Fuck Christmas.

Song at the sig.

The vote-by-mail thing turns everything into a cliffhanger. I'm thinking good thoughts about R-71 and about the possibility that those who signed the petition to put it on the ballot will have to come out of the closet some day.

Thanks - my bad. That's what I get to listening to the talking heads on NPR.

Point's still good, though. But I did like it better my way.

But the real heroes last night, the real heroes who brought home the victory are the Republicans and independents and, yes, even Democrats who spoke up against an incredibly arrogant government in Washington that has put our country, our freedoms and our economy at risk with unprecedented spending.

Mikey, I hate to piss on your parade, but in the two races that would actually have a direct effect on the "arrogant government in Washington", i.e. CA-10 and NY-23, both went from column "R" to column "D".

Not exactly speaking up in a loud, heroic voice now, is it?

“This was not a tire slashing—this was some guy who drove over a bottle and cut his tire,” Plattsburgh City Police Capt. Michael Branch told the Wall Street Journal's Anton Troianovski.

Yeah, but it's a shame to waste a perfectly good flat tire.

If Democrats pass a bill, the senator said in a recent interview, "you're going to have a very rough time having a two-party system in this country, because almost everybody's going to say, 'All we ever were, all we ever are, all we ever hope to be depends on the Democratic Party.'" He added, "That's their goal. That's what keeps Democrats in power."

Gee Orrin, I don't see the problem there.

Why don't you see if you can't get the rest of the GOP to try working with people's hopes rather than their fears? It might do wonders for the way people perceive the Republicans. Granted, it's hard to break old habits and craft bills and programs that do more than just transfer wealth to the top 1% of the economic pyramid, but it just might gain you guys a bit more respect - and more than a few votes.

Think Scrooge on Christmas morning.

Sorry to hear about your mother, Patrick.

That winger celebrity death match would probably be the first-ever thing I would actually pay to see on PPV.

Thanks loads for the Sarah Palin bukake mental image, it'll take those synapses a long while to scab over.

Won't someone think of the children?

But I don't really think that Obama really cares all that much what Limbaugh does.

So now Rush thinks he's St. Sebastian?

Says the Sage of Tulsa:

This just reemphasizes how this president has moved the United States from a foreign policy of strong national defense to one based on multinational cooperation. That is the kind of change that the Nobel committee believes in.

Gee Jim, it's the kind of change I believe in too.

Well, when the behavior of a group of self-proclaimed "Christians" falls out of line with their religious texts, something has to change. Which do you suppose is easier, ti change human behavior, or edit a text. So much for immutable truth. I wonder if they'll sell sponsorship to various corporations. The possibilities just boggle the imagination.

I'm glad I'm an atheist, so much less paperwork.

So I take it we can toss the idea of every word in the Bible being literally true? Should go down well with the base.

Well, at least it's still in English, "just like Jesus talked".

That could mean a trigger plan, in which the government-run insurance provider wouldn't launch unless private insurers fail to meet certain goals within a given time frame. Or it could mean something like, for instance, an amendment passed by the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, a watered-down version that would allow the states to set up their own insurers rather than having one overarching federal option. Either way, progressives aren't likely to be happy, and conservatives aren't going to like it, either.

And why should anyone like it? It seems designed to piss everyone off. It would combine being "public" with being ineffective. God, it would be a piece of art.

I must confess, you are using a definition of "really soon" with which I am not familiar.

It seems that the punditocracy is all ready (with a few notable exceptions) to start another splendid little war. The reason, as best I can tell, is that Iran has a "bad attitude".

And deal with it we will.

If Olympia Snowe's vote is more important than mine, OK it's their choice. If they want to coddle the Right, they shouldn't be too surprised if the Left isn't there come next November.

Geez, what's he going to say when he finds out about the mandatory group marriage law that comes next year?

Are you suggesting a Diem repeat? Because that worked so well the last time.

Click on the sig for a Time magazine article from 1964. Jeez, it's like deja vu all over again.

BHO, meet LBJ.

Just so everyone's clear, Roy BLUNT is the peckerhead Congressman from Missouri Roy BLOUNT Jr. is a humorist from Indiana who is frequently on NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me".

... a measure that would prohibit any presidential advisor who hasn't been approved by the Senate from receiving a taxpayer-funded salary.

That would include the President's Chief of Staff and all his assistants, the White House Counsel, and scads of others.

I think they're forgetting that there will be Republicans presidents again someday.