Today’s edition of quick hits.
* This really isn’t good: “Iraq’s most influential Shiite cleric has been quietly issuing religious edicts declaring that armed resistance against U.S.-led foreign troops is permissible — a potentially significant shift by a key supporter of the Washington-backed government in Baghdad. The edicts, or fatwas, by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani suggest he seeks to sharpen his long-held opposition to American troops and counter the populist appeal of his main rivals, firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia.”
* She probably should have picked a better historical comparison: “Sen. Hillary Clinton referred Friday to the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968 Democratic campaign as a reason she should continue to campaign despite increasingly long odds. Clinton was responding to a question from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader editorial board about calls for her to drop out of the race. ‘My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don’t understand it,’ she said, dismissing the idea of dropping out.”
* It’s about time: “Myanmar’s ruling junta said Friday it will let foreign aid workers and commercial ships help survivors in the cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy Delta, but refused to relent on accepting aid from U.S., French and British military ships.”
* Spencer Ackerman takes a closer look at Bush’s speech yesterday at Fort Bragg, and concludes, “Every word of this is a lie.”
* Remember when Cindy McCain said she would “never” release her tax returns? It was probably never a tenable position to take.
* Tom Edsall: “The steady disclosures of past lobbying activity by campaign aides, and the struggle to minimize firings, continue to plague John McCain’s presidential campaign — but the reality is that these problems only get worse the deeper anyone digs.”
* More discouraging economic news: “A home-price index considered to be the most comprehensive reading of the U.S. market posted the sharpest decline in its 17-year history, and analysts say housing has yet to bottom out.”
* This sounds encouraging: “After years of struggling to catch up to the Republican Party’s sophisticated microtargeting efforts, the Democratic National Committee appears to have come close to parity. The DNC has now reorganized its data banks into one centralized file that goes a long way toward neutralizing the GOP’s advantage in drilling down and identifying crucial constituencies of voters.”
* Dumb, dumb, dumb: “Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) was caught on a year-old video clip telling some of his constituents that Congressional Democrats oversold their ability to end the war during the 2006 campaign. ‘We really in this last election – when I say we, the Democrats — I think pushed it as far as we can, the envelope. Didn’t say it, but we implied it — that we, if we won the Congressional elections, we could stop the war,’ Kanjorski said in the video. ‘Now anybody who is a good student of government would know that wasn’t true. But you know, the temptation to want to win back the Congress, we sort of stretched the facts — and people ate it up.'”
* Good to see lawmakers following up on the Pentagon Pundit scandal.
* Tim Russert believes the controversy surrounding McCain and his legion of lobbyists is a fairly big deal. It’s a shame, then, that he won’t mention it on “Meet the Press.”
* I get the sense that CNN’s Lou Dobbs does not respond well to criticism: “Media Matters fellow Paul Waldman … asked Dobbs to provide evidence of the ‘myth’ he often promotes — that there is a ‘secret plan’ to build a ‘NAFTA Superhighway’ from Mexico to Canada. Having trouble providing evidence, an exasperated Dobbs said finally, ‘You’re charging nonsense.’ ‘I reject it, I reject you, and I reject your position,’ he angrily added.”
* McCain’s position on telecom immunity has gone from bad to incoherent.
* And finally, the president’s sole campaign responsibility this year was to raise money for Republicans (who don’t necessarily want to be seen with him). As it turns out, Bush is even having trouble doing this: “Even in campaigns for Congress, where White House officials are focusing their political efforts, Mr. Bush’s impact appears to be reduced. Notably, he has raised only $36.6 million for Republican candidates and committees through early May, compared with $66.6 million last year and $131.6 million in 2006, according to Republican National Committee figures.”
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.
