I’ve just heard that former NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer will not be facing prosecution for the prostitution charges. I think this means he won’t be disbarred (not sure on that, but…)
He was a Democratic Star, and an effective prosecutor. His message that the Bush Admin. allowed the Mortgage crash to happen, indeed, kept him and other state officials from acting, is important.
Why not put him in as a Special Prosecutor for the Wall Street mess? He has the background, know the lay of the land, and is in need of some rehabilitation.

The Republicans have let Newt Gingrich back, and he’s stinking up the airwaves with shocking regularity. Is Spitzer so radioactive?

MR -

Republicans are expected to be crooks, weasels and slime. When one is proven to be, well, re-embracing him doesn't take much.

Democrats are expected to be superheroic champions of the people, built of better moral fiber and character than any normal human being. When one is proven to have feet of clay, well, you can't let someone like that back into the superhero club.

So I doubt that Spitzer will be going anywhere except back to private practice. Unless he wants to become a Republican, I suppose. But I imagine that would be too much of a blow to the man's reputation to even consider.

Re: the map showing the counties that became more Democratic this year"

Found it at the NYT but does anyone know where to find a bigger nicer version?

Thanks in advance.

"A Republican lawyer is on route to Alaska to pick up some of Sarah Palin's expensive clothes."

A lawyer? Why a lawyer? Very bizarre.

Along with some others already saying so out there, I think Sarah Palin really did know about Africa being a continent and at least some of the other points she's accused of being clueless over. It sounds too Jay-walk dumb, (McJaywalking?) like a caricature. I think some staffers are getting back at her and feeding stuff like this to make her look bad. Lepers! Unclean!

And finally, Chris Matthews' journalistic reputation took another hit this morning

Wait, Chris Matthews still had a reputation as a journalist? I thought he gave that up years ago when became a full time blowhard.

Don't get me wrong, I do like the guy some times. But 'journalist' is not a term I would ever use to describe Chris Mathews.

* Ezra explains why Max Baucus may be "the most consequential legislator in America."

And lots of folks here have been calling Emanuel a DINO.

I saw this great line about Mr. "Kristol meth" at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nora-ephron/thinking-about-bill_b_140926.html See about "rock":

Nora Ephron
Posted November 4, 2008 | 11:14 AM (EST)
Thinking About Bill
...
In recent months, I have thought about Bill more and more. Every time someone turned over a rock, he crawled out from under it. In Jane Mayer's recent New Yorker piece on Sarah Palin, for instance, he turned out to be the man who'd discovered Palin, during a cruise of Alaska, and brought the news of her potential stardom back to the New World. And of course he was one of the reasons why we'd gone to war in Iraq. Iraq. Sarah Palin.
...

Any chance of getting your appearance on youtube? Not having Tivo and not being in, it's a bit hard to see it otherwise.

OTOH, get a load of this dishy dishing:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/05/palin-once-greeted-mccain_n_141394.html

Palin Once Greeted McCain Staff Wearing Only A Towel

The Huffington Post |
Rachel Weiner | November 5, 2008 11:07 AM

From Newsweek's Special Election Project comes the real Sarah Palin. She met staff members in a towel:

At the GOP convention in St. Paul, Palin was completely unfazed by the boys' club fraternity she had just joined. One night, Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter went to her hotel room to brief her. After a minute, Palin sailed into the room wearing nothing but a towel, with another on her wet hair. She told them to chat with her laconic husband, Todd. "I'll be just a minute," she said.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Heh, I think about pulling that towel. From towel-spin to tail-spin...

From Al Gore's organization:

Repower America

America faces unprecedented economic, environmental and national security challenges. We urgently need new jobs, stable energy prices, and freedom from dirty fossil fuels and global warming pollution.

Finally, there’s a solution as big as our problems: a bold plan to Repower America with 100% clean electricity within 10 years.

First described in a speech in July by Al Gore, Repower America means new industries with high-paying jobs. It means lower energy costs. It means replacing coal and foreign oil with clean domestic sources. It is a vital step toward protecting the environment and solving the climate crisis.

How do we do it?

Invest in three core areas – efficiency, generation and transmission.

Energy Efficiency: A national upgrade to eliminate waste, save money, and improve comfort. Make every bit of energy we produce work harder for us.

Renewable Generation: Accelerate the ramp-up of clean, renewable electricity sources through policies that support increased private and public investment in technologies that work, like wind, solar, and geothermal.

National Unified Smart Grid: Modernize transmission infrastructure so that clean electricity generated anywhere in America can power homes and businesses across the nation; Build national electricity 'interstates' that move power quickly and cheaply to where it is needed; Establish local smart grids that buy and sell power from households and support clean plug-in cars.

The single most important thing that Obama can do for the well-being of the USA and the world is to fully embrace this plan and make it the central organizing principle of his first term.

Any chance of getting your appearance on youtube? - Spike

I'm not too tech savvy, so I don't know if this helps, but Maddow advertises at the end of her show that you can get the "podcast" of her entire show at "rachel.msnbc.com" or at itunes.

I like that "America is back" line in the Martin/Obama commercial. I want to hear that a lot.

Anywhere I can see the map about voting shifts in counties at a size where I can actually see the, you know, counties? I've saved the image and resized it, but it lost too much resolution. Glad to see, jharp, I'm not the only one. Thanks to anyone who provides info.

The single most important thing that Obama can do for the well-being of the USA and the world is to fully embrace this plan and make it the central organizing principle of his first term.
Posted by: SecularAnimist

Couldn't agree more. The quickest way to defuse much of the violence in the ME, at least vis-a-vis our relationships, is to undercut the oil producing nations hold over us. Nothing would boost our national security more than eliminating petroleum products as our primary fuel source.

And, by they way, coal and nuclear can go fuck themselves.

Maybe Julie Myers has resigned so that she can launch her personal quest to track down 'the real leakers' about Obama's aunt. :-)

Steve, Have fun on Maddow's show tonight. Just be yourself and tell it like it is.

What a wild and wacky ride this has been, huh?

Good luck with that MSNBC gig

Dana Bash on CNN spoke to unnamed McCain/Palin aides, and reported that they told her Palin couldn't even find Africa on a map.

In the funniest turn yet, FREEPers are calling to boycott FOX.

Overlooked because of the dismal passage of Prop 8 but still very exciting for Californians is the Bullet Train bond! We also rejected the other Christianista bill, Prop 4, which required a minor to gain consent from parents prior to an abortion.

"Change" has arrived! The site formally known as www.barackobama.com has become www.change.gov.

And maybe Jesse Jackson's tears last night were about the fact that his young one, thanks to Obama's victory, might actually vault into a higher pay grade?

I do love the down and dirty side of American politics.

I actually think, after many months of watching the guy, Obama gets a lot of this.

* What do you know, the Randy Scheunemann story can get more embarrassing. -- Steve Benen

I'm sure that, once he relocates to Georgia, Shakashvilli (spell?) will issue him a new Blackberry.

* Have you seen the map showing the counties that became more Democratic this year? -- Steve Benen

Since detail gets lost in a map this size, it'd be easy to miss the sweetest bon-bon there: the "real American" county in NC that Palin so admired? Voted 59:41 for Obama...
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/11/palins_real_america_voted_big.php
It really is wonderful to reflect that, on the whole, my fellow US citizens are neither as vicious nor as dumb as I'd sometimes thought they were. It's one of the times where I don't mind being proven wrong.

These guys are amazing! They already have a president-elect website up and running detailing what can be expected throughout this transition process. It's strikingly similar to the Barack Obama website that helped make his campaign an online success.

Axelrod and Emanuel. Wonderful.

I have a question about Palin. It seems to me that every week for the past two months there has been another story out about palin and her dodgy activities in Alaska. Charging the state per diem while she was at home and having the state pay for her kids travel when they weren't on official business are the two that come to mind first. How is it that she can return to Alaska and resume her duties as governor with no reprucussions for what were clearly illegal actions.

I agree with SecularAnimist and others above. The most critical aspect of Obama's agenda is the development of alternative energy. It will solve most of our problems if he implements an Apollo-like program. But I don't think he will. His campaign proposal was much too modest.

I also think he should leave health care off the table until an energy program is launched. Health care will be his gays-in-the-military quagmire that Clinton suffered if he starts out with that, only much bigger. It's just too politically explosive to get hung up on in the early stages of his presidency. An energy program would gain bipartisan support, and establish him as a can-do president. He'd earn some of that "political capital" that Bush bragged about.

MissMudd, your links about freepers boycotting Faux reference each other in comments. It is too delicious for us not to see, please provide an outside link, ty!

And so ironic, for Ms. Palin to be revealed as a "towel head" heh.

"Chris Matthews' journalistic reputation took another hit this morning"

From Joe Scarborough? Well, consider the source, and the context.

Joe wants to start tearing down Obama's Presidency before Obama even takes office -- no surprise, given Joe's campaign commentary -- and is angry that Chris doesn't see that as a valid journalistic goal.

Reporting bad news when it happens, that's one thing.

Setting out from the start to make bad news, that's another.

I think this is as good a place as any to make this announcement:

I will not be the next Secretary of the Space Alien Relations.

While I appreciate the President-Elect's confidence that he has placed in me, I MUST think about the needs of my family.

Nothing, and I repeat, Nothing is as important to our nation than building peaceful and solid relations with worlds beyond our own. And I share President-Elect Obama's desire to insure a peaceful and prosperous relationship with the extraterrestrials among us.

Having said that, however, I am equally committed to a life of endless blog reading and empty political gestures.

Therefore, I am announcing here the formation of the Sarah Palin '16 Presidential Election Committee.

While this may come as a surprise to many of you expecting the formation of a Palin '12 committee, there is simply no way we can get our candidate ready by '12. Obama simply has that one locked up. Besides, if our candidate can not distinguish between a continent and a country, there is no way she will be able to explain the difference between the GDP and a kumquat.

Finally, I want to thank those of you who have contributed to my Post-Election Psychoanalysis Fund. Without an election to look forward to, many of us have lost our bearings.

I want to assure you that if you would only contribute as much money to the Sarah Palin '12 fund as you did the Obama '08 fund, you will once again experience that same "reason to live" feeling that has existed these past 18 months.

With that, I bid you all a fond "good night".

"A Republican lawyer is on route to Alaska to pick up some of Sarah Palin's expensive clothes."

Weird! Why a LAWYER??? Is she REFUSING to give back the stuff, even though she 'promised'? Or because she claims to 'have lost' them?

IRS, keep a keen eye on the Failin' Palins, and also on the fake Joe the NOT plumber...

I hope they are not shredding evidence in that picture on the Palin story site... (http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-palin6-2008nov06,0,5597211.story)

MN Star Trib now saying Coleman up only by 336 votes over Franken.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/34024274.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUX

And finally, Chris Matthews' journalistic reputation took another hit this morning

Sounds like Chris Matthews in maneuvering in an attempt to get Democratic support in a Pennsylvania U.S. Senate bid in 2010 against Arlen Specter.

I'll be watching you on Rachel's show tonight.

I saw this comment on Ace of Spades, I suppose it's cogent and makes me more assured there's a mudsling against Palin. Wow, you should see the vicious infighting and long-knives threats there, at http://minx.cc/?post=277522

"
Its easy to deduce that the hotel/shower/towel story is BS. As a VP candidate, she has a Secret Service detail assigned to her. She would not be allowed to answer a hotel door. A Secret Service agent would be answering the door.

A second clue is the report that Todd Palin was in the room. Why did she have to bolt out of the shower to answer the door? Todd would have certainly answered the door in the absence of a USSS agent.
"

Palin obviously pissed off some very big people if they were able to leak their displeasure on Fox. It's the equivalent of the Coreleones getting Luca Brasi's clothes back with a fish inside.

The "leper list" contains Peggy "Riefenstahl" Noonan, for heaven's sake. She wrote the words of Reagan that those bozos worship so much. Noonan's a wee bit more authentic than the fanboys. Maybe they ought to rethink their infatuation with the creep they barely know.

The election seemed rather clean most places, but Alaska could be a different story. URL title says all:
http://shannynmoore.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/stolen-election-in-alaska/

Woopsie! Here's the link to Freepers boycotting Fox.

SOMETHING IS VERY FISHY IN ALASKA!!!

Check out this story on http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6644#more-6644 ...
Seems like Alaska is our Ohio or Florida from elections past...
I guess the rethugs are thinking that people are happy with Obama being elected, and wouldn't notice if they stole a filibuster-proof Congress on the sidelines. More on the other contested races, too on http://www.bradblog.com/

Prop.8 in California has more shenanigans going on:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6637

MN Star Trib now saying Coleman up only by 336 votes over Franken. -- Lisa, @19:45

What's more, there had, apparently, been some strong-arming applied in getting even those few extra votes:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/06/coleman-somali/
With luck, Coleman will be in the pokey before the recount is finished...

Saw you on Rachel Maddow, nice to put a face with the name. :-)

But yikes, what was with that backdrop of painted books?

I am terrified - terrified -- that Barack Obama will overreach and enrage the American people by giving them affordable health care.

Hey! I love that backdrop! It wouldn't be Steve without it. Maybe you can add one of those fake fireplaces too?

You looked mahhhvalous, btw. I've been wonderin' why the President Elect hasn't given you a job yet. Maybe I'll go drop that in the suggestion box.

LOL @ "Brian". Oh NooooOoOoo, Mr. Bill! Not the affordable health care again!

ALASKA gets Stranger:

In 2004, 66% of registered voters turned out to vote in the presidential election between George Bush and John Kerry.

In 2008, including the votes still outstanding, only 54% of registered voters turned out.

And the strangest part of all? Voter turnout in the primaries, before Palin was even on the ticket, was up 12% from 2004. We also had more than 20,000 new registered voters.

Curious.

As these strange numbers rolled in at Election Central, I was there watching. Here’s how it fell out over time.

With 36% of the precincts reporting:
61.76% for McCain
35.64% for Obama

With 81.3% reporting
61.54% for McCain
35.69% for Obama

With 96.1% reporting
61.29% for McCain
35.96% for Obama

Alaska, like many states, has blue areas and red areas. The Mat-Su Valley, home of Sarah Palin is very very red. Anchorage? Blue. The Kenai Peninsula? Red. Juneau? Blue. You get the idea. When I, and my fellow progressive celebrants watched the first numbers come in, we thought, “That must be the Valley�, because the latest polls actually had the presidential race neck and neck with Obama only 2.7 points behind. We kept waiting for the progressive areas of the state to kick in, but they never did. No fluctuations one way or the other more than .3%. And George Bush won the 2004 election her by a margin of…..61-35.

Strange.

Then, we’ve got the two Congressional races.

Ted Stevens vs. Mark Begich. The convicted felon is currently ahead by about 3300 votes, with about 60,000 absentee and early votes left to count. It’s a squeaker, and Begich may pull this one off. By why is it a squeaker when the last poll had Begich 22 points ahead? He’d been running at a dead heat in the polling before Ted’s conviction, but after the seven felony convictions came in, Begich’s lead widened considerably. Pretty stunning turnaround for Stevens.

Remarkable.

How about Ethan Berkowitz vs. Don Young for the Congressional seat?

Berkowitz consistently led Young in every single poll since May by 5-14 points. Contrary to this comfortable and consistent lead, Don Young managed to pull off a stunning upset by trouncing Berkowitz by more than 7 points.

Amazing.

And since history is always our best teacher, let’s look back at the 2004 elections in Alaska. The majority of precincts had voter turnout of over 100%. In some cases, voter turnout was over 200%. Either Alaskans are enthusiastic about their vote to the point of breaking the law and voting twice, or there’s something very very wrong.

(From Shannyn Moore) There are 40 districts in Alaska. The Anchorage area districts run from District 17 to District 32. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and pick any district from 17-32. Pay particular attention to the 3rd column labeled % turnout. Hit the back arrow and select another district. There are more precincts with voter turnout over 100% than under 100%. In other words, many more people voted in Anchorage area precincts than there were registered voters. Clearly, this is not possible. In 2006, the Democrats filed a lawsuit against the Alaska Division of Elections to release public records needed to verify the 2004 election results. The Democrats ALSO sought to have the Alaska Division of Elections release the raw election data for the 2006 election.

It’s been more than 24 hours since the polls closed in Alaska, and the red flags are already waving.

OK, the Conspiracy Theory Express bus 5-minute tour is over, and you may now hop off. This was just a test drive. Keep your eyes on how the final numbers turn out. Democracy requires vigilance, and hopefully our state candidates will not be afraid to stand their ground. The Obama campaign had a team of lawyers at the ready in case election fraud was detected. It’s a wise precaution, and an obligation to the electorate whose fundamental rights hang in the balance. If I were Ethan Berkowitz or Mark Begich or Barack Obama, I’d make sure I took the process to the end, and took advantage of the media spotlight which still shines on our state, before it vanishes, and we are left to sort out our election questions in the dark. Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

UPDATE - Here’s some new coverage on this topic from The Washington Post and from 538.com.

http://mudflats.wordpress.com/

Won't the American people find it to be too much of a lurch to the Left if Obama starts delivering on the things he promised them?

The book back drop is used often enough--give it a rest!! It's no worse than the fake capital or other ones they use on MSNBC...indeed, I think it's kinda cool. Steve--you did great in talking Rachel down with specifics..I liked how you also just naturally said "we'll see" (was that what you said?) or the something to that effect--I think sometimes guests feel forced to give a definitive answer.

I also thought the banter about your age was good--it does seem you look younger than your age, and I didn't know you were an intern during the Clinton Administration. So you're only about a year younger than Maddow it seems!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

BTW...

BTW, did anyone else think Maddow's funny cartoon-ish skit looked a bit odd--I like the gist of it, but Rachel--your head was too big for that stiff, smallish suit of a body that did not move--

You looked like a "little person" --and I mean that with no offense at all to little people--it's just that I don't think (maybe I'm wrong) that was really what you were going for.

Otherwise, great show. I loved the opening--Yes, it really did happen!! Yes, Obama really did get elected! I am still in shock, so it's nice to hear someone else simply note this unbelievable historic reality. May we all bask in all it's glory for days, weeks, months to come...

WE DID IT!!

Steve, as always, you rocked on Maddow's show.

Such a cute young lad you are. :-) And so bright! It is always such a joy to see you.

Good job, man...here and there.

"And finally, Chris Matthews' journalistic reputation took another hit this morning."

I'm not so sure about that. Does anyone think "journalists" are truly objective, dispassionate about the subjects they cover? Of course they're not. We all have our biases and passions, whether we declare them or not. Maybe it would be better if "journalists" disclosed their positions. Why shouldn't we know whether Brian Williams voted for Obama or McCain? Which teams sports writers actually rooted for?

We are all human. There's no such thing as someone truly objective. Only a programmed robot could be that, and then somehow the opinions of the programmer might worm their way into the code anyway.

I'm not arguing for disclosure (not because I'm objective, but because I'm torn between the pros and cons), but I think it's a great topic for debate.

I also think Chris Matthews has a better show than Keith or Rachel, even though I'm a liberal. I thought I should disclose that.

Sorry, healthcare should be first not an energy plan that will be a giveaway to lobbyists and corporate interests. People don't give a sit about energy except when it gets cold out. more people are suffering because of lack of healthcare.

If Republicans want to oppose affordable healthcare for all Americans then let them self immolate.

Won't the American people find it to be too much of a lurch to the Left if Obama starts delivering on the things he promised them? Posted by: Tom Brokaw on November 6, 2008

"Too much" is in the eye of the fat little chicken writing graffiti on Little Tim's erasable 'chalk' board. The American public say what they want and then the "Liberal Media" erases it.

Watch out "Tom" we might really get Democracy here some day! Maybe you'd better re-retire while you have book sales and a decent reputation.

It sends the wrong signal if the Democrats punish Lieberman for reaching across the aisle and working with Republicans.

You've all heard that Obama is the firs black President, but how many major cable channels have mentioned that Obama is the first Muslim President?

And they say FOX has an anti-Islamic bias?

nice informative blog

http://ashok-discoverindia.blogspot.com/

Air-powered pod cars hit France, Holland.

Holland and France sustained no injuries and survived the attack.

Here's something more for lawyers to go to Alaska for:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shannyn-moore/stolen-election-in-alaska_b_141704.html

I'm pulling for G-Rod to pick himself so we can get him the f@#* out of the governor's mansion.

Two poltical cartoons to consider

As to Palin, David Horsey of the Seattle P-I shows a McCain swat team confronting an angry Sarah sitting, with her shot gun at the ready, in a single wide - DT's folk demand the clothes - She screams back that she needs them in 2012.

The usual right wing trolls went nutzo - Piling on, beating a dead horse, leave her be, they typed, over and over - Horsey allows comments.

However, the most poignant and powerful cartoon by far is Jack Ohman's latest - The superb Oregonian cartoon is captioned "Seat of Power" - Two images - first, on the left shows Rosa Parks sitting in the back of a bus in 1965 - The other to the right depicts President-Elect Obama sitting in the back of the Presidential Limo in 2008. Not one troll has besmirched this wonderful and moving statement.

That cartoon should be nationally displayed and in every home.

Nice job on Rachel again, Steve. And once again, I second the notion that the fake-book backdrop deserves the heave-ho.

How about a nice blue "Washington Monthly" banner?