The Hollywood Liberal

House ethics committee postpones Waters trial
Newly discovered evidence led the House ethics committee Friday to postpone this month’s planned trial of Rep. Maxine Waters, the California Democrat accused of inappropriately helping a financially troubled bank in which her husband was a large shareholder.

The Plum Line: Joe Scarborough’s suspension reveals how dumb NBC’s policy is
Okay, so now MSNBC has temporarily suspended Joe Scarborough because he made a bunch of previously-undiscovered political contributions without getting permission from the network president to do so, in violation of NBC policy.

The Fix: North Carolina, Indiana host marquee governors races in 2012
After the political bonanza that was the 2010 gubernatorial cycle — 37 races! — the next two years will be significantly quieter at the governor’s level with three races (Kentucky, Mississippi and Louisiana) set for 2011 and another 11 up in 2012.

Marine whistleblower Franz Gayl: Security clearance removal is retaliation
Franz Gayl made a name for himself a few years ago as a Marine Corps whistleblower, a civilian scientist who helped push the Pentagon to shift its Iraqi weapons strategy. Senators called him a hero for disclosures that helped get heavily armored vehicles known as MRAPs to the battlefield.

How Liberalism is Self-Destructing
Joel Kotkin, Politico
Democrats are still looking for explanations for their stunning rejection in the midterms – citing everything from voting rights violations and Middle America’s racist orientation to Americans’ inability to perceive the underlying genius of President Barack Obama’s economic policy.

Palin Aides Relish Beltway’s Skepticism
Scott Conroy, RealClearPolitics
Throughout the better part of the last two years, the narrative among influential political operatives and opinion makers in Washington remained unchanged: Sarah Palin would continue to be a dynamic media presence and possible kingmaker in the next presidential election, but she would not be a serious presidential candidate herself.That conventional wisdom cut across party lines, and even some of Palin's most fervent backers wrote her off as presidential material. “Forget about Sarah Palin as the Republican presidential candidate in 2012 and probably ever,” Fred Barnes, one of…

Rangel: A ‘Charming’ Betrayal of Trust
Charles Hurt, New York Post
WASHINGTON — The sad, wrenching spectacle we saw yesterday of a grand old man, crumpled in an armchair, his face broken, weeping into his hands, was just another dramatic display of Charlie Rangel's unstoppable charm.That is not to say his tears were not genuine. Clearly, Rangel today is a deeply pained man.

Don’t Touch My Junk
Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post
Ah, the airport, where modern folk heroes are made. The airport, where that inspired flight attendant did what everyone who's ever been in the spam-in-a-can crush of a flying aluminum tube – where we collectively pretend that a clutch of peanuts is a meal and a seat cushion is a “flotation device” – has always dreamed of doing: pull the lever, blow the door, explode the chute, grab a beer, slide to the tarmac and walk through the gates to the sanity that lies beyond. Not since Rick and Louis disappeared into the Casablanca fog headed for the Free French garrison in…