First, a fun look back to get us ready for Sunday... :D
There is a bonafide plethora of "this day in history" items for today, so let's get cracking. On April 22, 1904, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American nuclear physicist who headed the country's atomic bomb development project, was born. On this date in 1509, Henry VIII became king of England following the death of his father, Henry VII. This ditty then became the country's national anthem!
On this date in 1994, Richard M. Nixon, the 37th president of the United States, died at age 81 in New York City, four days after suffering a stroke. Hunter S. Thompson offered the following eulogy - some of his best writing as far as I'm concerned! :D
On this date in 2004, pro football player Pat Tillman, who'd traded in a multimillion-dollar contract to serve as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan, was killed by friendly fire. I wonder what General MacCrystal's doing today? *&^%$#@!
Let's end this segment with some fun kewl birthdays! John Waters is eligible for Social Security & Medicare today because he's 65; he will always ALWAYS have a special place in my heart because he's in my favorite Simpsons episode EVER. :D Peter Frampton is 61 today!
Finally, the end - all be - all epitome of cool is 74 today; happy birthday to Jack Nicholson! I could do a whole diary just on Jack films I love, but I'll include just a couple clips here. :D
OK, it's time for SPARK! Good sparkin' grief, I must not cross over to my neighbor to the west tomorrow. Here's a cute story of aminals taking care of each other! :D Even Dunkin' Doughnuts is getting into the royal wedding spirit. Finally, we end SPARK for the week with a BRILLIANT criminal!
On with The Rachel Maddow Show!
"Sex Scandal Senator Resigns Details Revealed" - Do I really wanna know "details"?! EEEeeeeWWWWwwww! It turns out that Senator Ensign was going to have to answer questions under oath on May 4 concerning the coin from his parents to the family of the woman he "got to know in the biblical sense." THAT'S why he picked May 3 to resign! Stinker! ;D Eric Lipton from the New York Times broke the details of why Senator Ensign decided to resign when they did. The Senate Ethics Committee is going to continue it's investigation; Rachel thinks they were getting ready to kick lover boy out! Their evidence could be referred to a criminal case?! Wow! This whole thing is quite the interesting mess, ain't it! ;D There even doesn't appear to be a partisan split on the committee; everyone thinks lover boy needs to go the way of Crystal Pepsi outta the Senate.
"Really Really REALLY Big Government" - There is an all - girls high school in Detroit called Catherine Ferguson Academy. Some of the girls in that school are pregnant or already have kids; there is even a day care center on site! Girls that stick it out there are guaranteed college admission. There is even a garden on the property! They use the produce to sell to raise money for the place's upkeep. Detroit's old school manager wanted to close the place. Ain't that compassionate?! All teachers in Detroit schools have gotten lay - off notices, and Ferguson Academy is on the chopping block. What...the...hell?! Students there are protesting, and they were arrested. Sirens were blaring & everything. Huh, I thought being an unwed mother was supposed to be a lucrative business; Bristol Palin sure makes it look like it is! *&^%$#@!
Democracy is now a problem that needs to be side - stepped; local officials are something to be done away with.
"Burn After Reading" - HA! I loved that movie!!
On this Earth Day, the CIA touted its "green" creds in a press release. Cute! ;D
"Is This Thing On?" - I wonder if Senator Ensign ever said anything like that during his shenanigans? ;D President Obama expressed his regret earlier in the week that HCR was such a long grinding process that turned off the American people. Well, if you'd lit a fire under the Senate, it wouldn't have been like that; putting a muzzle on the now - mayor of Chicago would've helped, too! We've got us some wild town halls again; this time, people are showing up pi$$ed off about Rep. Paul Ryan's little robber baron budget! HA! :D
GOBP Congress critters are now having to go back to their districts to defend their vote to support that $hit. They are not getting warm & fuzzy receptions! ;D The Great Orange Satan got a Rachel Maddow shout - out for its coverage of these town hall events; the "MSM" ain't touching these town halls with a 10' pole.
Rachel's not real crazy about MSM, is she! HA! GO, RACHEL, GO!!!!!!! HOT DAMN!!! Man, I hope Rachel doesn't get in trouble with her corporate overlords. Matt Miller is here to talk the progressive caucus budget plan. The budget from them is actually from a more fiscally conservative bent than either Rep. Ryan's or President Obama's; however, they are way more socially liberal.
"The Spy Who Came In From the Code" - We get a revisit of the invisible ink story from earlier this week. Rachel's staff wrote her a secret message in artichoke juice about not wanting to cover the royal wedding! :D