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I found this picture on Wikipedia:

 
From left to right: Donald Rumsfeld, Gerald Ford and Dick Cheney.
Is it my imagination, or does that look like a model of a Death Star between Cheney and Ford? 

  

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Well, dear readers, it took a lot of work, but you and me and a “series of tubes” have been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Last year, I came in a close second to Obama for my many years of not being George W. Bush.

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The Tea Party is looking for people to run against Ron Paul in the Republican primary. And the reason they are doing this is that “he’s unwilling to work with others, and people are unwilling to work with him, and so we have no voice in Congress.” according to Tim Graney.

I think skepticism of leaders is a good thing, but Paul is such an icon that he may be worth keeping around for the sake of what he represents to the movement.

Incidentally, the Fox news article calls Paul “the model of the grassroots-backed conservative.”

(With apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan):

“I am the very model of grassroots-backed Conservative,

I’m endeavoring to act as Liberty’s preservative.

I am very,very big on individual autonomy,

I quote Objectivists and Austrians discussing the economy.”

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Apparently, the Tea-Party convention has alienated many seemingly sympathetic folks by being a for-profit organization.

Frankly, they would be stupid not to be for-profit. You can’t go around quoting Ayn Rand approvingly and then not be motivated by money. 

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Obama has been making remarks that upset politicians from Nevada with his remarks about Las Vegas. 

I imagine it will go like this:

Harry Reid: Barack! You don’t talk about Las Vegas like that!

Obama: Harry, you’re the Senate Majority leader, and I love you. But don’t ever take sides with anyone against the Party again. Ever.

Explanation here.

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This is a story of trying. It is a story of passion, and a story of tragedy. 

It is a story of a man. A man who couldn’t resist the urge to come back for one last go-round in his field. A man who tried to relive the old days, and could never do it. A man who would go back to his ranch, and say he was done, and then think to himself “Hell, I could do it again.” A man who, even with better resources, could never quite recapture the magic that enraptured his loyal fans. And in the end, he drove them away, because he could not quit. 

And it is two men, but it is one story.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1245686/Star-Wars-set-Avatar-style-makeover-earn-studios-billions.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2010/01/will-brett-favre-be-back-next-season.html

For background:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brett_Favre#Minnesota_Vikings_.282009.E2.80.93present.29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lucas#Film_career

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Paul Krugman writes: 

“Suppose, for example, that Congress took the advice of those who want to ban insurance discrimination on the basis of medical history, and stopped there. What would happen next? The answer, as any health care economist will tell you, is that if Congress didn’t simultaneously require that healthy people buy insurance, there would be a “death spiral”: healthier Americans would choose not to buy insurance, leading to high premiums for those who remain, driving out more people, and so on.”

If this went on long enough, eventually it would mean no one would have health insurance. It would destroy the health insurance industry. They’d come asking for a bailout. The government could be forced to take them over. The government would now control health insurance. It would be impossible to abolish this program once created, so it would be a de-facto public option, even once the industry recovered . Ta-Da!

As John Hodgman would say, you’re welcome.