Today’s edition of quick hits.
* I’m still officially neutral on the House Majority Leader fight between Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and John Murtha (D-Pa.), but if Roll Call is right, Murtha has a problem. Apparently, Murtha told a group of Democratic moderates yesterday that an ethics and lobbying reform bill being pushed by Nancy Pelosi and other party leaders was “total crap,” but he’d support it anyway. If he was quoted accurately, it was a really dumb thing to say.
* A couple of decades late, Bush is finally making it to Vietnam. He, apparently, isn’t particularly popular there, either.
* The joke that’s making the rounds: “Q: How is Vietnam different from Iraq? A: Bush had a plan for getting out of Vietnam.”
* We’re already seeing vast improvements on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. We’re going from a committee chairman who believes climate change is a “hoax” to a chairwoman who will hold substantive hearings on the issue.
* Saying “judges are the most important,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the single greatest failure of the Democrats as an opposition party was allowing Samuel Alito to join the Supreme Court.
* Sen.-elect Jim Webb (D-Va.) has a really good op-ed today on “our society’s steady drift toward a class-based system, the likes of which we have not seen since the 19th century.”
* Is there any reason in the world the AP cares about the brand and color of Nancy Pelosi’s clothing? Did the AP ever mention Dennis Hastert’s attire?
* It sounds like the WaPo is about to undergo some fairly significant changes. I’m not at all sure they’re for the better.
* It looks like the Clinton/Obama ’08 race is a little closer — in two separate polls — than most insiders would have guessed.
* In Minnesota, Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), who is generally considered quite conservative, called for extending health care access to up to 90,000 uninsured children as a step toward coverage for all Minnesotans. Powerline sounds borderline suicidal.
* Ironically, by pulling his little re-redistricting stunt a few years ago, Tom DeLay really screwed Texas.
* I’m surprised a think tank like this one hasn’t existed before, but there’s never been a better time for it.
* I know it’s sweeps, and I know Fox isn’t known for Masterpiece Theater-like standards, but this is low. Really low.
* Newt wants the GOP to abandon the Bush White House. That’s probably a good idea.
* Chad Castagana, the right-wing Freeper who is accused of having sent white powder to lawmakers and media personalities he doesn’t like, was tracked down, according to an FBI affidavit, in a bizarre way. Apparently, the same day Castagana was picking up the envelopes and stamps at the post office for some of his terrorist threats, he purchased a $15 money order and had it made out to “Friends of Katherine Harris.”
If none of these particular items are of interest, consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.