Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) has no shortage of competitors in 2010. In addition to Democratic challenger, Rep. Charlie Melancon, he's always drawn improbable Republican primary challenger and porn star Stormy Daniels (and even a "conservative independent" third-party challenger you may not have heard of.).

But yesterday came word that he may be challenged in the Republican primary by retired Army Gen. Russel Honore, best known for leading the Army's deployment in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Honore is a very interesting possibility in terms of potentially shaking up the race. Unlike most others associated with Katrina, Honore came out of it with a very good reputation. And while some national observers did not realize it (because of his very very light complexion), Honore is African-American. ('Is' is a fraught word in this context. Honore identifies himself as an "African-American Creole", which is to say a person of mixed race descended from the French-Spanish-African population of Louisiana from the pre-United States period.) I know enough about Louisiana politics not to be stupid enough to try to understand it. But some Republican GOPers in Louisiana and nationally might see his entry as not totally unwelcome, even an opportunity to unload the thoroughly damaged Vitter.

Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), a member of the Gang of Six purportedly negotiating a bipartisan health deal, today embraced the 'death panel' canard, though he didn't use the phrase itself. Good to know he's got a veto on any reform legislation.

Here's some documentary footage of Sen. Kennedy at a hearing on health care in Eastern Kentucky from 1983.

(The footage is from Appalshop, a documentary film company in southeastern Kentucky.)

I had heard (and it was hardly a surprise) that Ted Kennedy had been working to complete an autobiography in the last months of his life. But I didn't realize it was coming out so soon. September 14th, True Compass.

Transcript of President Obama's eulogy.

Family, friends and dignitaries are streaming into the Mission Church in Boston for the funeral of Ted Kennedy this morning. The burial itself will be at Arlington later in the day, not far from the burial sites of John and Robert Kennedy. We'll be bringing you updates, photographs and live video through the morning.

Watch live video here.

It's hardly surprising. But it is striking to watch an event with so many political dignitaries and luminaries from the history of the last half century assembled together in one place. It is difficult to imagine -- indeed, when you consider it, in many ways frightening to imagine -- any event that would bring together such a group again.

10:11 AM: I'm watching the attendees mill around and talk before Sen. Kennedy's funeral service gets underway. And I'm struck by the smiles. Death is always a sorrowful event, particularly for the close loved ones. But after a full life and when the passing has been presaged by a long illness, the sorrow is of a different character. This funeral in some ways closes the final chapter on the earlier funerals of John and Robert Kennedy. And there's something reassuring, calming about seeing a Kennedy brother's funeral that is sad, sorrowful, but not at all tragic.

10:24 AM: TPM Reader BL writes in: "Reading your post this morning on TK's funeral and the range of luminaries in attendance, I thought I ought to pass on a bit of related Canadiana. When ex PM Pierre Trudeau passed away nine years ago, Honorary pallbearers included Jimmy Carter, Leonard Cohen, Aga Khan and Fidel Castro. As you might suspect, there wasn't a lot of coverage in the US media." I would say that is another collection we shall not see again.

11:30 AM: I expect sermons, even at the funerals of the famous, to be fairly perfunctory. But I must say the priest's comments are quite moving, both in religious terms and also in terms of Sen. Kennedy's life, and of course in weaving the two together.

Yesterday in 100 Seconds: Into the Mystic

There's no shortage of news this Friday afternoon. But amidst the other stories we're trying to figure out is just what happened to Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg (R). He was in a boat last night with four other people, most but not all of whom have been identified, when there was what is being described as a "serious" accident -- a characterization the picture below would seem to validate.

The accident reportedly occurred just before midnight. And the boat appears to have crashed into a shoreside rock outcropping and done so at sufficient velocity to get the boat entirely out of water and then some.

The news is still very sketchy. And all Rehberg's staff will say is that Rehberg is in a hospital in "stable condition and is doing well." The other four passengers have been hospitalized as well.

Did Harry Reid just throw in the towel on public option? He seemed to in a telephone town hall with constituents that we were listening in on.

Running a huge $74 million scam on a major bank isn't as complicated as you might think, especially if you're rich to begin with. Or at least that's what the allegations against big Dem donor Hassan Nemazee suggest.

Full-size video at TPMtv.com.

Secret Service stops by for a chat with Arizona pastor who preached about praying for President Obama's death.

Remember, this was the sermon attended by the guy who a day later went to Obama's event with an assault rifle.

Slideshow: Kennedy mourners in Boston.

Amidst a new congressional investigation, Bonner & Associates, the astroturfing firm caught sending out forged letters to members of Congress, has just instituted a new No Forgeries Ethics Policy.

Click through to see a copy of the policy, which must be signed by all employees, obtained by TPMMuckraker.

Massachusetts Republicans won't rule out a possible court challenge to any attempt to amend state law to allow a speedy interim appointment to Sen. Kennedy's seat. Eric Kleefeld gets the story from the GOP leader in the state senate.

Candidate in Idaho governor's race jokes about getting "tags" to hunt Barack Obama.

Reich: Don't Believe the Insiders Who Say the Public Option is Dead

Bonner & Associates, the DC astroturfing outfit that got caught sending out forged 'constituent letters' has a new angle on the scandal: they're the victims.

Nate Silver wrote a post last night flagging an AARP poll, the upshot of which is that Americans don't seem to have any idea what the 'public option' even is. As Silver notes, the fact that only 37% of respondents correctly identified what the 'public option' was, and the fact that respondents were only given three options, shows that random guessing would have produced pretty much the same result.

As I said yesterday, the fact that 'public option' is so un-descriptive and opaque has only made it easier for Republicans to portray it as some sort of program for mass euthanasia. So I'm not sure what there is to say here or do but laugh because the only other thing to do is cry.

But it does make you wonder why Democrats go into these political battles with dopey wonk-speak when Republicans are coming up with stuff like "death panels", which, despite being a complete fantasy, does tend to focus the attention.