Is Glenn Beck’s time in the media klieg lights coming to a close? The latest Nielsen numbers reveal that Beck’s audience is down nearly 30% since the start of the year. But why the drop (if, indeed, there even is one)? Is the country growing bored of chalkboards, or is the larger issue that the nation is merely out-Becking Glenn Beck?

What is going on over at the House tonight? We’re getting conflicting reports about Rep. Charlie Rangel, chairman (or possibly now ex-chairman) of the House Ways and Means Committee. While the question of whether or not Rangel did violate ethical boundaries is no longer up for debate, but whether or not he’ll have to give up his chairmanship is.

Twas the crack of dawn before Christmas, and one hundred angry, vitriolic politicians have aroused themselves at the crack of dawn in order to vote on the health care reform bill that most of the nation may or may not understand, but are willing to fight about anyway! In a last minute Christmas spiritish move the Senate moved the vote from 8am to 7am in order to let everyone attempt to get home for Christmas. Here’s the view from Twitter thus far.

Just this week the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA), which runs the White House pool has started letting Talking Points Memo, Salon, and the HuffPo in to share the pool duty. A number of establishment people are up in arms about “blurring the line between news and punditry even further.” Should we be worried the inmates are taking over the (clubby) asylum?

Muammar el-Qaddafi/Gadhafi/Gaddafi/Qadhafi addressed the UN today, and his speech was a doozy. And at 90 minutes long perhaps best viewed from Twitter, which courtesy of some well-established media types was distilled it down to its very best parts…with one or two embellishments. It makes for a great read.