I’m not sure quite what to make of this. But on top of Charlie Rangel’s now all but certain trial/hearing before the Ethics Committee in September, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) is also being charged with misusing her office and has decided to contest the charges in another trial.

We’ve now updated our original story from this afternoon on the Portland DA’s decision not to prosecute Al Gore. We’ve added the prosectors’ memo, which was obtained by the local media, which makes the prosecutor’s decision to drop the case considerably more critical of accuser, Molly Hagerty, than I’d first understood.

Is this the first time for this?

This morning Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) was doing a live radio hit on KFBK back in the district while driving to the Capitol. But he had to cut the interview short when a Virginia police officer pulled him over for speeding. According to the AP listeners could hear the police officer, on air, telling Lundgren to hang up the phone.

Lundgren later explained he’d been driving “probably just slightly over the speed limit.”

You may be getting down on the Senate because they couldn’t manage to hold a vote Thursday on that jobs bill that Republicans are filibustering. But they did manage to double the penalty for marijuana brownies.

In case you were wondering.

The Portland Oregon DA’s office has closed the Al Gore (alleged sex assault) case because “a sustainable criminal case does not exist.”

Earlier we reported that Rep. Gene Green (D-TX), who leads the investigative subcommittee of the Ethics Committee, said the body had recommended a ‘reprimand’ for Charlie Rangel. Now he says he ‘misspoke’.

Nope. No idea.

Did you hear that the Zetas drug gang stormed across the US-Mexico border last weekend and seized two ranches near Laredo?

Actually it didn’t happen. But is that really a reason not to keep talking about it?

The House Ethics Committee is recommending a formal ‘reprimand’ of Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY).

In case you missed it yesterday, long-time conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly is telling supporters that President Obama is trying to find more single moms to put on welfare since once “you kick your husband out, you’ve got to have big brother government to be your provider.”

Dems, eager for an issue, are calling on Republicans who’ve taken Schlafly’s money, to renounce her.

My thought: What kind of vitamins is Schlafly taking? And can I have some.

Republicans are in an uproar over federal Judge Susan Bolton’s decision to strike down major portions of Arizona’s controversial immigration law. But you may have noticed that there hasn’t been a lot of criticism of Bolton herself or cries of ‘judicial activism’, as you normally hear in cases like this.

That’s because Bolton has always enjoyed Republican support. And Jon Kyl, Arizona’s junior senator, recommended her for her current job in the late 1990s.