Today’s edition of quick hits.<\/p>\n
* Bush will undergo a routine colonoscopy tomorrow, and under the 25th amendment, will temporarily transfer power<\/a> to Dick Cheney. The procedure is expected to take about two and a half hours, during which time Cheney will no doubt be tempted to start several new wars.<\/p>\n * The president acknowledged<\/a> yesterday that he considered sending U.S. troops into Darfur, but decided not to because he doesn’t believe in “unilateral” deployments. Bush has quite a sense of humor doesn’t he?<\/p>\n * Under pressure from Bill O’Reilly’s minions, JetBlue has pulled its sponsorship<\/a> of the YearlyKos conference. (Note to the airline: if you give in to bullies, you’ll probably continue to be bullied.) As it turns out, JetBlue is taking the worst-of-both-worlds approach: it’s still donating some free airline tickets for yKos attendees (which will annoy the right), but is pulling its official support (which annoys the left). Dumb.<\/p>\n * 74% of Republicans believe Rudy Giuliani is an “acceptable<\/a>” presidential candidate, the highest of the current GOP field. Now, how many of those 74% know that Giuliani is pro-choice, supports gay rights, and has had more adulterous affairs than Romney has had hunting trips? I have a hunch that it’s a pretty low number.<\/p>\n * Bill Clinton is blogging<\/a>. (Now, if I can figure out how to finagle my way onto that<\/i> blogroll….)<\/p>\n * National Journal<\/a>: “Barack Obama is losing his top foreign-policy adviser to active military duty. Mark Lippert, who has helped to write every major Obama foreign-policy speech and is known as “an expert at nailing down details,” has been called up by the Naval Reserve. He’s in training now but says his orders don’t specify where or how long he’ll deploy. This will be the first tour for the lieutenant junior grade, who signed up for the Reserve about three years ago.”<\/p>\n * TPMM<\/a>: “President Bush signed an executive order Friday spelling out new interrogation techniques for terrorism suspects that bar cruel and inhumane treatment, humiliation or denigration of prisoners’ religious beliefs.” There may already be a loophole<\/a>. * John Cole makes fun of Hugh Hewitt over<\/a> and over<\/a> again so I don’t have to.<\/p>\n * Rumor has it<\/a> former House Speaker Dennis Hastert is planning to not seek re-election, and may decide to quit Congress before the end of the 110th Congress. Would anyone notice his absence?<\/p>\n * Conservative columnist Jim Pinkerton<\/a>: “When kids see ‘Harry Potter,’ they should be thinking first about defending their country, and their civilization, against evildoers wielding weapons of mass destruction.”<\/p>\n * Exactly 18 months from today<\/a>, a new president will take office. Something to look forward to.<\/p>\n * Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.), the only Republican in the House from New England, makes the perfect WINO case<\/a>: he argues publicly that the U.S. should begin to plan a withdrawal of troops, but refuses to vote accordingly.<\/p>\n * I find it startling that the Washington Post would run an entire piece on Hillary Clinton’s cleavage on the front page of its Style section, and yet, there it is<\/a>.<\/p>\n * Matt Groening doesn’t want<\/a> Rupert Murdoch to buy the Wall Street Journal, either.<\/p>\n
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\n* CNN political analyst Bill Schneider told viewers<\/a> today that conservatives “admire Giuliani’s record on terrorism.” What record on terrorism?<\/p>\n