I don't know how I missed this announcement. I caught it this morning as a footnote to an article about former Michigan tight end Jay Remiersma's run for Congress (seeking the seat that will be vacated by Hoekstra).

I'm not sure if I'm on board just yet. Hoekstra was interesting to follow when he was a rising star from a neighboring Congressional district, but when it comes to opinions and platforms I think I might think he is a dick. I don't know that the Democratic candidate is anyone of note, but Hoekstra doesn't appear to be what I'd call a progressive Republican.

I can't decide if this proves that waterboarding is incredibly effective or completely ineffective. Or maybe these two guys are just badasses.

Drew, Liz, now that you're both lawyers can you explain why we still need court room sketch artists? And what do they make relative to stenographers, bailiffs and other court room professions?

Quoted: CIA interrogators used waterboarding at least 266 times on two top al Qaeda suspects, according to a Bush-era Justice Department memo released by the Obama administration. The controversial technique that simulates drowning -- and which President Obama calls torture -- was used at least 83 times in August 2002 on suspected al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah, according to the memo. Interrogators also waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed 183 times in March 2003. Mohammed is believed to be the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

The market for disgraced former mayors is red hot. Kilpatrick has asked for permission to fly to Texas for a job interview the day after he is released from jail. I'd love to know who is so desperate to have him that they couldn't give him a day or two to compose himself.

Quoted: Ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick may leave Michigan for five days after he is released from jail.

In news from the future, Obama's judicial appointments are too liberal and will face opposition from Republicans. Which appointments you ask? Any or all of them.

Quoted: President-elect Barack Obama will be the first president to have participated in Senate filibusters of judicial nominees - a distinction that conservatives say will haunt him in showdowns over anticipated nominations of liberal, activist judges to the federal bench.

I was (am?) thinking about going to this. My sister lives in Baltimore and I could stay with her, so I'd just have to be sure to get up early in the morning and make the commute to DC the morning of. But 4 million people is a lot.

Quoted: Remember when the estimate for the Inauguration Day crowd was at a cool million? That number has gone up -- dramatically.

Really? Thats the best Fox News can surmise from a window slot? We've all seen what happens in The Godfather, so I doubt the Presidential motorcade has to stop for toll booths.

Quoted: Photos show doors that appear to be nearly 8 inches deep, with thick, fixed windows. Only the driver's window has a small slot that can slide open, which we assume is for paying tolls.

Quoted: Spy photos obtained by FOXNews.com show that when President-elect Barack Obama moves to Pennsylvania Avenue in January, he will be handed the keys to what looks to be the most potent presidential limousine ever to carry the American head of state.

Making good on a campaign promise, President-elect Barack Obama will sit down with an aggressive, unpopular world leader without preconditions this afternoon.

Quoted: History in the making: Obama's first Oval Office visit will be a sit-down with President Bush

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I am going to have get a copy of this Newsweek Special Election Edition. The stuff coming out about the campaigns now is absolute dynamite. In the good way for America, and in the bad way for Sarah Palin.

Quoted: "We're told by folks that she didn't know what countries that were in NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, that being the Canada, the US, and Mexico. We're told she didn't understand that Africa was a continent rather than a country just in itself and that South Africa was its own country within the continent rather than just a region of Africa ... a whole host of questions that caused serious problems about her knowledgeability."

And so the Republican bloodletting begins:

by the way, don't miss the observations from the embedded journalists on page 2 of this article. great stuff.

Quoted: One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.

Quoted: The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.