Kevin Drum is a smart guy but sometimes well:

In the long run, I suppose the higher totals among Latinos and independents are the big news. Beyond that, there's not much. Keep this in mind when you start reading anecdotal analyses of "what happened." Most of it doesn't hold water. Based on the exit poll data, it was just a broad-based wave of disgust against Republican rule.

Well beyond the fact that the fastest growing political group and the fastest growing minority group broke strongly to the Dems, no big whoop.

Come on Kevin, you're smarter than that. Those are HUGE political developments. They are the future, the bright Dem future.

This is just too strange not to write about. Can you imagine the I.R.S. going this route?

One cash-strapped Indian city has launched a unique collection service to dislodge payment from tax deadbeats: Door-to-door eunuchs.

Eunuchs--a term used in India to describe transvestites, postoperative transsexuals and hermaphrodites--traditionally make a living on tips for dancing at weddings or for blessing newborns. They frequently refuse to leave until they are given money.

Patna, the capital of Bihar state in eastern India, hired scores of them Wednesday to compel shop owners to pay their back taxes. "We are confident that their reputation and persuasive skills will come in handy for the municipal authorities to collect taxes from defaulters," said Bharat Sharma, a revenue officer.

At least they are an equal opportunity employer.

The New York Times reports on how and when Bush decided to get rid of Donald Rumsfeld.

President Bush was moving by late summer toward removing Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary, people inside and outside the White House said Thursday. Weeks before Election Day, the essential question still open was when, not if, to make the move.

Mr. Bush ultimately postponed action until after the election in part because of concern that to remove Mr. Rumsfeld earlier could be interpreted by critics as political opportunism or as ratifying their criticism of the White House war plan in the heart of the campaign, those people said.

The New York Times has a new profile of Sen. Harry Reid. AmericaBlog highlights the funniest parts:

Harry Reid began Election Day with 50 situps and 80 push-ups (very red state of him) and 40 minutes of yoga (very blue state of him).

He spent most of the momentous day in his Senate office, waiting. Just after 2 p.m., he finally heard some actual news: Britney Spears was filing for divorce.

“Britney Spears,” Mr. Reid said, shaking his head. “She loses a little weight, and now she’s getting all cocky about things.” He added, “Britney has gotten her mojo back.”

Few would peg Mr. Reid, 66, as someone with anything to say about Britney Spears or, for that matter, someone who would ever use the word “mojo.” But he is a tricky figure to pigeonhole or predict, a Democrat who is a Mormon opposed to abortion and who looks more like a civics teacher than someone set to become the most powerful person in the Senate.

Jim Wallis insults:

In this election, both the Religious Right and the secular Left were defeated, and the voice of the moral center was heard.

Linc Chafee is a good man. But it never was clear to me why he did not become an Independent and caucus with the Dems. He would be Senator right now if he did. And it really would reflect who he is. Because of that, I have to sympathize somewhat with some of my friends at Red State:

Since the Republican party spent over a million dollars helping him defeat a real Republican, and pulled out the GOTV machine to mobilize Democrats on his behalf, Lincoln Chafee has decided to display his trademark dazzling intellect by declaring that the appropriate thing for him to do now is leave the Republican party. . . . When asked if his comments meant he thought he might not belong in the Republican Party, he replied: "That's fair." The self-serving idiot continues peeing on the party which (inexplicably) bent over backwards to save his job ...

All of it is inexplicable.

'On Meet the Press this Sunday, analyzing the electoral earthquake last Tuesday. With us this week . . . [Harry Reid? Nancy Pelosi? Rahm Emanuel? Howard Dean? Chuck Schumer? Jim Webb? Jon Tester? Heck, JOE BIDEN?]' . . . Noooooooo:

The 2006 election was defined by a) a repudiation of the war in Iraq and the current Iraq strategy, and b) widespread national victories for Democratic House, Senate, and gubernatorial candidates.

Yet, according to a press aide, this Sunday’s edition of NBC’s Meet the Press will include two interviews: one with Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), an Iraq war supporter who defeated Ned Lamont (D-CT), and one with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who recently called for 20,000 additional U.S. troops to be sent to Iraq, and who was not up for reelection in 2006.

In other words, the first post-election edition of Meet the Press will exclusively feature politicians who support the war in Iraq, neither of whom ran as a Democrat.

How pathetic is the Beltway Media. The two most irrelevant people in Washington, DC right now are John McCain and Joe Lieberman. McCain MAY become relevant in 2008. Joe will not be relevant unless he breaks his word on caucusing with the Dems.

Mike Jones exposed Ted Haggard's sad hypocrisy to more than one media outlet before the story finally broke. Jones talked to Patricia Calhoun, who recounts the experience here.

The exemplary Christian James Dobson doesn't have time to join Haggard's salvation panel. Other prominent evangelists are convening to save Haggard from his wicked ways, but Dobson backed out. Isn't Dobson supposed to Focus on the Family? Haggard's family doesn't warrant his brotherly love?

Here's one view of the "counseling" that might be in Haggard's future.

Law Professor Marjorie Cohn presents her case for a war crimes prosecution of Donald Rumsfeld. She includes this:

On November 14, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the National Lawyers Guild, and other organizations will ask the German federal prosecutor to initiate a criminal investigation into the war crimes of Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials. Although Bush has immunized his team from prosecution in the International Criminal Court, they could be tried in any country under the well-established principle of universal jurisdiction.

Bob Stein, a long time magazine editor, has joined the New Media, starting his own blog, Connecting.the.Dots. Here is Bob's bio:

ROBERT STEIN, editor, publisher, media critic and journalism teacher, is a former Chairman of the American Society of Magazine Editors, and author of “Media Power: Who Is Shaping Your Picture of the World?” Before the war in Iraq, he wrote in The New York Times: “I see a generation gap in the debate over going to war in Iraq. Those of us who fought in World War II know there was no instant or easy glory in being part of 'The Greatest Generation,' just as we knew in the 1990s that stock-market booms don’t last forever. We don’t have all the answers, but we want to spare our children and grandchildren from being slaughtered by politicians with a video-game mentality." This is not meant to extol geezer wisdom but suggest that, even in our age of 24/7 hot flashes, something can be said for perspective. The Web is a wide space for spreading news, but it can also be a deep well of collective memory to help us understand today’s world. In olden days, tribes kept village elders around to remind them with which foot to begin the ritual dance. Start the music.

Bob is a wise old man. Very much worth reading.

In my view, Chris Shays (R-CT) deserved defeat in his House race. He survived. But I tip my hat to him for this from his victory speech Tuesday night:

"I don't know how you'll react to this, but I want to also say this," he said, after quieting his supporters who'd been joyously chanting, "Two more years!" He then unfolded a piece of paper and read off a list of names. "I sent them to Iraq and they came home draped in American flags," Shays continued, as the once-raucous ballroom became eerily quiet. "I think about them almost every day of my life, and, when the press talked about how tormented I must feel about losing the election, they just didn't get it. ... The only torment I feel is for those families, and I pray that we can make it right for these families and that we will find a way to have our men and women come home from success, not failure, but that we find a way to bring them home." It was a numbing sentiment indeed.

Respect to you for that Representative Shays. Joe Lieberman would NEVER show that quality.

This is funny to me:

Righty blogger consensus on the reason behind defeat 11/7 is clear: too much spending:

• Tapscott's Copy Desk: "When Republicans worry more about staying in government than about limiting government, they get thrown out of government. That's the lesson of Nov. 7, 2006."
• RedState's Pejman Yousefzadeh: "Republicans lost because we forgot who we were. We were supposed to be the small-government, low taxes party. We got the "low taxes" part right but we forgot about that all-important "small-government" aspect. In doing so, we angered and infuriated our base, many of whom decided that divided government was a better and more effective way of achieving small-government goals than was electing Republicans."

Heh. I guess this word - IRAQ - is not in their database anymore. By the way, the GOP lost independents and moderates by 20 points, the largest margin in recent memory - that's why they lost. The deficit did not even register as an issue. Which it should have.