Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The initial reports after Jane Hamsher’s surgery are all positive, which is great news. We’re all pulling for you, Jane.
* As partisan and polarized as Congress got last year, at least we’re still not close to the Parliament in Taiwan.
* Given how long Thomas Friedman has been writing for a large audience, I’m a little surprised he seems so thin-skinned. On NPR, he launched into a bizarre and sarcastic tirade after a caller noted he was wrong about the war from the outset. He even argued that the left doesn’t believe democracy is possible in the Middle East. Isn’t that the right’s line?
* The major Senate ethics reform measure that looked like it had been derailed on Wednesday? It passed Thursday.
* Here’s a report that warrants some follow-up: “An Iranian offer to help the United States stabilize Iraq and end its military support for Hezbollah and Hamas was rejected by Vice President Dick Cheney in 2003, a former top State Department official told the British Broadcasting Corp. The U.S. State Department was open to the offer, which came in an unsigned letter sent shortly after the American invasion of Iraq, Lawrence Wilkerson, former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s chief of staff, told BBC’s Newsnight in a program broadcast Wednesday night. But, Wilkerson said, Cheney vetoed the deal.”
* I’ve seen way too many far-right blog posts this week about Harry Reid’s alleged interest in forcing bloggers to register with the government. Not surprisingly, it’s entirely bogus. Kevin Drum has a good post on the subject.
* I had high hopes that the RNC would revolt and reject Mel Martinez as the new Chairman, but alas, RNC members did what Bush told them to do.
* Speaking of the RNC, outgoing Republican Chairman Ken Mehlman urged party leaders yesterday to embrace bipartisanship. “Let’s work to put aside our differences on other issues and march together to defeat this common enemy, who threatens our common values — values that aren’t red or blue, but red, white and blue,” Mehlman told the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting Thursday. That’s Ken Mehlman, urging the RNC, to put aside our differences. I nearly hurt myself laughing.
* Steve Scully, president of the White House Correspondents Association, told E&P today that he never asked Rich Little to avoid subjects like Iraq or back off criticism of President Bush.
* John Solomon’s Washington Post colleagues don’t want to defend his work. I can’t say I blame them.
* If an administration official is going to give lucrative no-bid contracts to a company, he or she should probably avoid a company operated by a longtime friend, sidestepping federal laws and regulations in the process. Just a tip.
* It seems like basic human decency, but if troops in Iraq are going to learn that their tours of duty have been extended, they should hear about it from their military commanders, not their loved ones at home.
* If Ted Nugent wants to put his bigotry on display, that’s up to him. But why would any governor in the country want to help promote such nonsense?
* According to Fox News, Bush’s unfavorable rating is 58%, while Cheney’s unpopularity rating is 53%. Yep, the president’s standing with the public is that bad.
* And if you missed the Colbert/O’Reilly interview(s), Alternet has a copy of both online. They’re both very funny (I particularly liked Colbert on “The Factor” because you could hear FNC staffers on the set laughing in the background.)
If none of these particular items are of interest, consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.