Today’s edition of quick hits.<\/p>\n
* Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-Ga.) died this afternoon<\/a> after battling cancer and lung disease. The 65-year-old Norwood died at his home in Augusta, Ga., his office said. House members debating the war in Iraq briefly interrupted proceedings for a moment of silence in his honor. My condolences to his family.<\/p>\n * Announcing what is likely to be an anticlimactic end<\/a> to Scooter Libby’s criminal trial, the defense announced today that Libby won’t testify and Dick Cheney will not be called as a witness. In fact, the defense is likely to rest this week, with closing arguments coming as early as a week from today.<\/p>\n * On a related note, Bob Woodward’s interview with Richard Armitage, during which Plame’s name came up, clearly suggests<\/a> Condoleezza Rice was weak and powerless in 2003, and that the Bush gang didn’t much care if the infamous “16 words” were false.<\/p>\n * Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, executive director of the CIA until he resigned in May, and defense contractor Brent Wilkes were indicted today<\/a> as part of the corruption investigation that sent Duke Cunningham to prison. Apparently, the indictment has some juicy tidbits<\/a>.<\/p>\n * As John Cole explained<\/a>, John McCain seems a little confused about the Tet Offensive.<\/p>\n * CNN’s Glenn Beck, on his nationally syndicated radio show, showing the kind of fascinating insights that has made him a star, told his audience yesterday that Barack Obama is “very white in many ways<\/a>…. Gee, can I even say that? Can I even say that without somebody else starting a campaign saying, ‘What does he mean, “He’s very white?” ‘ He is. He’s very white.” Have I mentioned that Good Morning America finds Beck so insightful that he’s going to be a regular contributor?<\/p>\n * While lawmakers debate war policy on the Hill, Americans seem to have largely made up their minds. A new USA Today\/Gallup poll<\/a> finds that six in 10 oppose Bush’s escalation policy, and 63% support a timetable to withdraw all U.S. troops by the end of 2008. As for the Senate’s inability to resolve the debate over the debate, the public (accurately) blames Republicans, 51% to 19%. As for 2008, 7 in 10 say their representative’s vote on the war will affect their vote in the next congressional election; more than four in 10 call it a major factor. * Glenn Greenwald takes Glenn Reynolds to task<\/a> for Reynolds’ stated foreign policy towards Iran: “We should be responding quietly, killing radical mullahs and Iranian atomic scientists.” Reynolds is advocating death squads? Killing scientists? Apprently so.<\/p>\n * Looks like there’s a Martha-Stewart-like controversy<\/a> brewing with Bush’s Education Department and the Sallie Mae Corporation.<\/p>\n * I’d heard about Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-Calif.) less-than-favorable reputation on a personal level, but even I was surprised to hear him go on the offensive<\/a> during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing against women whose family members were killed by insurgents in Fallujah in 2004.<\/p>\n
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\n* Tony Snow can’t quite explain<\/a> what the White House line is on Iran. Today’s briefing was particularly embarrassing.<\/p>\n