MysteryGuitarman — Bohemian Slide (h/t Ellie).

We could use a break tonight. Tensions are running high; they’re going to run even higher the closer we get to Election Day.

Let’s talk about something outside of the usual he-said-she-said political stuff, something completely off the beaten path.

House and Senate liberals expressed their desire on a conference call that they would vote against any set of recommendations from the Catfood Commission if they included benefit cuts to Social Security. That included any increases to the retirement age or privatization.

California’s ballot initiative to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana, Proposition 19, is now leading with 52 percent in support and only 41 percent opposed, according to the latest PPIC poll (PDF) of likely voters. This poll is especially good news for Prop 19. The 11-point lead is not only one of the largest ever for Prop 19, most importantly, Prop 19 is now polling over 50 percent, so even if all remaining undecideds end up voting “no,” it would still pass. This poll also shows increasing support for marijuana legalization since the Prop 19 debate started.

The DSCC has secured an ad buy in Connecticut, where they thought they wouldn’t have to pay attention to the race between Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D) and WWE executive Linda McMahon (R). This $250,000 ad buy – with more likely to come – starves other candidates of potential resources. West Virginia, where the DSCC just dropped some money, also fits into this category.

But Democrats may have just caught a break in Connecticut. McMahon, appearing at a news conference that she abruptly shut down, made comments about the minimum wage that are a gift for her opponents to paint her as out of touch.

The Washington Post dismisses concerns about the cost of the Afghanistan war on the grounds that it is less than 1% of US GDP. But the Post supports raising the Social Security normal retirement age, although the savings to the government from doing this would be less than 1% of US GDP.

The Interior Department moved forward today with new offshore drilling rules without moving up the end of the moratorium.

I started to write this post last night with a million thoughts swirling in my head on the plethora of important cases Walker has handled over the years and erudite opinions rendered thereon. There is far more to the man’s record than al-Haramain and Perry v. Schwarzenegger; he also sat on such blockbuster cases as the Hearst/ SF Chronicle Antitrust litigation, the Apple/Microsoft intellectual property battle, and the knock down drag out Oracle/Peoplesoft takeover war. And hundreds of others over the years that, from every opinion of his I have read over the last couple of decades, he treated with pretty much the same dedication and attention to detail as you see in the landmark cases you know him from now. Vaughn Walker was both driven and meticulous, they simply do not make many like that; even in the cream of the crop hallowed halls of the Federal judiciary, Vaughn Walker stands out and above.

My first reaction to this story about McDonald’s potentially dropping its health insurance coverage for employees was to ask myself, “McDonald’s offers health coverage to employees?” The answer is yes. They offer really bad health coverage.

This is, as Gerry McEntee might say, “Bullshit!” Via Ben Smith, McEntee praises Rahm on the Chief of Staff’s way out of DC and endorses him for mayor of Chicago.