We have some scary, awful news to report; but happily a story that appears set to have a happy ending.

Brian Beutler, a friend of ours here and known to many of you for his progressive blogging and journalism, was shot early this morning in Washington, DC, in what appears to have been a botched mugging. The wounds were serious. But surgery was successful and he's now recovering in a DC hospital. He's expected to make a full recovery. Greg Sargent has the story.