But is he moving to Fox?

Lou Dobbs, the longtime CNN anchor whose anti-immigration views made him a TV lightning rod, plans to announce Wednesday that he is leaving the network, two network employees said.

Said resignation is to be announced on tonight’s program, which begins a few minutes from this post. It will also apparently be his last.

Lou Dobbs to Quit CNN [NYT]

Update: And at 7:08, it’s official. Lou says he’s considering “a number of options,” but he’s gone from CNN after tonight.

This open thread begins with the observation that… well… God almighty, there’s nothing like a House of Representatives debate sometimes.  Like, say, whenever Barney Frank gets rolling on a procedural point.  Or whenever Michelle Bachmann goes into her private reserve of insane. 

Today?  Well, even the debate on setting the rules for debate descended into a total mess.  John Dingell, Father of the House / Crochety Old Man Who Is Getting Tired Of This Shit, presided over a half-hour of (a) scores of Democratic women making unanimous consent requests with a wee bit of debate thrown in, and (b) Republican members shouting “I OBJECT!” repeatedly.  Dingell tried his best, as a parliamentarian, to tell the Republicans to shut the fuck up — to no avail.  And after that, the Republicans got up and made unanimous consent requests with the same wee bit of debate rolled in…. and the Democrats sat there, politely.  First blood, then, to the Dems, for not acting like total douchebags.

And that, friends, was how this day began.  Christ.

We are in for a long, and hilarious, day.  Open thread, suckers — with major, earthshattering levels of stupid noted in the post proper, post-jump, for the sake of teaching children that running for Congress just isn’t worth it.

ADD: I am made to understand that the Sport open-thread will not be seen today, so that we may bring you this Stinque Special Presentation.  It will return at its regularly scheduled time next week.  Kisses.

ADD #2 — A personal note: I got a statement from my insurer today, w/r/t my annual checkup.  Total bill: $834.  Total amount I have to pay: $10 — the copay. 

National minimum wage?  $1,160 per month, or $2,320 for a two-earner family.  $834 would positively break people if they didn’t have coverage, of some sort.  Nobody in the GOP seems to get that.  Seriously.   

Read more »

Developing story — this update from 2:36 pm:

Orlando police confirmed that a man suspected in a deadly mass shooting in downtown Orlando has been taken into custody.

The suspect, Jason Rodriguez, 40, is a former employee of Reynolds, Smith & Hill, a transportation consulting company. A SWAT team took him into custody at his mother’s house, Orlando Police Chief Val Demings said.

One person is dead and 5 are confirmed shot in the incident, which took place about 11:50 a.m. at Legions Place, an office building near Interstate 4 and Ivanhoe Boulevard. A handgun was used in the attack, police said.

It’s early, so nobody is blaming Obama yet.

(Earlier Sentinel reports placed the toll at two dead, 17 injured.)

Downtown Orlando shooting: 1 dead, 5 injured [Orlando Sentinel]

Our fixation with balloons yesterday has taken a bizarre and potentially tragic twist:

A 6-year-old boy climbed into a homemade balloon aircraft in Colorado and floated away Thursday, forcing officials to scramble to figure out how to rescue the boy as the balloon hurtled through the air.

The bizarre scene played out live on television and prompted fears that the flying saucer-shaped balloon would crash with the young child inside. The balloon rotated slowly in the wind, tipping precariously at times.

We’ve been glued to CNN all afternoon: After a two-hour, 50-mile flight, the balloon landed softly — but nobody was found inside. The current working assumption is that the 50-pound boy climbed into a box attached to the balloon, which could only handle a hundred pounds or so of lift. The box would have detached early, but at what height is uncertain.

Extra bonus bizarre points: “His family is known as storm chasers and were featured last October on the show ‘Wife Swap.'”

6-year-old boy floats away in balloon [AP/Photo, KMGH-TV]

Update, 6:09pm: He’s alive! Found at home in the garage…

Hooray! The healthcare bill passed the Finance Committee!

Well, the one without the Public Option.

It passed 14-9, all Demrats plus Star Turncoat Olympia Snowe. But while everyone’s cheering Bipartisan!, bear in mind she expressly voted to kick it upstairs, and is withholding judgment on whatever form it ultimately takes.

Now it just has to be merged with the other Senate bill, survive a filibuster, pass the Senate, squeeze through the conference committee, pass the House again, survive another filibuster, pass the Senate again, be signed by the President, and then we’ll be filling those FEMA camps with recalcitrant rebels who refuse to buy mandatory coverage from predatory insurance companies.

LIVEBLOG: Senate Finance Committee Votes On Health Care Reform Bill [TPM]

Nationally acclaimed nut-fancier Levi Johnston has confirmed he’s dropping trou for America:

“Team Levi is in the process of preparing for his Playgirl appearance,” his lawyer Rex Butler tells Usmagazine.com. “He is in the gym six days a week for the next three weeks.”

Unless Levi’s trainer knows something we don’t, no amount of gym time will enhance what interests Playgirl readers. For that matter, nobody yet knows whether the puckish pestorker will be displayed sunny-side up.

Rep: Levi Johnston’s Working Out “Six Days a Week” for Playgirl Shoot [Us Magazine]

News, per the Chicago Tribune:

Christopher Kelly, a key figure in the federal corruption probe into former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is dead.  The Cook County medical examiner’s office today confirmed that Christopher Kelly of Burr Ridge was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital at 10:46 a.m. The office said Kelly died of salicylate intoxication.  [That would be “pills.”  — Ed.] ….

Kelly, who was indicted alongside Blagojevich in April, pleaded guilty this week in a separate federal case.  On Tuesday, in a surprise move just a day before his scheduled trial, Kelly, owner of a roofing business, pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud as part of a kickback scheme to illegally obtain $8.5 million in work at O’Hare International Airport…. Kelly faced a sentence of almost 5 years in prison on top of the roughly 3 years in prison he got in June for his guilty plea to tax offenses. Kelly was ordered to report to federal authorities for incarceration by Sept. 18.