Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Setting the stage for Thursday: “President Donald Trump on Tuesday wished fired FBI Director James Comey ‘luck’ in advance of Comey’s scheduled testimony on Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Asked for his message to Comey in advance of the hearing, Trump said: ‘I wish him luck.’”
* The obvious effect: “If the Saudis are going to dump their alliance with Qatar, their main rival in the region is happy to fill the void. The Iranians have taken the diplomatic high ground, advocating cooperation in the region — and offering food and airspace to the Qataris.”
* Syria: “Forces backed by the United States said on Tuesday that they had begun a long-anticipated offensive against Islamic State militants in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of their self-declared caliphate.”
* DeVos: “U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Tuesday that her agency would not give federal funds to private schools that defy federal antidiscrimination laws. However, she suggested it is not the Department of Education’s job to prevent discrimination against students in cases in which federal antidiscrimination laws are murky, such as with LGBTQ students.”
* A blast from the Bush/Cheney past: “Steven Bradbury, a former George W. Bush administration official who authored legal memos authorizing ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ that have been regarded as torture, has been nominated to be General Counsel of Transportation.” * NATO “welcomed the tiny country of Montenegro, as its 29th member Monday — the first new member in nearly ten years and a move that comes on the heels of President Trump’s visit to NATO’s headquarters.” * The fight over net neutrality isn’t over: “Some of the Internet’s biggest names are banding together for a ‘day of action’ to oppose the Federal Communications Commission, which is working to undo regulations for Internet providers that it passed during the Obama administration.” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
