California Secretary of State Debra Bowen oversees state elections, which occur on most days in California. Today is one of them! So someone get this lady a damn Taco from a truck already, Jesus. California will bleed tonight. [Twitter]

It’s pretty exciting to vote, right? Remember how cool you felt in November, voting for the black dude? Remember how fun it was, voting against goddamned Sarah Palin and Walnuts? And just cold goin’ down the ballot and voting against anybody with an “R” after their name? Fun times. You can relive the excitement today in California, if you live there and do the voting thing — and if you read Wonkette, there’s a one-in-three chance you do live and vote in California. Who knew? MORE »

Oh noes for California attorney general Jerry Brown — yes the same one who was governor of California, in the 1970s, and fought (Bill) Clinton all the way to the convention for the ‘92 nomination. Somebody stole two of the wheels off his government car! Or maybe just the tires. Anyway, tragedy. Or not! He somehow got new tires for his government car. He is running for governor again, too. You can support his candidacy, somehow, by clicking something on his Facebook page. [Facebook]

Just a few short years ago, candidates for political office announced they were getting in the race by doing something civilized like standing outside and making a speech, to live humans. Now you just announce it on the vulgar “Twatter” service employed by narcissists, creepy old men, and highly accomplished [Note: Beautiful young "Meg McCabe" took down her insane Twitter rant about her accomplishments, dammit. --Ed.] authoresses. [GavinNewsom.com]

Way back in 2006, everybody wondered why newly appointed Speaker Nancy Pelosi didn’t let Jane Harman run the House Intelligence Committee, since Harman had been its ranking Democrat through the long Republican Reign of Terror. People assumed it was just ladies hatin’ on other ladies, as is their wont, being so hormonal. But maybe it actually had something to do with this juicy bit of news: that Harman was caught on an NSA wiretap having a very crooked-sounding conversation with a suspected Israeli agent about how to get espionage charges against two AIPAC officials reduced. In other words: catfight. Probably went something like this. [CQ Politics]

Who does this guy think he is? He installs a bunch of dumb clowns at Treasury who are continually getting pantsed by incompetent bankers, and at the height of the shitstorm he gets on a plane to California — but not before recording another one of his “Join my movement by harassing your neighbors about Hope, and my Budget” videos. Sorry bro people will not campaign for your budget when they are too infuriated about the economy to even get off the motherfucking couch. [Organizing for America]

• CALIFORNIA SURVIVES, FOR NOW! The Calfornia state Senate has ended a 45.5-hour gridlocked session by finally passing a budget! This required convincing a THIRD Republican senator that a couple of modest, temporary tax increases was better for the state than the immediate loss of 90,000 jobs, debt default, and revolution. “The taxpayers of California are going to view this as a loss,” the Republican minority leader said after a deal was reached. [Sacramento Bee]

Here’s former eBay CEO (and make-believe founder) Meg Whitman, the less terrible of John McCain’s two campaign CEO Henchwomen, announcing her run for California governor in 2010, on the YouTube! Ha she is so rich — she BOUGHT PRINCETON or something recently — so maybe she will win. But the choice of what appears to be a tank top — probably made of something expensive, of course… enriched uranium? — just reeks of New Money. Hey Meg, if you love the Internet so much, why don’t you go buy some sleeves. From a retail website. Yeah. (VOTE 4 GARY ‘N’ NORM “COLEMAN/COLEMAN” TICKET 2010$$) [YouTube]

• CALIFORNIA’S TERRIBLE POLITICS, CONDENSED: “California’s budget mess got messier Thursday as Democratic legislators approved a package of tax increases and spending cuts, Republican legislators threatened to sue over the package’s questionable constitutionality and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made the issue moot by promising to veto it. Democratic legislative leaders then announced lawmakers are going home for the holidays.” Won’t it be fun in the next couple of years when no state in the country is able to put together a budget? By then, California will already have been given back to Spain. [Digby]

Here’s your favorite Xmas-card Congresslady, Loretta Sanchez, riding a hovercraft on her new horrible Christmas Card, paid for by the proud donors to Sanchez ‘68 Forever, LLC. While nothing will ever top the “Pet the Cat” card from, what, 2006?, we can all be proud that an actual congressperson is sending this stuff out to her fellow Americans, because why not. [OC Register]

Hey gays, you like Nate Silver, yes? He is a vanquisher of angry cursing wingnuts and the sexual mentor to a hot new generation of polynomials. That’s two things to like! In an interview with Queerty he talks about numbers and gay things by explaining why we should blame the passage of California’s Prop. 8 not on black people but on old people of all colors and hues. (You will all click the “MORE” button now because Nate Silver is your new Sarah Palin: sweet sexy pageview bait.) MORE »