I KNOW F.O.O. have been extra - special good this year, so you hopefully got everything you listed in your letters to Santa; the "usual suspects" hopefully got what they deserved, too, of the carbon and/or fecal variety. ;D
Let me take care of some diary "house keeping" for this week, then I've got a bit of a rant to vent {wearing fire retardant underoos & suit in preparation}, some better "news" to dispel any feelings caused by the aforementioned rant, then we'll finally get to normal (such as it is) Countdown diary S.O.P.
There will only be a diary tonight & tomorrow night this week. Wednesday is Hubby's birthday, so we'll be out & about. Thursday is MIL's birthday, so I imagine most of that day will be taken up, too, but, at least according to my AT&T U - verse TV guide, the 2010 favorites show is going to be re - run that night anyway followed by a new year's weekend of various lock - up/predator marathons.
Speaking of the 2010 favorites show {rant here}, I was very VERY disappointed in it. I was not disappointed in the content per se, but I was EXTREMELY disappointed that Keith apparently couldn't even be bothered to tape the "in - between bits" between the segments.
I KNOW Keith is entitled to & deserves his vacation time this time of year or any other time of year, and he's taken time off during this time of year in the past. HOWEVER, he has at least managed to tape a few bits of his own thoughts or commentary between segments in the past; that's where the onion ring stuff came from a few years ago, remember? For whatever reason this year, Keith hopefully had a darn darn DARN good reason for handing that task to Chris Hayes & that Chris Hayes got a bunch more in his stocking for being such a good boy for contributing to the effort. Rant over...flame if you will because I'm still donning my fire retardant apparel.
Now, for the hopefully feel - better stuff, I know or at least seem to get the vibe of some concern for the upcoming DK4 transition & how this diary might be affected. Short answer is that I am 98% sure the DK4 transition will have ABSOLUTELY NO EFFECT on the future of this diary!
I've played around A LOT with the beta version, have managed to set up a F.O.O. group, and even invited some to be in the group! :D I imagine I'll have to do most of this all over again once DK4 goes sparkin' live, but I do know how to if necessary. If anyone still has some misgivings between now & February (when DK4 is scheduled to go sparkin' live), let me know via email, and I will find you to make sure you're still with me once DK4 is officially DK4. Okee - dokee? :D
Not a whole lot of "this day in history" peaked my interest for today, so we're going right into SPARK. States that helped to win the Civil War are way less interested in remembering how it began than the losers are. Said losers could learn a sparkin' lesson! How 'bout that Jon Stewart, everybody?! :D Finally, Amazon.com is taking some forms of ingratitude high - tech.
Let's Countdown!
Sam Seder gets Countdown "pinch – hitting" duty tonight, so thank you, Mr. Sam!
#5 "GOP to States: Drop Dead" - The new Congress convenes in 9 days with Speaker – to – be Bawlin’ Small Price to Pay Goldilocks "in charge" over on the House end. If y’all have any leftover eggnog from the weekend, downing shots of the stuff NOW to avoid the rush might just be appropriate. ;D The new GOBP House is apparently ready to let states declare bankruptcy with a little "help" from Newt the Nazi Lover.
Check out this bit from a Reuters column: The GOBP
...appear to be quietly but methodically executing a plan that would...cripple public employee unions by pushing cash – strapped states such as California and Illinois to declare bankruptcy. This may be the biggest political battle in Washington...of 2011.
Uh, I might still be in happy holiday haze, but aren’t Congress critters & their staff public employees? Rep. Jason Chaffetz plans to introduce legislation not allowing Congress to bailout states – unless it’s his state. Senator Doc Tom Coburn’s ready to go all apocalyptic, too. New rules in the House might also go into effect that only 1 kind of budgetary item can be passed without being fully paid for. I’ll give y’all 3 guesses as to what that budgetary item is {insert retching noise here}.
James Pethokoukis authored the Reuters piece mentioned above – a new Countdown face, so welcome! Mr. Seder called all these shenanigans "a frontal assault on unions." But, again, aren’t members of Congress and their staff public employees? Will all this crap be only applicable to state workers? Local governments have declared bankruptcy, but most of them have just cut services – not tinkered around with pension plans or union contracts. All sorts of new faces are getting face time this week, I bet; I’ve got no problem with that! :D David Dayen gets to throw in his more – than 2 cents’ worth on this issue. So, who’s looking forward to these next 2 years in Congress?! Hello? Anyone? {insert crickets here} How many F.O.O. here are state workers – especially in struggling states?
#4 "Buster Move" - This news will come as a HUGE shock to y’all, so I’ll give you a minute to sit down and/or get any possibly – needed smelling salts. Ready? The Senate is FUBARed, and a lot of $hit doesn’t happen there. I’ll give you a bit to compose yourselves after this stunning development. There might – MIGHT – be efforts afoot in the Senate for tarantino reform; {all together now} I’ll believe it when I see it.
Senator Tom Udall is one of the leading Senators behind this effort. All Dem Senators have made clear they support reform of this nature in a letter to Senator Harry Reid. Secret holds will also be stopped, too? Yea...right... Mitchie McConnell thinks the Dems may regret this move should they become the minority party in the Senate, but Mitchie’s got the TurdBlossom memory as far as GOBP action – or inaction – as far as their tarantino activities. Senator Udall’s taking time out of his break to ‘splain what he & other Dem Senators are trying to do. He wants Senators who oppose legislation to actually get up & TALK about their objections? HA! Oh, that could be funny. Can y’all just imagine Senator DADT Bull Connor McCentury on the Senate floor? ;D Limited debates on motions to proceed are on the dock, too.
** There’s fighting going on in Peru. So, they do this to celebrate Christmas or something? A really old tooth was found in Israel. Were any laughing gas canisters found nearby, too? And, we get some digging out dos & don’ts reminders, too. HA! That video cracks me up every time. ;D **
#3 "Snowed In" - It snowed on the east coast? Really?! Dammit, I’m always the last to learn about this kind of stuff; it wasn’t on the intertubes or television machines or NOTHIN’! ;D Seriously, my SIL & her family live in CT and only get to my corner of the world every other year during this time of year; they missed it by about 12 hours. If they would’ve begun their journey this way much later, they’d probably be in the middle of PA or someplace now. Does anyone have snow stories or nightmares to share?
#2 "Battling the Birthers" AKA "Birther Proof" - The Governor of Hawaii is ready for birther battle – possibly with Orly Taitz! Oh, that should be a hoot. It’s been awhile since she’s reared her ugly rear! Gov. Neil Abercrombie – a GOBPer! – is ready & rarin’ to go! He’ll be labeled a phony GOBPer by Boss Limbaugh in 5...4...3...2... He knew President Obama’s parents. A lot of state personnel & resources are being wasted with all these birth certificate requests. David Weigel gets birther duty tonight – lucky duck! ;D
*** The President Obama – Is – A – Secret – Muslim segment is a re – run – funny but a re – run. So, I don’t think I need to rehash it here. ***