I don't know, in the spirit of new beginnings, hope, etc., can we just at least consider the possibility that the more insightful commentary on Warren's prior positions has had some impact? That perhaps Obama has prevailed upon him to soften his stance? That perhaps other religious leaders with more tolerant views have reached out to Warren and gotten him to open his eyes a bit?

You know, if you scream for someone to change their ways and then, when they show some sign of actually, you know, changing, you call them a hypocrite, you kind of discourage people from making the change you're clamoring for.

God bless us everyone. And Happy Christmas to you too Mr. Scrooge.

Frankly, until Illinois' Secretary of State Jesse White (also an African-American, BTW) certifies the appointment, the Senate is still completely within it's rights. Burris' first legal battle is with his fellow Illinois democrat.

In a perfect world, Blago would have stepped down (or at least delegated his appointment power to the Lt Gov) in order to avoid this mess. But my home state's governor doesn't live in a perfect world -- though he's clearly not living in the real world, either.

But Secretary White is doing Harry Reid a favor, for the moment. In all likelihood, Burris will prevail in his mandamus action here in Illinois soon, however, and the Senate's hand will truly be forced.

"Pitcher could still throw at or brushback hitters without worry,unlike todays pitchers who get a warning for pitching inside!"

Amen. And likely the biggest reason for the difference between batting approaches then and now. Hitters simply could not dig in and sit still because doing so put their life on the line.

Stuff over the plate now that doesn't have great movement gets crushed because batters have had access to hitting instruction that was unheard of 50 years ago, though a fair amount of it also gets popped up with no damage because of the lighter bats, with their smaller sweet spots (as has been pointed out).

This is why it appears that averages are lower today (and I'm sure I'll hear it if my perception doesn't fit reality -- perhaps "upper echelon averages" is more accurate -- I don't know) while homers are up.

This attention whore must be ignored. If you do so, she will wither and die.

"These aren't the droids you're looking for."

No.

The obesity comparison is a stitch, pun thoroughly intended, given the strong evidence that the Huckster won his battle over demon blubber via surgery and not through divine will-power. If true, it suggests that Huckabee ought lighten up on the gay community. Or perhaps he would advocate sterilization for their weak souls.

Bah on the fundamentalists.

Obama has realized that "pundits" on both the left and the right are -- for the most part -- pathetic geeks who can be easily awed by a little personal attention from a celebrity. (I mean, it sounds like ol' Lar has a full-blown man-crush on the man.) So many of them are desperate to gain recognition from, and hang out with, the "cool kids" that would never have given them the time of day in high school.

This cost Obama nothing, much as the subsequent dinner with the left side of the punditocracy, and the rewards will continue to be great. To some extent, they SHOULD be in awe of Obama: he's clearly a hell of a lot smarter than any of them are!

I'm sure Hillary is crushed that she lost the whore-monger vote. At least her husband didn't have to pay for it.

It appears that Cupp and his colleagues lay awake at night thinking about gay sex. Hmmmmmmm.

Actually, Obama used his "magic negro" powers of mind control to make Roberts mess up so that way he would HAVE to retake the oath in private, where he held a small copy of the Koran in his left hand.

This plays into every single one of the Right Wing Crazy conspiracy theories! Do I win a prize?

On the "Blago did better" issue, I think a little perspective is in order: the only way you could legitimately say that Burris was the best person for the job is if you modify it by inserting "who was willing to accept an appointment from an obvious crook and didn't mind being used as a pawn" after "job."

The fact that a few on the left have their undies in a bunch is strong evidence that Patterson got it right. He was supposed to pick a person who would best represent his state, not the person who would best advance the liberal cause.

Bipartisanship only takes you as far as the other party wants to go. When Kyl insists that Obama's wrong and Kyl's right, somethin's gotta give. Obama's the new decider, and the sooner the GOP learns that, and becomes willing to meet at least halfway, the sooner they'll get real bipartisan results.

If they insist on being obstructionist, Obama won't hesitate to remind them again that the people put their trust in Democrats to do their business for a while.

For too long, the authoritarian crowd that dominates today's GOP has taken the position that if they whine and pout and hold up some boogey-man, they'll get their way. That comes, I guess, from firmly believing that God has personally annointed you and your cronies with omniscient wisdom.