It appears that Republicans are determined to achieve total ideological purity even if it means reducing their dwindling numbers even further.

Not only did the Minnesota Supreme Court last week hand down a decision that deep-sixes the GOP/Coleman strategy of looking to the Federal courts for relief on appeal, but today Team Coleman’s hopes of getting the ballot universe expanded with more votes for Coleman just got a swift kick in the ass, as the ballots he was counting on from pile 3a evaporated upon examination.

Today Citigroup lowered its rating on Wal-Mart from a hold to a buy, “citing concern that legislation intended to make it easier for employees to unionize would raise the retail giant’s labor costs and hurt its competitiveness.”

This is startling for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that they’re downgrading the stock based on an assumption that a piece of legislation will pass that hasn’t even been introduced yet.

Is it a coincidence that David Addington and Alberto Gonzales–the White House lawyers who authorized torture even before John Yoo’s memos on the subject–are also the two who can’t get a job?

Last night Timothy Geithner appeared before the House Democratic Caucus last night and was singularly unimpressive. He was apparently dispatched to absorb Congressional ire at the AIG situation, but didn’t say much of substance — mostly shook his head and cussed AIG.

It’s the same routine Bernanke played before the Senate Budget Committee hearing last week after the announcement that AIG lost $61 billion in the 4th quarter 2008.

After the announcement that Earl Devaney would step into the role of financial watchdog for the TARP and other fund disbursements during the ongoing financial crisis, I have to admit I was thrilled. As Interior Department IG, Devaney’s accountability arguments with former Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton got around the Beltway, and his help in taking down Abramoff largesse recipients was exceptional. But it was this interview in the Federal Times that really caught my eye:

• POTUS speech on education comin’.
• Change you can believe in.
• But…but…the stimulus will make things worse.
• The coming evangelical collapse.
• Still obsessed with messaging.
• The White House continues to keep Rush in the news.
• No more dough ’till we know where it goes.

Square pegs and round pie-holes.

New video from Elvis Perkins In Dearland, with a song off their new album of the same name. The band says they will donate two dollars from each album purchase to Clearwater, an organization founded by Pete Seeger.

Poor Michael Steele. Even the the guy whom everyone hates hates him. But at least he gets some Newt love.