Morning News Roundup (11 Apr)

• Holy cow! Immigration rallies around the country were huge yesterday, with an estimated 25,000 marching here in Seattle (pictured at right; see details at the Seattle Times). There was a massive march on The Mall in Washington DC, estimated to be around 500,000 (story in the WaPo here and here; great pictures from John Aravosis over at AmericaBlog). And here's a roundup of other protests from the BBC:
  

  Demonstrations were held in up to 100 cities and towns - including Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York, where organisers claimed 100,000 people had turned out.
  
  In Los Angeles, home to a large Hispanic population, some 5,000 people held a candlelit vigil.
  
  In Atlanta, protesters brandished banners declaring "We have a dream", invoking civil rights leader Martin Luther King.
  
  One protester among the 30,000 there, Mexican immigrant Carlos Carrera, said: "We would like them to let us work with dignity. We want to progress along with this country."
  
  Police in Phoenix, Arizona, said a rally of 50,000 people stretched a mile long.

• Brit Hume, the news anchor on Fox News, described the marchers, particularly those carrying Mexican flags, as "a repellent spectacle." [International Herald Tribune] FoxNews had another other helpful idea about the rallies (via ThinkProgress):
  
  
  
  
• Moderate conservatives are frustrated “with President Bush for what they see as a muddled stand” on immigration. After a delicate compromise was struck on Friday, “White House officials had told them that Bush would appear on television early that afternoon to strongly back the deal.” Instead, Bush’s message “was to exhort senators ‘to work hard.’“ [via ThinkProgress' ThinkFast daily briefing]
  
  
• Walking it back: President Bush insisted Monday that the United States and its allies could force a halt to Iran's nuclear program by using diplomacy rather than force, and said reports that the United States was planning a military attack on Iran were "wild speculation." [LATimes]
  
  
• Howard Kurtz at the WaPo posits two reasons for the "coincidence" of stories about possible nuke plans for Iran:
  

  a) The White House wants this out because it's very effective saber-rattling aimed at getting Tehran to the bargaining table.
  
  b) Military or administration sources who believe Bush might actually bomb Iran want to torpedo the program through leaks.

  
  But he also has few kind words about the administration's hypocrisy toward leaks:
  

  In other words, it's okay when the president okays the leaking, as when he wanted Scooter Libby to put out selective secret info on Iraq to counter Joe Wilson, but not when others in his administration leak about Iran.
  [...]
  Interesting juxtaposition, by the way, that Bush acknowledged today that he okayed Libby's 2003 leak on Iraq because he wanted the "truth" out--especially when some of the administration's own experts were disputing that "truth" about whether Saddam was trying to buy yellowcake uranium from Africa.

  
  
• In the wake of stalled talks over the formation of the government, Iraqi institutions have begun to drift — their lack of oversight and leadership seriously hampering efforts to curb militias, rebuild infrastructure and get on with the work of governing. U.S. officials worry that the political vacuum has emboldened sectarian militias and insurgents, and they have called on the interim government to establish a plan to control them. [LATimes]
  
  
• More than 90 percent of the suicide attacks in Iraq are carried out by fighters recruited, trained and equipped by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Zarqawi and al-Qaeda in Iraq "are real threats to the citizens, security and stability of Iraq. And we continue to conduct aggressive operations to eliminate the threat they pose not only to Iraq, but also to the rest of the region," Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch said in a statement. [WaPo]
  
  
• However... an earlier WaPo article noted that the U.S. military was conducting a propaganda campaign to overstate the threat to stability posed by the al Qaeda leader in Iraq. Internal military documents state that the U.S. campaign aims to turn Iraqis against Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian, by playing on their perceived dislike of foreigners.
  
  Some senior intelligence officers believe Zarqawi's role may have been overemphasized by the propaganda campaign, which has included leaflets, radio and television broadcasts, Internet postings and at least one leak to an American journalist.
  
  
• Severe flooding in northern Germany abated Tuesday but saturated dykes threatened to collapse after several days of enormous strain. [TerraDaily]
  
  
• Retail gas prices across the country soared an average of almost 17 cents in just the past two weeks, according to a survey released Sunday. The weighted average for all three grades increased to $2.69 a gallon last Friday. [via ThinkProgress' ThinkFast daily briefing]

[UPDATE] Oh shite: At least 40 people have been killed in a bomb blast at a huge gathering to mark the Prophet Muhammad's birthday in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi. Dozens more were injured when the bomb went off under the wooden stage where senior religious leaders were sitting. [BBC]

[UPDATE-2; 11:20am PST] Got a comment with a great reminder: today is the day of the special election in San Diego to replace disgraced, bribe-grabbing Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham. There's a gaggle of Republicans vying for the position, but just two Democrats--Chris Young and Francine Busby. Progressive Busby is in the pre-election polling for the whole group, with numbers in the mid 40s. She could win the whole thing outright by getting over 50 percent of the vote; if no candidate reaches that mark, then there's a run-off (I'm pretty sure that's how it's working--please correct me in the comments if I'm off-base). Here's some more on Busby and the race from the WaPo:

Political analysts said the race for the 50th Congressional District could serve as a bellwether for races across the nation. If the self-proclaimed soccer mom wins the vote, it would be a significant upset in a district that combines the golf-crazy, socially liberal "beach Republicans" of the moneyed coast north of San Diego with the golf-crazy, "red meat" Republicans of the inland exurbs. Registration figures in the 50th District tilt largely Republican, 44 percent, with 30 percent Democrat and 21 percent undecided.

But Hotline on Call notes that today's ballot is a bit tricky:

There are four special election ballots, one of each of the assembly districts in the CD. In each ballot -- all randomly chosen -- Francine Busby's name appears toward the bottom of the ballot, and below the other Democrat who's running (Chris Young).

Busby has raised her name ID quickly with much direct mail, and TV/radio advertisements district-wide. But could a small number of Dems simply vote for the first Democrat listed?

Dammit, it's always something. Here's wishing Busby good luck.