Following the end of Herman Cain‘s presidential run, the campaign gave around $19,000 to two political organizations based in Wisconsin: Prosperity USA and Wisconsin Property Network. According to POLITICO, both were run by “Cain’s top aides and footed the bill for about $40,000 of goods and services” that were utilized by the Cain campaign. But these groups are under investigation because it would be illegal for such donations to take place.

As the Republican primary continues to trudge on, it keeps delivering quirky Mitt Romney campaign moments, and while today’s is just as strange and strangely watchable as the video of Romney eating and explaining pancakes on the campaign trail, this one comes with a bonus joke at the expense of one of his opponents’ biggest donors.

Remember Charlie Sheen, the most overhyped celebrity cause of 2011? Well, during the peak of his “popularity” last year, Sheen sought out a social media intern to helm his Twitter account. Well, nothing lasts forever, not even tiger stamina, and Josh Burstein is leaving the Sheen machine for a much more prestigious job: working on President Obama‘s reelection campaign in Wisconsin.

A man in Wisconsin, clad in a suit and looking serious, walked into a local Denny’s and told employees that he was their new boss. The old boss wasn’t too happy about this, and the staff was confused, but he went on and entered the kitchen anyway, and started to cook himself a cheeseburger. He only got it about half-cooked before police got to him, but proved that a little bit of confidence goes a long way– at least deep enough in the kitchen to get at the beef.

Sheboygan, Wisconsin’s Mayor Bob Ryan knows how to have the kind of good time that swiftly turns into a pretty bad time. Ryan, who has been open about his alcoholism, is facing a recall on January 16th following a string of alcohol-fueled incidents dating back to 2009.

There’s an almost irresistible story circulating on the internet that seems to suggest that petitions for the recall of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker have been signed by the likes of Mickey Mouse and Adolf Hitler, and that those signatures will be counted in that recall effort. It’s the kind of story that makes for ideal two-minute filler on 24-hour news outlets, so before it gets a head of steam, let’s look beyond the overreaching headline (“Mickey Mouse, Adolf Hitler Allowed On Wis. Recall Petitions“) and vague copy, to what is actually a run-of-the-mill process story.

The fascination and/or confusion inspired by the Herman Cain campaign’s unusual political ad quickly ushered Cain campaign manager, the inimitable (but you can certainly try, maybe for whatever Halloween party you have this weekend) Mark Block, into the national spotlight. If an interview with the AP from his Atlanta office is anything to go by, the Tea Party leader thinks of himself as an “anti-Rovian” figure working in stark contrast to GOP establishment figurehead Karl Rove.

Wisconsin congressman Sean Duffy (R) appeared on Fox & Friends this morning to share the latest bit of drama stirring in his home state. Wisconsin union leaders are organizing a Labor Day parade, but did not extend invitation to three prominent Republican lawmakers: Duffy, Sen. Pam Galloway, and Rep. Jerry Petrowski.

Says Duffy:

Well, we participated in the parade last year, and when we reached out to participate this year, they told us that we weren’t welcome.

Midwestern populism is certainly a topic that doesn’t get all that much play on the Daily Show, but when it does, Jon Stewart makes sure to point out how hard it is to follow the will of the people. If the Tea Party were “the people” in 2009, and “the people” staged a recall election against Republicans in Wisconsin, where Democrats were defeated by “the people,” then… who are The Real People?

It was the perfect fledgling anchor moment: at some point earlier today, controversial MSNBC hire Al Sharpton tried to read an impassioned plea to protesters to “resist,” but his point was lost amidst the wrath of the teleprompter gods, snatching the words away. It was also a perfect moment for those arguing that that the Sharpton hire was at best unwise; at least disrespectful and the product of quid pro quo.

On Tuesday in Wisconsin, an election to potentially recall several Republican state senators will take place. The founder of the Tea Party Nation Judson Phillips and other conservative leaders appeared in Wisconsin to rally support, and with just a couple of days to go before the election, the rhetoric is quickly getting heated.

Throughout the past several months, the main headline regarding the union battle has been the campaign by Wisconsin Republicans– led by Governor Scott Walker to restrict collective bargaining rights. According to Rachel Maddow, the tactic has done nothing but hurt the Republican Party and, she jokes, in part because of its efficiency in generating failure, the bluest of blue states is following suit– Massachusetts.

With the 2012 Presidential race a veritable media circus since the Donald Trump birther parade rolled in, many have been wondering when his temporary eclipsing of presumed frontrunner last year Sarah Palin would end. Searching for a sign, Politico reported today that Palin had redesigned her PAC website, which is “the first move in sometime that will give oxygen to speculation that Palin is planning a presidential run.”

Potential presidential candidate Sarah Palin returned to the spotlight yesterday during a speech to thousands of Tea Party protesters enduring cold April weather in Madison. Wisconsin. Her speech hit the usual notes (and some unusual ones as well) but perhaps the more fiery speech of the day came from Andrew Breitbart, who introduced Palin by saying “We are witnessing the end of community organizing,” and adding. “the silent majority won.” Oh, and he also repeatedly told protesters to “go to hell.” Good times!

Potential presidential candidate Sarah Palin has been eclipsed lately by certain other quizzically-coiffed Republican hopefuls, but she returned to the spotlight today at a Tea Party rally in Wisconsin with more fire and brimstone than the Fox News commentator had given her followers in quite a while. While Palin had a few words for the President and his “solar shingles,” today was all about proving that she didn’t fear the GOP establishment and would accept no compromises.

Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, who has been steadily losing ground among his state’s teachers and growing zombie population, can expect more criticism to come his way now that’s it been revealed that he’s given the son of one of his top 5 donors a position paying $81,500 a year, including a promotion and a 26% raise in just two months’ time, all while Wisconsin continues to wage its very public struggle with state debt.

We’ve all been hearing myriad reports over the past few weeks of protesters demonstrating against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker‘s controversial bill, which effectively limits bargaining rights for most of the state’s unions.

We’ve learned what (for the most part) living, breathing humans on either side of the issue have had to say, but the media would be amiss were it not to seek comment from this nation’s growing zombie population.

The initially Wisconsin-centric, now pan-Midwest union debate in many ways gets at the core of what divides left- and right-wing ideologies: what money should be allocated to and who deserves the most help. It was to this core concern that Rachel Maddow spoke to on her program this Friday, and for that she brought on board a worthy opponent: former RNC chair Michael Steele.

Former Countdown host Keith Olbermann followed his speech at Tuesday’s “An Evening with Keith Olbermann” with a 42-minute Q&A session at Cornelll University’s Bailey Hall. That’s a long time to watch, so we’ve run down some highlights, including a predictable duality in the way he treated one eloquent conservative questioner, versus a nervously verbose member of his liberal choir. That miniature study of human nature, and the rest of the highlights, coming up on Tick-off™.

It’s always interesting to see Stephen Colbert passionately argue a position in character that the real Colbert doesn’t actually agree with. And it’s fascinating to see how passionate guests from either ideology react to this. Colbert plays the character so well that Michael Moore even referred to conservatives as “the people on your side of the fence.”

A deputy prosector in Johnson County, Indiana, has resigned his job after it was revealed that in February, during the large protests in Wisconsin over Gov. Scott Walker‘s anti-public employee union bill, he e-mailed Walker’s office and recommended that they conduct a “false flag operation” — to fake an assault or assassination attempt on Walker in order to discredit the unions and protesters.

A Wisconsin judge has issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the new state law that curbs collective bargaining rights for most public employees. The judge, Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi, granted the restraining order after weeks of protests in Madison and the departure of a group of Democratic lawmakers from the state. The law, signed by Gov. Scott Walker, has not yet gone into effect, and the judge’s order prevents that from happening–for now.

A Democratic district attorney, Ismael Ozanne, has filed suit over the law, arguing that a legislative committee violated Wisconsin’s open meetings law.

One of the Republican state Senators facing a recall campaign in Wisconsin, Sen. Dan Kapanke, has announced that he has been subject to vandalism and death threats as a result of his support for Gov. Scott Walker’s newly passed law curtailing public employee unions — and as a result, is canceling some local events in his district.

The union battle in Wisconsin keeps heating up as Governor Scott Walker managed to sign the controversial bill prohibiting collective bargaining into law, and the loudest voices in politics seem to continue their renewed interest in the fight. Take, for example, Re. Al Sharpton, who visited Judge Andrew Napolitano on Freedom Watch last night to debate the matter. As usual with Sharpton, there was nary a dull moment.

The Daily Show offered us a look into the sweet and/or baller (Kids still say that, right?) pads (or cribs, if you will) of public school teachers with the help of correspondent Samantha Bee.

The teachers enjoyed luxuries like futons, necklaces, not having a TV set, and standing around awkwardly while Bee spoke in ebonics and “made it rain.”