I can't believe it's not a democracy!

Looks like things are looking up for Bernie Kerik:

Kerik Moved Out of Jail’s Mental Health Unit. The good news? Psychiatric officials determined that Kerik is "psychologically stable." The bad news? Looks like he is going to me moved into the general population. Not really. No doubt he will be put into a special "thou shalt not be shanked" wing of the jail. Because there really are two justice systems: those of us, those for them. And, sadly, Kerik counts as a them.

Get out your handkerchiefs, part IV:

No lines at Tiffany's. And it appears that Tiffany was "stung by its own success." Meaning what, you may be asking? Marketwatch explains: The company has done a dazzling job of marketing itself as purveyor of luxury to the affluent. The truly wealthy are, by definition, sheltered from such tawdry concerns as jobs and mortgages. So it would follow that Tiffany would also be sheltered from a weak economy.

Turns out, however, that Tiffany's clientele is heavily weighted toward "aspirational" customers (as they politely refer to them in the shopkeeping trade) who get a thrill dabbling at the top end of the consumer pyramid, even when they have no business being there.

Lowering the bar has been a deliberate part of Tiffany's plan. It has spent a lot of time and energy luring entry-level customers off the street with little baubles and bangles that are proudly carried home in those exquisite little turquoise boxes.

But when times get tough, aspirationals are the first to bail. As they do, they expose Tiffany as a purveyor of fantasies, and fantasies don't pay the bills. Hard-nosed investors should have seen through that long ago.

And still I see stories and posts about certain stores selling $2,500 cashmere hoodies. I guess they serve the real rich and not aspirational customers. Wonder how long they will last.

The trainwreck that is the RNC:

Giuliani dropped as convention's keynote speaker. According to the article, no one knows why Giuliani is out. Two guesses: (1) he's pissed by McCain's choice or (2) a story about him checking out the competition for Wife #4 is ready to hit the internets. Any guesses? Update: It's Wednesday around 10:00 p.m. and Rudy is in da house! Can't/won't listen? No worries. Biden already told us what to expect: a noun, a verb and 9/11. Yep, that's about it.

Ouch! This has to hurt:

McGovern, former Clinton backer, endorses Obama. And then he urged her to drop out of the race and endorse Obama. Oh my. Yep, the primary is over. Just have to go through the motions until June 3rd.

U.S. launches criminal probe of CIA tapes,

Attorney General Mukasey appoints federal prosecutor to head the probe. Hey, I'm not going to assume that AG Michael "I don't know if waterboarding is torure" Mukasey is motivated to get to the bottom of things, but Atrios links to a couple of posts that suggest that John Durham, the US Attorney who Mukasey has appointed to head the investigation, is the real deal: a clean, committed and very successful US attorney. If Mukasey is pulling a Comey (Comey appointed Patrick Fitzgerald to head the investigation/prosecution of the Plame outing), then color me pleasantly surprised.

Typical, no? Rudy uses city personnel and assets to take care of his mistress,

and New York City residents get fucked: Giuliani's Mistress Used N.Y. Police as Taxi Service. ABCNews.com reports: Well before it was publicly known he was seeing her, then-married New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani provided a police driver and city car for his mistress Judith Nathan, former senior city officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

"She used the PD as her personal taxi service," said one former city official who worked for Giuliani.

Oh dear, it looks like Rudy will have to pay the bills by continuing to lick the asses of middle east emirs with terrorist ties.

Oh Rudy, this can't help:

The Rudy and Rupert Chronicles. Talking Points Memo quotes from a breaking story from the New York Times: Judith Regan, the book publisher who was fired by the News Corporation last year, asserts in a lawsuit filed today that a senior executive at the media conglomerate encouraged her to mislead federal investigators about her relationship with Bernard B. Kerik during his bid to become homeland security secretary in late 2004.

The lawsuit asserts that the News Corporation executive wanted to protect the presidential aspirations of former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Kerik’s mentor, who had appointed him New York City police commissioner and had recommended him for the federal post.

Looks like Judith Regan is in a world of trouble. After all, misleading federal investigators is a crime (see Martha Stewart, Scooter Libby (pre sentence commutation), et al.). I'm thinking Judith knows she is in trouble and she is signaling (i.e., screaming) that she will bring down everyone she can with her. Unless, of course, someone can fix things and make her problems go away.

I guess Steny got tired of seeing his name followed by a comma and the word douchebag:

Could Steny Hoyer have seen the light on restoring Constitutional government?. Corrente.com reports on a speech Steny Hoyer gave at Georgetown Law School where he said all the right things about the failure of congressional oversight, the filthy evisceration of habeas corpus and the need to stop the telecom immunity provision of the FISA renewal act. Will wonders never cease.

Of course, saying the right thing and doing the right thing isn't the same thing, and Steny, the democratic master of K Street, sure does like those pretty buckets of cash the lobbyists carry with them. I'm guessing Steny's speech was his way of acknowledging that ever once in a while the democratic "leadership" has to throw a bone to the base, even if it is at the expense of some big corporations. In the long run, Steny and the other democratic "leaders" will be just fine. After all, the telecoms might feel slighted today, but I bet big pharma still loves Steny. It's all good.

Link via Atrios.

Will he stay or will he go:

Judge denies Craig motion to revoke plea. I hope Larry Craig digs in his (stilletto) heels and stays. Sadly, Larry's republican colleagues are trying to put the screws to him by calling up an ethics hearing if he refuses to go. Can't blame them. After all Larry Craig violated a basic tenet of the republican party: fuck what you want, just don't get caught. Bye-bye Larry.

Update: There is a god. Larry Craig to senate republicans: And I am telling you, I'm not going. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

God bless you, Larry Flynt:

Flynt unveiling more Vitter claims -- Ex-New Orleans Prostitute Says Vitter Was a Client; Flynt Says She Passed Lie-Detector Test. Talking Points Memo has posted an AP article that reports: A former New Orleans prostitute who says she had an affair with Sen. David Vitter has passed a lie-detector test and will provide details of the four-month relationship at a press conference Tuesday, according to Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt.

* * *

Vitter, a first-term senator elected in 2004, has denied having relationships with New Orleans prostitutes. In a call-in radio show during the Senate campaign, he dismissed as "absolutely and completely untrue" that he had a relationship with a Wendy Cortez.

Dear Baby Jesus: Please have Ms. Cortez describe in detail Vitter's love for diaper play. Thing is, even though the senate republicans are willing to accept Vitter's transgression because they would rather not have a democratic governor pick his replacement, there really is no way to spin a grown man who pays to have a hooker change his poo-poo diaper.