What a difference a month or two makes – now Iceland is all drama all the time, according to a dispatch in today’s Wall Street Journal about the collapse of the country’s coalition government:

Iceland becomes the second European nation to lose its government in the global crisis — Belgium’s resigned last month after a scandal involving aid to a fallen bank. It is perhaps the world’s hardest hit: Last fall, three big banks — virtually the entire banking system — collapsed, and the island’s currency went into freefall.

The twin currency and banking crises have caused a startlingly swift reversal of fortune for Icelanders, per capita once one of the world’s wealthiest people. Today, inflation and unemployment are soaring, debt is mounting and the banking sector that provided cushy jobs and fueled a consumption boom has vanished.

It’s funny how fortunes turn.

It’s possible to feel some sympathy for the governor in all of this. It’s not like he asked for Kennedy to decide it was time to join her uncle Ted in the Senate – or for the ensuing arm-twisting campaign on her behalf by the most powerful Democrats in Washington.

The Consequences of Paterson’s Bungling | The New York Observer.

An entrepreneur from Indiana (which President Obama won by 1.04 percent) is raising capital to start franchising his conservative coffee shop and “give conservatives a place to feel comfortable and rally around their values.”

All the TVs are tuned to Fox News, and there are four blends on offer: Radical Right, Conservative, Moderate, and Liberal (aka decaf).

Coffee Goes Conservative – News Blog – Daily Brief – Portfolio.com.

A fund controlled by Santander, one of Europe’s biggest banks, heaped praise on Bernard Madoff weeks before his arrest for an alleged $50bn fraud, calling his market timing “impeccable” in a report to investors that lawyers say raises questions about the bank’s risk controls.

Asset managers at the Spanish bank’s Optimal hedge fund investment arm, whose clients were among the biggest losers in the Madoff scandal, told institutional investors they were impressed by Mr Madoff’s ability “to find great entry and exit points to benefit investors”.

FT.com / Companies / Financial Services – Santander fund praised ‘impeccable’ Madoff.

If Mr. Paterson was hoping to quiet the tumult over the selection process by picking Ms. Gillibrand, there were indications that he may not get his wish. Ms. Gillibrand, who has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association, is controversial among some of the party’s more liberal leaders downstate.

Representative Carolyn McCarthy, a Long Island Democrat and ardent gun control activist, said Thursday that if Ms. Gillibrand got the job, she was prepared to run against her in a primary in 2010. Ms. McCarthy was elected to Congress after her husband was killed in a gunman’s rampage on the Long Island Rail Road in 1993.

Paterson Picks Gillibrand for Senate – NYTimes.com.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney must have been dancing in the streets last night when she heard that Caroline Kennedy had dropped out of wanting Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat.

Maloney has made no secret to wanting the promotion herself.

And this morning the New York Democrat was overheard at Bubbles salon, of all places, letting her ambitions be known for all to hear, saying that she’d “be ready from day one” – what a recognizable quote – and that “this isn’t the time for on the job training,” according to someone who overheard the congresswoman.

Shenanigans: Gossip and Lifestyle on Capitol Hill – Politico.com.

She confirmed the news publicly in a statement released shortly after midnight today – hours after The Post exclusively revealed her decision last night.

“I informed Gov. Paterson today that, for personal reasons, I am withdrawing my name from consideration for the United States Senate,” the 51-year-old Camelot daughter said.

CAROLINE’S KAPUT – New York Post.

On board Special Air Mission 28000, I remembered the picture I carried in my pocket on my first Air Force One flight eight years ago. It was an old black-and-white snapshot with scalloped edges. It showed Lyndon Johnson in the Cabinet Room, head in hand, weeping over a Vietnam casualty report. George Christian, LBJ’s press secretary, gave it to me as a reminder that the job could break anyone, no matter how big and tough.

But despite facing challenges and crises few others have, the job did not break George W. Bush. Though older and grayer, his brows more furrowed, he is the same man he was, a person of integrity who did what he believed was right. And he exits knowing he summoned all of his energy and talents to defend America and advance its ideals at home and abroad. He didn’t get everything right — no president does — but he got the most important things right. And that is enough.

Rove: Bush Was Right About Iraq – WSJ.com.

In primetime, Fox’s “American Idol” scored the biggest numbers Tuesday, as auds seemed to tire of inaugural coverage. Sure, ABC did solid numbers for its coverage of the inaugural balls, but news specials on CBS and NBC were not competitive with entertainment programs in their time periods.

Inaugural ratings likely second best – Entertainment News, TV News, Media – Variety.

American’s aren’t too celebrity-obsessed when it comes to our new president. While some people were high-fiving/drinking most of last night, even far away from Washington, many many more American TV watchers were tuend into American Idol.

I.e., “Enough of this politics stuff – tonight, we’re gonna relax, and tomorrow – President Obama – you’re going to work.”

Fidel Castro told Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on Wednesday afternoon that he watched President Barack Obama’s inauguration on TV a day earlier, apparently belying widespread speculation that the Cuban revolutionary had suffered a major relapse or had died, the official Argentina news agency said.

The CNN Wire – Latest updates on top stories – CNN.com Blogs.

• A TiVo’d episode of Sabado Gigante
• Two re-runs of El Tribunal del Gente con Juez Wapner
• Gossip Girl, sadly, without any dubbing, but Castro really likes that Blake Lively so it was OK.