• Plamegate, the opera: “Patrick Fitzgerald kicks things off with ‘Tell me a story,’ followed by the trio with Judith Miller and Matt Cooper ‘I’ve got a subpoena.’ Cooper then has his show stopping duet with Time editor Norman Pearlstine, ‘We’ve run out of options,’ followed by his aria ‘I have been released.’” [Living in a Media World]
• Says Maureen Dowd: “The New York Times is the most fun you can have for a dollar.” She’s even cheaper than we thought. [Daily Texan via Romenesko]
• Anonymity for me but not for thee: Posties bitch about leaks from within the paper. [FishbowlDC]
• Real life: “Free Speech Coalition Files Lawsuit Challenging Utah’s ‘Anti-Spam’ Registry;” the Onion: “Anti-Spam Legislation Opposed By Powerful Penis-Enlargement Lobby” [US Newswire, Onion]
• Red Cross president: “Some people would come home and have a martini. I do beading.” [WP]

• What does it mean when Chris Matthews wonders “whether Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald would prove to be an Alexander Scourby or a Don Knotts?” Slate readers think they know…. [Slate]
• The illustrated Maureen Dowd. [TMFTML]
• Geeks seek to apply “alternative explanation” to “gym.” “It’s time to move past outdated physical fitness dogma. Can I do a chin-up? No. But I can do spelling-ups all day long.” [INDC Journal]
• BYU prof thinks that World Trade Center towers might have fallen due to “pre-positioned explosives.” Also wears special magic underwear. [Deseret News]
• “In the oddest footnote yet to The New York Times’ post-Jayson Blair/Judith Miller credibility saga, editors at the Times Magazine recently scrapped a piece by author J.T. LeRoy over concerns he may not exist.” Hate it when that happens. [WWD]

Judith Miller “said that in the few hours since her departure had been made public, she had received several offers ‘of all kinds’ for future employment, which she declined to specify.” — NYT, 11/10/05 MORE »

• Approval of Bush slips to 37%, a new low in WSJ/NBC polling; 79% believe the leak investigation is “a serious matter” and a majority say Bush “deliberately misled people” to war. [WSJ]
• House Republicans scrap ANWR drilling to ensure passage of budget. Schumer: “If you are a moderate Republican, you are starting to say, ‘I am not going to follow George Bush over the cliff.’” [WP, NYT]
• Republicans fear implications of Tuesday’s elections; Democrats have their own lessons to learn. Pollster: “The waning of enthusiasm for Bush and his presidency is national.” [LAT, WP, WT]
• Senators press top oil executives about their profits; “if the hearing had an air of the theater, the public resentment articulated by the senators was real.” Milbank: “[I]nstead of calling oil executives on the carpet yesterday, senators gave them the red-carpet treatment.” [WP, NYT, WSJ, USAT, WT]
• Bush splits with Republicans over ban of abusive treatment of detainees. [USAT]
• Judith Miller leaves The New York Times. [WP, WP, NYT]
• Chalabi denies misleading the U.S. and offers to testify before Congress. [USAT, WP]
• Senate Judiciary Committee considers televising Supreme Court proceedings. [LAT]

MORE »

The New York Observer reports that talks between Judy Miller and the New York Times over her employment status at the paper have stalled. The sticking point is her desire to publish an op-ed in the paper to “rebut” her colleague-critics (Dowd, Keller, Calame). As our shallow sibling points out, it’s unclear whether she’s demanding to have the op-ed space or else she’ll leave, or demanding it or else she’ll stay. Obviously, the latter is the more potent threat, but we wonder why the Times is reluctant. It’s not like they’re very picky about who appears on their op-ed page to begin with. (Of course, the Unabomber wrote about real bombs.) In any case, we say, let her have her say. Put it another way: Give her enough rope. — WONKETTE MORE »

• We keep getting emails about some change-up at CNN. Who is this Aaron Brown guy? [TV Week]
• There’s a “White House ‘truth closet.’” Is Scott McClellan in it? [NPR]
• Law and justice religious leader is way into profit: “Some of us truly believed God told us to serve Jay…But not to help him live like Louis XIV.” [Legal Times]
• A War on Terror vs. War on Bird Flu analogy: Cheney is to Halliburton as Rumsfeld is to Gilead Sciences. Go nuts, kids. [Fortune]
• Jesus Christ what does it take to get fired from the Times? [NYO, HuffPo]
• Bloggers staying away from WH briefings in droves. Why? Because we’re laaazzzeeee. [E&P]
• The closing of the Senate will be avenged: “In a real sense, you see, the U.S. Senate plays by hip-hop rules: Respect is all. Disrespect is the ultimate crime, and must be avenged swiftly and mercilessly.” They don’t call him Fristy-Cent for nothing. [TNR's The Plank]
• You have no idea how badly we wish we were making this up: “Santorum: Well she called and the first thing she said to me was you know Suzanne Wright? I said sure and then she says, well I’d like to do a threesome.” [C&L]

• “A nasty man recently threw me in jail, and several of my least favorite co-workers just ganged up on me in the pages of my own paper. Needless to say, these critics are a bunch of pansy assholes.” J.M. in Sag Harbor asks the Ethicist. [Panopticist]
• “Relentless and totally out of control,” “eager to let you know that she travelled in a world of international intrigue and important people,” who could they possibly be talking about? [Gawker]
• Arianna reads between the telephone lines regarding Libby’s call to Tim Russert. [HuffPo]
• “If only lies left semen stains.” [The Daily Show]
• Jason Zengerle zings Joe Wilson: “Wilson’s op-ed was entitled, ‘Our 27 months of hell.’ A better title might have been, ‘How to turn your 15 minutes into 27 months.’” [TNR's The Plank]
• The WP bundles all the scandal buzzwords into one incoherent mess. (Hey, that’s what blogs are for!) [WP]

• Reliable Source: Hillary celebrated her 58th birthday on Wednesday with Bill and the McAuliffes at Cafe Milano. [WP]
• Inside the Beltway: McAuliffe: “I almost wish I was chairman again. Almost.” [WT]
• Inside Politics: “Miered” can mean “unscrupulously torpedoed by an ally”. . . Tom DeLay: “We are witnessing the criminalization of conservative politics.” [WT]
• Page Six: Andrew Mitchell on Judith Miller: “I also can’t believe there would be this much concern and sniping if a man were involved instead of a woman.” [NYP]

With that other shoe suspended in mid-air, we present a collection of items to get you through dinner conversation all the way to that Lunesta you’ve been saving just for nights like this. MORE »

• Reliable Source: Wives advise Bush to get diamonds for Laura to celebrate their upcoming anniversary. He replies, “Never mind! Sorry I asked!”. . . Nicole Kidman’s character is told to use a Farecard when riding the Metro. . . NPR’s Libby Lewis is assigned to cover Lewis Libby. [WP]
• Inside the Beltway: U.S. “nuclear SWAT team” is on call 24/7/365 to find and disarm any device. . . Cheney in Colorado: “They asked me today if I come here to fish, and I explained no, the fishing is better in Wyoming, which is noted by the presence of so many ‘greenies’ in Wyoming taking our fish.” [WT]
• Cindy Adams: Schwarzenegger is so furious at Bush that he is toying with switching parties. . . Judith Miller will not be returning to the Times. [NYP]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Lou Dobbs: “I’m wondering whether there’s such a thing as too much transparency.” [NYDN]

• “Americans for Better Justice” oppose Harriet Miers. Americans for the best justice just sort of depressed. [AFBJ]
• Judy and the Times: No more martinis and massages. [HuffPo]
• Some companies are so horrible about employees who leak about … really trivial shit. [Gawker, FishbowlNY]
• TIME’s New York office throws a party for new DC bureau chief Jay Carney. Because the DC office doesn’t need a morale boost or anything. Good luck, TIME NYC! Let us know if you need our notes or anything! [Gawker]
• Chris Matthews is my homie. Also: He luvs the “zesty” Fox! (Me too, Chrissy-wissy!) [Philly.com]
• Is Al Franken no longer funny? We’re concerned. Shit, he might be completely insane. [Michelle Malkin]
• Also: Indictment Bingo! While you still can! [Wonkette]