Today’s edition of quick hits.<\/p>\n
* The “escalation” vs “surge” rhetorical debate is surprisingly important in helping shape public opinion. ThinkProgress made a fascinating observation<\/a> today about the results of a recent CBS poll: when Americans were asked if they support an escalation of forces in Iraq, only 18% said yes. Asked if they support a “short-term troop increase,” approval jumps to 45%. Note to media: word choice matters.<\/p>\n * Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R) acquired plenty of power by helping orchestrate the Republicans’ infamous K Street Project, and now that’s he’s out of politics, he’s ended up … wait for it … on K Street<\/a>. Santorum has joined a relatively small right-wing think tank, where he’ll head up their “America’s Enemies” program. He’s also poised to join a DC law firm, where he’ll no doubt be a lobbyist.<\/p>\n * Former Sen. Conrad Burns (R), who lost his job in part because of his connections to shady DC lobbyists, has also become a lobbyist<\/a>.<\/p>\n * Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) now chairs the Commerce, Justice, State Subcommittee on the House Appropriations Committee, which has jurisdiction over the FBI. This has become a point of some contention because of an ongoing FBI investigation of which Mollohan is a part. Today, Mollohan announced he would recuse himself<\/a> from matters relating to the Justice Department, which, given the circumstances, was the right thing to do.<\/p>\n * Dumb conservative blog post of the day: National Review’s Mona Charen said<\/a>, “The President also plans to ask for a larger army — a little late and so necessary! It will be interesting to see how the Democrats in Congress handle that one. All that talk of supporting the troops…” That’s dumb, of course, because asking for a larger Army was the congressional Democrats’ idea<\/a> in the first place, and was even part of John Kerry’s presidential platform.<\/p>\n * With the House getting ready to pass a minimum wage increase, we’re bound to hear a series of unreliable arguments from the right. Media Matters went ahead and preemptively debunked them<\/a>. * It’s always encouraging to see progress<\/a> on net neutrality legislation.<\/p>\n * Amazingly enough, yesterday was the first time that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under the Bush White House acknowledged, unequivocally, that a buildup of greenhouse gases was helping warm the climate<\/a>. The agency wouldn’t get into why there’s a build up of greenhouse gases, but when it comes to this administration, I’ll appreciate acknowledgements of reality where I can find them.<\/p>\n * For reasons that I’ll never fully understand, Time magazine hired Bill Kristol as a columnist recently, and sure enough, Kristol’s first column contradicted<\/a> the magazine’s own reporting.<\/p>\n * Former congressional candidate and Iraq war vet Paul Hackett subdued three men yesterday with an assault rifle<\/a>. I’ve seen Hackett; they shouldn’t have messed with him.<\/p>\n
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\n* Pelosi has banned smoking<\/a> in the Speaker’s Lobby, which “has been one of the last refuges for lawmakers and journalists to light-up during votes.” Minority Leader Boehner, who is a chain smoker, will not be pleased.<\/p>\n