Another Ohio Valley Thursday...

Please say a prayer for Marcia Lieberman. The Senator's mother is not in the best of health right now.

Michigan legislator got very busy after introducing a bill. In his defense, Bill O'Reilly was calling him out on television.

State Sen. Virg Bernero's legislation attracted the attention of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which airs daily on Comedy Central. The Lansing Democrat was interviewed Wednesday afternoon by Samantha Bee, a "correspondent" for the satirical newscast.

Bernero's bill would ban employers from firing workers who engage in legal activities off the job, unless it poses a conflict of interest or hurts the company. It was prompted by four smokers who lost their job at a suburban Lansing company because they didn't quit smoking outside of work.

Bernero said he has only seen the work of the show's host, Jon Stewart.

"If it makes me look foolish or whatever, I can live with it," Bernero told The State News, the Michigan State University student newspaper. "With a guy like me, I try not to take myself too seriously. But I hope it gets the issue out."

Bee promised the joke would not be on the lawmaker.

I cannot wait until that piece is aired.

Family members getting paid to do campaign work. I know a fuss was made but there are people on both sides of the aisle getting paid to fund-raise.

The Forward comments on something that broke at Politics1.com. I'm glad it did break.

Rep. John Conyers of Michigan — the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus — appeared March 23 as featured speaker at an event in Detroit sponsored by the LaRouche Political Action Committee, according to a report on the Web site Politics1.com.

Conyers "wasn't aware" that LaRouche has made antisemitic comments, said a Conyers spokesman who declined to be named because he feared being hassled by LaRouche's minions. "He was surprised by them. He's denouncing those comments. He wouldn't speak before those groups until they renounce antisemitism."

The Anti-Defamation League has published reports on what it describes as the antisemitic facets of the politics of LaRouche, a onetime Maoist and perennial fringe presidential candidate whose writings feature conspiracy theories involving Jews and others. LaRouche, who was convicted of tax evasion, denies being an antisemite.

Politics1.com linked to a LaRouche Web site that printed Conyers's speech at the Detroit gathering. It also reported that Mississippi State Rep. Erik Fleming, another black Democrat and so far the only 2006 challenger to Republican Senator Trent Lott, has gone "on LaRouche-sponsored junkets" and "introduced candidate LaRouche at a campaign rally."

The national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, said about LaRouche, "There was a time when ignorance was an excuse, but that time had passed: "There's no excuse. The man is a felon, a bigot. His organization is off the wall. It thrives on conspiracy theories. For a person in public life not to have their staff do the work...."

Ron, you just got two shout-outs for the price of one.

Lincoln Chafee calls Bolton out but will confirm him.

The soft-spoken Chafee said Bolton is "absolutely not" the best choice for the job. He compared Bolton's temperament to that of bombastic New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

"It's not my style. I don't endorse it, but that doesn't mean it can't be successful for some people," Chafee said.

Lewis Black: "Two Jews walk into a bar...Michael Jackson."