Today’s edition of quick hits.<\/p>\n
* As Republicans finally give up their majority, they leave the public with a stunningly bad impression<\/a> of politicians. According to a new USA Today\/Gallup poll, only 15% of Americans give senators or very high marks for honesty and ethical standards, while 14% do so for House members. The only professions to do worse were insurance salesmen (13%), HMO managers (12%), advertising practitioners (11%), and car salesmen (7%).<\/p>\n * A prominent religious right activist explained<\/a> in a WorldNetDaily column that “today’s rise in homosexuality” is linked to the “rise in soy formula and other soy products.” He did not appear to be kidding.<\/p>\n * Bush’s half-hearted outreach to congressional Dems is running into a few snags<\/a>.<\/p>\n * For much of the past year, supporters of the president’s legally dubious surveillance techniques through the NSA have argued that data mining can be a valuable tool in catching terrorists. Now, there’s evidence to the contrary<\/a>.<\/p>\n * Kudos to the Dems in the Idaho State House, who staged a courageous walk-out<\/a> during legislative business today.<\/p>\n * You know the new Bush plan for Iraq that the White House said would be released before Christmas? Forget it; we won’t see it until January<\/a>.<\/p>\n * Nancy Pelosi did the right thing<\/a> keeping William Jefferson off the House Ways and Means Committee.<\/p>\n * I don’t agree with Donald Rumsfeld often, but yesterday on Fox News, the outgoing Defense Secretary was asked what he might have done differently in Iraq. Rumsfeld said<\/a>, “I don’t think I would have called it the ‘war on terror.’ … [I]t is not a ‘war on terror.’ Terror is a weapon of choice for extremists who are trying to destabilize regimes and, [through] a small group of clerics, impose their dark vision on all the people they can control. So ‘war on terror’ is a problem for me.” * I hereby nominate Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) as the next great GOP corruption story<\/a> of 2007. Most of this year’s winners won’t be returning to Capitol Hill next year, so we have high hopes that Miller will make a real name for himself in the 110th. <\/p>\n * The Dems’ response<\/a> to the Republicans’ unfinished appropriations bills is great — it’s too late to deal with these, so let’s focus attention on the next fiscal year instead. As Kevin Drum noted, it’s “good policy and good politics.”<\/p>\n * Jon Stewart says farewell<\/a> to his favorite GOP members from the 109th Congress.<\/p>\n * Edward Bruce Tinsley, creator of the conservative comic strip Mallard Fillmore, was arrested<\/a> last week on charges of driving under the influence.<\/p>\n * Why Time continues to give Dobson a forum<\/a> remains a total mystery to me.<\/p>\n
\n
\n* The WaPo’s White House reporter Peter Baker defended<\/a> the paper’s decision to hire the AP’s resident Dem-hunter, John Solomon, to lead the paper’s investigative team. Sorry, Peter, but the explanation doesn’t work.<\/p>\n