Well, there's not exactly a reason today for the posting of multiple clips from Mel Brooks' movies. But, since when do I NEED a reason?! ;D
I'll cover just a few "this day in history" items. Here's one that should be near & dear to Keith's heart; on this date in 1888, professor Frederick Treves performed the first appendectomy in England. I'd wager that Keith's appendectomy was less "messy."
In a classic example of the evils of "big government," on this date in 1956, the Federal Highway Act authorized the construction of 42,500 miles of freeway from coast to coast. Instead of driving on craptacular roads & taking MONTHS to get across this country, people got to drive on brand new smooth roads, and people could now get across this country in a matter of a few days. DAMN YOU, BIG GOVERNMENT!! ;D Also on this same date in 1956, Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller were married. They were divorced on January 20, 1961. If you haven't seen The Crucible, by gawd, you must!
Finally, on this date in 1957, Buddy Holly recorded "Peggy Sue."
Let's Countdown - 71 days since the explosion & sinking of the Deepwater Horizon off - shore oil facility in the Gulf of Mexico.
#5 "BP Oil Leak: Day 71" AKA "BP: Banal Politics" - BP/BS, contrary to its own self – avowed company policy to not contribute anything of any kind to any politico, donated upwards of $4 million to GOBP oil – friendly candidates & PACs. Color me shocked – NOT!
The Washington Post broke this story today. BP/BS spokesman, Scott Dean, responded to the report thusly:
The types of spending that we reported here fits within our policy. Our policy on not making corporate political contributions relates to candidates for political office at the state and federal level.
This dude probably even said this with a straight face! Skimming operations in the Gulf have been delayed because of Tropical Storm Alex; Alex will also push oil closer to the shores. Now, the certainty of the relief wells is in doubt? Great! *&^%$#@! Former President Clinton wants to blow up the well real good. O...K... BE STILL MY HEART; IT’S RICHARD WOLFFE!!!!!!
Poor Richard gets BP/BS duty again. A whole lot of that money was used to block programs in CA to move that state BEYOND PETROLEUM – ya’ know, like their name is SUPPOSED to be! And, how ‘bout Richard’s pronunciation of "charade"?! ;D Rick Steiner is back to talk weather & skimming efforts. Mr. Steiner wants the wind speed indication to cut off operations to be a little higher than what they are now. Can someone explain his numbers in miles per hour for us land locked folks? Thanks kindly! If relief wells fail, the oil is going to somehow be captured & diverted to existing vessels. Um...so why can’t they do that now? And, President Clinton was talking out of his ice hole as far as blowing up the sucker real good – what a shock. I can see him totally digging blowing $hit up as a kid, though! Alex might also be a natural dispersant to the surface oil.
#4 "High Court Hearings" AKA "GOP Q&A" AKA "Robe Warrior" I listened to today’s hearings until around 3:30 or 3:45 today. And, I got to actually SEE most of Senator RACIST INCOMPETENT DICK’s little performance sparkin’ live! ‘Ol Chuckie Grassley truly cracked me up. Thankfully, Senator Kyl’s attack on Thurgood Marshall didn’t last long. Here’s Professor Jonathan Turley again! I thought Miss Kagan did OK; there was even some chuckles today! And, Senator Sessions was just downright rude. He wouldn’t let her answer his "questions" & just lectured to her. I LOVED Professor Turley’s comments about "results – oriented" judges & cases. Y’all can be sure as $hit that the Citizens United decision was a results – oriented decision! Bush VS. Gore was also damn results – oriented! Professor Turley thinks the term "activist judge" is on its way out - not during these confirmation hearings!
Senator Jeff Sessions is so damn ignorant about law & court procedure; his overt racism in his own failed confirmation process probably wasn’t the only sticking point. He’s a RACIST DICK INCOMPETANT MORAN! And, he stopped just short of accusing her of lying in her testimony concerning military recruiting at Harvard during the morning break. Which part of military recruitment WENT UP during that time didn't he understand?! Good Gawd, is there ANY chance of him getting voted out on his RACIST DICK INCOMPETANT a$$?!
Miss Kagan wants cameras during SCOTUS oral arguments; we can all see Clarence Thomas just sit there like a bump on a lump! ;D And, she's got spunk; I imagine that drives the GOBPers on the Senate Judiciary Committee bat$hit! ;D
During the morning break, C – SPAN 3 really talked up the fact that Miss Kagan said in her testimony that the question of the scope of gun rights under the 2nd Amendment is now "settled law" because of the SCOTUS decision from yesterday. They seemed to be making a really big deal about this comment, but, for the time being, it IS settled law. I hate it, but it is settled law until somebody somewhere comes up with a gun law that passes Constitutional muster or we get a different SCOTUS configuration.
Through the morning break, at least, no one – NO ONE – has mentioned Thurgood Marshall. Could it be that the GOBPers got the memo that trashing a giant in the legal field wasn’t a good idea?! ;D D’Oh! I jinxed it; Senator Kyl did. I guess they didn’t learn! And, she responded GREAT! To paraphrase, she replied that if she was confirmed, SCOTUS would get Justice Kagan – not Justice Marshall – HA!
Senator Grassley, I guess, wants to decide Harvard Law Curriculum because he got a knot in his shorts over the fact that Harvard Law School doesn't teach Constitutional law in a student's first semester. As best as I can remember, Chuckie's not a lawyer, yes?
** I DON’T GIVE A FLYING "SPARK" ABOUT THE WORLD CUP! OK, that Caddyshack call back was good. OK, only do World Cup stories if there’s an appropriate Caddyshack scene to go along with it. ;D The German octopus picked correctly! Keith got a little tongue – tied there at the end; I guess he was just stunned by the soccer coach’s little digging for gold! **
#3 "Change in Command" AKA "Exit Signs" - General David Petraeus is in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee these days for his "confirmation" and to talk Afghanistan. Do the GOBPers on that committee invite him to any tea bagging either before or after session? Senator McCentury is using this time to convince everyone that we need to stay in Afghanistan longer than the summer 2011 withdrawal timeline. Fine. Then, Senator McCentury can go over & fight his own damn self.
Shallow comment here, but is it just me, or does General Petraeus have big ears? Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson gets to talk Senate Armed Services Committee activities. He took issue with Keith’s notion that General Petraeus accepted a demotion, and the reason he gave actually made sense. The last place a true military man wants to be is in damn Washington DC! Colonel Wilkerson illustrated possible time commitments in Afghanistan by comparing what’s happened in Korea over the last 30+ years. A civil war plus an incredibly corrupt government are going to keep things oogy for a damn long time.
"Tea Time" Small Price to Pay Goldilocks credits tea baggers for trying to bring back "his America" from them evil dirty hippie libruls. Pamela Gorman sure likes to pack heat! She’s from the "Show Me Your Papers" state? Well hell, THAT explains it! A hot chick with a gun...ah...the GOBPers wet dream...
WPITW – A CO woman ditched her SUV into a canal because she saw a vampire in the road. A NC Congress critter thinks Iranians are running amok along the "Show Me Your Papers" state’s border with Mexico. Um...Iranians are "brown people," so they’ll get stopped for their "papers" if SB 1070 takes effect! Sharron Angle doesn’t want abortions for ANY woman for ANY reason; women’s health, rape, or incest be damned. Well, doesn’t St. Sarah from Wasilla feel the same way? So, if Miss Angle gets buried in the NV desert, will that be part of God’s plan?
#1 "Virgo" AKA "The Forbidden Frontier" AKA "Abstinence Only" - I’ve been hearing about the sex in space stuff all day; my morning radio silly guys were all over this! Wouldn’t sex in space, especially for guys, expose certain body parts to the cold emptiness of space that a guy WOULDN’T WANT exposed? If they think there’s shrinkage in cold weather on earth... ;D I bet Derrick Pitts is just THRILLED to be talking about this! My morning radio silly guys were all over the "Poindexter" shtick, too. People would need to be restrained?! LORDY! There just might be a mile – long waitlist for people dyin’ to test this theory! And, did that History Channel background music remind anyone else of porn music besides me?! So, even with restraints, what would happen during...uh...well...in the situation of...hm... "early release"? Keith asked about being "ordered to procreate"; Keith, dear, the same excuse will be given in space as is given on Earth – headache, painters in, in – laws visiting, stressful day, etc. There is enough secret spaces at the ISS for some sex...in...space {echo}.