Pennsylvania’s Lieutenant Governor Dies

Pennsylvania tonight mourns the passing of Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll, the first woman to hold that position in the Commonwealth. Ms. Baker Knoll was 78 and was undergoing treatment for cancer at the time of her death. A lifelong Pennsylvania public servant, Ms. Baker Knoll was respected for her many historic achievements but also had to deal with critics who accused her of unusual behavior. Joe Scarnati, Republican President Pro Tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate, now assumes the role of Lieutenant Governor. On a political note, the placement of a Republican as next in line for the governorship virtually eliminates Pennsylvania’s popular Democratic governor, Ed Rendell, as a contender for a Cabinet position under President-elect Barack Obama’s administration.

Empire Strikes Back

As loyal readers will have noticed, these pages have been silent for quite some time, including during the most historic presidential election of my short 20 year lifetime. Not covering the election on a political blog is, I admit, somewhat shameful, and I’ve been flogged accordingly. You can rest assured I talked about it non-stop virtually everywhere else. The reason for my silence has been the sheer amount of work I’ve had to do, which will peak sometime this weekend, I think, and then decline, so look for Empire to start clicking away more frequently in the not-so-distant future. Also, I plan to take the blog in a bit of a different direction, offering more analysis rather than mere news which you could get at a hundred other sources. On a more long-term note, I’ll be in Amman, Jordan this spring and plan to make a concentrated effort to write here regularly about politics, news, and life in the Middle East, as well as keeping abreast of the many goings-on back in the States. But that’s just a teaser of what is to come. Stay tuned!

NOTE: My next post, coming likely within the next week, will be a thorough (hopefully) analysis of the election. Make sure to check it out and give feedback, whether you agree completely, think it’s a load of manure, or anything in between.