratic debate on Jan. 5 drew 9,360,000). The debate gives CNN the top five highest rated cable debates this cycle in total viewers…. In the A25-54 demo, the debate finished with 3,257,000 viewers, the #1 take in cable news history as well.”
* It’s awfully difficult to break out of the culture of corruption: The National Republican Congressional Committee said Friday that it has contacted the FBI about possible financial improprieties at the committee. Without providing details, the NRCC released a statement from Chairman Tom Cole (Okla.) that said: “As part of our ongoing efforts to institute and strengthen financial controls at the National Republican Congressional Committee, we learned earlier this week of irregularities in our financial audit process. Since these irregularities may include fraud, we have notified the appropriate law enforcement authorities.”
* VoteVets: “When a mortar landed just outside Tikrit on Thursday, the round killed one American soldier and wounded another. We still don’t know their names. Yet despite all the cheering we’ve heard about the success of the surge recently, this death made January the deadliest month for Americans in Iraq since September. Let that sink in. When 39 Americans are killed in January at the highest rate since September (which marked the end of the single bloodiest period to date in Iraq) we cannot say things are improving. Call it a spike, call it a bump, call it whatever you want: Just don’t call it success. The bottom line is that despite what the chickenhawk pundits and politicians are saying about the surge, American troop deaths are up 70 percent from December to January.”
* Politico: “Setting the stage for one last budget battle with the Democratic Congress, President Bush plans to propose $178 billion in long term cuts to Medicare in the fiscal 2009 budget he will unveil on Monday.” The phrase “not going to happen” keeps coming to mind.
* I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of laughing at Giuliani: “Over $50 million for a single delegate.
As the LA Times notes, that’s the worst dollar for delegate record in American presidential history…. On the other hand, 9/11 did change everything.”
* If O’Reilly were smart, he’d just avoid talking about John Edwards and the homeless altogether. Of course, O’Reilly is not smart.
* Jake Tapper’s mistaken report on Bill Clinton was bloggers’ fault? I’m terribly confused by this.
* Speaking of bloggers: “It’s the government’s idea of a really bad day: Washington’s Metro trains shut down. Seaport computers in New York go dark. Bloggers reveal locations of railcars with hazardous materials. Airport control towers are disrupted in Philadelphia and Chicago. Overseas, a mysterious liquid is found on London’s subway. And that’s just for starters. Those incidents were among dozens of detailed, mock disasters confronting officials rapid-fire in the U.S. government’s biggest-ever ‘Cyber Storm’ war game, according to hundreds of pages of heavily censored files obtained by the Associated Press.”
* “Juan McCain” is apparently what passes for modern conservative wit.
* Karl Rove and Fox News: a match made in…somewhere unpleasant.
* Al Gore may endorse a presidential candidate, but not before Feb. 5.
* I had a weird server problem last night, and did not receive a single email between 7:30 pm and 7:30 am (eastern). If anyone sent me anything important, please re-send. Thanks.
* And finally, on a housekeeping note, I wanted to let readers know that January 2008 was, by a significant margin, the best month in Carpetbagger Report history for visits and page views. Whether you’ve been reading for five minutes or five years, thanks for all the support.
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.