From Morgan fired to Las Vegas ethics conference...

From American Progress:

Think Fast...

Right-wing radio host Melanie Morgan -- who once called for the editor of The New York Times to be "sent to the gas chamber" -- has been fired from her job at KSFO 560 AM, but will continue her World Net Daily column. "[J]ust because Melanie Morgan is off the air doesn't mean she's off our radar," said Media Matters spokesman Karl Frisch.

Commenting on the climate change deniers conference in New York City, Princeton University geosciences professor Michael Oppenheimer said that climate skeptics "have to get together to talk to each other, because nobody else is talking to them."

Federal Communications Commission commissioner Michael Copps has asked the board's chair to open an inquiry into "the blacking out of a politically charged segment of the CBS News magazine '60 Minutes' by a local television station in Alabama." "Was this an attempt to suppress information on the public airwaves, or was it really just a technical problem?" asked Copps.

"House Democrats said a civil lawsuit could be filed as early as this month that challenges the Bush administration's claims of executive privilege in curtailing aides from testifying on Capitol Hill." Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is pursing civil litigation because Attorney General Michael Mukasey refuses to enforce contempt citations against two White House aides.

Vanity Fair writes that the Bush administration's plan to arm and train Palestinian fighters loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas backfired and led to the Hamas takeover of Gaza. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the central premise of the article "ludicrous" and said it was necessary to counteract Iranian influence.

Exhausted by exposure to the violence of religious extremism, Iraqi youths "have grown disillusioned with religious leaders and skeptical of the faith that they preach." Iraqis -- both poor and middle class -- have "blamed clerics for the violence and the restrictions that have narrowed their lives."

James Clark, the chief of staff under former Alaska Gov. Frank H. Murkowski (R), agreed yesterday "to plead guilty to concealing donations made to Mr. Murkowski's 2006 re-election campaign" by the VECO Corporation, an oil company accused of bribing much of the Alaskan political establishment. Clark arranged for VECO to pay $68,500 without it being publicly disclosed.

The Senate yesterday confirmed Mark R. Filip, a federal judge from Chicago and former law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia, as deputy attorney general. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) had previously placed a hold on Judge Filip's nomination over...waterboarding but lifted it."
In prepared testimony, CentCom chief William Fallon said "multiple strains of violent extremism remain a threat to the government and populace" in Iraq. Fallon added that when Gen. David Petraeus testifies next month, "the chain of command" and "our inputs, along with his" will be sent to the President.

And finally: "If you want to prevent skin cancer, you don't get to the beach. And if you want to avoid corruption, you don't go to Vegas, right?" Next month, however, Sin City will host Campaigns & Elections magazine's two-day conference for lobbyists called "All Things Ethical." Panels include "Using Phones Ethically" and "The Ethics of Deception."

Wrap...