1.) Gaddafi getting goosebumps — Hey, remember Libya? You know, Obama’s third war. TheDC’s Jonathan Strong does, and he’s got a question: “Libyan strong man Moammar Gaddafi appears ready to negotiate an exit from power. Why is President Obama ignoring the signs? A June 23 letter obtained by The Daily Caller from the Libyan prime minister in Tripoli offers to start up negotiations on releasing $4 billion in frozen Libyan assets for humanitarian purposes… Many foreign diplomats believe the gesture highlights Gaddafi’s desperation to make a deal on his exit. They say the U.S. and its partners in NATO could quickly and peacefully bring an end to the conflict, as long as they were willing to concede things like Gaddafi’s immunity from international criminal court. But Obama won’t even recognize the letter, nor an earlier June 9th letter from Gaddafi himself that says the strong man is ‘ready [to] sit at the table’ sent to the White House and congressional leaders… So the U.S. is bombing, but not talking.” Wow. Remember when Obama said he’d sit down and talk to rogue leaders without preconditions? Why is he treating Gaddafi like a Republican?
2.) Tim Geithner finds job too taxing? — Timmy! Don’t leave us, Timmy! TheDC’s Amanda Carey reports: “Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has suggested he will be leaving the Obama administration once a deal on the debt limit is reached, according to Bloomberg News. According to three anonymous sources, Geithner, 49, has informed the White House he’s thinking about moving on, although he has yet to make an official decision. He will not make any official announcement until after Congress and President Obama reach a deal on raising the debt ceiling, the report says… If Geithner chooses to leave the administration, he will complete the full turnover of Obama’s original economic team.” That’s just because they’ve done such an awesome job. Did the Lone Ranger stick around after he saved the townsfolk from the bad guys? No, he rode off into the sunset. And it’s not like Tonto knew how to use Turbotax. So Tim Geithner is a hero when you really really really don’t think about it.
3.) White House says jump, MSNBC asks how high — MSNBC is all about speaking truth to power, unless the power is a Democrat who does not appreciate hearing that truth. TheDC’s Jeff Poor writes: “The promptness with which MSNBC management reacted to Mark Halperin’s ill-advised remarks on Thursday’s ‘Morning Joe’ was remarkable, considering it took the same outlet nearly two days to suspend ‘The Ed Show’ host Ed Schultz after he called conservative talker Laura Ingraham ‘a slut’ on his radio show. Halperin, a Time magazine editor-at-large, made his remarks at 6:08 a.m. ET, and NBC Universal issued a press release announcing Halperin’s suspension at 9:44 a.m. ET, within an hour of the end of the ‘Morning Joe’ broadcast. The reason for the quick reaction could be because White House Press Secretary Jay Carney called MSNBC management. ‘The comment that was made was inappropriate,’ Carney said at the daily press briefing. ‘It would be inappropriate to say that about either president of either party. On behalf of the White House, I expressed that sentiment to executives at the network,’ he said.” Yes, those were probably his exact words. Now try to imagine what MSNBC would’ve done if the Bush administration had made the same request. It would be the top story all day: “White House Strongarms MSNBC.” Comparisons to third-world dictators would fly. A good time would be had by all the professional victims on the left.
4.) Is DSK about to get off? — It looks like the frisky Frenchman might soon go free. The NYT reports: “The sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn is on the verge of collapse as investigators have uncovered major holes in the credibility of the housekeeper who charged that he attacked her in his Manhattan hotel suite in May, according to two well-placed law enforcement officials. Although forensic tests found unambiguous evidence of a sexual encounter between Mr. Strauss-Kahn, a French politician, and the woman, prosecutors now do not believe much of what the accuser has told them about the circumstances or about herself. Since her initial allegation on May 14, the accuser has repeatedly lied, one of the law enforcement officials said.” There are allegations that she was involved in a drug ring, which makes you wonder why she was working as a hotel maid. And how it proves the sex was consensual. But if DSK manages to wriggle out of this, it can only help his campaign for president of France.
5.) BREAKING: Charlie Sheen used drugs — Are you sitting down? TheDC’s Ameena Schelling reports: “In his latest grab for the spotlight, actor Charlie Sheen admitted in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated that he used steroids while filming the 1989 baseball comedy ‘Major League.’ Sheen mentioned he had used the drugs, which improved his fastball from 79 to 85 mph, when talking about how comments over his character’s iconic haircut nearly led to fistfights. ‘I was already bitchy because — let’s just say that I was enhancing my performance a little bit,’ Sheen told SI. ‘It was the only time I ever did steroids. I did them for like six or eight weeks. You can print this, I don’t give a f—.'” That’s very brave of him, risking his squeaky-clean image with shocking stories of drug use in his misspent youth. Inning, duh! See, because of the baseball thing.
6.) Today’s words of wisdom from Alec Baldwin’s Twitter feed — “I am….what’s the word? Um…. bemused….by the feelings for Bachman.” [Ed. note: Presumably he means… what’s the name? Um… Michele BACHMANN.]
VIDEO: Mary Katharine Ham exposes the ugly truth about those job-killing ATMs