1.) Bachmann rocks the boat! Bachmann rocks the boat! — Establishment Republicans woke up on Wednesday and found themselves in a bit of a pickle: What do they do about Michele from Minnesota? “The trick for Republicans,” writes The Daily Caller’s Jon Ward, “is to keep Bachmann – the Minnesota Republican viewed by many in leadership as an unserious and unhelpful spokesman for the party – away from an elevated platform that many in the party feel would hinder or harm the GOP, without being viewed as not listening to the Tea Party movement, which supplied much of the energy that gave them a 61-seat pickup and control of the House.” This is just like in the Lord of the Rings, when Saruman goes back to the Shire and enslaves all the hobbits, and then won’t give a single one of them a committee chair. “Bachmann will have a tough time convincing anyone that Hensarling isn’t conservative enough,” a House Republican aide told The Daily Caller. “She’ll have an even tougher time convincing the conference that she wouldn’t take our whole team down in flames with her antics.”
2.) Man-child plans trip to Disney — “Florida Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson served just one term in Congress, but it’s a sure thing that few will forget him,” writes The Daily Caller’s Chris Moody. “Whether it’s the time he called the American health care system a ‘holocaust’ on the House floor or when he dubbed his opponent a member of the Taliban, the firebrand hero of the left will leave a trail of colorful memories behind.” And what will Grayson do after leaving, hopefully for good? “It’s quite possible that I’m going to Disney World,” said Grayson, a father of five and the possessor of a childlike mind.
3.) Keith Olbermann leans forward, drops a few bucks in political donations — As the moral backbone-spur at floundering cable channel MSNBC, Keith Olbermann is expected to do certain things. No one is surprised when he yells, slams doors, or belittles women in front of an audience of tens. No one has ever pointed out to him that if he only learned to type, he would finally be able to have cybersex on gchat. But what Olbermann’s superiors might not be able to overlook is the blusterous anchor’s campaign donations. According to POLITICO, “MSNBC host Keith Olbermann made campaign contributions to two Arizona members of Congress and failed Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway ahead of Tuesday’s election — a potential violation of NBC’s ethics policies.” Olbermann acknowledged the donations, one of which went to Rep. Raul Grijalva “on Oct. 28 – the same day that Grijalva appeared as a guest on Olbermann’s ‘Countdown’ show.” Can’t wait to see how MSNBC President Phil Griffin handles this one after hammering FOX for its political contributions!
4.) Pelosi considers battling her angry colleagues for role of minority leader — Poor Nancy Pelosi. First she had an ugly battle for speaker, then an ugly proxy battle for majority leader, and now her colleagues want to make her go away because she cost them everything. But Nancy Pelosi will not just go away, not without clawing out a few eyes. “Everything is very positive in what they say, complimentary about how I’ve kept the caucus together, complimentary about the fact that we won in the first place [in 2006] and increased our numbers [in 2008] and that we have to come right back in that regard,” she told the Huffington Post. Pelosi is playing coy at the moment, but trust us when we say there’s a lot of life left in the 70-year-old bone bag. Also, she is not done wrecking the Democratic caucus.
5.) Obamacare screws association for old people — “AARP’s endorsement helped secure passage of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul,” reports the AP. “Now the seniors’ lobby is telling its employees their insurance costs will rise partly as a result of the law.” Isn’t that awful? Alan Grayson told the olds that they would all die if they did not support Obamacare right then, so they supported it, and now all the old people are getting screwed. “In an e-mail to employees, AARP says health care premiums will increase by 8 percent to 13 percent next year because of rapidly rising medical costs. And AARP adds that it’s changing copayments and deductibles to avoid a 40 percent tax on high-cost health plans that takes effect in 2018 under the law.” Luckily, some AARP members will not live to see anything take effect in 2018.
6.) Democratic circular firing squad would be more effective if anyone could aim straight — In his new gig at the Daily Beast, Howie Kurtz dives into the “he said, he said” Monday-morning-QB beat. First up? Democrats Who Blame Obama, a support group for washed up beltway types who get their talking points on sale at the Georgia Avenue Safeway. “The problem is Obama,” said political mastermind Joe Trippi, “a mastermind of Howard Dean’s 2004 campaign.” What else did Joe say? “I don’t think he’s going to change. I don’t think he’s as adaptable as Clinton was. [Dean] could end up being one of the guys who continue to challenge Obama from the left as Boehner and the Tea Party are pulling him to the center.” Oh, we really hope so. We really, really hope so.