Wow, I was having lunch today and CNN and later Fox was on, and later away from the intertubes. And what do I find when I check in? Everything I heard the political reporters at CNN and Fox say turned out to be not true. I'm shocked.

First: Carville can find a new boy. I guess Ford knows he's a loser after all.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. declared Monday he has no interest in chairing the Democratic National Committee, tamping down speculation he would challenge current chairman Howard Dean for the post.

"I have just finished a tough Senate election, and while I care about the future direction of my party, I am not interested in taking over the DNC," the Tennessee Democrat said in a statement released by his campaign. "We are now the majority party in the House and Senate, and it is time to move beyond the politics of the campaign and work towards bringing the country together around a common agenda that will strengthen us at home and abroad."

Carville should just switch sides and shut up, or at least admit that it's pointless for actual Democrats to pay attention to what he says.

Here's who will be setting the agendas:

Agriculture: Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa
Appropriations: Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia
Armed Services: Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan
Banking: Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut
Commerce: Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii
Energy: Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-New Mexico
Environment Public Works: Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California
Finance: Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana
Foreign Relations: Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts
Homeland and Government Affairs: Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut
Judiciary: Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont
Intelligence: Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia
Budget: Sen. Kent Conrad, D-North Dakota
Aging: Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wisconsin
Veterans: Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii
Small Business: Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts
Rules: Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-California
Joint Economic: Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York
Indian Affairs: Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-North Dakota

Gosh, the "independent Democrat" gets a chair but not the "Democratic Socialist?" I'm so surprised. Actually, putting him in charge of the hookers and limos Fatherland security oversight is not as bad as it could be. Biden at Foreign Relations makes me puke in my mouth a little bit, though.

Also, Goddard is putting money on Murtha, and links to some useful stuff about how Murtha has evolved from Blue Dog to Progressive Hero. I've stressed before that I'm not sure progressives should put all their hopes on Murtha, and I hope that if he doesn't get the position, people don't fall for the line I've seen all over of late, "It's a blow to Pelosi she'll never recover from." In the scheme of things, most Americans hardly know or care beyond the very top members of Party leadership, and once the dust settles will forget the names of the ones they do know while election news is still big in the cycle. Short version: progressives need to remember who are heroes really are, and keep the pressure on those who the media annoints for us as "what we want."

As if the bobbleheads would know.

Update: Take this with a grain of salt, as I can't find it on the AIPAC website. But it sounds right to me:

AIPAC Builds Ties With New Lawmakers
AIPAC reached nearly every lawmaker elected in Tuesday’s mid-term congressional elections as part of its effort to educate political candidates on the value of the U.S.-Israel relationship. During the campaign that ended Tuesday, nearly every viable candidate met with AIPAC professional staff members and submitted a position paper summarizing his or her views on U.S. Middle East policy. A non-partisan organization, AIPAC has for decades worked with Republican and Democratic members of Congress to strengthen the ties between the United States and Israel.

So sayeth Kurt. If you're wondering what they could've been talking about in these "educational" discussions, you can read about it here. Short version: these are not the folks we should be looking to as we craft the exit strategy in Iraq, or negotiate sensible policy with Iran, or frankly, anything that we're trying to be successful and thrifty in as we make our way in the Middle East.