“Democratic State Senators who protested the budget repair bill by leaving the state have been found. The lawmakers are in the Best Western Clock Tower Resort in Rockford Illinois.” [WTMJ]

While everybody’s fretting about the seating arrangement among the groundlings, we’re more interested in the action behind the podium: Plugz and Agent Orange will be strategically positioned to bounce up and down for different lines. Figure you have four possible combos: down-down, up-down, down-up, and up-up. Three of those combos can be predicted — but will there be a moment when Plugz sits and Orange stands?

That’s what we’ll be waiting for during our SOTU Open Thread/Crank Yankers. Because honestly, the rest of it is going to be boring as hell.

Tonight was supposed to be the night that a second movie was shown in a series of documentary movies at the Enfield, Connecticut Public Library, with a viewing of Sicko, Michael Moore’s 2007 movie critiquing the U.S. health care system.  Instead, the screens at the library will be dark as the Town Council and the Mayor threatened to pull funding for the library if the film was shown.

Mayor Scott R. Kaupin, a Republican, had the Town Manager order the library’s director, Henry Dutcher, to cancel the film.  “The sentiment by the majority [of the Town Council] is that it’s a poor choice and that they should definitely reconsider,” Mayor Kaupin told the local paper. “And if they don’t reconsider, then they’re going to have the repercussions of the council. I mean, in the end, when budget time comes and Mr. Dutcher is asking for funding, he’s going to have to answer for it.”

Read more »

“The same people driving the lawsuits that seek to dismantle the Obama administration’s health care overhaul have set their sights on an even bigger target: a constitutional amendment that would allow a vote of the states to overturn any act of Congress.” [NYT]

Today, in Operation Clusterfuck Response to WikiLeaks, PayPal has permanently suspended the organization’s account. Per the Gray Lady:

As the release of hundreds of thousands of United States diplomatic cables brings more attention to WikiLeaks, commercial entities on the Internet have come under increased scrutiny for their business relationships with the organization.

Meanwhile, read The Economist’s Democracy in America columnist’s take on the brouhaha.

UPDATE: The Swiss are refusing to bend to U.S. and French pressure to knock Wikileaks.ch off the tubez.  Cue up your Sound of Music soundtrack.

“Bristol Palin survived another elimination round on ABC’s ‘Dancing With the Stars’ as fans including Tea Party supporters mustered enough votes to overcome low scores from the talent show’s judges… During the taping of the Nov. 8 show, the 20-year-old Palin wore a Tea Party t-shirt while rehearsing.” [Bloomberg]

Oh, who are we kidding: This moment has been foretold for centuries eighteen months, and no amount of special-effects wizardry can disguise it. But hey, you’ve already bought your ticket, so why not stick around for our Election Night Open Thread/Disaster Porn Revue? You can’t have a Collapse of Civilization without popcorn!