I actually missed my regular Friday roundup because I was mired in health care whip counts. So this is a super-sized version of some of the other happenings in the political world:

• After what appeared to be a deal in Honduras to accept the election results in exchange for a brief return to power for the ousted Mel Zelaya, Jim DeMint decided to drop his holds on some appointees to the State Department covering Latin American affairs. However, the deal looks to be faltering, and nobody really knows how to resolve the situation. I’m not betting on this ending yet.

• It looks like the deal on shipping Iranian uranium out of the country for enrichment is on the rocks as well.

• Iraq, however, finally passed its election law, allowing it to hold Parliamentary elections on time and keeping the withdrawal of US forces on track. President Obama praised the action.

• The report that a Democratic strategist was warned strongly to stay off Fox News by the White House has been strongly denied on the record. I really doubt it happened.

• After arguing that moderate Republicans needed to watch themselves, Michael Steele directly contradicted that, but really the lesson has been learned. We’re going to see hard-right candidates challenging Republicans all across the country. Here’s just one, targeting Ginny Brown-Waite, an extremely reliable conservative vote, just because she supported Dede Scozzafava.

• The Patriot Act amendments passed by the House Judiciary Committee this week is at least better than the Senate’s version, and the state secrets bill they passed would represent a significant rollback of executive power.

• Before the election this week in New Jersey, many assumed that a same-sex marriage law would pass the legislature during the lame duck session, and signed by Governor Jon Corzine, win or lose. After Chris Christie’s victory, that seems less likely. Another gay rights setback.

• More on that rift between the LGBT community and the DNC, as the DNC basically admits they sent Maine voters emails asking them to make calls into New Jersey, and then they blame gay activists for releasing the information and “turning people against support of the Democrats.” That’s just incredible.

• Bernie Kerik is a guilty man. And part of it related to tax fraud based on his lying on returns about a love nest he set up for him and Judith Regan right by Ground Zero right after 9/11. I should mention at this point that George W. Bush nominated this guy to be the nation’s second Secretary of Homeland Security.

• Dianne Feinstein’s still teasing about running for Governor of California. I’m just not buying this at all, for a number of reasons.

• Chuck Grassley finally has a legitimate Democratic opponent for next year, former gubernatorial candidate Roxanne Conlin.

• The House has already passed a bill to move up the deadline for credit card companies to comply with a host of new reforms; now the Senate will make an effort to move that bill quickly. Quickly, in the Senate, I know, hilarious.

• A classic moment of Markos Moulistas making Tom Tancredo storm off the set after he revealed how Tancredo got a deferment for Vietnam because of depression. Another whiny member of the Baby Party.