Finally have a relatively open evening, and there’s no more college football. Time to take a big bite out of Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies, the fabulous Tudor historical fiction book I’m reading.
Anyway, here’s what I’ve got left for today:
* An extensive report on the gender-balance hiring record of the Obama administration from the New York Times‘ Annie Lowrey. White House itself very balanced, but out in the agencies, the record is much better than Bush’s but no better than Clinton’s.
* Via Brother Benen, Ohio’s former governor Ted Strickland will not challenge John Kasich in 2014.
* At TNR, Norm Ornstein says 2012 ushered in the first “golden age of liberal senators” since the post-Watergate class of 1974.
* At Ten Miles Square, Jamie Malanowski remembers the late Richard Ben Cramer, who wrote probably the last great Big Presidential Campaign Book, What It Takes, covering 1988, often hilariously.
* At College Guide, Daniel Luzer reports the M.B.A. is no longer a ticket straight to the upper-middle class, much less riches.
And in non-political news:
* Kanye ‘n’ Kim are reportedly spending $11 million on a new house, or “baby crib,” as TMZ’s url for the post puts it. You know, Kim Kardashian, the best-known representative of a family that has managed to become far less popular than Congress. The gig sure pays well, though.
In closing today, I enjoyed the Alabama Shakes song in the Daylight Video so much that I thought an encore was in order: “You Ain’t Alone,” suggested by my friend the football blogger Senator Blutarsky. If you are totally immune to Brittany Howard’s voice, you need a soul supplement.
Selah.
