If the Kennedy mystique and money do not overwhelm New York Gov. David Paterson and persuade him to appoint Caroline Kennedy for the two remaining years of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s term, a former Catholic priest just might.

The political world was set on its ear last week by the report that Caroline Kennedy might be interested in Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat in New York.

Last week’s Bloomberg News report that the Federal Reserve had pledged/backed up/loaned $7.6 trillion — yes, that is trillion — to shore up our faltering national economy, opened a whole new set of previously unanswered questions:

Nancy Pelosi wants to call the House back for an emergency lame-duck session of Congress next week primarily to address the dire situation facing General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.

A quick sum up of what happened on Tuesday . . . then, let's move on to the future — for the nation, the Republican Party, and the conservative movement.