I encourage readers to purchase two copies of The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism – one for themselves and one as a Christmas present for their right wing uncle. That uncle might well stay with Skocpol and Williamson’s highly readable and well-crafted study to the end without throwing it down in anger – something I can’t say with much confidence about my book with DiMaggio.

Nostalgia act Snowbilly Sarah and The Grifters will be teaming up with The Man Too Crazy For Fox for a Very Special One Time Performance That You Can Tell You Grandchildren About Right Before They Place A Pillow Gently But Firmly Over Your Face. Called Defending The Republic, and sponsored by St. Louis radio station NewsTalk 97.1 as well as Hansen’s Tree Service (I shit you not), this is an event you won’t want to miss if only for the chance at a $77 commemorative t-shirt:

Just a few of the amazing things you can pick up from reading the news.

We’ve got some winners weiners for tonight’s topics: First off, naturally, is Weiner himself. Dude, what were you thinking?

It’s a lot of pressure to put on Israel, to give meaning to Glenn Beck’s life. I sort of feel like ordinary Israelis have it rough enough, without this nutmeat descending thither and bringing his be-visored hordes of pasty followers to put out their cigarettes in ancient ruins and ask how much everything is in dollars. It seems kind of unfair.

Somehow, I doubt we’re going to hear Glenn Beck or John Hagee speculate about this today.

Glenn Beck comments on the new passport form, which may go into effect for people who don’t have birth certificates:

“Why don’t you just put nipple clamps on Americans over this?”

Actually, the proposed “biographical form” is intended for those people who are unable to provide the usual proof of citizenship required for a US passport – namely, a birth certificate, consular report of birth abroad or naturalization certificate.

Today Fox and Glenn Beck’s production company said that Beck, “will be transitioning off his daily Fox News program.”

I’m very happy to hear this (don’t let Bones see me smiling). Beck and Fox are trying to spin this as some kind of “moving on to greater things” action instead of what it is; a big defeat for them and huge win for us. Beck is going off the air at Fox because of a successful, sustained action to convince advertisers that Beck is bad for their brand.

Just how crazy does a conservative have to be to get Bill Kristol to say please stop, you’re embarrassing us? I bet you can guess who was the first to find out…

Growing up during the some of the coldest years of the Cold War, I was taught two special evils of the Soviet Union: 1) The Soviets put ideology before science; 2) The Soviets were always rewriting history to erase the horrors of their rule.