Today’s papers report -- “Placing Their Bets,” by Suzette Parmley in the Philadelphia Inquirer and “Five Investor Groups Apply for City Casino Licenses,” by Chris Brennan in the Philadelphia Daily News -- that at least five companies will vie for the two available permits for slots parlor operations in Philadelphia, a group that includes some of the usual suspects -- separately, Donald Trump and Foxwoods -- and a few surprises, including an entity calling itself Sugar House Gaming.

Just one question: Any, um, bets how many years the two eventual “winners” in Philadelphia, along with their companions running similar enterprises of state-sponsored theft around this state, will “endure,” under what they no doubt will call “great hardship,” before they start complaining -- and lobbying to the effect that -- they aren’t making, and that they won’t and they just can’t make enough money from slot machines alone, and therefore that they have to, they just must, be allowed to install the full gamut of casino table games in order to earn a decent profit, this ill-defined number cast as a “reasonable return” to “stakeholders,” and a figure I’m sure they will aver is needed to “remain competitive with other ‘gaming’ alternatives in the region,” the region in question extending from Atlantic City, N.J., all the way to Connecticut, north, and Mississippi, south, if not to Nevada, west, and beyond?

I’m giving it two years, tops.

Mark my words now: This has been, is, will be, and will have been a huge mistake from the get-go, one we will regret for decades to come.

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It’s difficult at any time of year to supply this blog with fresh and frequent commentary, and all the more so in late December. And so, in order to take a little of the pressure off, I’ll say now that posting likely will be infrequent, even erratic, until the new year. Enjoy the best of the season.

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Obituaries from the New York Times:

Jack Anderson.

William Proxmire.

John Spencer.

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Sadly, you cannot see the image online, and so instead pick up a copy of the December 26 issue of The Nation in order not to miss “The Torture Administration,” by Anthony Lewis -- Still going strong at, what, eighty-something? -- and particularly the accompanying graphic by Eric Baker, a mélange of images of President Disregard the Constitution and All Sorts of Laws and Vice President Not-So-Great Teeth and a Quivering, Misformed Lower Lip Besides.

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Eugene McCarthy, Washington, D.C.: former Minnesota congressman and senator, presidential aspirant, and author, 1916-2005:

A sampling of obituaries honoring McCarthy:

New York Times.

Washington Post.

Los Angeles Times.

Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

St. Paul Pioneer Press.

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I won’t tell you what word Merriam-Webster reports was looked up at its web site more often than any other in 2005, I’ll just give you that dictionary’s definition:

1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility

2 : an unimpaired condition : soundness

3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided : completeness

synonym see honesty

Adam Gorlick, writing for the Associated Press, explores the significance of the popularity of this word in this particular year.

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A New York Times business reporter I respected greatly, Constance L. Hays, recently passed away, as noted here yesterday.

I saw her obituary in the back pages of the Philadelphia Inquirer, before I saw the same piece in the Times. I was shocked and saddened to read the news.

I always think almost everyone is older than I am. I am particularly prone to thinking so when it comes to talented writers, a group writ large the membership in which Hays so deservedly earned her highest position. Hays, though, was roughly my age, and I didn’t know that until she expired, a too-early decease stemming from what is called cancer.

I don’t know why I’m writing this right now, except to say that for years I knew and appreciated Hays to be, and for being, an exceptional reporter, smart and fair and all that, and with I being a tough audience, I was all the more impressed by her work, particularly when Hays was assigned to cover the trials of Martha Stewart, a woman greatly respected around these parts, and had that endeavor been assigned to a lesser talent, well, you would have heard an awful lot from me.

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Constance L. Hays: the excellent New York Times business reporter and author (The Real Thing: Truth and Power at the Coca-Cola Company), 1961[!]-2005.

Kalman Ruttenstein: fashion director of Bloomingdale’s and former president of Bonwit Teller, 1936-2005.

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It’s not just me, a fact that doesn’t surprise. There are plenty of Democrats disappointed with Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) and his unremitting support for the White House and its failed war on Iraq, and it’s all over today’s papers.

In “Lieberman’s Iraq Stance Brings Widening Split With His Party,” New York Times reporters Raymond Hernandez and William Yardley write:

Five years after running as the vice-presidential nominee on the Democratic ticket and a year after his own presidential bid, . . . Lieberman . . . has become an increasingly unwelcome figure within his party, with some Democrats seeing him more as a wayward son than a favorite son.

They report Sen. Lieberman is held in low regard by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and note a possible challenge from former governor and senator Lowell P. Weicker Jr., discussed earlier this week. And there’s more:

Mr. Lieberman faces trouble in other quarters in his home state. Although few elected Democrats would criticize him publicly, several Democratic activists promised retaliation at the polls.

James H. Dean, brother of Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, lives in Connecticut and heads Democracy for America, a group that is gathering signatures on the Internet for a letter that criticizes the senator.

An aide to James Dean said he and others from the group would deliver the letter to Mr. Lieberman’s office in Hartford on Tuesday. The aide said the letter had 30,000 signatures.

Other Democratic activists warned that they might try to organize a primary challenge against Mr. Lieberman, specifically because of his position on the war.

Tom Matzzie, the Washington director for MoveOn.org, a liberal advocacy group with 10,000 members in Connecticut, said it would consider a challenge if the right candidate came along.

Meanwhile, in today’s Washington Post, Shailagh Murray makes the same points in “Lieberman Wins Republican Friends, Democratic Enemies With Support for War,” and adds:

The administration, on the other hand, can’t stop gushing over Lieberman. Vice President [Dick] Cheney called him “a fine U.S. senator,” and Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman contrasted him with his “retreat and defeat” Democratic colleagues. White House spokesman Scott McClellan cited Lieberman, the Democrats’ 2000 vice presidential nominee, as an exception in a party otherwise “trying to score political points off the situation.”

There have even been rumors that Lieberman is being considered as a replacement for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, if the embattled Pentagon boss retires. Lieberman dismisses the speculation as a “Washington fantasy.” But he caused tongues to wag when he had breakfast with Rumsfeld at the Pentagon on Thursday.

The question seems to be turning toward motives: Is Sen. Lieberman pursuing what’s best for the country, the party, or himself?

I’d be pleased to see Sen. Lieberman go to the Pentagon. It’s a better place for him -- a better place for us to have him -- than the U.S. Senate.

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Teri Garr, actress, frequent crossword puzzle answer, and author, most recently of Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood, on her book and living with multiple sclerosis, speaking on the weekend edition of Fresh Air with Terry Gross:

I was going to call this book, Does This Wheelchair Make Me Look Fat?

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A little bit more about my bulldog.

Below are the Top-Ten Nicknames for Mildred, in ascending order of daily usage in and around this household:

10. Madame Massive Snoozer.

9. The Drool Machine.

8. Miss No Tail.

7. You Crazy Greenie Hog.

6. You Big Girl.

5. Mildie.

4. Mildud.

3. Pookey Pot.

2. Pookey.

And, Number One, my most favored, most often used, most often relied upon nickname:

1. Bunny.

By way of background, and to prevent some really uncomfortable interchanges should we ever meet on the street, anywhere: Under no circumstances whatsoever shall Mildred be referred to as “Millie,” the name the parents of the current occupant -- and I mean that -- of the White House gave to one of their ugly mutts.

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This morning I caught Marty Moss-Coane’s excellent program Radio Times on WHYY Radio (Philadelphia, 90.9 FM), the second hour of which was devoted to discussing and, what the heck, let’s just say so, promoting, Double Down, this season’s holiday offering from Philadelphia’s 1812 Productions, featuring Scott Greer and Tony Braithwaite.

I haven’t seen Double Down, but Green and Braithwaite were hilarious on Moss-Coane’s program. And Marty did quite well herself playing a nurse in a skit the three performed on air.

I hear from WHYY promos this evening that the station will rebroadcast this segment at 11:00 p.m. tonight.

You should make a point of catching the program, and if you can, seeing the show at the Adrienne Theatre, and maybe buying me a ticket.

(I was just kidding about that ticket part.)

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Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) this week launched “an internet event” he’s calling “Pick a Progressive Patriot,” an online vote that will determine to whom the senator will next offer financial support though his political action committee, the Progressive Patriots Fund.

Based upon a list of nominees suggested from web readers, Sen. Feingold has selected 11 challengers to incumbent lawmakers, and the candidate who receives the most votes by midnight December 14 will receive a $5,000 contribution from the PPF.

The competitors include: Francine Busby (Calif., 50th District), Chris Carney (Pa., 10th), John Courage (Texas, 21st), Brad Ellsworth (Indiana, 8th), Nick Lampson (Texas, 22nd), Patricia Madrid (N.M., 1st), Lois Murphy (Pa., 6th), Coleen Rowley (Minn., 2nd), Heath Shuler (N.C., 11th), Tim Walz (Minn., First), and Peter Welch (Vt., At-large).

Don’t just sit here, go over to the PPF home page and cast your vote to “Pick [Your] Progressive Patriot.”

And don’t let the fact that I voted for Lois Murphy to sway you in any way.

I’m sure they’re all worthy.

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Two more disturbing reports in the news today and about kids -- including really young kids -- and drugs, more often than not drugs not their own:

Daycare workers yesterday found 11 packets of crack cocaine in the pockets of a two-year-old Philadelphia boy, and, separately and later in the day, two more boys, ages seven and eight, were found with what was suspected to be cocaine at the city’s Elkins Elementary School.

In case you’re not keeping track at home, these latest incidents come just a month after eight bags of heroin were found in a kindergartner’s pockets at Philadelphia’s Richmond Elementary School. Parents, guardians, or nearby adults are presumed to be to blame in each incident.

For more, see “Show and Tell: Children Lead Police to Drugs,” by Barbara Boyer and Stephanie L. Arnold in the Philadelphia Inquirer and “2-year-old Brings Crack to Day Care,” by Simone Weichselbaum in the Philadelphia Daily News.

Meanwhile, across the river in upscale Moorestown, N.J., a high-school student was charged with trying to build a methamphetamine lab in her parents’ home. Her mother called authorities after noticing a strange odor in the house, the Inquirer reports.

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