Had to kick off this addition with a Jon Stewart clip on what he's calling the "New York Crimes." It's been a rough time for the integrity of New York politics:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The New York Crimes - David Paterson & Charles Rangel
www.thedailyshow.com
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Could there also be some more ugly activity by a New York congressman? Yes, this is not confirmed, but it is on the front page of Politico, not the Enquirer.

Political also has an all-inclusive story headlined, "New York Gone Wild."

What a way to start the day huh?

Some other links:

• No one could ever say David Broder isn't blunt. He takes shots at his own paper in defense of Barack Obama.
• What is probably good about doing all these things at once is that they overshadow each other. Yesterday, the Obama administration upped the ante on financial reform, leading to the top headline in the Huffington Post today: "Does Congress Have the Guts?"
• The 2010 Political Oscars.
• A look at proposed NFL overtime rules. What I don't understand is why the obvious hasn't come up: the college overtime, but with kickoffs. Each team gets a possession, but a turnover can be taken at the spot. If a team turns it over on downs, it just kicks off. Or, we could just do what every other sport does and play 10 more minutes. If no one is leading, call it a tie.

Yesterday, in a bill passed with real bipartisanship, the present will sign the Travel Promotion Act today, something Majority Leader Harry Reid called for a couple of weeks ago. It will do exactly what the title says: promote America to tourists.

Lastly, love this quote, from Politico: 'I think we've allowed the Republicans to get away with too much obstruction for too long without using our prerogatives,' said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who warned that Republicans can 'look forward to seeing more' demonstrations of Democratic muscle like the one that forced Bunning to undertake an active six-day filibuster of the bill.

Be aggressive and make Republicans look bad trying to block you. Filibusters don't look good.

An update on the unemployment rates: men: 10.0%; teens: 26.4%; blacks: 16.5%, Hispanics: 12.6%. Women: 7.9%; whites: 8.7%. It's ugly out there.

For those who want more about what I am doing out here, well, this is it. Honestly, I work. And I love it. But this stuff is what I am interested in and what I spend a lot of my days looking at. I am starting to do a little more as far as communications are concerned, but that is still preliminary. Maybe more on it later.

All for now.