From today's Dallas Morning News story about the local Tea party:

 "A promotional company director helped arrange T-shirt sales and donations. Others helped line up speakers and entertainment, such as former Monkee Mickey Dolenz.

"We wanted to go big," Dennis said."

 Big, indeed.

I know some people are going to have a problem with TPM and other outlets publishing Sanford's emails. In most cases, I would have been opposed to releasing these very personal commnications. They are excruciating to read for a number of reasons. But this piece of crap has invaded and politicized the private lives of women and gays over choice and marriage equality, and he has damaged the lives of thousands of South Carolinians through his hard-hearted refusal to take the stimulus money. So anything that destroys his own life, both personal and political, is ok with me. No mercy. Not this time.

My dream is to get enough senators in the next election so that we can ignore that jackass Nelson.

In the early 90s, I listened regularly to a short-wave radio station called WWCR (World Wide Christian Radio)--500,000 watts from Nashville. They carried programs like Radio Free America and The Hour of the Time, farragoes of black helicopter, FEMA, New World Order-fueled paranoia that managed to be hilarious and terrifying. But this was short wave, fringe broadcasting that few people ever heard. Now, I hear the same stuff on Fox News. It's mainstreamed and even in some quarters acceptable. I once heard Chris Matthews mention "the wonderful Michael Savage" on Hardball. Now that's scary, and it's not hilarious any more.

On the TPM main site, David Kurtz writes "Spitzer is so good on financial issues that I alternate between sadness and anger for his stupidity." This is exactly the wrong response. The correct response is anger at the idiocy of a system and at the hypocrisy of a media that would banish this guy while allowing David Vitter (and other sleazy wingnuts) to continue their careers as though nothing happened.

Let's start calling this the Bush Depression. Every reference. Every time.

This is as good a take as any I have ever seen to explain why the wingnuts have behaved the way they have post-election.

"Politics is everything to them, but they don't respond to it like politicians -- they respond like spurned lovers. They have been in stark shock since the November election, and even then could not admit that they had been rejected by the country they thought was theirs for the pandering. One day they'll see, they mutter into their tear-stained pillows. And in their exile they comfort one other with stories that America isn't doing so well, she pines, she sighs -- she is depressed."

Former TPMer Greg Sargent has an update describing Obama's latest attempt to counter the baleful influence of the Village media whores. This is absolutely the right move, and not just for his own political benefits. The hold the corrupt, shallow and decadent Village media has on the national discourse must be broken, completely and permanently.

Following the lead of our Village betters, I think we should begin to use "bipartisan" as a universal term of praise, as in," Great dinner tonight, honey. Really bipartisan!" or "wow, that new dress makes you look bipartisan!" or "You're the most bipartisanest little kitty cat in the whole wide world!" This usage makes about as much sense as any usage I've heard from Broder and his pals. In fact, I think this is the most bipartisan idea I've ever had.

That the Village media is a national disgrace was again in evidence last night during Obama's press conference. Asking people who are already sacrificing to make sacrifices? Too bad that press conference decorum prohibits the only answer such a question really deserves: "That is the stupidest question I've ever heard, you stupid moron."  But the winner for my money was the odious Major Garret from Fox News (natch) with his idiotic framing of a question about monetary policy and our European allies: "OMG!!!  Communists!!!  Socialists!!!  Left of center!!!" What a maroon.

The blogger Brilliant at Breakfast has an interesting speculation on the possible return of Wall Street scourge Eliot Spitzer to public life. Why David Vitter still has a Senate seat and this guy's career went in the toilet has always puzzled me.

One of my favorite guys, Zach Karabell, has an excellent column in the WSJ offering some historical perspective on our boom-and-bust cycle past.  Zach is a very smart guy. The fact that he's a regular contributor on CNBC shouldn't be held against him. He's no wingnut like most of those loons.

Terence Samuel has a good article in The American Prospect on the recent AIG stink. Everybody needs to take a deep breath.

Ann Coulter climbed out of the Kudlow Klown Kar on CNBC tonight. She looked and sounded . . . not insane. She was wearing soft, pastel colors, her make-up softened her harsh, skanky features, she sat behind a desk so those spindly legs weren't shoved in the audience's face, and she spoke calmly and sensibly, offering some fairly ordinary lawyerly remarks about the Madoff case.  Not a trace of the crazed wingnut at all. It was very strange. Could she be modifying her marketing strategy to accomodate the new realities?

I'm continually puzzled by the uncritical acceptance Nouriel Roubini's predictions receive, especially from some elements in the blogosphere who are otherwise usually pretty skeptical of such persons. Roubini made a good call two years ago. But that doesn't mean his every pronouncement since then has any more predictive value than anyone else's. The idea that he possesses some superior insight or that he is some kind of disinterested commentator is silly. He's just talking his book. That's what they all do.