Dan Froomkin, in his column today titled “The Tell-Tale Stall” (nothing to do with Larry Craig):

The best indicator of how seriously this White House is involved in a political scandal may be how emphatically it refuses to comment.

By that standard, the CIA’s destruction of its torture tapes is shaping up to be a doozy of a White House story.

You know how it is with the awards shows. There’s always a sullen loser, who refuses to go to the after-parties and sulks for months about the lack of respect from the industry. So it is, too, with the Golden Dukes.

From TPM Reader CH:

Whither Gary Aldridge?

Man.

Liberty University alumnus, former employee for Jerry Falwell, pastor of
a Montgomery, AL Baptist Church.

Hogtied, auto-asphyxiated, bound with straps, still carrying a
condom-wrapped dildo in his anus, and wearing not one, but two wet-suits.

Gary Aldridge gave his life for a Golden Duke, but was denied even a
nomination. This is a travesty, and a sad day indeed for those aspiring
to one day bask in the glory of their very own Golden Duke.

What will I tell my children?

Alas, not everyone can dig their stiletto heels into the plush red carpet.

McCain in a statistical tie for first in New Hampshire according to new Rasmussen poll.

Romney 31%
McCain 27%

McClatchy reports on the New Hampshire phone-jamming case:

The Justice Department delayed prosecuting a key Republican official for jamming the phones of New Hampshire Democrats until after the 2004 election, protecting top GOP officials from the scandal until the voting was over.

An official with detailed knowledge of the investigation into the 2002 Election-Day scheme said the inquiry sputtered for months after a prosecutor sought approval to indict James Tobin, the northeast regional coordinator for the Republican National Committee.

The phone-jamming operation was aimed at preventing New Hampshire Democrats from rounding up voters in the close U.S. Senate race between Republican Rep. John Sununu and Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen. Sununu’s 19,000-vote victory helped the GOP regain control of the Senate.

While there were guilty pleas in the New Hampshire investigation prior to the 2004 presidential election, involvement of the national GOP wasn’t confirmed. A Manchester, N.H., policeman quickly traced the jamming to Republican political operatives in 2003 and forwarded the evidence to the Justice Department for what ordinarily would be a straightforward case.

However, the official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, told McClatchy that senior Justice Department officials slowed the inquiry. The official didn’t know whether top department officials ordered the delays or what motivated those decisions.

Read the rest.

Post-Shag Fund, what stories have you read about Rudy Giuliani? I see news about Huckabee, Romney, even McCain (who really may be up to something in New Hampshire). But Rudy? Beside some scattered stories about his flagging poll numbers, I don’t think I’ve read much of anything. Not only is he tanking in the polls but he’s MIA in the national political debate.

When Rudy Giuliani’s soft lead in the national polls evaporates, suddenly he’ll be just another GOP hopeful lining up to get his head sliced off in the first big primary and caucus contests. And we seem to be there.

If you look at the trendline graphs created by Professor Charles Franklin for Pollster.com, the Huckabee line has finally converged with the Rudy’s.

Those numbers were from polls as of December 16th. And the exact numbers are actually Rudy 22.6% and Huckabee 22.2%. So there’s still a hair’s breadth of distance between. But the trend line is awfully clear.

And this is borne out by two new polls just out this evening.

The new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll out tonight has Mitt Romney and Rudy tied at 20% with Mike Huckabee at 17%. That’s close to a three-way tie for first with Rudy.

Then there’s a Zogby phone poll out this evening which has Rudy at 23%, Huckabee at 22% and Romney at 16%. The details are different, especially for Huckabee and Romney. But the big picture is clear: Rudy’s lost his nationwide lead wide.

And the downward momentum will probably push him still further too.. With dismal numbers in the early races and lukewarm numbers nationwide, what’s his political strategy again? Is there any rationale for still calling him the frontrunner?

Are DOJ and CIA really waving the white flag in agreeing to cooperate with the House investigation into the torture tapes–or is this just designed to take a little heat off, keep GOP members in line, and buy time until after the holidays?

The President just finished up his pre-Christmas press conference. He skated with one exchange on the CIA torture tapes, reiterating that his own knowledge of the tapes and their destruction didn’t come until he was briefed shortly before the story went public. But then Bush shifted the focus, declaring that he wouldn’t make any judgment about the case until all the facts came out, trying somehow to position himself as a neutral arbiter, rather than a crucial fact witness, key player, and the official with ultimate responsibility for what happened. President Bush, just as curious as the rest of us to learn what happened.

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) RSVPed that he’d be attending the FBI director’s annual Christmas soiree last week–just months after FBI raided his home. Regrettably for muckrakers everywhere, Stevens was a no show.

John Edwards goes after Hillary over a mailer attacking Obama.