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"I was an idiot. I was in the wrong. About the breakup. About the haircut story."
"About so many things with her. Anything bad she says about me I can confirm."

Great, great, fabulous response to the revelation that the "worst boyfriend" in that hilarious Lynda Barry comic strip was, in fact, the beloved radio personality...
Ira Glass.
Ezra Klein grasps at straws after the Senate parliamentarian rules that if the House passes the Senate bill, it must go to the Prez for signature, before any reconciliation bill.
He says:
If Republicans figure out some nuclear level of obstruction that could actually derail the reconciliation process, then they will effectively own the worst elements of the Senate bill, and Democrats can just spend their time hammering Republican obstructionism that has so lost touch with reality that they'd rather keep legislation they're against than let Democrats fix it. Or so goes the argument.
"Or so goes the argument." Does that mean he buys the argument? Or is that just what others are saying? Because it's ridiculous to think that people won't hold the Democrats responsible for the bill they produce. Klein's readers are flaying him in the comments. E.g.:
Ezra do they actually pay you for this drivel or do you get supplemental pay from Acorn or the SEIU? You are a complete shill for Obama and have lost all objectivity. What a worthless piece of tripe. Please start posting a warning label on your articles that people may actually lose intelligence after reading your it.

To clarify, if the democrats ram this through with reconciliation they will be hammered in the November and 2012 elections. Trying to say the Republicans are responsible for this stupidity is so convoluted it is simply breathtakingly stupid....

"60% Say Their Kids' Textbooks Place Political Correctness Above Accuracy."
A Rasmussen poll.
"An investigation of a sitting governor of New York is a complex, weighty matter indeed."
Says NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, appointing, as independent counsel, the estimable Judith Kaye.
"The 'can you believe uteruses' fake-out macho/not-macho daddy-card..."
TWOP on Michael Lynche on "American Idol":
Not so bad on the falsetto, but between the fake emotion bullshit and the stupid hand gestures and the "can you believe uteruses" fake-out macho/not-macho daddy-card, not to mention letting the backup singers carry 90% of the load which I didn't even consider he would do but makes total sense, and the camera shaking all over like it's giving birth to the stupidest cow of a baby as we're watching, and some unending glory note out of nowhere and for no reason, and mangling the lyrics into nonsensical, and generally being a total dickhead in every way, we're going to forget this happened. Trash-eeeeeeeee.

Jackson, of course, wraps his hand firmly around the shaft of Mike's life-giving penis. Ellen blah-blahs. Kara loses her fucking mind and puddles herself into some kind of empty-womb barren having-it-all bullshit that I hate to see happen, both as a humanist and as a feminist, and Simon angles for a blowie from his new girlfriend by going similarly nuts on how babies are great and semen is magic and ovaries can fly and whatever, I mean, you know I am Baby Crazy and I like ladies more than people who Like Ladies, but give me a fucking break and I'll say it again: Babies are the new dead people. The mothereffing end. I haven't anything left.
Thank you. I feel cleansed now. Took me a couple seconds to understand "Babies are the new dead people." That's not a reference to dead babies. It's a reference to the way last year on "American Idol," a contestant was promoted ahead of the others because his wife had died. This year, we're supposed to go all soft over the fact that this man's wife had a baby. We were supposed to be impressed that he auditioned while she was going through labor.
"Is there anything cooler than Al Franken at Netroots Nation?"
No, there is nothing cooler than Al Franken at Netroots Nation. It is absolutely the coolest thing known to mankind.
Men are more likely to be skeptical about global warming.
But why, exactly? Is it that women care more?
The Hispanic rebellion.
Why not? When health care reform hangs on every single vote, why shouldn't every single Congressperson perk up and call attention to what he/she wants? Once there's a breach in the wall of silent cooperation, it's every congressperson for him/herself in the dash for individual goodies.

Is it okay if I stand back and watch... or heckle with stuff like: Don't you know 100 human beings are dying every day because of you?
Binging and purging.
Sexually.
"Democratic insiders... said Massa hired a surprisingly large percentage of young gay men, and paid them so little that staffers were forced to live in the house with him."
"It's like he had people trapped."

The Democrats eat their own.
A father who stays home with his child while his wife works struggles with feelings of isolation and shame.
This was the story of my life, 25 years ago. My ex-husband wrote a novel about it. I couldn't believe, back then, the way this problem persisted. And now, here's this guy writing about it and getting an Instapundit link as if it's a fresh problem yielding new insights.

These deeply embedded sex roles... they don't change so easily. Being large-minded and flexible and into change isn't enough. It doesn't get at the root of what you really feel, and you can't just feel what you want to feel.
"I went to Cornell.... Ever heard of it?"
There's this:



And then there's the WSJ article calling Cornell Law School "white hot" and it wasn't clear what the reason was.

Some Cornell Law School applicants were citing that Andy Bernard character on "The Office" — in the clip — so the school "decided — let's have a little fun with this." They put the "Office" character on the front page of their website in a slideshow along with various "distinguished" alumni.

And some alumni, distinguished, presumably, but a lack of a sense of humor, started blogging things like "Somebody at the Law School Needs to be Fired." Oh, now they've updated that post to specify that the problem is that Andy Bernard isn't a positive character. He's "like the uncle in your family that nobody quite likes" and "you don't bring him up unless asked." And what are we to think about someone who demands that somebody get fired because he pushed the comedy envelope a little? If I had an uncle who did that I wouldn't quite like him.

An ear for humor is an excellent attribute for a prospective law student. When you read legal arguments, one thing you do is ask: Does this pass the laugh test? Understanding humor is a legal skill, people. Use it. And value your colleagues who have it.

So I think the new popularity of Cornell Law School might be that there are a lot of smart young people who think it will be cool to be able, some day, to say: "I went to Cornell.... Ever heard of it?" And I hope when they get into court, they run rings around the stuffed shirts who can't understand why you'd want to identify with a fictional fool.

***

Disclaimer: My son went to Cornell.  

Ever heard of it?
"Dear Howard Stern, Stop Pretending Like You Care About Gabourey Sidibe's Health."
The controversy continues.
"An act to amend the general business law, in relation to prohibiting the use of salt in the preparation of food by restaurants."
"This legislation will give customers the option to add salt after the meal has been prepared for them. In this way, consumers have more control over the amount of sodium they intake, and are given the option to exercise healthier diets and healthier lifestyles."

A law proposed in New York state. (Via Metafilter.)
"To the extent the State of the Union has degenerated into a political pep rally, I'm not sure why we're there."
The video of John Roberts, talking about the SOTU, is now available:



WaPo says:
Wednesday, Senate Democrats followed up with pointed criticism of Roberts, and at a hearing on the decision, a leading Democrat said the American public had "rightfully recoiled" from the ruling [in Citizens United]....

A Democratic strategist who works with the White House said the fight is a good one for Obama, helping lay the groundwork for the next Supreme Court opening. "Most Americans have no idea what the Supreme Court does or how it impacts their lives," the strategist said. "This decision makes it crystal clear."
Ha. I think very few people understand the case. The ones that think they do are probably wrong (in that they don't realize it's not about corporations contributing to candidates). So, yeah, "crystal clear." I think there are Democrats — including Obama at the SOTU — who are trying to get people to think something that is crystal clearly false.
At the Hydrangea Café...
DSC08193

... the conversation is tinged with blue.
There's a "growing theory that minority contestants need twice the talent of their white counterparts" to succeed on "American Idol."
And, after last night, that theory is going to get stronger. Except since we can already safely predict that Paige Miles's journey will end this week — as they say — shouldn't that mean that the theory is wrong? She really was, objectively, the worst. 
The teen heart throb's heart throbs its last...
... at age 38. Corey Haim, as he was in the 80s:


In later years, his problems were reality show fodder. Here's a 2-minute scene (NSFW) from "The Two Coreys":



"I should just put you in the ground, kid."
Endgame?
Stalemate?
"I am not dumb now."


(Via Terry Teachout.)
"The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the Supreme Court, cheering and hollering..."
"... while the court — according the requirements of protocol — has to sit there expressionless, I think is very troubling.... I'm not sure why we're there."

Chief Justice John Roberts opines on the State of the Union.
"You feel bad because everyone pretends that she's part of show business and she's never going to be in another movie."
"What movie is she going to be in? 'Blind Side 2,; she could be the football player.... [Oprah] told an enormous woman the size of a planet that she's going to have a career... Oprah should've said, 'you need to get help, we don't want to lose you.'"

Howard Stern talks about Gabourey Sidibe.

[Audio.]
"Like many insomniacs, I always feel a bit of bully pride in getting by on a few fractured hours each night while others complain if they don't get a full, conked-out eight."
"For the insomniac Vladimir Nabokov, I think that sleep, which he called 'the most moronic fraternity in the world, with the heaviest dues and the crudest rituals,' meant turning off, even for a few hours, his quicksilver, voracious consciousness. The daily nocturnal rest that presages the ultimate big sleep of mortality was for him a price both vexing and insulting, a 'nightly betrayal of reason, humanity, genius.'"
"It's not just these few hours..."
"... but I've been waiting since I toddled/for the great relief of having you to talk to."

(A year ago, today.)



ADDED: Also a year ago: this.
Allegations that Massa has "groped multiple male staffers working in his office."
I figured there was more to it than a stupid, drunken joke at a party. Otherwise, why wouldn't Massa stand his ground?

I wonder how much substance there is to this staffer-groping business? Was it annoying over-friendly arm-around-the-back stuff or something more? "Groping." There's a loaded word. Can we have some details?

Are the Democrats really policing their own? Does every member of Congress at Massa's level of touchiness get investigated, or was this selective investigation?
grope
1: to feel about blindly or uncertainly in search <grope for the light switch>
2 : to look for something blindly or uncertainly <grope for the right words>
3 : to feel one's way
I think they are all groping in one way or another.

UPDATED: Massa says it was a tickle fight.