[Program Note: I know the big health "summit" was today, but I'm going to let reactions percolate before commenting, so I just wanted to say up front that you'll have to tune back in tomorrow if you're looking for that sort of thing, sorry.]

Today, instead, I'd like to take a look at a few privacy issues, and a monumentally stupid resolution in California (which, thankfully, is intended to be only symbolic, but still...).

The first privacy issue comes from an interesting story earlier this week about how some states are considering banning the release of recorded 911 emergency calls to the public (or -- more to the point -- to the press). This is an interesting First Amendment hair to split, because a reasonable case can be made both ways.

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Tomorrow's health care meeting between President Obama and the leaders of both parties in Congress will be an important one, no matter what the result. While important, though, I refuse to call this meeting a "summit," since Democratic and Republican politicians squabbling simply does not reach the heights of two nuclear powers tensely sitting down to talk about missiles. But no matter what you call it, tomorrow's meeting will likely be either "when health reform legislation became inevitable" or "when Republicans finally killed health reform." And while there is no shortage of advice out there today from pundits, I'd like to suggest Democrats take a page from the fictional Sergeant Joe Friday. Whenever the star of Dragnet was confronted by an emotional outburst from a witness or crime victim, he would supposedly utter his signature line (Note: like the line "Play it again, Sam," this line was never actually uttered on the show), in a plea for non-emotional rationality: "Just the facts, Ma'am." Democrats should do the equivalent tomorrow.

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid just pulled off somewhat of a coup, in getting five Republicans to vote for a Democratic bill. And he may get two related bills passed in the next few days. This is news for two reasons. One, the Senate hasn't been doing much of anything for the past six months; and two, it's the first "bipartisanship" in recent memory.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking: "Chris, it is way too early for baseball metaphors!" You are correct. It is. But "smallball" is the only metaphor which sprang to mind, even in advance of spring training. There's probably a hockey term I should have used, but I don't watch hockey much, so there you are.

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A major milestone happened in Iraq recently, but nobody paid it much attention. It's understandable, since there is a lot currently going on to distract both the media and the public, from the Winter Olympics to the Washington health reform "summit" later this week. Even on military matters, the headlines this week will likely be about different subjects, from the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy hearings on Capitol Hill to the progress of a new offensive in Afghanistan. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't also be talking about Iraq. Because, for the first time since the war began, there are fewer than 100,000 American troops in Iraq.

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Before we begin here, I'd like to humbly propose a new law. No American television station should be allowed to have an exclusive contract for any Olympic games. Period.

Who's with me?

I thought about doing this column today in the spirit of the National Broadcasting Company's Olympic coverage. It would have gone something like this: post the title of the article, but then have the entire text read: "Check back in four hours for our Friday Talking Points coverage." Then, I would have released the winners of our weekly awards to the rest of the internet, so everyone would know who won before actually reading the article. Next, I would have updated the article here, but instead of the text of FTP, what you would have gotten instead would be a half-hour video of Bob Costas picking his nose. With inane commentary. And a video, complete with home movies of him as a kid, about how Bob Costas has had a lifetime of nasal problems which he has overcome so that he can proudly root in his snoot in front of millions of viewers (hours after it happened, of course). Finally, I would have posted the article's text, hours after you expected to see it. But it wouldn't have the awards, since we would have to move the awards to the end, and given them their own separate column, in an effort to make more money. Around one o'clock in the morning, I would have posted the actual awards themselves.

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Last year, I wrote an article the day after the first Tea Party "Tax Day" events took place. In it, I discussed two previous attacks upon the Internal Revenue Service which happened in 1991. While I wasn't trying to equate the Tea Partiers with the group which executed the attacks (one failed truck bombing, and one largely ineffective mortar attack on an I.R.S. processing facility in Fresno, California), but I would be willing to bet that these attacks will soon be dug out by a few of the better-researched journalists in the mainstream media, to provide historical background for today's suicidal air assault on an I.R.S. building in Austin, Texas.

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I'm going to start off today's column with a chart. I'm doing this for several reasons, not least of which is the fact that it's a really good chart. It is simple, easy to read, and involves very little mathematics (meaning it is accessible to a very wide spectrum of the American public). And it is a very effective way of presenting the facts, free of media spin. The chart comes from the White House, and shows the monthly number of jobs lost for approximately the past two years. It also uses color very well, to separate George W. Bush's term in office from Barack Obama's. Without further introduction, here is the chart:

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Senator Evan Bayh's recent announcement that he will not seek re-election this year just sent a serious shockwave throughout the American political universe. The timing of Bayh's announcement, though, belies his oh-so-pious stated reason for leaving -- that things were just too darn partisan in Washington. Because the immediate result of Bayh's announcement will be that the Democratic Party will hand-pick a candidate for the general election, rather than allowing the voters to make this choice for themselves. In other words, things are just so darn partisan that Bayh will let the party itself select a candidate, rather than having a primary election. When put this way, it doesn't sound so pious after all, does it?

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I am actually taking the day off today, so today's column will be brief. As a matter of fact, this may be the briefest column ever seen on this site.

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President Obama this week has successfully put the Republican Party on the defensive. Now, this could be a fleeting thing, or it could be the start of a whole new way for Obama's administration to operate. Time will tell.

Obama started off the week putting Republicans on the defensive over a single Republican senator who had put "holds" on every single one of Obama's nominees awaiting Senate approval (the senator in question was in a snit over an earmark or two for his state worth around a billion dollars). The Republican, in a matter of days, removed his holds on all but three. Tuesday, Obama threatened to make a whole bunch of "recess appointments" if the Senate continued to obstruct him. Today, twenty-seven of sixty-three of Obama's nominees were approved by the Senate.

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