Sorry for the brief blogging hiatus before the last post, but I had to have a long conversation with other WaMo folk about an upcoming issue of the magazine. I think you’ll be pleased with some of the ideas we are kicking around if they reach fruition.

Here are some mid-day news items:

* Hugo Chavez reportedly in an induced coma in Cuban hospital due to complications from recent cancer surgery.

* Chastened Boehner promises to move Sandy relief and recovery funding bill this month.

* And speaking of Boehner, Politico reacts to reports he dropped F-Bomb on Harry Reid by serving up photo gallery of other pols who did same.

* Robert Samuelson pitches hissy-fit over Obama’s failure to include “entitlement reform” in “cliff” legislation. Cheer up, Robert: you can now keep writing that same column indefinitely!

* News of Hillary Clinton’s health condition mostly positive.

And in non-political news:

* Fun–and sometimes scary–photos from yesterday’s college football bowl games.

Back in a couple of jiffies.

Ed Kilgore

Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.