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.

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".

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.

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.

So now Rush thinks he's St. Sebastian?

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

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?

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

Sorry to hear about your mother, Patrick.

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.

“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.

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?

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.

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.

Fuck Christmas.

Song at the sig.

Obviously, today's edition of Tom Tomorrow's "This Modern World" is wrong, we'll never run short of stupidity. We can look forward to a secure energy future.