Senator Max Baucus has, at the age of 69, proposed to Melodee Hanes – the woman he had previously recommended as Montana’s U.S. Attorney while the two were living together. Talking Points Memo shares that the Democrat popped the question over Christmas in Montana’s capital, Helena. Hanes and Baucus’ relationship has, understandably, been one rocked [...]

I finally got around to watching the now-famous (thanks to Drudge) video of Democratic Montana Senator Max Baucus’ tirade on the Senate floor, which the right has touted as evidence of the Senator’s intoxication. That’s a pretty serious accusation, and one that would normally require better corroboration than this. In my search for another explanation, I discovered an alternate theory that actually springs from the left: Baucus’ speech has been affected by a head injury.

A number of conservative websites are claiming that Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) was guilty of orating under the influence on the Senate floor. A newly viral video depicts Baucus speaking on the Senate floor, while making irregular gesticulations, odd pauses and slurring of words. Some are claiming that the recent torrid pace brought about by the Health Care vote has exhausted the Senate body, and is the reason behind this, and other odd behavior.

Senator Max Baucus‘ appointment of his girlfriend, Melodee Hanes, to the office of U.S. Attorney has the markings of a bona fide political scandal, yet the media’s coverage has been lukewarm. When Howard Kurtz asked why this might be on Reliable Sources, here was the answer he resoundingly got: the scandal wasn’t sexy enough.

On Thursday, former President Bill Clinton was asked if he would attend the Little Rock C.A.R.E. free clinic today. Rather than simply begging off of the event with the usual non-answer boilerplate about scheduling conflicts, he decided to slam Keith Olbermann for “politicizing” the event, saying Olbermann was “not helpful.” While it’s tempting to applaud President Clinton’s courage in standing up to Olbermann, I’m going to pass.

In June, I wrote a story that raised big questions about the value of the government’s $80 billion deal with Big Pharma, and wondered if the deal came with the trade-off of killing legislation that would enable the government to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies for lower prices. Such a trade-off would be indefensible. That [...]