D-Day:

Dawn Johnsen’s nomination cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee months ago, and with Arlen Specter’s support her confirmation has been thought to be all but assured. Nevertheless, with the re-nomination process, Republicans will seek additional hearings, a perfect opportunity for them to fearmonger on terrorism.

All but assured if Coakley wins the Massachusetts Senate race. Otherwise, we are back where we started - Republican Dick Lugar supports Johnsen but Nebraska Dem Ben Nelson opposes and will not allow a floor vote on the Johnsen nomination to head the OLC.

Speaking for me only

What will happen to the orphaned, homeless, sick and at-risk children in Haiti, who make up more than half of the country's population? Efforts are underway by Catholic Legal Services in South Florida to bring many here, for adoption, foster care or other placement. This was done for Cuban children in Operation Pedro Pan in the 1960s.

What's needed: Passports, Emergency visas, the granting of refugee status, faster paperwork processing.

We really need to get the injured children to places with adequate surgical and medical facilities.

Related Haiti Developments: [More...]

Hillary Clinton has arrived in Haiti. It's not clear if she's going to speak right away. More here.

20,000 bodies have been recovered so far, according to the Haitian Government. The medical situation remains dismal.

Update: MSNBC says she will be speaking at the airport (where she will be for four hours) and it will air her remarks live. Her plane brought supplies and will bring about 50 Americans home. She is the most senior U.S. official to visit Haiti since the earthquake.

Via this dkos diary, Evan Bayh:

“I do think there’s a chance that Congressional elites mistook their mandate,” Mr. Bayh said. “I don’t think the American people last year voted for higher taxes, higher deficits and a more intrusive government. But there’s a perception that that is what they are getting.”

The continuing struggle for what the Democratic Party will represent can not be seen through the lens of Obama's personality and political fortunes. There are different segments of the Party arguing for their views. Poms poms for Obama do not help progressives. There must be a Left Flank arguing for their view.

Speaking for me only

The Washington Post reports the details on the mismanagement of informant Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, who killed 7 CIA officers at an Afghan base a few weeks ago.

The Jordanians initially turned and worked him, but in mid-2009, they let the Americans and CIA take charge of him. [More...]

The reporters in Haiti look pretty good. Props to them, considering the conditions they are enduring. I thought I saw Anderson Cooper, at one point last night during his report from the prison pointing out the dead bodies, turn his back to camera and shake as if he was gagging. Then I dismissed it as being my imagination. After reading this, I'm not so sure.

Update: Extra props to CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta who was the only doctor to stay overnight treating the injured at a hospital last night. The others left when ordered to for security reasons. They returned this morning.

Yemen's Interior Ministry today confirmed that the military commander of AQAP, Qassim al Raymi, was killed in yesterday's strike.

In a statement on its website, the ministry said Rimi had died when a missile struck his vehicle in the eastern part of Saada province. Also killed were Ayed al-Shabwani, Ammar al-Waili, Saleh al-Tais, Egyptian Ibrahim Mohammed Saleh al-Banna and an unidentified sixth person.

They believe AQAP leader Nasser al-Wahaishi is hiding in the area, along with cleric Anwar al Awlaki. Today, Yemen says it captured three more AQAP leaders near the Saudi border. No names yet.

Josh Marshall:

If Scott Brown wins on Tuesday [. . .] Health Care Reform will be dead [. . .] [H]ow incredibly stupid is the dawdling over the last few weeks going to look? The work of a year, arguably the work of a few generations, let go needlessly over a single special election? It's really almost beyond comprehension.

Some points - 1 - why would a health bill be dead? Why not reconciliation? This bill may be great in Marshall's mind, but it is not to a lot of us. 2 - Dawdling over the last few weeks? Is he talking about attempts to make the bill more progressive? Really? The dawdling he should be complaining about occurred last summer - when Max Baucus was allowed to hijack the process for 3 months. 3 - What is beyond comprehension is the political malpractice of Democrats for the last year on most every issue. They are staring at a debacle in Massachusetts on Tuesday and one in November because Rahmbo and Axelrod have blown it.

Speaking for me only

Better late than never:

In an editorial today, the NYTimes claims:

The proposed excise tax on high-cost plans is the most significant measure in either bill to slow the relentless rise in health care spending.

Can someone provide the evidence for this claim? I have never seen anything but assertions. Since an excise tax on health insurance plans has never been implemented to my knowledge, there is actually no evidence to support this claim. There are ARGUMENTS for why this would be the case, but no evidence. This is an experiment. It would work better as one of the pilot programs in the proposals that are being so highly touted. Try it with folks earning over 250,000 a year and see how it works. Then we will see if indeed the excise tax is a "significant measure to slow the relentless rise is health care spending."

Speaking for me only

Arkansas Democratic Representative Vic Snyder announced he will not seek re-election. Coincidentally, Firedoglake published a SUSA poll it sponsored showing Snyder in deep trouble the same day. Strangely enough, some bloggers are accusing FDL of having driven Snyder out of the race. This is sheer stupidity. But it is also something more troubling - an apparent willingness to be dishonest to forward the Party.

Daily Kos will be polling any number of races in the upcoming cycle. I know Markos and he will not pull his punches. Will he be attacked by these purveyors of know nothingism? Is this the first shot of a campaign to blame Democratic troubles on disgruntled progressives? If it is, the campaign needs some sharpening, as this attack on FDL because of Snyder's announcement is really dumb.

Speaking for me only

From SportsLeft -- A big weekend of NFL playoff football kicks off tomorrow. Are the Cowboys as good as they look? Can the Jets run over the Bolts? Can the Ravens stop Peyton Manning? Will the Saints make some noise in these playoffs after tanking at the end of the regular season? All intriguing questions.

Let’s start with the Saturday afternoon match up between the Cardinals and the Saints. The Saints are 7 point favorites playing at home. The Cardinals come off of a wild win over the Packers last week. One thing we should expect is a lot of points and the over/under reflects this expectation – it is 57. The Saints led the league in scoring and point differential. The question here is a simple one – which Saints’ team do you expect to show up? The one that was the best team in the league or the one that limped home with 3 straight losses, including 2 at home? I expect the good Saints. The Cardinals are not good, especially on the road. I like the Saints big – take the Saints (-7). I also like the Over (57). More . . .