RUSH LIMBAUGH IS A BIG FAT IDIOT

... is the title of Al Franken's 1996 book about the Right's most popular comedian.

So, I don't know why, but the title of that book popped into my head when I heard about these recent comments from Mr. Limbaugh (when asked to compose a 400-word statement about his hopes for Obama's presidency):

“Okay, I’ll send you a response, but I don’t need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails.” ... See, here’s the point. Everybody thinks it’s outrageous to say. Look, even my staff, “Oh, you can’t do that.” Why not? Why is it any different, what’s new, what is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails? Liberalism is our problem. Liberalism is what’s gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here. Why do I want more of it? I don’t care what the Drive-By story is. I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: “Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails.” Somebody’s gotta say it.

Okay, first of all, it was 8 years of Republican "conservatism" that mostly lead to the current horrible state of our union. And, secondly, doesn't hoping Obama fails mean hoping the country fails?

I have better titles for Limbaugh than idiot, but this is a family show.

GUPTA MAKES ME ILL

I'm a little behind on this story, but I wanted to make a quick comment about Obama's pick of CNN star Sanjay Gupta for Surgeon General. Generally speaking, I don't have anything major against the man. But -- immediately upon hearing his name -- I was reminded of the the following exchange between Dr. Gupta and Michael Moore (discussing his film, Sicko) ...



As I blogged about at the time, the big problem I have with Mr. Gupta is that he (and many others) seemed to care much more about attacking Michael Moore than getting fired up about our crappy health care system. Here's what I said at the time ...

The best example of this phenomenon is the recent debate between Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Michael Moore on CNN. Dr. Gupta, who generally agreed with the message of the film, could have spent his energy talking about the corruption in hospital administrations and insurance companies. But he chose, rather, to discuss some nonsense about how some of Moore's numbers were from the BBC and how other reports had slightly different numbers. Nobody fudges numbers better than the Bush administration, but I never see CNN challenging them so aggressively?

It seems that there are a number of people in the Senate unhappy about this pick; I for one won't be overly upset if they don't confirm him.

NORM COLEMAN "OFFICIALLY" A HYPOCRITE

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a complete and unapologetic fan of Al Franken. I mean, Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right has to be one of the best (and funniest) political books ever written IMHO.

Anyway, as you might expect, I've been obsessively monitoring the roller coaster ride that is the Minnesota recount, and I was finally able to breath a little sigh of relief when The Minnesota State Canvassing Board "officially" declared Franken the winner. Before I get too excited, however, I have to deal with (loser) Norm Coleman's inevitable challenge of the election results. Here is a recent quote from Mr. Coleman:

I really believe that the people of Minnesota want to get this right, no matter what side of the aisle you are on ... Until these issues are settled, any attempt to seat a Senator who is not properly certified violates Senate precedent, and usurps the will of the people of Minnesota.

Now, I'm obviously not happy about this challenge, but that's not what really ticks me off. No, what I'm mostly upset about is that no one in the media is remembering this little story that came out right after the initial election results in November had Coleman ahead. Here's a quote from that Star Tribune article:

Coleman urged Franken to waive his right to a recount, saying that the prospect of changing the result was remote and that a recount would be costly to taxpayers (about $86,000).

"I just think the need for the healing process is so important..." Coleman said.

So, Mr. Coleman, I'd like you to think long and hard about the following:

1) The prospect of changing the election results is remote.

2) All your court battles are going to be costly the taxpayers.

3) Now that Franken has won, the healing process is just really so important.

I look forward to your concession speech!