Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Salon: “Word just in from the House Judiciary Committee: The Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law will hold a hearing next week related to ‘The Continuing Investigation Into the U.S. Attorney Controversy and Related Matters.’ The witness: Paul McNulty, who has announced his resignation as deputy attorney general and — in the wake of attempts by Gonzales and Monica Goodling to implicate him in the U.S. attorney mess — may suddenly be feeling a little talkative.”
* When it comes to putting Scooter Libby behind bars, now, Patrick Fitzgerald isn’t messing around.
* Bush is still pushing his Republican Senate allies to revive his immigration legislation, but it’s not going well. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he won’t bring the bill to the floor unless Bush can guarantee him at least 15 more GOP votes, so the president is giving his friends the hard sell. “I think the president is wrong to push this piece of legislation so hard after we’ve demonstrated the flaws that are in it. He needs to back off,” Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), told CNN.
* Speaking of Reid, he has the Quote of the Day: “I’ve learned one thing in listening to all the debates and reading about all these people running for office, and the one fact I’ve learned, I can’t get out of my mind, is that Rudy Giuliani has been married more times than Mitt Romney’s been hunting.”
* NYT: “The Supreme Court, expanding its review of federal criminal sentencing, agreed Monday to consider the proper judicial response to the sharp disparity in the way the law treats crack cocaine and cocaine powder. The court will address a growing rebellion among judges who have been issuing sentences lighter than those called for under the federal sentencing guidelines for criminals convicted of crack cocaine offenses. The federal appeals courts are divided on whether judges are permitted to exercise such discretion.”
* Former Sen. Bob Graham’s (D-Fla.) approach to Bush impeachment is entirely reasonable.
* Another tragic incident in which the U.S. government failed to protect our troops and their families. This time, the location is Camp Lejeune, and the culprit is the water on the base.
* As expected, Ed Gillespie, the former RNC chairman, will replace Dan Bartlett as counselor to the President.
* David Paul Kuhn believes the GOP base both will and will not tolerate Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign. It’s confusing, I know.
* Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons seems to have more confidence in the future of CNN.com (which has a growing audience) than CNN television (which has a shrinking audience).
* The NCAA has banned live-blogging from a college baseball game? Alas, this is not a joke.
* Ralph Reed couldn’t possibly make a comeback, could he?
* Veronica Mars has been officially cancelled. It’s a shame; I liked that show.
* TNR’s Isaac Chotiner’s smackdown of NRO’s John Podhoretz was so brutal, I almost winced. Of course, because I like Chotiner’s work, and find Podhoretz unreadable, it was a good kind of wince.
* Did someone in Albania steal Bush’s wristwatch? Probably not, but it’s amusing to consider.
* I’m afraid I fell a little behind on John Edwards adviser Mudcat Saunders taking a broad swipe at liberal bloggers — he said many of us could “go to Hell” — but it’s caused a bit of a brouhaha. There have been a number of interesting online retorts, but I’m partial to former Edwards blogger Melissa McEwan’s response.
* And finally, ending the afternoon on an amusing note, here’s a Bushism from a speech the president gave in Bulgaria yesterday: “These are big achievements for this country, and the people of Bulgaria ought to be proud of the achievements that they have achieved.” Who can argue with logic like that?
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.