while you were narcotized

Had enough politics yet?

Ready or not, you’re about to get more, courtesy of CNN’s Jon Klein.

The Associated Press’ David Bauder quotes CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein: “There is no question that this political campaign is bewitching viewers,” said Klein. “We’re having so much fun covering it that we wanted to do more of it on the air.”

There is good reason for him to preen, as I mentioned here yesterday. Horse-race coverage is a hit.

Terrorists targeted the U.S. in Lebanon today:

Bomb Targets U.S. Car in Beirut

A bomb evidently meant to destroy an American Embassy car exploded as the vehicle passed by Tuesday, narrowly missing the car but wounding its local Lebanese driver and a fellow passenger and killing at least three civilians traveling in the car behind, according to initial local reports, aid workers at the scene and State Department officials in Washington.

That report comes from the New York Times. The Times itself is making news today. It is expiring:

At post time, The New York Times Company shares are trading at their 52-week low, down 4.82%, or $0.77 at $15.01. Times shares have been having a hard time climbing above the 52-week low since last week’s announcement by Goldman Sachs that the decline of newspapers coincides with a general economic downturn.

Gannett shares were also down at post time 1.62% or $0.56 at $33.36.

| 12:03 PM |

Need any more good news?

It turns out that Pakistan has lost control of the militant groups it once controlled. Wait. Pakistan once controlled militant groups? Now they tell us! Gee, I hope they still have control of those nukes.

Soon, there will be even more Oprah on television.

The channel, which will also be known as OWN, is slated to launch in mid-2009, using cable and satellite distribution now in place for the Discovery Health Channel.

Ms. Winfrey will oversee programming for the channel, although details of program plans aren’t yet decided. The programming will be in Ms. Winfrey’s “own voice,” according to a spokeswoman for Ms. Winfrey, and Ms. Winfrey will be involved on and off camera.

Arianna Huffington reminds Democrats (and the rest of us) that there’s still a war on in Iraq.

Judy Miller is back, and writing for City Journal and the New York Sun.

Britney Spears is utterly lost. It is horrible. Truly.

Pope Benedict is apparently unprepared to face his critics at an Italian university, who object to his views on the Church’s persecution of Galileo in 1663.

Also: the IDF attacked Hamas in Gaza, killing 18 Palestinians, reportedly mostly “militants” and including the son of one of Hamas’s founders. Hamas launched a barrage of rockets into Israel, wounding five. A Hamas sniper shot and killed a worker on an Israeli kibbutz. Welcome to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

George W. Bush’s future son-in-law sounds like a pathetic suck-up. Surprised?