RANGEL HITS OBAMA CLOSER TO HOME:

It certainly didn’t take long for scandal to rear its ugly head in the new era of Democratic control. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich saw to that, and in spectacular fashion.

But while most attention is fixed on the Blagojevich scandal — coming as it does in President-elect Barack Obama’s home state and replete as it is with enough tape-recorded talk of peddling a Senate seat, shaking down contributors and blackmailing journalists to make even FBI agents blush — it may not be the most troublesome one for the new president.

His more vexing problem could turn out to be that other, quieter scandal dogging Democrats. That’s the one involving Rep. Charles Rangel, head of the House Ways and Means Committee.

There’s actually more than one scandal, but read the whole thing for the details.

SO IF THE AUTO BAILOUT WAS SO GREAT FOR THE ECONOMY, why did the stock market go up after it failed?

UPDATE: Reader Austin Johnson writes: “I’m not defending the bailout but I work on Wall Street and have to point out how wrong this argument is. If you look at the intraday Dow chart you will notice that it starts off massively negative. It stayed down until the rumors started to percolate through the market that Bush was going to do the bailout anyway. Then the market ticked up.” So the real lesson here is the irrelevance of Congress, I guess . . . .

BARACK OBAMA: Cowboy! (Via Bill Quick).

IS THIS A GOOD IDEA? The makers of the new movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still” have arranged for it to be beamed into space on Friday.

FROM BOB OWENS: A comprehensive debunking of arguments that Obama is ineligible for the presidency.

ANN ALTHOUSE ON Using the courts to oust Blagojevich on the theory that he’s “disabled” from serving as governor. “Given that ‘conviction on impeachment’ is one of the specified reasons for inability to serve, using this procedure as an alternative to the impeachment process looks like an abusive power grab.”

I served on a commission to revise the Tennessee Constitution for gubernatorial disability — summary here — and I agree with Ann Althouse. The way you get rid of a crooked governor is via impeachment. Why play games here? If the case is so obvious, that shouldn’t take long.

UPDATE: Fiscal collateral damage?

ANOTHER UPDATE: Contradictions.

MORE: Fundraiser emerges as key event in Illinois probe.

MORE ON shifting views of Al Qaeda, Guantanamo, and preventive detention.

MICHAEL S. MALONE: Could the Internet Have Prevented World War II?

AMAZON PRIME IS on sale for Christmas, letting you get a year of free two-day shipping for $59. I’ve been an Amazon Prime user since it first started and I’ve loved it.

UPDATE: Reader Maggie Goff writes:

You’re the one who got me to try Prime. Amazon sent me a free trial notice on October 18, 2006. It was for 60 days. They’re smart, let me tell you! If it had been only a couple of weeks, or even a month, I wouldn’t have really seen the benefits of it. However, in that TWO month period, (I had always hesitated in ordering an inexpensive item because of shipping charges) I got to experience ordering a $5.99 paperbook for one of my sisters one day, and a $7.00 DVD for one of my brothers, and then a $24.99 heart pendant for my Mom,and a sale audio book for a nephew, etc etc. The really great part is that I could set it up so that the items would automatically go to THEIR addresses, and get there within TWO days, and all I had to do was CLICK ONCE. NO SHIPPING CHARGE. Of course it’s not FREE, but within a short time I’ll use up the $79 fee each year. I recommend it to everyone I know. I love Amazon. The few times I’ve had to deal with customer service, they’ve been terrific. And it’s totally wonderful that you can have them call you at YOUR convenience. You put your number, and the date, and the time you want them to call you on the online form, and by golly THEY DO! You can even put NOW, and within a few seconds the phone is ringing. I can’t say enough about them. Thank you.

I’ve been very happy myself. And reader Kenneth Miles writes: “Thanks for the heads-up about Amazon Prime. At $79 I thought it was a little steep and would just settle for the free 5-7 day shipping. At $20 off the regular price for a year I jumped right on it. Amazon is my favorite place to shop, all my needs are met. It has been fun to watch them grow from a book store to what they are now.”

SO, DO WE BELIEVE IN RAHM EMANUEL’S INNOCENCE, OR NOT? Personally — not that I have any inside knowledge — I doubt that Emanuel has done anything actually wrong. (He may conceivably have done something that might be considered a crime in Fitzgeraldland, but you could say that about pretty much anyone). Emanuel’s smart, as even his critics acknowledge, and surely too smart to get sucked into Blagojevich’s lowbrow deal-making. At least, I’d be surprised to hear otherwise.

JONAH GOLDBERG: “There are so many things to love about the Rod Blagojevich scandal it’s hard to know where to begin.”

JEFFREY KLUGER: Does Obama Want to Ground NASA’s Next Moon Mission?

Some critical thoughts from Rand Simberg. “A Big Sloppy Wet Kiss: That’s what Jeff Kluger gives to NASA and the Bush administration in this Time piece.”

Kluger’s certainly unfair to Lori Garver, who’s handling Obama’s transition on space. She was Executive Director of the National Space Society back when I was what passed for a CEO in that organization, and while we’ve had our disagreements over the years, she’s very smart, she’s very capable, and she knows a lot about NASA and space, and not just from having served as a NASA Associate Administrator. Also, the notion that she doesn’t support manned space is silly. I was just remarking to the Insta-Wife yesterday that I was very happy that Lori Garver was handling space transition matters for Obama, and I doubt he could have found anyone better.

I don’t think Mike Griffin is a bad guy, either — and I think his heart is in the right place — but I don’t think he’s been a success at NASA, and I don’t think that this press offensive is going to help him, or NASA, or the cause of humans in space.

UPDATE: Jerry Pournelle: “I have not seen Lori since the first flight of the DC/X, which is some years ago. She was there as head of the NSS, with a new baby, out in the White Sands high desert, which ought to be some indication of her determination and enthusiasm. She’s a lot more sympathetic to NASA than I am, but I think no government monopolist.” Not enough of a NASA fan for Mike Griffin and Jeffrey Kluger, apparently.

BEWARE OF nanophobia.

EXTRACTING methane hydrates for fuel? Seems risky to me, but I await further data.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: The real Barack Obama.

LOOKING FOR MORTGAGE-MELTDOWN SCAPEGOATS? Well, good luck with that. Just remember that it’s going to be hard to go after bankers while ignoring problems like Chris Dodd’s mortgage.

POPULAR SCIENCE: Obama clashes with NASA Moon program.

SO THE BACKSEAT DOME LIGHT IN MY CAR was left on the entire time I was in Grand Cayman and, unsurprisingly, it wouldn’t start when I got home. Should I get one of these for next time?

FEEL BETTER ABOUT THE U.S.: Nigerians look at the Blagojevich scandal and are jealous:

“Look at the Governor of the state of Illinois in the United States, Rod Blagojevich. The man who wants to sell Obama’s Senatorial seat to the highest bidder. He is definitely going to jail. The FBI evidence against him is overwhelming”

“The man should have been a Governor in Nigeria. What he has done, trying to cut a deal, and arrange something for himself, is standard and familiar practice in Nigeria. In the 1999 elections, some Godfathers collected money openly from aspirants and supported the highest bidder. In every election, most Nigerian voters support only the highest bidder. In Oyo state, Adedibu practically sold the Governorship seat to Ladoja. When the man refused to pay, he got him kicked out. Ngige also lost his seat because he refused to pay.”

“But the Americans are telling us that you cannot sell elective positions. It is not a cash and carry affair. And that whoever does so, is under the big watchful eyes of Big Brother. Where is the Nigerian equivalent of the FBI?”

“They are busy eating pepper soup and acting as bodyguards and house boys to the same enemies of the state that they are supposed to be watching.”

Not a cash-and-carry affair. Too bad word didn’t reach Chicago . . . .

I THOUGHT IT WAS WRONG TO QUESTION PEOPLE’S PATRIOTISM: Granholm calls vote against bailout “Un-American.”

IT’S A SINISTER LIBERTARIAN PLOT TO DISCREDIT GOVERNMENT: Rod Blagojevich is actually Nick Gillespie.

But getting Dan Rostenkowski of all people to speak out in defense of Chicago politics was surely the masterstroke. Brilliant!

THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN: “David Cole, a longtime, trenchant critic of the Bush administration’s war-on-terror tactics, defends preventive detention, albeit with due process protections and other limitations. . . . For Cole, preventive detention is justified because the conflict with Al Qaeda is war-like enough to bring into play traditional military detention rules; more process—lawyers love process!—is needed because of the differences between this conflict and traditional war. I don’t know whether Cole has changed his mind or has always believed that the Bush administration’s basic approach was right but just went too far.”

THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS GIFT: A subscription to Pajamas TV at a discount price. Improve your mind (or someone else’s) and support alternative media, all at once!

MORE ON HOLLYWOOD AND CHE GUEVARA: “Aye caramba. Yes, the real lesson to be drawn from a man who oversaw summary executions and ran Cuba’s economy 20,000 leagues under the sea is that profits and capitalism are evil.”

TOM MAGUIRE on Rahm Emanuel: “My guess – Rahm didn’t play ball but he didn’t call the coppers, either, which leaves him in an ethically gray area.” I expect we’ll find out.