Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Greg Sargent spoke with several bloggers who were on the Harry Reid conference call in which he allegedly called Gen. Peter Pace “incompetent.” None of them recall the senator describing the general that way.
* Massachusetts state lawmakers considered a measure today to put a constitutional gay-marriage ban on the statewide ballot next year. A joint session of the legislature defeated the measure by a vote of 45 to 151. That’s quite a margin.
* At a press briefing yesterday, Tony Snow, responding to the attack on the Askariya shrine in Samarra, said the violence was a good sign: “It does fit a pattern that we see throughout the region, which is that when you see things moving towards success, or when you see signs of success, that there are acts of violence.” I can’t help but be impressed, once again, with the White House’s willingness to see every development as encouraging. If there’s less violence, it’s good news and proof that the surge is working. If there’s more violence, it’s good news and proof that the surge is working.
* Arlen Specter is open to a deal whereby Karl Rove and Harriet Miers will testify on the U.S Attorney scandal, in private, with a transcript, but not under oath. No word yet on whether the White House and/or Senate Dems are amenable to the idea.
* Congressional Republicans are threatening to shut down Congress over earmarks, but their arguments don’t stand up to much scrutiny. As Nico explained, “The new-found conservative outrage over earmarks is a sham. Desperate to stop spending bills that they can’t defeat in a straight vote, they are using earmarks as an excuse to throw a wrench into the system.”
* In the latest WSJ/NBC poll, Bush’s approval rating is down to 29%, his lowest yet. More importantly, just 19% of Americans believe the country is on the right track and, by 52% to 31%, Americans say they want Democrats to win the presidency next year.
* Speaking of polls, Speaker Pelosi thinks the war is responsible for a drag on congressional Dems’ approval rating. She’s probably right.
* Joe Lieberman told the Weekly Standard, “If Kristol says what I’m doing is right, it must be right.” I don’t think any more needs to be said about Joe Lieberman.
* A newspaper reporter who was evicted from a press box during an NCAA baseball game for live-blogging is spurring an interesting debate about First Amendment rights, intellectual property rights, and contract law.
* Jonathan Chait explains why comparisons between Iraq and Bosnia don’t make a lot of sense.
* Chris Matthews thinks Fred Thompson smells good. I wish I were kidding.
* Danger Room: “A 2003’s ‘Soldier’s Guide to the Republic of Iraq,’ issued by the Army on the eve of the U.S. invasion, tells troops that Arabs see ‘little virtue in a frank exchange’ and are ‘by American standards… reluctant to accept responsibility.'” Ugh.
* Interesting scandal that’s been big in the UK, but less so here: “The US department of justice is preparing to open a corruption investigation into the arms company BAE, the Guardian has learned. It would cover the alleged £1bn arms deal payments to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia. Washington sources familiar with the thinking of senior officials at the justice department said yesterday it was ‘99% certain’ that a criminal inquiry would be opened under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Such an investigation would have potentially seismic consequences for BAE, which is trying to take over US arms companies and make the Pentagon its biggest customer.”
* A 39-page pamphlet written by the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee for 2008 candidates encourages them to utilize bogs and online videos. Said Matthew Miller, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, “I’m glad the NRSC discovered the Internet in 2007.”
* It looks as if Bush’s watch wasn’t stolen in Albania.
* And finally, though I generally avoid celebrity news like the plague, I found this fairly interesting: Angelina Jolie tried to ban Fox News from covering the premier of her new movie. What’s more, she reportedly told Paramount publicists to ban the Republican network from covering the “Mighty Heart” premiere on the red carpet. (The ban fell through — a Paramount staffer eventually allowed a FNC camera to be present.)
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.