Things Not Happening In Denver

• Ted Stevens won his primary. That's excellent news. Mark Begich is going to slaughter him in November. Meanwhile Don Young and Sean Parnell are separated by 150 votes with 98% cast. We won't know the outcome of that for a while.

• John McCain has a private lake that he stocks with fish. And he has a tax plan that would save hundreds of thousands of dollars for the kind of people who stock their own private lakes. This isn't rocket science, people. Republicans have been a party of, by, and for the rich for many many years.

• Steny Hoyer shows some rare fire in the drilling debate. Using George Bush to shut down arguments should be as elementary as McCain using his POW status.

Demonstrators in background:Drill now, Drill now...
Hoyer: You know, some people don't listen as you noticed. Some people are so convinced of the righteousness of their position, they don't think that they need to listen to others. That's been the history of this administration for the last eight years, why it's been an abysmal administration.

It is a hear no evil, see no evil, but speak a lot of evil administration that is reflected here.

Demonstrators in background: Complete silence

• Bush apparently is kicking himself that he didn't get to lock in 12 years of war and will have to settle for just 8.

• McCain has a new ad up about Obama minimizing the threat of Iran. But wait, he's being completely dishonest about it in addition to the fearmongering! It's truly amazing to see these big tough guy neocons wet their pants over a country like Iran when we have an incalculable military superiority. What a bunch of wimps. Meanwhile, Steve Benen explains the McCain campaign's "video press release" strategy, making a new ad every day that they never air anywhere to troll for media coverage.

• The Census Bureau released new data showing a slight drop in the number of uninsured Americans, but most of the drop is due to a rise in public insurance programs.

In other words, if not for more robust public insurance, it's likely far more people would be without medical coverage. And that's true of the long-term, as well. Employer-sponsored insurance has declined over the last 30 years or so, as rising costs have made it harder for employers and employees to pay for it. If not for the expansions of eligibility for Medicaid and establishment of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, many more people would be without insurance and, as a result, struggling to pay their medical bills.

So the case for expanding public insurance -- ideally, to help cover everybody -- isn't weaker because of the new numbers. If anything, it's stronger.

And of course, the list of uninsured does not count the underinsured.