Tuesday Open Thread

Welcome to your Tuesday open thread. Have you recovered from the Superbowl yet? There were a lot of tired-looking people at my workplace yesterday. So, what craziness is going on today?

Well, that was quick! Former Pennsylavania governor Ed Rendell and his wife announced their separation.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and his wife, U.S. Circuit Judge Marjorie Rendell, told friends in an e-mail that they will be “living separately” now that they have left the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg.

The e-mail did not give a reason for the Rendells’ split, nor did it mention the word “divorce.”

I can think of nothing scarier than Ed Rendell dating.

It’s the end of an era. The DLC, the Democratic Leadership Council, is closing its doors for good. I’m sure you’re joining me in saying the DLC was still operating?

The Democratic Leadership Council, the iconic centrist organization of the Clinton years, is out of money and could close its doors as soon as next week, a person familiar with the plans said Monday.

The DLC, a network of Democratic elected officials and policy intellectuals had long been fading from its mid-’90s political relevance, tarred by the left as a symbol of “triangulation” at a moment when there’s little appetite for intra-party warfare on the center-right. The group tried — but has failed — to remake itself in the summer of 2009, when its founder, Al From, stepped down as president. Its new leader, former Clinton aide Bruce Reed, sought to remake the group as a think tank, and the DLC split from its associated think tank, the Progressive Policy Institute.

The DLC is a relic of a bygone era. We’re in a partisan, polarized era right now, so an institute that’s always splitting the difference can get very little attention.