May be updated as things develop....

1) Fred Siegel has some very complimentary things to say about our soon-to-be-incoming governor, David Paterson:

Paterson, an avowed liberal, is an engaging man, willing to listen to people he disagrees with. I had dinner with him several times at B. Smith - and despite our policy differences, I found him easy to discuss matters with and willing to debate the issues.

A longtime minority member of the state Senate before becoming lieutenant governor, he'd bring to the governor's office the legislative perspective and understanding of how the capital works that Gov. Steamroller has so notably lacked.

He even gets along well with Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno; he just might be able to bring a welcome spirit of openness to Albany.

Not incidentally, he is the son of Basil Paterson - one of Harlem's famed Gang of Five, along with Rep. Charles Rangel, former Mayor David Dinkins, Assembly Ways & Means Chairman Denny Farrell and Harlem clubhouse boss Percy Sutton. The group has long run Harlem's political scene.

Basil was New York City's first black deputy mayor - as well as the first black candidate for statewide elected office (lieutenant governor) in New York, and under Gov. Hugh Carey the first black secretary of state. He once held the same state Senate seat his son would later in effect be given by the Harlem leadership after its then-occupant died in office.

But, while his father may have effectively anointed him a state senator, David has kept an arms-length over the years from the Gang of Five - repeatedly running for office even as his father endorsed opposing candidates, and taking some taboo positions, including prominent support for vouchers and school choice.

Mickey Kaus, control yourself!

2) Laura wants to know more about the Emperor's Club. Slate complies.

3) Daniel Drezner recently postulated the existence of a "Noam Scheiber effect," based on his history of carefully reporting the dynamics of the Dean and Obama presidential campaigns immediately before said campaigns imploded encountered temporary difficulties.

Well, in 2005, Scheiber wrote a lengthy and positive profile of Elliot Spitzer for the NYT Magazine, speculating that his record as NY Attorney General prefigured a template that Democrats could use for recapturing national power. I think we can now chalk up another data point for the Scheiber effect.

Memo to Franklin Foer: Wouldn't Scheiber be the ideal candidate to write an in-depth profile of the Boston Red Sox in connection with the upcoming season?

4) HA! (Via Andrew Sullivan.)

5) This is funnier.

6) And this line is funniest.