Today’s edition of quick hits.
* I was slightly taken aback by Sen. Biden’s comments this morning, particularly about Obama, but I didn’t realize it would capture the political world’s attention so thoroughly. Hoping to put out the fire quickly, Biden held a conference call about two hours ago in which he explained, “I believe I was quoted accurately, but [the comments] weren’t meant to take shots.” As for Obama, Biden said the Illinois senator is “fresh, he is new, he is insightful, and I really regret that some have taken totally out of context my use of the word ‘clean.’ … I called Barack and he said, ‘Joe, you don’t have to explain anything to me.'”
* I have to admit, I never get tired of Keith Olbermann’s “special comments.” Here’s the latest. (Classic line: “You showed us the same baby twice and claimed it was twins.”)
* Considering how integral the training of Iraqi security forces has been to the U.S. mission, it’s stunning how badly the administration screwed it up. “The police training system has not gone well,” said former Rep. Lee Hamilton, who co-chaired the bipartisan commission. Now there’s an understatement.
* Jessica at Feministing notes, unfortunately, that “South Dakota is at it again.” Last year, the state approved the most sweeping anti-abortion measure in recent memory. South Dakota voters rejected the measure in November, but a new ban on abortion is already in the works, and will be unveiled today in the state Capitol.
* A couple weeks ago, Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) asked Secretary Condoleezza Rice if the administration thought Bush had the power to take military action against Iran without congressional approval. Rice said she’d get back to Webb. He’s still waiting — and he’s getting a little impatient about it.
* The media making stuff up about John Kerry? You don’t say. Honestly, no other Dem has been slammed as frequently and unfairly since … the last Democratic presidential nominee.
* Military equipment is, alas, missing in action: “The Inspector General for the Defense Dept. is concerned that the U.S. military has failed to adequately equip soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, especially for nontraditional duties such as training Iraqi security forces and handling detainees, according to a summary of a new audit obtained by BusinessWeek.”
* Oddly enough, the Chicago Tribune blamed blogs for the bogus Obama-madrassa story, arguing that the smear is “a sign of the growing indifference Internet ‘journalism’ presents on the question of truth. Rumor is good enough. Bibles of blogging are created based on nothing more than rumor.” The Trib, as is too often the case, has the story backwards: blogs helped debunk the bogus story after “mainstream” news outlets ran with it, not the other way around.
* MoveOn.org wants to air the VoteVets.org commercial I mentioned yesterday during the Super Bowl. Sounds like a good idea to me.
* Paul Wolfowitz may be the head of the World Bank, but he can’t afford new socks? (Thanks to MNProgressive for the tip)
* The Daily Show tackles the Scooter Libby trial as only it can.
* BlogPac and ActBlue have joined forces.
* And, finally, another gem from The Onion: “In a brief statement faxed to major media outlets at approximately 11:50 p.m. Friday, the White House retracted the entire 5,600-word State of the Union address delivered by President Bush last Tuesday. ‘This includes all components of the address, and is not limited to the president’s congratulations to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi or his plan to give more Americans affordable health care through tax cuts, which has since been deemed infeasible,’ the statement read in part. ‘Furthermore, the president’s urge for bipartisanship as well as his final statement about the state of the union being ‘strong’ are hereby stricken from the public record.'”
If none of these particular items are of interest, consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.
