With a thousand Libyans (and perhaps many more) dead already from the Qaddafi regime’s attacks on its own population, and with reports of thousands of mercenaries and militiamen streaming toward Tripoli, President Obama finally spoke to the nation about this violence on Wednesday afternoon. He announced solemnly that he was sending Secretary of State Clinton to Geneva to visit the U.N. Human Rights Council and “hold consultations”—next Monday! But fear not: Undersecretary of State Bill Burns is apparently traveling sooner than that to “several stops in Europe” and then even in the actual Middle East, to “intensify our consultations.”
The Associated Press reports that one of Muammar Qaddafi's former ministers claims the Libyan dictator himself ordered the Lockerbie bomber attack:
STOCKHOLM -- Swedish tabloid Expressen says Libya's ex-justice minister claims Moammar Gadhafi personally ordered the Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people in 1988.
Jerry Brito, director of the technology policy program at the Mercatus Center, notes that the unrest in Libya could have an effect on the rest of the world, too -- at least that part of it that participates in social networking. Writing at time.com, Brito notes that Twitter's default URL shortening service -- often necessary to remain within the site's 140-character limit -- is bit.ly.
John Thune's announcement that he would not be running for president in 2012 has overshadowed another bit of news on the GOP primary front: current U.S. ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman, has apparently taken a further step toward running for president, presumably as a Republican, with the launch of a new political action committee, Horizon PAC.
New Jersey governor Chris Christie presented his budget for fiscal year 2012, challenging the state legislature to adopt his proposed $29.4 billion plan that would feature business tax cuts, property tax relief, pension reform, and a slight bump in education spending.
Press TV, Iran’s state-owned English-language news network, is reporting that amid all the turmoil now unfolding in Libya the famous Lebanese cleric and founder of the Amal movement, Moussa Sadr, may be alive.
A liberal blogger from the Buffalo Beast called up Scott Walker yesterday posing as wealthy businessman and Republican donor David Koch, a bogeyman who occupies the space in the left's imagination that is held by George Soros in the right's imagination. Walker's spokesman Cullen Werwie confirms that the call is legitimate:
