To Censure? To Censure Not?

We'll find out this week how the House decides to punish it's colleague Charlie Rangel.
The Washington Post breaks it down:
"This week's debate on the fate of New York Rep. Charles B. Rangel will be odder than most. The House will agonize, and Rangel will emote, over this question:

Will Rangel - who has been found guilty of 11 ethics violations - be scolded in person, or will he be scolded in writing?

That's all. The first option is called a censure. The second, which Rangel (D) very much prefers, is a reprimand. Neither would kick Rangel out of Congress, dock his pay, take away his right to vote - or in any other way prevent him from being the exact same congressman he is today."

Perhaps we'll see Charlie dance again, if the House opts for a reprimand over censure...

Oil Spill: The Movie

BP is in the process of putting together a feature-length film on the Gulf oil spill.

"The New York Times' Brian Stelter reports that BP will provide funding for the project, however, the oil giant insists that the film "is not intended to scrub its reputation clean." The filmmakers involved "are making a film of the spill primarily for an internal audience as an archive,” a spokesman told the Times. The BP-backed crew has already interviewed several journalists – but Yahoo’s Lookout wonders whether the journalists in question are the "BP reporters" the company employs for its in-house glossy magazine. That publication, Planet BP, sparked a minor uproar over the relentlessly upbeat spin its reporters brought to the task of chronicling the spill disaster.

This Exists...

This year's Capitol Christmas tree has its very own Twitter account?

via In the Know:
"The three-ton, six-story-tall Engelmann spruce updated followers from @TrackTheTree along its route to Washington, D.C., from Wyoming. And the tree’s not just on Twitter, According to its blog and Facebook page, this year's spruce will be "lowered into a 5-foot deep hole, strung with lights, and decorated with thousands of handcrafted ornaments made by WyomingitesThe tree's official song is "Cowboy Christmas Tree" by Bryan Ragsdale."

Pres. Bush Visits "The Facebook"

Former President George W. Bush stopped by the Facebook headquarters on Monday to promote his new memoir, "Decision Points." Mashable is blogging, “The 43rd president joined Facebook in June and uses the site to promote his various projects and speaking engagements. True to form, Bush was quick with the quips and the self-deprecating humor...President Bush revealed that he used to be a BlackBerry person but is now an iPad person. The Reliable Source notes that the interview—while a bit awkward—Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and the former President have lots in common, both feeling misunderunderstood."

Watch live streaming video from facebookguests at livestream.com

The Liberal Claus

'Twas the night before Chirstmas and all through the House, not a creature was stirring...

Happy Cyber Monday! If you’re looking for a new holiday children’s book, the Portland Mercury’s blogtown suggest you pick up your copy of The Liberal Clause: Socialism on a Sleigh.

"Written by David Hedrick, a Tea Party candidate who lost his bid this year in Washington's third congressional district, the book features an illustrated President Obama dressed as Santa with Pelosi and Reid Elves. The story came to Hedrick one night as he was making up a bedtime story for his children (the book is dedicated to them with the warning "Never forget that free goodies from liberal elves often come at a price"). The satire where Obama steals Christmas that Hedrick came up with on that fateful night was too good not to be illustrated and published for all children to enjoy."

Here's the link to the book's site.

Jay-Z and George Washingtons...More Alike Than You'd Think

For some reason, New York Magazine has taken it upon themselves to compare two figures that one would think have nothing really in common—Jay-Z and George Washington.

I haven't had a chance to read Jigga's latest book, Decoded, yet, but apparently it reveals the hidden similarities of two men from very different times.

Daily Intel’s blogging, “to consider how these mythic lives from opposite ends of the American experiment—the eighteenth-century father of our country and the 21st-century hustler-tycoon; the author of the song “Dead Presidents” and our most famous actual dead president. It turns out that their stories, placed side by side, resonate more deeply than one might expect. They were ambitious, scrappy, and self-educated—a liability in some settings, but also often an advantage."

Very interesting read if you've got a couple of minutes to spare on Cyber Monday

The Leak Before the Leak

By now, you've heard all the news about the latest Wikileaks document dump, but did you know that the info was on Twitter before Wikileaks wanted those docs released?

Gawker writes “About 12 hours before Wikileaks latests leak was scheduled to be released, a Twitter user bought a copy of a German news magazine outlining the leak after it was placed on newstands too early. According to tweets from German-speaking Twitter users who snagged an embargoed copy of this week's Der Spiegel, the cache of over 250,000 confidential diplomatic cables was a bit of a let-down. The full tranche of cables was was scheduled to be released by Wikileaks Sunday afternoon around 4:30 pm EST. But a sharp-eyed Twitter user spotted a copy of Der Spiegel at a a rest area on the Germany-Switzerland border."

Happy Thanksgiving!

We'll be back with more of the Readout when we return on Monday! But don't forget to listen to our weekend edition of the POTUS Readout Saturday at 9am ET!

Rep-Elect Sean Duffy Tours The Capitol

Sean Duffy reports via video on his first day in Congress...Happy Orientation Week.

Did Anyone Else Miss This?

I've seen "Wedding Crashers" about a million times, but somehow I never noticed Senator John McCain and James Carville were guests at the wedding?! Hmm...this connection between Hollywood and politics is a lot closer than I ever thought!

Whoops..

I forgot to post this last week. Just a little sample from Friday's Readout with Joe!

Bill Clinton in "The Hangover"

Although the surprise guest in "The Hangover Part II” was supposed to be Mel Gibson, the movie ended up with an even better cameo appearance. TMZ and People report that "President Bill Clinton was spotted on the set in Thailand Saturday … where they're told extra security was added for his presence. TMZ spies say they saw Clinton walk on the set and were told by crew members he was filming a cameo. None of the people they spoke too, however, saw Bill actually step in front of the camera. Although some people associated with the flick have told them "Bill just 'hung out,' we've now confirmed he did indeed shoot a cameo."

Blitzer's Dougie Update

CNN HAS VIDEO!!

Blitzer Knows How to Dougie

One thing you can now ask CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “Teach me how to dougie.”
While introducing Doug E. Fresh at the 2010 Soul Train Music Awards on Wednesday night, the rapper came on stage, and taught Blitzer how to dougie. Not sure what a dougie is? Head to my blog. But Blitzer didn’t stop there. When the show’s producers learned that Eminem would not be able to accept his award, they asked Blitzer to do the honors, knowing that he was a fan. We hear that Blitzer happily went on stage to accept Eminem’s award for best hip-hop song, “Love the Way You Lie,” featuring Rihanna.

You can check out Blitzer’s moves on Nov. 28 when the show premieres on Centric and BET.

GOP loves 'The Bachelor' While Dems Prefer Kardashians

A new study by Experian Simmons shows that Democrats and Republicans have very different taste when it comes to what to watch on TV. According to the study, "Republicans favor many of TV's biggest hits such as 'Modern Family,' 'American Idol' and 'Dancing With the Stars.' On the Democrat side, TV favorites include 'Dexter,' 'Mad Men' and 'The Good Wife.'

"The big shows with mass appeal tend to have above-average scores from Democrats and Republicans but with higher concentrations of Republicans," an Experian Simmons marketing manager, told The Hollywood Reporter. "Looking at the Democrats side, I don't mean to make light of it, but they seem to like shows about damaged people. Those are the kind of shows Republicans just stay away from."

Unsurprisingly, the top show for Republicans is 'Glenn Beck' and 'Countdown With Keith Olbermann' for Democrats. But who knew Democrats favored 'Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami'?

Egg on Rahm Emanuel's Face...Almost

Former White House Chief of Staff and current Chicago mayoral candidate, Rahm Emanuel, stopped by Little Village on Wednesday to talk with the community about creating jobs. But there was at least one person in the crowd who was none too happy about Emanuel’s visit—they tossed an egg at Rahm-bo! But they missed.

The unidentified egg hurler missed his target, but a cameraman in the gaggle did get some egg on his face/lens. NBC Chicago notes is was a rough day for Emanuel. Besides getting egged—almost—he woke to news on Wednesday that the man currently renting his Northside home--and won't move out until his lease is up -- plans to run for mayor also.

Michelle Obama's Handshake Heard 'Round the World

Earlier this week, Michelle Obama caused a stir after shaking the hand of an Indonesian minister, in what might become the world's most talked about handshake. (I think it's become an Obama tradition of sorts to turn simple greetings with foreign dignitaires into news. You remember the bow? And FLOTUS touching the Queen!)

The New York Times reports, “Immediately after a ceremony on Tuesday welcoming President Obama to Indonesia, the country’s conservative Muslim information minister took to Twitter to argue that first lady, Michelle Obama, was entirely to blame for the televised handshake between the two. The minister claimed on his Twitter feed that Mrs. Obama had made it impossible for him to avoid touching her hand, writing: “I tried to prevent [being touched] with my hands but Mrs. Michelle held her hands too far toward me [so] we touched.”

Because the Rent is Too Damn High

The election's over, but we haven't heard the last of Jimmy McMillan. He's got an album!!

Punjabi MC!

Well I can see how the President and First Lady spent their extra hour this week. (I preferred to sleep a little extra over the weekend).

Well That's The End of This

Happy Election Day!!

A little ditty to run to the polls with...I guarantee the hook for "My Girl's a Republican will be stuck in your head all day."

The Real is a “hip hop sketch comedy” group (a typical video parodies “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” by using the story of Dr. Dre’s Detox, the rap world’s Chinese Democracy). For the song, they’ve basically taken every conservative figure or scandal from the past few years and mashed them together for a pun and double entendre-filled ode to the character, wiles, and sexual prowess of a sexy Sister Grizzly. It’s accompanied by an equally entertaining video which uses homemade effects, singing Glenn Beck, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Rudy Guiliani heads to showcase the song in (what appears to be) one take.

While all the jokes are about Republicans, and some are a little off-color (“When it comes to pleasing men she’s learned from the best, Teddy Haggard, Larry Craig, Mark Foley, and all of the rest”), the whole thing seems good-natured enough to possibly even gain fans on both sides of the aisle. Besides, the singers’ are persuasive enough that even the most liberal of listeners might be willing to vote red just to meet one of these girls who “parties like she just got money from Michael Steele.”

DNC's Online Ad Buy

If you run into Barack Obama on the interwebs today, don't be surprised. The DNC spent $2 million to spread their GOTV message in one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) online ad buys this election cycle. Here's a preview:

Is That Morgan Freeman?

You'll have to decide. The Lawson for Congress campaign sent out a press release claiming Freeman's voice, but it's since been removed...interesting....