• North Korean bomb was mad ghetto, their “nuclear scientists are now officially the worst ever.” [Defense Tech]

• Yup, it’s definitely gonna happen: Stewart-Colbert ‘08. [Comedy Central Insider]
• They’ve got our vote, even if Jon refuses to admit how much he really, really loves us. [Above The Law]
• Voting machines nationwide will have the election results pre-entered by the Secretaries of State, so might as well learn their names. [Hullabaloo]
• Grassroots get-out-the-vote tactics using celebrities from the B,C, and D lists. [Democratic Party Blog]
• Ray Nagin endorses William Jefferson, calls him a “black Clyde Barrow dude.” [KATC News via MoJo Blog]
• Washington state: where all the state representatives wear sombreros, and “puke ‘n rally” is a given. [Shakespeare's Sister, The Stranger]
• Ah, the mushroom cloud photoshop gags — funny until they’re not. [Sanctuary]
• Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! It’s like 9/11 and Halloween all rolled into one. NEVER FORGET

• Polls in the Connecticut Senate Primary opened 6 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. Senator Joe Lieberman still trails in polls behind challenger Ned Lamont, but the gap had narrowed by election day. [NYT, NYT]

• A poll shows most Americans have an anti-incumbent mood coming into the midterm elections. [WP]
• Corrupt Democratic Congressman William Jefferson will get a primary challenge from Louisiana State Senator Derrik Shepherd. [CQ]
• Texas Republicans have abandoned their fight to keep disgraced Representative Tom DeLay off the November ballot. [AP]
• “[B]y one estimate, state and local governments owe their current and future retirees roughly $375 billion more than they have committed to their pension funds.” [NYT]
• The largest oil field in the US shut down after investigators detected “heavy corrosion and a small leak in a critical pipeline,” sending oil prices up yet again. [NYT]

Yesterday’s post on the rock-solid re-election prospects of Rep. Bill Jefferson (D-Nigeria Louisiana) fell into the right hands. Republican Joe Lavigne, who’s running for Jefferson’s seat in LA-02, had seen more than enough media carping about how the GOP couldn’t unseat a national laughingstock. We contacted his office, communications director Rodney Abele hit us back, and late Monday afternoon Lavigne himself spoke with Wonkette.

A little more background: Lavigne (no relation to Avril) is an LSU grad and lawyer who lives in New Orleans. The last Republican who ran against Jefferson (Art Schwertz) raised $15,139 for the privilege of getting creamed 79-21. But Lavigne has raised around $250,000, while from April to July Jefferson only raised $20,000. That’s barely enough to fill a lasagna pan. (Jefferson still has $320,000 on hand.) But to win, Lavigne needs to overcome an overwhelming local Democratic slant (75% for Kerry, 76% for Gore) and a perception among some black voters (who make up more than half of the district) that, to put it in DC terms, the goddamn bitch set Jefferson up.

Full interview below the fold.

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On the off chance that Republicans lose Congress and the White House hires its Ass-Saving Czar, one of the Dems prosecuting the Bush administration could be… Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.). Despite being caught cold taking bribes for legislative grunt work, despite raising basically no money for re-election, he’s expected to return to Congress in a walk. Some theories: His constituents don’t want to lose his senority (maybe), he’s got more political skill than the opposition (dunno about that), or voters think he’s the innocent victim of a racist conspiracy (ding! ding! ding!).

“There’s a perception among some black voters that African-American elected officials are targeted more harshly than white officials,” said political consultant Cheron Brylski, who added that many of Jefferson’s constituents may be wondering why the government, which appears to have ample evidence of wrongdoing, has not formally charged the congressman after an investigation that has lasted 16 months. MORE »

• The Bush administration’s war on terror is changing in key ways due to changes and setbacks in courts, Congress, and among allies overseas. [WP]

• PAC’s and campaigns controlled by Rep. John Doolittle paid ridiculous sums to a company staffed only by his wife. [WP]
• The FBI raid of Rep. William Jefferson’s office was constitutional, according to the a federal judge. “Congressman Jefferson’s interpretation of the Speech or Debate privilege would have the effect of converting every congressional office into a taxpayer-subsidized sanctuary for crime,” wrote the judge, seemingly without irony. [WP]
• Rep. James Sensenbrenner hates illegal immigrants, has great deal of power, won’t budge or compromise with Bush or Senate. [NYT]

• Heard on the Hill: William Jefferson’s at-bat at the Congressional baseball game was greeted with chants of “cold hard cash” … Nancy Pelosi “wouldn’t recommend” that members of Congress appear on The Colbert Report. [Roll Call]
• Reliable Sources: Karen Feld is unemployed… Jenna Bush’s students were “only vaguely aware” that their Spanish teacher was a First Daughter. [WP]
• Cindy Adams: The spirit of The United States “endures always.” [NYP]

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Team Wonkette Field Trip! From left: David Lat, the Comics Curmudgeon, Intern Nick (mostly hidden), and Alex Pareene.

Last night, Team Wonkette made its way out to RFK stadium for the annual Congressional Baseball Game, sponsored by Roll Call. The game was, well, sad and pathetic. The Republicans won 12-1 (Roberts recused himself). But man, what a trip. Drunk hill staffers everywhere, Katherine Harris wandering around, tight unis on middle-aged legislative paunches, and William Jefferson looking really intense. Pocket full of sandpaper, of course. But that’s another story — one for after the jump, in fact, illustrated with lovely pictures from Liz Gorman, Intrepid Girl Reporter.

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• House engages in long, heated, partisan debate over the Iraq War. Resolution pledging to “complete the mission” in Iraq and opposing “an arbitrary date for the withdrawal or redeployment” of U.S. troops will be voted on today. [WP; NYT; WSJ]

• Supreme Court holds that evidence gathered by the police through illegal “no knock” searches may be used in court. Divided court’s 5-4 ruling may reflect rightward move since Sandra Day O’Connor’s replacement by Samuel Alito. [NYT; WP]
• House Democrats vote 99-58 in favor of removing William Jefferson (D-LA) from the Ways and Means Committee. [WP; NYT]
• Bush signs the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, sharply increasing the penalties for broadcast indecency, and an emergency spending bill, providing for war financing and hurricane relief. [WP; NYT]
• Political parties focus on the suburbs and exurbs as the midterm elections approach. [NYT]
• Problems with Medicare prescription-drug benefit persist. [USAT]
• Pet projects continue to loom large in the military procurement process. [WSJ]

Ken Silverstein, over at Harper’s, has two pieces that, while complex, provide just that note of salaciousness necessary to keep the public (read: our) interest in the ongoing Cunningham/Wilkes/Lewis and William Jefferson cases. Join the exclusive poker party, after the jump.

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• Sen. Specter (R-Pa.) proposes to give Bush the choice of getting a warrant from a special court for surveillance programs; proposal would specifically not limit presidential powers. Specter: “I think he [Cheney] is serious about trying to work something out. For the first time, he said they are willing to consider legislation.” [WP]
• Cheney says his communications with Sen. Specter “are not unusual.” Specter: “He does not face head on; he does not deal with his not having taken it up with the chairman. This isn’t me personally; this is institutional. This is not the way government works, to deal with a committee without going through the chairman.” [WP, NYT]
• Rep. DeLay (R-Tex.) gives “defiant retirement speech”: “I did a good job… Given the chance to do it all again, there’s only one thing I’d change. I’d fight even harder.” [WP, NYT, LAT]
• Death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi will provide little reprieve for Republians feeling political heat. Official: “We don’t want another ‘Mission Accomplished’ moment.” [WSJ]
• Troop levels in Iraq will not be down to 100,000 by the end of this year. [NYT]
• Senate is three votes shy of repealing the estate tax. Sen. Lott (R-Miss.): “The conservative base will appreciate the fact that we are trying.” [NYT, LAT, WSJ, USAT]

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• Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida leader, is killed in Iraq by a “precision airstrike”; Bush says it’s “a significant victory in the war on terror.” [AP]
• George H.W. Bush “waged a secret campaign over several months” to replace Rumsfeld with a “retired four-star general,” but the president held firm. [Salon]
• Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) exposes how Cheney played hardball with the Judiciary Committee. [NYT]
• Victory in California primary “settled Republicans nerves,” but the margin was slim and the campaign was expense. Ken Mehlman: “You see a lot of things that are bellwethers, and they indicate Republicans are in position to hold Congress.” Professor: “The fact that Busby got 15 points over Democratic registration, that should make Republicans nervous. It’s not that Bilbray won. This is a safe Republican seat. I was very surprised that $5 million doesn’t allow you to break 50 percent.” [WP, NYT, LAT, USAT]
• Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage fails to get 60 votes needed to end debate; roll calls ends with 49 yeas, 48 nays. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.): “We’re not going to stop until marriage between a man and a woman is protected… for the future of our children in this society.” [WP, NYT, USAT]
• FBI threatened to pick the lock of Rep. William Jefferson’s office when a Capitol Police official hesitated. [WP]

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