Tragedy: Freeway Bridge Above Mississippi River Collapses During Rush Hour

Department of Homeland Security says there is no suspicion of terrorism involved. Plus: Victory for sick kids, as the House passes health coverage legislation...Wal-Mart’s slave labor...We know why you want to do it...and Rummy takes heat over the Tillman killing. It’s Thursday, August 2 and this is Mic Check. Use it wisely.

Celebration Excuse

The U.S. does its first head count, and public transportation is born in London. It’s August 2, and this Gulf of Tonkin thing sounds eerily familiar.

1790

Stand and be counted. The first U.S. Census is conducted.

1870

Mind the gap! Tower Subway, the world’s first underground tube railway, opens in London.

1909

The fist Lincoln penny is issued.

1944

The Polish Underground Army begins battle to liberate Warsaw from German seizure.

1964

North Vietnamese allegedly attack two U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. It was later discovered that the second attack probably did not occur. (Distorting the facts to make the case for war, now there’s an idea.)

1971

Lunar! Apollo 15 finds rock from the birth of the Moon.

1990

Iraq invades Kuwait, beginning the Persian Gulf war.

Save us some cake

1754: French architect and WashingtonD.C. city planner, Pierre Charles L’Enfant

1932: English actor of Lawrence of Arabia fame, Peter O’Toole

1939: Horror film maestro Wes Craven (Nightmare on Elm Street)

Daybook

POTUS

9:55

The President meets with his cabinet to discuss cabinet-y things.

STUMPIN’

Mitt Romney holds an “Ask Mitt Anything” event in Iowa.

Senator Joe Biden appears on National Public Radio’s “The Diane Rehm Show,” CNN’s “The Situation Room” and Fox News’ “On the Record With Greta van Susteren.”

Gov. Bill Richardson campaigns in Eldridge, West Liberty and Coralville, Iowa.

Mike Huckabee holds meetings all over Iowa.

Senator John McCain raises funds west coast style in Seattle and San Diego.

ON THE HILL

Senate

9:30 AM

Senate Armed Services Committee
Full committee closed briefing on drawdown planning for U.S. forces in Iraq.

10:00 AM

Senate Judiciary Committee
Full committee hearing on “Preserving Prosecutorial Independence: Is the Department of Justice Politicizing the Hiring and Firing of U.S. Attorneys? — Part VII.”
Watch for: White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove; and White House Deputy Director of Political Affairs Scott Jennings

House

9:00AM

House Ways and Means Committee
Full committee hearing on “Trade with China,” focusing on trade-distorting currency practices, modification of U.S. trade remedy laws, and the safety of food imports from China.

10:00 AM

House Foreign Affairs Committee
International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight Subcommittee and Middle East and South Asia Subcommittee joint hearing on “Reconstruction in Iraq’s Oil Sector: Running on Empty? (Part II)”

2:00 PM

House Administration Committee
Elections Subcommittee hearing on oversight of the Elections Assistance Commission.

INSIDE THE BELTWAY

8:00 AM

Agriculture Department (USDA)
Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture

6:00 PM

Commission on Civil Rights

Meeting by teleconference to receive the Staff Director’s Report.

TV TIME

TiVo this

Oprah: Families with autistic members
The View: Julia Stiles, Zac Efron
Regis and Kelly: Chris O’Donnell, Ashley Tisdale, Clint Black
Ellen DeGeneres: (Repeat) Al Gore

Stay up late

Stewart: Matt Damon
Colbert: Michael J. Behe
Letterman: Al Franken, Jackie Chan
Leno: Claire Danes, Bob Saget
Late Late Show: Julie Delpy
Conan: Anne Hathaway, Simon Pegg, Mavis Staples
Last Call: Marisa Miller, Marie Digby

 

Eavesdrop

Who: Anita Sharma, the executive director of ENOUGH, the project to abolish genocide and mass atrocities.

What: Talking about the new UN Security Council resolution that authorizes a peacekeeping force of 26,000 soldiers and police for the troubled Darfur region of Sudan.

Why you should care: See United Nations Approves Peacekeeping Forces for Darfur. So far over 200,000 have been killed and 2.1 million have been displaced by the genocide in Darfur.

  • This time around, the peacekeeping forces are authorized to use force when necessary.
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  • Sharma says most in the human rights community are “cautiously optimistic” that the forces will be able to be deployed.
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  • She emphasizes that it’s important to hold the government accountable to the resolution, but that’s going to be difficult given that provisions threatening economic sanctions for noncompliance and allowing peacekeeping forces to seize illegal weapons were stricken from the resolution.
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  • The mandate is good, but it needs to be supported with the necessary money, manpower, and management.
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  • It’s not enough to have troops there; the parties in conflict need to make a serious effort at a new peace deal as well.
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Masthead

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Mic Check is produced every weekday by Christy Harvey, Sara Langhinrichs and Nicole Murphy, and is a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Read more about Mic Check.

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