Plus: The blazing arrow from mayoral philandering to ... traffic jams.

We don't kill no widows in these parts: Note to NYT's Andrew Adam Newman: That's  my quote, buddy--which explains why Steven den Beste, to whom you attribute it,  had those two little marks  on either end.... P.S. This is the classic sort of error usually introduced by an editor trying to save space. Print editors do have to save space. But web editors don't. That's a major, unremarked virtue of blogs over newspapers when it comes to the newspaper's alleged unique selling proposition: accuracy. In fact, the need to fit copy to a limited space is a powerful error-creating machine in both dailies and magazines. Harried print editors compress, and get it wrong. Or they fool around trying to simplify attribution and get it wrong. Or they guiltlessly edit quotes within quotation marks and (by definition) get them wrong. ... In cyberspace,, if it takes one more line to get it right, you can take one more line. I haven't killed a widow in so long I've forgotten what it feels like. ... [You're just pissed off they gave your quote to den Beste, but to avoid seeming petty you had to dress it up with a Larger Point--ed Worked out well, I thought.]

P.S.--He'll be tasked with launching the new "Upward Failure" section: At least the LAT didn't just promote the unpopular editor who (it is alleged) gratuitously killed a perfectly good Patrick Goldstein column  last week, presumably because it might upset the paper's beleagured business side! Oh, wait. Meet Managing Editor Until Zell, John Montorio! ... 9:41 P.M. link

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The Iowa Way! Tom Bevan on Bill Richardson:

I'm beginning to think Bill Richardson possesses some sort of Jedi-mind trick capability, which would explain not only why he's been able to convince vicious dictators to do his bidding but also why he continues to rise in the polls despite some sub par debate performances and an incoherent appearance on Meet the Press that might have derailed other candidates.

Richardson's latest knee-slapper was his assertion yesterday that Iowa is one of the Top 10 states in the country at risk of a terrorist attack.

Give him credit: It's not easy to invent a new way to pander to Iowans. ... But it's worth it because of the brilliant candidate-picking judgment the state's caucusers have shown over the years. ... Update: Iowa ex-governor Tom Vilsack criticizes Obama for criticizing Clinton. "It's not the Iowa way." The Iowa Way! What's the Iowa Way again? Oh, right--never be mean to another Democrat in a way that might reveal his or her flaws or ability to respond under fire! That way you can make an uninformed and disastrous gut choice at the last minute. ... 12:56 P.M.

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Another party I'm not invited to. And you aren't either: Vlogging fogey lashes out at ur-whippersnapper Ezra Klein, upon learning that Klein has created a private Townhouse-like email group where liberal bloggers and editors hash out issues before they let the public in on the discussion. ... P.S.: Yes, I have private email discussions too, and there are probably some advantages in having these talks in front of a group instead of one-on-one. (If, say, Sidney Blumenthal emails five leftish bloggers privately, all five might think they have an exclusive. If they compare notes, they won't.). But the innovative virtue of Web journalism, I've always thought, is that it makes the back and forth process of argument and investigation relatively transparent to everyone. If the Klein Klub succeeds, isn't there a threat that it will a) compromise independence, in part because participants will always worry if they are using something that should be kept private and will feel they owe the other members; b) will encourage groupthink, as everyone works out the tacit party line before presenting it to their sheeple-like readers; c) encourage propgandism (see (b)); and d) become the place where the real conversation happens, a conversation the non-elite public isn't privy to. ... P.P.S.: Who's in the Klein Klub? Have they published a list of names? The sheeple demand to know at least that! ... P.P.P.S.: Chait, I know you're in it. Who else? ... 3:55 P.M. link

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Did Lindsay Lohan really say,  "I can't get in trouble. I'm a celebrity. I can do whatever the f**k I want." It seems too ... pure. 3:19 P.M.