Hard to believe this is the last day of July already. Unfortunately, unlike the Iraqi Parliament, I don’t get to take the month of August off. Shouldn’t dubya be getting ready for his summer recess, too? I mean, all this decidin’ and commander in chieferin’ is pretty hard work. Oh well, better get ready to head off to the salt mines. Enjoy.

“How come things that happen to stupid people keep happening to me?”
— Homer J. Simpson

Oh boy, another Monday. And a special one at that, as everybody’s favorite Governor Ahnuld Schwarzenegger hits the big six-oh today. It also happens to be the day on which Jimmy Hoffa went away, never to be seen again, in 1975. Perhaps more significantly, however, was what happened a year earlier. The House of Representatives recommended three articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon, ushering in the beginning of the end of Nixon’s presidency. He officially resigned just ten days later, on August 9^th, ending one of the darker eras in our history.

Unfortunately, Nixon’s reign looks pretty tame in comparison with the current group of liars, murderers, and thieves. I followed the Watergate hearings pretty closely back then, and would like nothing better than to have a new set of hearings in the House and Senate to occupy my days. Of course, those were different times, back then. The WaPost wasn’t a fascist propaganda outlet, for one thing (and David Broder wasn’t yet a senile, Republican water-carrier). And there was still at least some semblance of decency amongst the politicians of the day. Or so it seemed to me, anyway (I admit, I was still a bit young and naive). It’s sad that the closest thing we have to a Lowell Weicker on the Republican side is the all-talk, no action Arlen Specter, and while he initially opposed Brown v. Board of Education, and continued to oppose forced school desegregation (on “states’ rights issues), I don’t know of anybody that would be as much fun to watch chair a committee as Sam Ervin was, back then (he also had a hand in bringing down Tailgunner Joe McCarthy, back in the day).

But, we’ll see what happens. It might just be that the Abu Gonzalez will force the Democrats to do the right thing, in spite of themselves. They need a good kick in the ass, and I can’t say as I blame them, to be honest. We know they’ll be trashed in the traditional media if they try to bring dear leader to justice, and if they aren’t really, really certain that the people will have their backs when they vote to impeach and convict – the “convict” part is the important thing that an awful lot of people seem to forget about – and that they’ll be given the boot (not in favor of Republicans or third-party ego maniacal loser candidates, but in their primaries) if they fail to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, then they’ll take the easy way out. Who can blame them? I tend to take the easy way out of things, myself.

Whoopie, it’s Sunday! That means I have to go to work tomorrow. Sometimes I think it’d be better not to even get the weekend off. Then maybe we’d all realize how badly we’re getting screwed, and we wouldn’t put up with this shit any more. Not that I don’t love my job, you understand. It’s just that it really fucks up my whole day. Anyway….

On Press the Meat, it’s Hack Day, as Timmy Potatohead hosts a plethora of hacks, all on to “talk politics.” Today it’s Dan “got no” Balz of the WaPost, Ron Brownstain Brownstein, of the LA Times, the always hacktacular John Harwood of the Wall Street Journal, Mrs. Alan Greenspan, Andrea Mitchell, Eugene Robinson of the WaPost, and Chuck “the schmuck” Todd, of NBC News. Whoopdie-doo, whoopdie-doo.

Over at Faze the Nation, they’ll try to pack a whole lot of nothing into 30 minutes, as Bush Buddy Bobby Scheiffer hosts Pat Leahy, Arlen “all talk no action” Specter, SI’s Frank Deford, Jason Whitlock of the KC star, WaPost schmuck John Feinstein, and Jim VandeHei of the ever-incorrect Politico.com.

On Fux News Sunday, weaselface Wallace hosts Russ Feingold, the increasingly insignificant Nwwt Gingrich, and (for some reason), Cal Ripken.

On Goebbels, George Snufalufagus has Chuckie Schumer, Bush suck up (and sucker) Orrin Hatch, Bob “hey, with a wife like mine, you’d need viagra, too) Dole, and his little buddy, Donna Shalala. Then at the roundtable, it’s Fareed “token” Zakaria, Cokie “the hag” Roberts, and David “pickled” Gergen.

Wolf Blitzer’s Late Emission looks pretty lame (I mean, he’s got Ken Blackwell on, for god knows what reason), with the only bright spot being the ever entertaining Charlie Rangel.

Later, on 60 Minutes, the rerun episodes include Steve Kroft paid off Congress to pass the Medicare prescription drug law, Morley Safer profiles jailbird Dennis Kozlowski, and Scott Pelley does a story on “mixed martial arts,” which combines boxing, wrestling and jujitsu.

Enjoy your Sunday, everybody.

Another bust weekend this weekend. In addition to the Simpsons movie being out, it’s also Harborfest weekend, in the land of one of my many alma maters (assuming hanging out at a school long enough to collect your student loan check before dropping out counts as an alma mater). I don’t reckon I’ll make it up there, since I have grass to cut, laundry to do, beer to brew, and maybe a few other things to get done in two very short days. Plus, the cat seems to be hanging out with me lately, so I’d better keep my eyes open for the grim reaper to show up.

So, has Gonzo finally been stupid and deceitful enough to get his ass thrown in prison? I wouldn’t hold my breath on it, but you never know. It’s even finally starting to seep into the traditional news media (slowly, of course). It sure would be nice to see that cat that ate the canary smile wiped off his face. He’ll just get pardoned, if it comes down to it (I wonder if dubya can do a preemptive pardon, the way Gerry Ford let Nixon off), but what the hell. It might be fun to watch. Not as much fun as watching Karl Rove go off to prison in an orange jumpsuit, but that’s even less likely. Maybe. It kinda feels like there’s change in the air. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Damn, for some reason, I thought yesterday was Thursday, right up until I made a trip to the local homebrew store that was supposed to be open until 8:00. Unfortunately, on Wednesdays, they’re closed. What a disappointment, especially since I know I won’t feel like going there tomorrow, with the temperatures supposed to be up around 90 again. Oh well, off to the salt mines.

Sadly, today is the last of my three days at the “alternate” (though not undisclosed) location. Until next Tuesday, anyway. It’s just so nice to be able to get back and forth in under five minutes. Plus, I’m able to go in a half-hour earlier and get out at four, which means I’m home by 4:05. I’m just gonna have to finagle a permanent gig out there, one of these days. That is, if the whole winning the lottery thing doesn’t work out.

So, I was gonna try and post something other than, “I got nothing much to say,” but, um, I really got nothin’ much to say. Except I really very much prefer working less than five minutes from home. I actually got to go home for lunch, and hang out in the back yard with the dog. It’s not as good as being on vacation, but it’s about as close it’s gonna get for a while.

OK, I’m a little late with this, but, well, I’m slow and lazy (plus I have a bad back, and now my goddamn knee has decided to act up on me; this gettin’ old shit really sucks, at least in the physical department. I’m a lot smarter now that I was when I was young, though – which ought to give you an idea of just how friggin’ stupid I was when I was young), so that’s just how it goes. Anyhow, I got “tagged” by Melina, and this is my response (I hope I’m doing this correctly, since, in addition to being slow and lazy, I have a tendency to not read things carefully, and I can’t remember most of what I just read, anyway).

First, here off, here are the rules:

These are the rules:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote.

Well, I must say, I was quite flattered to be “tagged,” especially since I mostly have just been “phoning it in” lately. I mean, writing about how your back hurts, or “not much to say today” hardly inspires much thinking. And, anyway, this place has never been about what I have to say. It’s about you guys. The lurkers and the posters that show up are here to read what you guys have to say. It’s nice for me, ‘cuz all I have to do is get a fresh thread up every morning, and let you all have at it. The links, stories, and ideas that you guys come up with every day are beyond fantastic. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: I’d really miss you all if this went away. I feel as if I have friends from all around the world, and it’s truly amazing (if you think about it) how a bunch of people can become “friends” (I’d even go so far as to say family) without ever really having “met.” Sure, it says a lot about Maron and Morning Sedition, but it says even more about all of you. So, thanks to everybody who’s made this little community so much fun to be around. And to you lurkers out there, lurking is fine, but if you every want to jump in and say hello, that’d be great, too. But, enough of this mushy shit.

So, what blogs make me think? Well, there are two blogs from amongst out family members that come to mind. The first is the world-renowned Brilliant at Breakfast, hosted by Jill. There are always some great reads there, and Jill is much more prolific a writer than I could ever hope to be. The second is Melina’s blog, RIPCOCO. You generally have to set aside a couple of minutes to read Melina’s blog, because she has a lot to say, and it’s always interesting.

Things get a little tougher from here on out, though. I don’t really read blogs to do much thinkin’. Mostly, I read them to get links to articles that I’d never have had the time to find on my own. I think the blog I go to most frequently (even, the one I go to first), is Talking Points Memo, from Josh Marshall. There’s some great original reporting done from this site (along with its sister sites, TPM Muckraker, TPM Election Central, and TPM Cafe), as well as links to news items from all over.

Then, of course, there’s John Amato’s Crooks and Liars. In addition to being an FOM (friend of Maron), I know that I can always count on John to post the video that would never have a chance to see otherwise (and I’d never want to have to sit through Fux Noise or some of the other crap that these clips come from). Missed a great Olbermann “Special Comment”? Never fear, you can always count on C&L to have it there waiting for you.

Another blog I love to visit is NYCO’s Blog. This is more of a Central New York blog, but it’s always well written, with a lot of great stuff (even for non-Upstaters). Plus, she always has a great photo for her blog header, which changes frequently.

OK, I need one more, here. So, I guess I’ll go with that old standby, The Smirking Chimp. I’ve been a fan of the Chimp for a long time, and it’s a great place to go get news stories that you’d have to spend hours digging up on your own.

So, I reckon that’ll do it. Have a good Monday.

So, we’ve got a failed occupation of a sovereign nation, and a constitutional crisis in progress, thanks to an executive branch that believes it’s not only above the law, but above the constitution. I’m sure today’s talking head shows will address all of this in a serious and non-partisan manner.

First up, on Press the Meat, it’s an “exclusive” with the Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, on to tell us how we are both safer than we were before invading Iraq, yet in terrible, terrible peril from the boogeymen out there. Then there’s Russ Feingold (who I used to think was one of the few Senators who had our backs, but who now apparently thinks Congress is just too damn busy to impeach the Chimp and his Cyborg VP), and a good old-fashioned redneck roundtable of NY Times asshole David Brooks, one of the Bush-licking lackies from the Weekly Standard, Stephen Hayes (who would just love to suck him some Cheney), and Bob “the has been” Woodward. Should be a thrilling show.

Over at CBS, Bush buddy Bobby Schieffer hosts Harry Reid, and WINO Olympia Snowe.

Fux News will try to put the fear back into us, as Weaselface Wallace hosts Fran Townsend, assistant to the president for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism (that’s the best they could do?), and then it’s Krazy Kit Bond and DLC’er Evan Bayh, on to discuss how the NIE on Iraq actually shows how safe we are (but we should still be scared). Or not. And then it’s multi-billionaire Richard Branson.

The Goebbels Network spares us, as This Weak with George Snufalufagus is preempted, courtesy of the final round of the British Open. Tiger’s eight shots back, and he’s not much for coming from behind on the last day, but you never know.

CNN will recycle Frances Townsend on Wolf Blitzer’s Late Emission, plus there’s John Edwards campaign manager, David Bonior, Artur Davis, of the Obama Campaign, shithead Senate Minority Leader, Mitch “the Prick” McConnell, Dick Durbin, the somewhat endangered Pakistani Foreign Minister, Kurshid Kasuri, and the usual collection of CNN hacks, flacks, and sacks (of shit).

Later, on 60 Minutes, it’s a collection of recycled stories, including Scott Pelley on how 300,000 mentally ill Americans are tossed into prison, because there’s no place else to put them these days, Morley Safer talks to the asshole lobbyist Rick Berman, and Anderson Cooper proves he’s just a good old down home boy, as he interviews Kenny Chesney. Yee-hah.

Have a good Sunday, y’all.