Today’s edition of quick hits:
* There was a beautiful exchange over the weekend in Alabama when a local police chief apologized to Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) for failing to protect the Freedom Riders during a trip to Montgomery in 1961. Expect more on this story on tonight’s show.
* And so it begins: “U.S. airports, including Los Angeles International and O’Hare International in Chicago, are already experiencing delays in customs waiting lines as a result of automatic federal spending cuts, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Monday.”
* Iraq: “Dozens of Syrian soldiers who had crossed into Iraq for refuge were ambushed Monday with bombs, gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades in an attack that killed 48 of them and heightened concerns that the country could be drawn into Syria’s civil war.”
* Cabinet: “President Obama on Monday made three cabinet nominations — for budget, energy and environmental policy — hours before his first cabinet meeting of his second term.”
* What does the White House have to say about retired athlete Dennis Rodman’s strange antics in North Korea? Nothing good.
* Republican state lawmakers in Florida are not yet prepared to go along with Gov. Rick Scott’s (R) plan to accept Medicaid expansion.
* How best to overcome GOP filibusters remains unclear: “Reelected with strong support from women, ethnic minorities and gays, Obama is moving quickly to change the face of the federal judiciary by the end of his second term, setting the stage for another series of drawn-out confrontations with Republicans in Congress.” * The heartbreaking story of Marco McMillian: “The body of a slain Mississippi mayoral candidate was beaten and burned, a family member said Monday.” McMillian was reportedly the first openly gay, viable candidate for public office in Mississippi. * If you’re wondering when Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is 79, might retire, you should probably put the question out of your mind for a while. “It’s not this year. You can never tell when you’re my age,” Ginsburg told Jeffrey Toobin. “But, as long as I think I have the candlepower, I will do it. And I figure next year for certain. After that, who knows?” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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