In his part-time gig as an analyst on Comcast SportsNet's "Eagles Post-Game Live," Gov. Ed Rendell, at right, called the Eagles' performance in Sunday's 13-13 tie with the Cincinnati Bengals "Pathetic, with a capital P."

Well, if anyone would know pathetic, it would be Rendell. After all, he's the leader of one of the most pathetic states in the country regarding economic development, jobs, taxes, roads, etc.

Gov. Ed Rendell announced this morning that he plans to serve out the rest of his term that ends in January 2011, rather than pursue a Cabinet position in the Obama administration. That is sad news for taxpayers in the state.

Of course, Rendell, at right, probably called Obama's people to see what he could do, was told he wasn't being considered, and to save face announced he wasn't interested in joining the Cabinet -- at least until his term is over.

Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo said the state's political factors played a role in the governor's decision. Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll, next in line for governor, is battling cancer. If she couldn't serve, the line of command goes to Joseph Scarnati, the president Pro Tempore of the Republican-led state Senate.

It took a while, but Pennsylvania finally has a statewide smoking ban.

Gov. Ed Rendell, at right in an Associated Press photo, signed the Clean Indoor Air Act into law Friday morning at a business in Ambler, Montgomery County. The law will take effect in 90 days. Pennsylvania is the 33rd state to enact such a ban.

The ban covers restaurants, office buildings, theaters, arenas and more.

Exemptions will allow smoking to continue in bars and taverns that have limited food service, casinos, private clubs, nursing homes, tobacco-related businesses and volunteer ambulance, fire and rescue squads.

"This is one of the most important steps in public health this state has made in recent years," Rendell said at the signing ceremony in Ambler, in the district of the bill's primary sponsor, Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery.

Rendell has pushed for a smokefree law as a way to cut health care costs.

Now when dining, we can all breathe a little easier, and our clothes will smell a little nicer, too.