Monday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The President is going to make remarks about the economy this morning at 10:30 a.m. (Eastern). He's apparently going to encourage Congress to pass the extension of unemployment benefits. He really needs to smack the Republicans for blocking that legislation -- and smack them hard. The GOPers created the economic crisis, but now won't help those mostly affected by it. Yesterday, the NY Times had an article about a Kentucky woman who is dealing with long-term unemployment. Mitch McConnell should meet his constituent, Terri Sadler. He could learn a lot from her about the economic realities in his home state.

Secretary Clinton is on a trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan this week. There's a conference of donors in Kabul tomorrow. Donors want to know that their money is being used appropriately and corruption is being reined in. Yeah, I'm sure Karzai is right on top of that.

Elena Kagan's nomination for the Supreme Court will clear the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. Her confirmation will be on the Senate floor before the August recess.

On July 19, 1993, Bill Clinton announced the compromise policy that would be known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

What else?