I've been watching Dick Armey make an ass of himself all week over at Swampland, but tonight's post, it's just too much.

First, there's all the social security privatization wankery. Recycled crap about Chile!!! And Personal Accounts!!! But get this:

The current Social Security system is about insecurity, dependence on the government, and votes for the Democrat party.

Democrat party?

Look, it's not like he's talking. I can almost excuse that -- Republicans have been abbreviating that word for so long, it's just second nature. They just fall into it.

Like when I talk, I automatically say, "Dumb-ass Republicans." It just happens.

But this is writing, so it's purposeful. Armey sat down, and purposely typed out "Democrat party."

And it's not like this is some unknown thing. Here's President Bush, this past February, speaking at a Dem Caucus event:

The last time I looked at some of your faces, I was at the State of the Union, and I saw kind of a strange expression when I referred to something as the Democrat Party. Now, look, my diction isn't all that good. (Laughter.) I have been accused of occasionally mangling the English language. (Laughter.) And so I appreciate you inviting the head of the Republic Party. (Laughter and applause.)

Now, I realize there may not be a whole lot of respect left for the President in the Republican Party, but he is, as we Democrats are often reminded, still our President.

When George W. Bush starts dragging out the "Democrat Party" jokes, you know that shark has been jumped.

Dick -- time's up. It's no longer cool to say Democrat party. Okay? I know you're now a blogger and all, and that's pretty hip. All the kids are doing it. But the whole Democrat thing, that's just done.

Then, turning to taxes, he says:

The family of four that makes under $40,000 per year would pay no tax, and Teresa Heinz Kerry would no longer be able to exploit tax law to only pay 11.5 percent of her $5 million income.

Now, I have no idea if Teresa Heinz Kerry did or did not exploit any tax law. But, what is this, 2004? Is she still the standard go-to for rich Democrat party jokes?

Because I thought John Edwards was the new go-to for rich Democrat party jokes. And if you're gonna be a blogger now, you really need to keep up. Edwards is the rich guy you make fun of.

Or, wait, was he the hair jokes?

So hard to keep track of it all...

Anyway, is evading tax law even a Democrat party problem?

Cause I'm pretty damn sure there a LOT more Dumb-ass Republicans that make out pretty damn well with all the holes in our tax system.

In fact, there's this other Dick I know...

For the musicians and music fans here, the NYT has a piece today on how environmentalism is impacting the guitar-making biz:

Though they are fierce competitors for a small but vibrant marketplace, the companies have become aware of the significant changes in the availability and price of the best woods. In an unusual alliance, the four guitar makers have joined with Greenpeace in one of many efforts to bring attention to forest management and sustainability.

By the way, Martin makes the best guitars. (Now that's a guitar geek provocation if I ever heard one...!)

Get over it.

Seriously. There is no "bullying, often witless tone of intolerance that has overtaken the left-wing sector of the blogosphere."

There are hundreds of thousands of left-wing bloggers. Unfortunately, a handful of these bloggers said mean things to you in the comments section of your blog.

Put down the broad brush?

Thanks.

Sincerely,

cscs

Tony Soprano: Why me?

Dr. Melfi: Why not you?

Tony Soprano: Because I'm a good guy, basically.

The above exchange, from a recent episode, essentially sums up the reason why The Sopranos, which leaves our living rooms forever next weekend, is simply the best.show.ever. Tony *is* a good guy.

Basically.

Yeah, he kills people and all that, but we simply cannot help but empathize. There's a moral code in between all the gun shots and chopping-up-of-bodies -- mostly around loyalty, and family. David Chase certainly isn't the first to make us sympathize with a loathsome character -- Hitchcock did this often. And well. Think of Norman Bates, or Bruno Anthony, from Strangers On A Train.

But perhaps it's the format itself that makes Tony Soprano so endearing. The story unfolds, bit by bit. The serialized nature of the show allows us to "get to know" Tony, spending our Sunday nights with him again and again.

The complexity of The Sopranos also engages us. We struggle at times with the plot points, wondering if we had seen something before, or how someone ties into the "The Family." (Did you remember, for example, that Tony's gun at the end of last week was the one Bobby gave him for his birthday up in the Adirondacks?) It's a visual brain-teaser. The show might be bloody, but it's also smart. That keeps us tuning in.

Or, at least, it did.

There's plenty of talk about how it's all going to end for Tony. I won't try and guess.

I will, though, have a bottle of wine, and maybe some gabbagol, and say goodbye, along with everyone else on Sunday night.

Did Peggy Noonan, lamenting the rhetoric used by the White House, et al, to characterize immigration reform opponents, actually write this with a straight face?

The president has taken to suggesting that opponents of his immigration bill are unpatriotic--they "don't want to do what's right for America." His ally Sen. Lindsey Graham has said, "We're gonna tell the bigots to shut up." On Fox last weekend he vowed to "push back." Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff suggested opponents would prefer illegal immigrants be killed; Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said those who oppose the bill want "mass deportation." Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson said those who oppose the bill are "anti-immigrant" and suggested they suffer from "rage" and "national chauvinism."

Why would they speak so insultingly, with such hostility, of opponents who are concerned citizens?

Um, hate to tell you, Ms. Noonan, but we've been having our patriotism questioned by the likes of you for six years now.

How does it feel?

The surge is not working.

Guess what the President will do next?

Guess what Democrats will do to stop him?