While we’re waiting around for other news to break, how about a couple deep-fried Quick Hits? No trans-fats! Here we go!

• Good news for Senate Democrats: The selection of state Sen. Steven Horsford as minority leader was a no-brainer for the Democrats in Nevada’s upper house. He’s smart, has good relationships with the right people, understands the process and truly cares about people, to boot. He’s also in for some headaches as he finds out just why poor ex-minority leader Dina Titus seemed so eager to drink after long days managing a fractious caucus. Make her show you were she kept the booze, Sen. Horsford!
• First, some praise: Good for Las Vegas Councilman Ricki Barlow, who agreed to a proposal to take $5,000 from each council member’s $35,000 slush fund to pay for a senior meal program. “We have seniors in this community who lack appropriate medical treatment as well as food,” Barlow was quoted as saying in the Las Vegas Sun. “I not only think it’s wise, I think it’s a moral and ethical obligation.” Damn straight, councilman.
• Now, some gentle criticism: Are you kidding?! The council still has $30,000 each, or a total of $210,000 that’s generally used for parties and other electoral activities. How much good could that money do in the community? C’mon, council. As Barlow said, it’s a moral and ethical obligation. (And one that the Sun noted in an editorial.)
• Wait, so John McCain is denying he said he didn’t vote for Bush in 2000? That’s odd: Since Bush basically let surrogates lie their asses off about McCain in the South Carolina primary that year, and since Bush never really won the 2000 election anyway, McCain saying he didn’t vote for Bush actually makes us kind of admire the Arizona senator. Too bad he didn’t say it. Huh?
• Where can you kill people and get away with it? Baghdad, baby. Maybe they could just move that proposed .50-caliber shooting range 7,450.16 miles to the east?
• Brian Greenspun argues that people in a general election will never, ever vote for Barack Obama, so naturally why not put him on the ticket? Who gets to be president, Obama or Brian’s favorite senator, Hillary Clinton? Flip a coin and decide! (No, really, he said that.) Memo to Brian: Obama is winning. If the situation were reversed, does anybody think Greenspun would have penned that piece?
• Our own U.S. Sen. Harry Reid continues the charm offensive, going on Countdown with Keith Olbermann and This Week with that One Guy Who Really Loves Flag Pins. Hey, that reminds us, back in the 1980s, there was this one deejay on the radio in L.A. called Rick Dees, right? Anyway, when he had somebody on the radio who was just so dry and dull and couldn’t even get excited about winning money or concert tickets or whatever, Dees would be all, “Hey, call back when you’re finished being embalmed.” That was so funny. Anyway, we’re not sure why we thought of that…
• Wasn’t the city going to sell branding space on every flat surface back in 2002? We distinctly remember writing a smart-alecky column about it.