After a close helicopter inspection (see video here), National Parks Service finds cracks at the top of the Washington Monument and orders it closed indefinitely pending further inspections and repair.
We all know that the arc of the international affairs universe is long but it bends toward self-parody.
To that end, quasi-deposed, quasi-exiled former strongman Moammar Gaddafi addressed Libyans by radio this evening from an unknown location claiming his withdrawal was but a “tactical move” in the face of NATO aggression.
In a perhaps inevitable development, Gaddafi also found time today to contact Russian head of the World Chess Federation, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, his long time chess partner, to let him know the latest on what was happening. Read More
This afternoon we got an email from DC TPM Reader JJ who said he thought the mockery of the DC quake had maybe gone a bit too far.
I actually think the backlash now against the DC earthquake hysteria is a bit much.
This picture of the rubble outside the National Cathedral in DC is my favorite picture of the toll in DC so far.