NAME THAT PARTY! Report says Ohio’s former AG raided campaign cash. “Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann used his campaign account to bankroll home repairs and family vacations, according to a newspaper review of state investigative reports.” They don’t mention his party affiliation anywhere, but it turns out he’s a Democrat. A.P. should try using Google next time . . . .

JOE CONASON: What’s Obama hiding about Blagojevich? “Probably nothing. But by mishandling the scandal, his team has allowed questions to be raised where there were none.” Or at least not as many. Plus, “obfuscation at best and prevarication at worst.”

UPDATE: “I told you so.”

JUST SAW EQUUS WITH DANIEL RADCLIFFE, which pleased the Insta-Daughter. It was an excellent production (I saw the play back in the ’70s during its first wave of popularity) and Radcliffe turned in a highly creditable performance, though the real star of the show was Richard Griffiths as Dr. Dysart. (It was a bit of a busman’s holiday for the Insta-Wife, who identified with Dysart’s professional world-weariness all too much.) Kate Mulgrew was adequate, but not overly impressive, but all of us agreed that Anna Camp, as Jill, made much more of the part than the script did. “Stole the show” might be too strong, but she turned a semi-minor character into a major one. Lighting and staging broke no boundaries, but were excellent. The Insta-Daughter liked it very much; she’s a major Radcliffe fan.

An article linked on Drudge a while back said that Broadway shows were doing badly, but tonight’s show played to a packed house; I didn’t see a single empty seat. We caught a pedicab ride back to the hotel; the driver was from Mali, and I tipped him twenty bucks, as any guy who comes from the Sahara to pedal a cab in a New York snowstorm deserves it.

UPDATE: Here’s a picture from intermission — photos were forbidden during the show, of course. I don’t think there’s a connection between the Star Trek-like lighting and Kate Mulgrew’s presence, but who knows?

QUESTIONS FOR OBAMA’S SCIENCE TEAM. I wonder about this one myself: “What do they plan to do to invigorate the country’s innovation pipeline, from the classroom to the lab to the boardroom?”

A STRONG REVIEW for Handy Manny’s Transforming Tool Truck. With video.

IMPROVE YOUR MIND with online nanotechnology courses.

BLAGOJEVICH, RANGEL, ET AL., lead the London Times to observe: Seat for sale scandal causes wider worries over American corruption:

The scandal washing around Rod Blagojevich, the Illinois Governor, has sent ripples of unease through an American political establishment that has long traded favours or appointments for campaign donations.

Some suspect that the only difference between the traditional deal-making that lubricates Washington and the effort to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat was that the Governor got caught. Mr Blagojevich’s lawyer, Ed Genson, said yesterday that the case was “much ado about nothing” as he declared that his client would fight the charges and delay a decision on filling the seat. Others are asking if Congressman Charlie Rangel will be subjected to a FBI inquiry for allegedly backing a tax break to Nabors Industries in return for contributions from the company’s chief executive to an education programme bearing the Democrat’s name.

More on Rangel here. Also in The Hill. And don’t forget Chris Dodd and Countrywide!

AMERICAN MONARCHISTS, and Princess Caroline. “These people have every right to work the family name and connections, but as voters, I think we’re generally foolish to support the dynastic system. We would be much wiser to examine the lingering feelings that draw us to the idea of Noble Families and Great Houses–the whole idea of nobility that our coutry tried to break from 200-plus years ago. . . . How sad that even Hollywood rejects the brand-name/family-mystique idea, but the voters can’t. Lots of movie star children get an easy break into films, but the vast majority of them fail pretty quickly. The success rate is low. In politics it is extremely high. That’s pathetic. . . . I was repulsed by the idea of ‘saving’ the Delaware senate seat for Biden’s son, the ‘natural heir.’ I was stunned by how quickly and easily the beltway boys all jumped onto that idea.”

AN AUTOMOTIVE bailout blog.

NUCLEAR WOULD BE BETTER: EPA to speed approval of coal plants. Of course, by “speed,” they really mean “not slow down any more.”

LOTS OF automotive stuff on sale.

SHEER GENIUS: at Credit Suisse.

POLIWOOD: Roger Simon and Lionel Chetwynd on Frost/Nixon.

MORE QUESTIONS ON RICK WARREN, from Christopher Hitchens and Ann Althouse.

SAYUNCLE: A whole lotta refinancin’ going’ on. My brother emailed that he locked in an amazingly low rate. We’ve got a very low rate already, but I’m still watching. Could we see 4% mortgages?

BUILDING WALLS between men and children: “Can a man talk to a kid in the park anymore without being seen as a pervert? . . . This has to stop. Adults should talk to children in public, whether to joke, teach, comfort, or if need be to admonish. Normal adults, that is. Or are we prepared to leave the field clear for perverts and psychopaths?”

UPDATE: Related thoughts here.

POLITICAL REFUGEES?

TIGERHAWK on Organ Donation.

ADVICE ON MANAGING YOUR GREENWALD RELATIONSHIP: Tip number one — don’t mention that awkward sockpuppet affair . . . .

IN THE MAIL: Tod Olson’s How to Get Rich in the California Gold Rush: An Adventurer’s Guide to the Fabulous Riches Discovered in 1848.

THE GREAT DEPRESSION vs. “relational aggression.” Good grief.

THEY DON’T WORK, but D.C. is getting more checkpoints and police cameras.

I THINK WE HAVE A TREND: Dumping Satellite TV When Things Get Tough. “After a few Google searches, James said she found a wealth of legitimate sources for TV programming online. Sites such as Hulu, Fancast, Joost, YouTube, and most major TV networks’ Web sites offer TV shows and other video content for free. . . . And instead of spending an extra $20 a month for HBO or any other premium movie channels, James subscribed to a $17-a-month Netflix service, which allows her to rent three movies at a time and download some movies right to her computer.” Internet TV is the wave of the future. Hey, I’ve put my money — or, well, my time, which is kind of like money, right? — where my mouth is.

UPDATE: More here.

CONGRESS GETS A RAISE: “PR-wise, this should be a Car-execs-take-private-jets-to-Washington-to-ask-for-taxpayer-bailout moment.”