Sort of.

First the backstory: The New York Times is reporting that New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has been recorded meeting up with a prostitute thanks to a federal wiretap. (Hat tip Patriot Act?) 

While Spitzer hasn’t resigned (yet), if (read: when) he does, he’ll be replaced by David Paterson, CC ’77, making Paterson New York’s first black governor.   Some background on Paterson: he’s the first black Lieutenant Governor of New York and he’s legally blind.  And, by all appearances, he’s on SIPA’s faculty.

Statement from the Columbia Dems forthcoming after the jump.

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Bwog editor Pierce Stanley hops a lecture on the national stage, and wonders why more Columbians aren’t doing the same.

Come Presidential election time, Lerner Piano Lounge transforms into a hotbed of political activity, with Columbia’s political organizations frequently hosting watch parties for important debates, election returns, and speeches made by the candidates. This celebration of all things political in one of Lerner Hall’s strangest rooms always comes with the added benefit of loads of handouts of free Famiglia pizza. However, last night was a quite the exception, as the College Dems hosted a watch party in the piano lounge for the twentieth (and perhaps final) debate between the contenders for the Democratic nomination for President. With the Democratic nomination just about sealed up by the new front-runner, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, last night’s debate watch party was a decidely low-key affair, attended by only a mere spattering of debate faithfuls. Perhaps this lack of enthusiasm by Columbia students for last night’s MSNBC debate is indicative of the current state of the race on a much broader level. Perhaps, this race is all but wrapped up, and its only a short time until Hillary decides to concede before risking destroying her political future.

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‘Tis the season to be jolly, and what makes people jollier than politics? The Democrats and Republicans are getting their fix these next few days before finals set in.

Tonight, the Democrats are running a Maucus, a mock version of the Iowa caucus. Centuries ago, Roman emperor and CC author Maucus Aurelius was named one of the “Five Good Emperors” by fellow CC author Nikolai Machiavelli. Tonight, the Dems will choose their candidate to be the next U.S. president. They will also serve dinner. This will all go down at The James Room in Barnard Hall.

Tomorrow, however, the Democrats will not be giving things away, but instead will be on College Walk soliciting signatures for a petition. The goal is to repeal a bill passed earlier this year that has resulted in rising birth control rates. In order to illustrate what they need to control, the Dems will be scaring passersby with a “huge baby doll.”

And what better way to wake up Friday morning than “breakfast with John Bolton”? At 10:00 am, the recent US Ambassador to the UN will be in Lerner 555. Bolton will be giving a talk and signing his book, Surrender is Not an Option. It’s 34% off on Amazon, and could make a great Christmas present.

Thank you, Anthony Pucillo, for exposing the sheer ridiculousness of self-promoting student authors!
Unless, of course, you were serious.

When Bwog first saw this poster, it rejoiced: the librarians actually care about us! They want us to sleep and sit in the sun and live healthy lives! Actually, they just want us to get our shit out of their reading rooms.

The Dems’ delightfully self-important poster answers the age-old question: How do you build a bridge to the 21st century? With a lot of tools.