You know, for the sake of humor it's kind of sad that there are going to be fewer and fewer social boundaries as we advance as a civilization. There's a lot of humor in obliterating boundaries, and there's a smug self-satisfaction in knowing that you're above them.

On the other hand, I'm not sure you can actually have a group of people without having some sort of boundaries. They may not always be sexual or racial, but there will always be people that one group perceives itself as better than. And I think humor can go both ways along that axis, which is nice. It helps us cope with all these assholes we can't stand.

So I'm thinking of my three favorite jokes. One of them obliterates social boundaries, and a lot of my enjoyment comes from just how wrong it is. If you make the topics acceptable, a lot of the humor's gone. But it's also got a sort of mundane punchline - along the lines of "because she's dead." So there's an incongruity there between the setup and punchline.

The second is just an incongruous piece of absurdity. A mundane setup and a very unexpected punchline. But totally innocent, completely contrary to the previous joke.

The third is a take on a popular genre (the "My dick's so big" joke), which is funny in sort of an ironic way because the genre itself is a takeoff on assholes we can't stand, who actually have that sort of braggadocio. And the punchline involves a phrase that's just incongruous and silly.

So it's interesting to see how much of my own humor is related to social mores, and how much is sort of more primitive in that it's based on odd situations. But I still think that in a way it'll be a shame when we can't find humor in words and situations that make us uncomfortable, because we're past discomfort in silly things like sex and language.

You bring back some good memories. I had a girlfriend who was into the Tour, and while I was with her I got into it as well. It's really at a good time of year, when nothing on the U.S. sporting calendar is terribly compelling. Its schedule is similar to baseball, with the very rare off-day, so it's easy to get lulled into the pattern of it. And Versus does an excellent job with the evening replays, ideal for me to relax (or, in her case, to hop on the stationary and bike along with them).

That said, I think the time surrounding the ASB is definitely the worst time of year. And my Sox (the red ones) open on the West Coast, so I won't even be able to watch their first game back. I'll be jonesing by the weekend.

Aside from it being a stale joke, what's the big deal?

Is it offensive that he'd put a woman in the situation to admit she'd prostitute herself?

Is it the word "ho" or "whore"?

Is it that he involved children?

I see the premise of the joke is to call women who would willingly prostitute themselves "ho"s. Which is short for "whore." Which is synonymous with "prostitute."

Can't we all just call a ho a ho and move on with our lives?

Clearly, this Washington outsider is going to change politics as we know it!

"Getting drunk, stripping down, and painting our bloated overfed bodies in the local team's colors will be cool again. We will adjust. We will survive."

Don't you realize that after the terrorists take over the United States they're going to ban alcohol?

A truly frightening thought. We either get McCain, who will veto every single beer, or we get the terrorists taking over the country under Obama and banning alcohol.

There's only one solution: Brian Moore for President!

Americans, in poll after poll, are in favor of the right to abortion. I can understand trying to muster the sheep in November, and I guess that's the point here, but why do they keep going on this tack if poll after poll shows they are not in the mainstream here? And why doesn't anyone attack them for being so far outside of the mainstream?

I guess it's better than one step forward, two steps back like it's been for the past few years.

Progress! Eventually we might come out of the 19th century!

This should not be a political issue. This decision should be based solely on environmental factors, and if people don't like it, tough. I feel the same way every time I hear about how useless the penny is. It costs our government millions of dollars a year to create this worthless piece of metal, but they can't discontinue it because zinc miners would be up in arms.

I'm sorry, but the right thing is the right thing, and people should have to work around that.

"The true test of a candidate for President is whether he will stand on principle and keep his word to the American people."

No. The true test of a candidate for President is whether he will do what's best for America, the American people, and the Constitution.

Not that I agree with Obama's previous lies, but damn, John. You just have no clue, do you?

Why is anyone asking a potential first lady for recipes?

Why are you writing about it?

Why am I responding to it?

Why do I still bother reading War Room when Benen and Digby are actually reporting on relevant things?

Questions that will remain unanswered.

HA! The gall of this guy to mention the word "peace" anywhere in his campaign.

Very, very funny article. Thanks very much for that.

People who can't laugh sure are a sad bunch, aren't they?

I want to reiterate what mcuddehe said (and what I said yesterday) - Scalia needs to be impeached. He's an enemy of law, logic, and America, and needs to be treated as such.