A 2005 intervew in The Atlantic may explain some of Mr. Ziegler’s issues.  Ziegler defends himself here.  But, most revealing, was an interview he did with with Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com, which ended with Ziegler suggesting that Silver perform a certain act upon himself.  In fact, all Silver did was ask good, pointed questions, which somehow riled Ziegler.

Silver’s analysis of this whole thing is worth reading if you’re a fan of talk radio or if you want some good insight into the conservative mindset.  He asks, “Did Talk Radio Kill Conservatism?”

Conversely, I wonder if conservatism killed talk radio; or, at least, talk radio as we’ve known it. We’ve already seen what conservatism has done to the country.  Surely talk radio doesn’t need to confine itself primarily to only those who agree with the right, especially at a time when even many Republicans are disgusted with what has become of their movement.  A new day for America politically may mean a new day for a medium that can be invigorated by a changing climate.

Let the video speak for itself.  Try watching with the sound down.

Perhaps Purell, hand sanitizer to the stars, was nowhere to be found.  Certainly, one can understand a president not wanting to get his hands dirty.

Here’s how it works.

• Electric cars just don’t have to be as complex mechanically as the car you’re probably driving now. Sophisticated electronics and software take the place of the pounds and pounds of machinery required to introduce a spark and ignite the fuel that powers an internal combustion engine.

• [The battery is] light, durable, recyclable, and it is capable of delivering enough power to accelerate the Tesla Roadster from 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds. Meanwhile, the battery stores enough energy for the vehicle to travel about 220 miles without recharging, something no other production electric vehicle in history can claim.

• [W]e designed our motor to have efficiencies of 85 to 95 percent; this way the precious stored energy of the battery pack ends up propelling you down the road instead of just heating up the trunk.

• Should taxpayer dollars go to bail out the “big three” automakers? Or should Congress let Detroit go bankrupt? We’ll debate it.

• Think you can survive the cut? It’s Sudden Death Radio!

To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn’t soon cometh.

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth — as long as we’re setting ourselves free — is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that.

She says the party and conservatism, itself, will die out unless religion returns to the privacy of our hearts, where it belongs.  She also paints pictures of each party’s convention.

One party was brimming with energy, youth and diversity; the other felt like an annual Depends sales meeting.

With the exception of Miss Alaska, of course.

We’re no longer just a white Christian nation, Parker reminds us, which is why Obama won: the change he talked about is already here.

Either the Republican Party needs a new base — or the nation may need a new party.

“…the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look…take a great look at the views of the people in Congress find out are they pro-America or anti-America. I think people would love to see an expose like that.”

Last night I asked Bachmann about those comments and she denied making them.  John at Crooks and Liars has it.

Colmes: You said you were concerned during the campaign that Obama had anti American views and you said the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look at the people and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America.

Bachmann: Actually that’s not what I said. It’s an urban legend that was created and that’s not what I said.

Colmes: I have the tape at my website Alan.com.

Bachmann: What I called on Alan was for the mainstream media to do their job. They failed to vet Barack Obama the way they had John McCain. That’s what I was called for.

Colmes: ‘I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America.’ Do you really want…

Bachmann: What I said was that I’m not qualified to say whether members views are pro or anti American. That’s not my job to do.

In the People piece says she is haunted most not by the black socks the governor wore at the moment of pleasure, but rather the hurt on the face of Silda Spitzer when the governor announced his resignation.

“I try not to revisit that place too often, but when I think about his speech, I think of her face, her eyes, the hurt,” the former high-priced hooker told People magazine in an interview that hits newsstands Friday.

If she could say anything to Silda Wall Spitzer, it would be, “I’m sorry for your pain.”

Beautiful.

She didn’t know who Client Number 9 was until Spitzer was making his goodbye speech and her mother called her to tell her to flip on the TV.  She knew him as “George Fox”, and says it was strictly business.  “I was there for a purpose - not to wonder who [he] could be.”

Where does Ashley see herself going?

“I’m 23 years old. I want to do music, to do fashion, to write books - there’s so many things,” she said.

“Everyone knows me as ‘that girl,’ but I’m not just ‘that girl.’

“I have a lot of depth, a lot of layers. I am a normal girl.”

Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course - the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.

Romney, whose father once ran American Motors, says retiree benefits must be reduced and other labor agreements changed because of the $2,000 per car those agreements cost, which make American cars unable to compete with those made overseas.  And current management has to go, too. and management salaries need to be cut.

A managed bankruptcy may be the only path to the fundamental restructuring the industry needs. It would permit the companies to shed excess labor, pension and real estate costs. The federal government should provide guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing and assure car buyers that their warranties are not at risk.

In a managed bankruptcy, the federal government would propel newly competitive and viable automakers, rather than seal their fate with a bailout check.

Last month just days before the election, Stevens was convicted by a federal jury in Washington of lying on Senate disclosure forms to conceal more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations from an oil field services company.