BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

As one of the very VERY few people I have ever actively campaigned for, I'd be happy to see Spitzer come back. Patterson is doing so poorly though, I doubt Eliot would run for Gov. Why? Personal of course. While I find his hooker habit disgusting, Spitzer's office was very helpful, supportive and acted for me during an incident I had in 2004. They listened and got me to the proper authorities. I can only hope he's learned his lesson... but in my humble opinion, he's a brilliant politican and we need people like him right now. By MAGGIE HABERMAN Disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been privately talking with friends about a possible comeback, and is considering a run for statewide office next year, several sources told The Post. Less than 18 months after he left Albany in a prostitution scandal, Spitzer has held informal discussions in recent weeks about the possibility of making a bid for state comptroller or the US Senate seat currently held by Kirsten Gillibra...

by Charlie Cook The political community's reaction to Alaska Republican Gov. Sarah Palin's announcement that she would resign on July 26 was swift, withering and very nearly unanimous. It's hard to dispute that Palin handled the announcement badly, but was her decision to resign really crazy, or just unexpected, with the press reacting to an unorthodox move by declaring it insane? First, look at the issue of not seeking re-election in 2010 and work back. A good case can be made that seeking a presidential nomination has become an extraordinarily difficult undertaking in terms of organization-building, fundraising and cultivating the relationships necessary to win. And perhaps doing that well and being an effective governor are mutually exclusive. Would Palin really get that many more "experience points" for sticking around Juneau, if it meant missing a lot of gripping and grinning at Lincoln Day dinners and other state and local party functions? Since Bill Clinton...

by Mark Steyn With respect to many of the Palinologists below, I think they're getting way too hepatomantic over the entrails. As a political move for anything other than the 2010 Senate race, today's announcement is a disaster. And I'm not sure it's a plus for the Senate - and, even if it were, the manner and timing suggest it was not a professionally planned event and therefore is unlikely to have any grand strategy behind it. So Occam's Razor leaves us with: Who needs this? In states far from the national spotlight, politics still attracts normal people. You're a mayor or a state senator or even the governor, but you lead a normal life. The local media are tough on you, but they know you, they live where you live, they're tough on the real you, not on some caricature cooked up by a malign alliance of late-night comics who'd never heard of you a week earlier and media grandees supposedly on your own side who pronounce you a "cancer". Then sud...

Merciful Creator - Hear my Prayer For the love of all that's good and holy for Israel and its people... PLEASE HELP INDICT OLMERT. I Trust That You, Almighty Lord, Have a Hand in the Current Situation and Will Continue to do What is Necessary to Protect Israel. Amen. (and thanks in advance!) By YAAKOV LAPPIN The man at the center of a criminal investigation that could bring down Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Morris (Moshe) Talansky, is a 75-year-old millionaire financier from Long Island, New York. Talansky is an Orthodox Jew who has engaged in extensive philanthropy in Israel, and owns an apartment in Jerusalem. Both he and Olmert jointly founded the New Jerusalem Fund, a charity aimed at raising money for projects in the capital. The charity has offices both in Jerusalem and New York. The New Jerusalem Fund 's Web site has mysteriously gone off-line in recent days. In the US, Talansky has contributed funds to high-profile politicians from both the Democratic and Republican...

Eliot, I accept your apology. I won't forget your behavior and hypocrisy but I am starting to forgive because of the stand-up way you've handled everything Because you did something very few men who get caught do. YOU OWNED YOUR BEHAVIOR. You didn't deny or act like it didn't happen. You didn't project that you were targetted and harrassed. You didn't put it all out there because of your family, that's understandable - but you admitted you did something wrong and you showed a lot of class in resigning. Now, work with your wife to heal your marriage, please. And don't cover up or smear anyone involved in this investigation. You seem to be a guy who made a HUGE mistake rather than one of the pathologicals running rampant in politics (and many other places) today. FACE those you hurt, admit what you did, ask their forgiveness, make amends, reframe the relationship, realize some people will never trust you again or ever get over it, but move forward...

CAUTION ADVISED WHEN MAKING FANTASY TAPES! When I read this I was stunned. I really thought I was old enough and had been through enough that nothing would shock me. But some things still do. First this guy was a Judge. A judge who presided over divorces and child custody. The things you hear in those kinds of cases are pretty raw stuff. Second, I strong suspect this judge is a narcissistic sex addict. The bottom article should illuminate exactly why I think that. But this statement in the first article below was a huge clue: Hagler was relaxed and smiling at times during Wednesday's hearing. He said during a break that he had not heard the tape in the hands of police and could not be sure it was the one he recorded. "I hope it's my voice," he said. Always a huge red flag when someone is that flip, glib and denying with such bravado. A really ginormous red flag. We all have our private fantasies and sexual preferences. Fair enough. I have no desire to know abo...

DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YA' WHERE THE GOOD LORD SPLIT YA' He resigned. And Chimpy says Gonzo was smeared and badly treated. Gonzo's work was IMPEDED by those who asked questions and wanted answers. Boo flippin' hoo. It's ok for Gonzo, Chimpy and Darth Cheney to smear, lie, torture, out CIA operatives but - if someone gives them a taste of their own medicine or HEAVEN FORBID: ASK THEM FOR ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THEIR ACTIONS!... why the Little White House of Malignant Narcissism blows a fuse, stamps their feet and cries foul. Where have I heard this before? HERE and HERE and HERE And ESPECIALLY HERE! One of my favorite lefty radio personalities ( I get him on Sirius now ) has the below to say. I am off to worry about Chertoff or some other wackjob getting that job with Chimpy's team now. : The Departed. by Mike Malloy Who'd a thunk it? Alberto "Torture Memo" Gonzales quit and Chucklenutz actually accepted his resignation. The announcement i...

ROVE RESIGNED? HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY! I tried so hard not to do the happy dance here. We still have Chimpy and Dead-Eye Dick to contend with, and Rove has left the Administration with a mess in Iraq and an economy that's tanking to contend with. They can credit him with his exploiting the Religious Right and engineering voting manipulation. Now let's see if he gets immunity from the investigations currently ongoing. But this kind of slime always pops up some place else. Some other political garbage scow is probably in his sights right now. He'll "put his feet up in September and think about that"? Wow, do I smell a big, stinkin'. remorseless Destructive Narcissist ? Why, yes I do. Someone follow him out with the Febreze, please. Still, allow me a few moments of happy dancing. While I dance, read on: Top White House aide Karl Rove to resign at end of month Top White House political adviser Karl Rove, who masterminded President George W. Bush's politica...

NOW THAT TRUST IS GONE, CAN OLMERT GET IT BACK? Speaking what I percieve emotionally ( because that is how I react to things and what I work with all the time) PM Olmert has broken trust with the people of Israel. He's full steam ahead and hoping to recover but can he? Will he just turn a blind eye and pretend everything's fine like President Bush? Or since he's determined to hang in there for a few difficult months (probably) since the Winograd Report can he do the hard and painful task of regaining some measure of Israel's trust? Emotional reactions to broken trust with a politician, much like in our personal lives is often composed of some mixture of anger, disappointment, and/or frustration at oneself for trusting and at the offender, in this case Olmert, for exploiting that trust. Olmert's credibility, much like President Bush's - is shot. Poor judgment and ego did that for them - and neither has truly owned up to it. (Bush never will, in my opinion he...