Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) helped make the case for changing the way the Senate operates at a Center for American Progress event this morning. When it comes to filibusters and the future of the Senate, tomorrow will be a big day.
* Syria: “Leaders of the Pakistani Taliban claim to have sent ‘hundreds of fighters’ to Syria to support local mujahideen forces in their struggle against President Bashar Assad.”
* A stay for Warren Hill: “A state court trial judge this afternoon issued a temporary stay blocking tonight’s scheduled execution so she could hold another hearing on this topic on Thursday, July 18th.”
* Post-acquittal review from the DOJ: “The Justice Department said Sunday that it was restarting its investigation into the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin to consider possible separate hate crime charges against George Zimmerman.”
* msnbc’s Adam Serwer makes the case that federal hate-crimes charges against Zimmerman are not likely.
* Guantanamo Bay: “An American military spokesman said Sunday that 15 detainees at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who had been listed as having gone on hunger strike had quit participating in the protest, accelerating an apparent downward trend since the start of Ramadan last week.”
* Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure: “When it comes to America’s dilapidated infrastructure, political spectacle is taking precedence over common sense, and drivers and businesses are suffering.” * Presidential rhetoric matters: “When President Obama proclaimed that those who commit sexual assault in the military should be ‘prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court-martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged,’ it had an effect he did not intend: muddying legal cases across the country.” * This seems like an unsustainable posture: “San Diego Mayor Bob Filner (D), embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal, reiterated Monday that he will not give up his post despite a slew of area politicians calling for his resignation.” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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