FRIDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Taiwanese typhoon kills more than 500 people.
* Sen. Jim Webb (D) of Virginia traveled to Burma today “to meet with the leader of the junta there, just days after the country’s pro-democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was convicted and returned to house arrest in a case that drew international condemnation.”
* Sen. Kent Conrad (D) of North Dakota, one of the Senate Finance Committee’s Gang of Six, told constituents today he will oppose a public option. That’s disappointing, but what matters more is the procedural vote — I care less whether he votes against the public option, and more whether he supports the filibuster of the public option.
* President Obama’s town-hall event in Montana on health care went quite well.
* I guess those conservative fears of inflation were unfounded.
* Former President Clinton delivered a very strong speech at Netroots Nation last night.
* A possible breakthrough on cancer treatment?
* A statewide vote on marriage equality in California will apparently have to wait until 2012.
* Specter and Grassley are apparently going at it via Twitter.
* Ezra Klein chats with Ezekiel Emanuel.
* Heath Shuler has a tendency to let his fans down in Washington, doesn’t he?
* There have apparently been some developments with John Edwards’ sex scandal. Christopher Beam ponders what would happen now if Edwards were, in fact, the president.
* In the category of “if you can’t beam ’em” we have David Axelrod writing his own viral email. It can’t hurt.
* We’re still waiting for Eric Cantor to share his thoughts on conservative abuse of Nazi and Holocaust rhetoric. Anytime you’re ready, Mr. Minority Whip.
* And John Sides has a fascinating item, taking all of the fact-checking items on health care reform from Politifact.com, and categorizing claims from “true” to “pants on fire” for the president, Republicans, and Democrats. Care to take a guess which contingent has been the least honest?
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
