Today’s edition of quick hits.
* British officials continue to make arrests as part of the investigation into the weekend’s terrorist incidents: “Doctors from Iraq and Jordan were among the eight suspects arrested in the failed car bombings in London and at Glasgow’s airport, officials said Monday. A witness said police were closing in on the terror network minutes before attackers rammed the Scottish terminal building…. Late Monday, police announced the arrest of an eighth suspect, a man, in the failed attacks.”
* Speaking of events in Britain, former Scotland Yard Detective John O’Connor shared a helpful perspective this morning: “I think that rather than using the all-embracing term of ‘al Qaeda,’ I think that you should be using the term ‘jihadists,’ which I think makes more sense. Because, though they may share common purposes with al Qaeda, I don’t think that al Qaeda has the control to operate something like this. They could operate a major terrorist outrage, but I think it would be more professionally run. I mean this was a hopeless, incompetent terrorist attack…. It was just a fire. I mean, that is so incompetent as to be almost laughable.”
* Too bad Jon Stewart is off this week; he’d probably have some fun with this one: “President Bush’s presidency is stuck in low gear. On Sunday, his fishing boat was stuck on stop…. Fellow Republicans may not be rushing to rescue his legislative agenda, but the Secret Service bailed Bush out of a jam when his boat anchor got wedged in rocks along the Atlantic Coast.”
* Good news: the United Nations Security Council finally voted to “shut down the U.N. inspection bodies that helped uncover his illegal weapons programs but were then banned from Iraq by the United States.”
* There are plenty of noteworthy losers from the Senate’s immigration debate, but let’s not lose sight of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). A conservative Republican senator who backed Bush’s policy told Bob Novak: ‘If this were a war, Sen. McConnell should be relieved of command for dereliction of duty.’ Not only did the minority leader end up voting against an immigration bill that he said was better than the 2006 version he supported, he abandoned his post, staying off the floor during final stages of the debate.”
* New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) signed legislation Friday that made the state the first “to repeal a law requiring that a parent be notified before a minor receives an abortion.”
* For Fred Thompson, DC lobbying is a family affair.
* Is the military overly concerned with counter-insurgency efforts right now? How is that possible?
* Rick Perlstein has an update on the outrageous story out of Jena, Louisiana, with some insights into the community’s preferred politics.
* CREW has a great new report out today, “Crossing the Line: The Bush Administration’s Efforts to Expand Its Powerful Reach.” CREW’s Melanie Sloan said that Vice President Cheney and Bush administration officials “are working hard to reconfigure the executive branch to conform with their preference for absolute power rather than with clearly established constitutional boundaries. CREW’s report depicts an administration out of control.”
* Promoting books by neo-Confederate propagandists is never a good idea.
* Be careful driving in Virginia: “Virginia is for lovers, or so the state slogan has declared since 1969. Starting Sunday, Virginia also will be the home of the $3,000 traffic ticket. In an effort to raise money for road projects, the state will start hitting residents who commit serious traffic offenses with huge civil penalties.” (thanks R.P.)
* When you’re Al Gore, you can ask for advance copies of The Sopranos. That’s pretty cool.
* And finally, this is one of those quotes that could be taken in a variety of ways: Coulter talking to O’Reilly: “I’m more of a man than any liberal.”
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.