From a posting on the D.C. gossip blog, headlined “Bill Richardson & Pals Smash Into Docked Boat, Flee:”

“More wacky late-summer tales, just for you! This one involves New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, the one with the resume, and the corruption. His life has very little purpose right now. That’s a good thing! The man deserves a break from his prison of Ambition, a passion that has kept him busy in hundreds of semi-important government jobs over the years. Now he has time to dance! He also has time to flee boat crashes — you know, like when the boat he’s on demolishes another boat, and destroys a marina in general, and then he and his buddies just pop off and never tell anyone. This is something Bill Richardson has time to do now!”

The Wonkette posting quotes heavily from an NMI report in which a witness to Saturday’s crash at Elephant Butte said Richardson, his chief of staff Brian Condit, budget secretary Katherine Miller and security officers were gone within minutes of the crash and before officers arrived on scene.

“It was like they tucked their heads and said see ya,” Carl Shaw, Jr. told the Independent. “That’s the question, why?”

Ultimately, Condit was cited in the incident, for what amounts to careless boating. No one was injured, but the boat the governor and others were on crashed into another boat and a marina, causing more than $12,000 in damage.

Noting that Condit didn’t talk to authorities until two days after the accident, Wonkette’s posting states that, by that time, “Bill Richardson had long since fled to Outer Space.”

“So unnecessary. It really would’ve made life easier for these people if they’d called the police immediately and paid whatever damages, instead of delving into a hit-and-run cover-up political scandal, for kicks,” the Wonkette posting states.

To be fair, Condit and the owner of the boat, Leon C. Fay of Rio Rancho, have said they take responsibility for the crash. And Richardson says he was napping when it happened.

Regardless, the incident is once again earning the governor and his administration some negative national attention. In addition to the Wonkette posting, a link to NMI’s article is prominently displayed on the home page of Stateline.org and on TalkingPointsMemo.

The move comes after several prominent Republicans dared to cross Limbaugh, then made hasty public apologies.

According to a Media Matters press release, “The conservative movement is breaking down, and the most influential right-wing voice in the media — Rush Limbaugh — has solidified his role as their de facto leader. His proclamation that he “hope[s]” President Obama “fails” started a firestorm that continues to rage. With conservatives dubbing Limbaugh a leader of the conservative movement, Media Matters has launched a new website dedicated to monitoring his commentary and smears.”

But not everyone is taking Limbaugh so seriously. The ultra-snarky Wonkette will NOT LET UP on the guy, who has lately ranked a spot on the site’s top bar (along with Barack Obama, GOP and “lamers”).

Those of you with a very high tolerance for snark (we warned you!) and a healthy dislike of Limbaugh will appreciate posts like this one:

How do you get what’s left of the Republican Party to destroy itself? It sure helps to have some self-obsessed drug-addicted sociopath like Rush Limbaugh as “leader” of the doomed wingnuts! At some point in January, the same Obama strategists who outmaneuvered the Clinton Machine and American Racism noticed that an AM radio jackass beloved by angry white guys in service trucks — who else listens to AM radio, during the workday? — was publicly wishing failure upon both the new Obama Administration and the U.S. Economy. Maybe this bloated oil bag could bring down the entire GOP! Two months later, the plan seems to be working flawlessly…

Yay a new era has dawned in Washington, bipartisanship forever, etc! After Barack Obama’s pudgy comic foil had to renounce the Latino Consolation Prize due to a corruption investigation, people wondered who could possibly replace Bill Richardson. And then the name “Judd Gregg” was floated, and people said, “well, he was pretty good in Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” plus he was a Republican, which meant that sneaky Barack Obama could get Gregg’s Democratic governor to appoint a Democrat to replace him in the Senate without a single Republican noticing!

“Pudgy comic foil?” Ouch. “Latino Consolation Prize?” Ack!

Wonkette has previously mocked Richardson for having a “bum beard” and returning to “beard farming” after losing the commerce post. Before being dumped from Obama’s Cabinet, Wonkette offered this summary of his presidential campaign:

Bill Richardson could’ve been the first Mexican president, and the first Western president since Reagan, and he is a smart dude who flies around the world on Mercy Missions or Diplomatic Things. But he’s a pretty lame campaigner, and is too fond of steak and booze and cigars and the ladies, so he never really had a shot at the nomination, even if he made the funniest campaign commercials.

Uhhh … you probably need a pink iguana chaser right about now, doncha? OK, here’s a video of two guinea pigs eating arugula (or dandelion greens or something) and kissing like the dogs in “Lady and the Tramp.” It’ll make you forget everything:

The largest liberal blog on the Internet, Daily Kos, mostly just posted the prepared remarks of Barack Obama, while the discussion went on in the comments. Commenter The Crank wrote:

The position has been prominent at times, not at others. I’d never quite thought of this as being on the A-list, but I find the idea of an “economic diplomat” an intriguing one. I just hope Richardson has enough warm fuzzies with the business community to really bridge some of the gaps here.

Of course, the fine folks at Fox News wrote that Richardson was rewarded for his allegiance to Barack Obama.

Locally, Democracy for New Mexico noted that Richardson accepted the nomination in English and Spanish.

Mario Burgos asked if Richardson would ” immediately do the right thing and tender his resignation.” Richardson has since said he would stay on until at least January 20; Richardson has not yet been confirmed by the Senate and like Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton, Richardson will hold off on resigning until he is officially confirmed.

Wonkette, the Washington, D.C.-based satirical politics blog, did a liveblog of the press conference. It included this gem:

11:43 AM — Ay carumba, Richardson is speaking Mexican! This is a secret message activating the terrorists!

Speaking of satire, the Kings of Satire, The Onion, sent out on their Twitter feed, “BREAKING: Bill Richardson To Wife: ‘Hey, I Got Commerce!’”

Oh, and the New Mexico Independent is on Twitter at twitter.com/nmindependent.

And in non-Richardson blogging, Duke City Fix shows a new design for the Albuquerque recycling bins now in some neighborhoods. Hint: the “Q” just isn’t enough for “Soy de Burque.”