Today’s edition of quick hits.<\/p>\n
* Todd Shriber, the communications director for Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT) we talked about<\/a> earlier, has been fired<\/a>. This comes as a surprise to absolutely no one.<\/p>\n * There isn’t a Republican in DC who is willing to comment<\/a> on Rep. Virgil Goode’s (R-Va.) anti-Muslim bigotry.<\/p>\n * The conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch released a list<\/a> of “Washington’s ‘Ten Most Corrupt Politicians” for 2006. The good news is six of the top 10 in the House were Republicans. The bad news Judicial Watch gave Barack Obama a “dishonorable mention” for a “controversy” in which he did literally nothing wrong<\/a>.<\/p>\n * A new CNN poll<\/a> found that Americans don’t find Bush trustworthy, don’t believe he shares their values, suspect he doesn’t understand complex issues, and believe he is not a strong leader. Other than that, they like him just fine.<\/p>\n * The number one catch phrase of 2006 is … “stay the course<\/a>.” Good choice.<\/p>\n * Matt Corley did a really good job compiling a massive list<\/a> of every major staffer for every 2008 presidential campaign. As Corley explained, “They’ll help set the course of the campaign’s larger narratives and subplots alike. They’ll get the credit if their candidate soars — and take the blame if he or she sinks. So you should know who they are.” The list will be updated.<\/p>\n * Human Events magazine has named Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), the outgoing chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and one of the more offensive members of the chamber, its “Man of the Year<\/a>.” Wow.<\/p>\n * Is it me or is it ironic that Bill O’Reilly, while complaining about a critic launching personal attacks, accused his foe<\/a> of being a “left-wing loon”? * The Internal Revenue Service has cut deeply<\/a> the time that it spends auditing the nation’s largest corporations. That’s not good.<\/p>\n * I talked to Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) on a conference call once, and he seemed like he had a good sense of humor. Of course, putting a “Festivus Pole<\/a>” in the governor’s mansion has raised his humor quotient even higher, at least in my book.<\/p>\n * So, apparently, being a life-long pro-choice, pro-gay Republican moderate, and then doing a stunning 180-degree turn just to run for president, will generate some skepticism<\/a> among conservative voters. Go figure.<\/p>\n * Michael Froomkin had a good post<\/a> about the Transportation Security Administration violating federal privacy laws.<\/p>\n * Officials at Bush’s Interior Department tried to hide information<\/a> that federal incentives for oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico isn’t cost effective, doesn’t produce a lot of oil, and is generally just a massive give-away to oil companies? You don’t say.<\/p>\n * For vulnerable House Democrats, the 2008 election cycle began a couple of weeks ago<\/a>. Seriously.<\/p>\n * The famous Bush-Webb flap from a few weeks ago (“That’s not what I asked you”) was apparently given to reporters by the Bush gang<\/a>. I have no idea why — it also served to make the president look bad.<\/p>\n
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\n* The Washington City Paper’s efforts to smear Murray Waas<\/a> are distasteful and wrong. The paper and its editors should know better.<\/p>\n