Beanstalk Bunny, starring Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.  Released in 1955, this Warner Bros. Inc. Merrie Melodies cartoon was directed by Chuck Jones.  Story by Michael Maltese.  Animation by Ken Harris, Richard Thompson, Abe Levitow, and Keith Darling.  Layouts by Robert Givens.  Backgrounds by Richard H. Thomas.  Vocal characterizations by Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan.  Music direction by Carl Stalling.

What’s on your mind tonight? 

BREAKING: Steve Benen and Matt Yglesias report that elected and self-appointed GOP leaders are, more often than not, morons. In related news, water has been discovered to exhibit certain pronounced properties of “dampness.”

California’s vast Delta — the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of the Americas and the hub of the state’s sprawling water projects — shows every sign of ecological collapse. For the second year in a row, the number of Sacramento River salmon going out to sea is so small that the commercial fishing season will likely be canceled. Will California’s recent drought and chronically unsustainable water use finally stop the flow of Federally subsidized water to the wealthy deadbeats in the Westalnds Water District?

People still seem to be missing the forest for the trees on last week’s al-Haramain activities.

Oddly enough there are those who don’t believe that providing decent health care to all Americans is as “divisive and risky” as invading and occupying another country. . .

Paul McGeough’s new book Kill Khalid is both a fast paced account of the attempted assassination of Khalid Mishal and a detailed and important history of the Hamas movement.

The traditional media is casting Friday as a Big Setback for Al Franken, because the Minnesota Supreme Court denied his request to have the Secretary of State and the governor sign his election certificate. Big whoop — that was expected, as state law clearly calls for all election contests to be settled before a certificate can be signed. The really big news here is what MinnPost’s Eric Black sniffed out upon reading the Supreme Court’s opinion. . . .

When Obama nominated longtime Blue America fave Hilda Solis for a cabinet position, I got a call from another Blue America alum, Roberto Rodriguez, who had run against GOP crook Buck McKeon in a district northeast of Los Angeles in 2006. Roberto wanted to introduce me to an old friend of his who is running for Congress in CA-32, the East L.A./San Gabriel Valley district that Hilda has represented.

Just as in her two previous re-election races, Barbara Boxer rates a “eh?” from California voters more than one year out from election day. She also squashes opponents.

Another Friday, another bank taken into receivership by the FDIC. To judge by the hundreds of jobs posted on their “FDIC Careers” page, they aren’t planning on things slowing down any time soon — and KC Fed President Tom Hoenig, thinks this is what we need more of.