FRIDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Iranians return to the streets: “Tens of thousands of green-clad protesters chanted and carried banners through the heart of Tehran and other Iranian cities on Friday, defying tear gas and truncheons as they turned large swaths of a government-organized anti-Israel march into the largest opposition rally in two months.”
* Pakistan: “Scores of bloodied and bandaged victims filled hospital beds after a suicide car bomber destroyed a two-story hotel Friday in northwest Pakistan, killing 29 people and underscoring the relentless security threat to the region.”
* A detail for best-system-in-the-world crowd to consider: “Nearly 45,000 people die in the United States each year — one every 12 minutes — in large part because they lack health insurance and cannot get good care, Harvard Medical School researchers found in an analysis released on Thursday.”
* While reporting from the religious right’s Values Voter Summit today, MSNBC reporter Brian Mooar was confronted and heckled by right-wing audience members.
* According to several reports, Najibullah Zazi, the Denver man at the center of an alleged New York bomb plot, has “admitted” his ties to al Qaeda and is “in negotiations to plead guilty to a terror charge.”
* Good: “Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, plans to propose a new so-called net neutrality rule Monday that could prevent telecommunications, cable and wireless companies from blocking Internet applications, according to sources at the agency.”
* Harold Hongju Koh was sworn in yesterday as the State Department’s chief lawyer. It’s about time.
* Fox News took out an ad in the Washington Post today, attacking the mainstream television networks for their coverage of last week’s right-wing protests in D.C. The ad is patently false, and the other networks aren’t happy about it.
* It’s hard to imagine why anyone would take Fox News contributor Andrew Napolitano’s legal judgment seriously.
* I realize Drudge links to her stuff, but Camille Paglia really doesn’t belong at Salon.
* South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R), like all governors, had a high-ranking security clearance. Emphasis on “had.”
* Did Bill O’Reilly really endorse a public option as part of health care reform? In the context of the larger discussion, perhaps not.
* Remember Ellen Sauerbrey? The failed Maryland politician who got an important diplomatic job in the Bush administration she was clearly unqualified for? Her Obama Derangement Syndrome is over the top.
* “Should universities and colleges include a up-front statement of [extra] expenses when advertising tuition costs to prospective and enrolled students?” Isn’t the answer obvious?
* Irving Kristol, generally considered the father of neo-conservatism, died today. He was 89.
* J. Craig Venter to receive the National Medal of Science.
* And finally, SNL explains what happened before Rep. Joe Wilson’s (R-S.C.) outburst during President Obama’s recent speech on health care.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
