Paul Weyrich, of the Heritage Foundation, Free Congress Foundation, etc. died today at the age of 66.

If you can’t say anything nice, you shouldn’t say anything at all.

[Pause.]

How about those Blackhawks, eh?

We can talk at length about Florida 2000 and Diebold and black-box voting and all that stuff.  But may we have a moment to consider the fact that some voters — regardless of political persuasion — are just bone stupid?

Take, for instance, Minnesota.  Apparently the Senate election is now down to a bunch of state officials trying to discern the intent of the stupidest voters in the state.  Now, I am a firm adherent to the theory that, of all electoral systems out there, the hardest to screw up is pen-on-paper balloting.  Yet there they are.  Ballots with the mark placed squarely between Norm Coleman’s name and Al Franken’s name.  Ballots with two selections, where the ballot clearly says “VOTE FOR ONE, DUMMY.”  Ballots with a filled-in oval for one name, and a check mark for the other.  Ballots with a clearish selection, but with a cartoon drawn on the ballot to make the selection unclear. 

And the decisions on the intent of the stupidest voters available will decide who goes to the Senate. Oy.

You want a morning newspaper delivered to your front door?  Well la-dee-da, Mr. Carnegie!

[Detroit newspapers (both of them, for the time being) will deliver papers on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. Otherwise, you’ll have to go to an honor box or a store in order to get your daily dose of Cathy.  AAAACK!]

Yes, yes.  The Internets have news quicker and fresher than dead tree media.  But still — damn.

Item: National Lampoon hauled in for securities fraud, relating to kickbacks for stock sales. Carry on.

[Image intervention by Nojo: The graphic CP didn’t want you to see! Not that it matters now…]

So the only question now is when Blagojevich decides to hang it up.  A.G. Lisa Madigan wants to get him gone.  The Legislature will, at least, yank the Senate appointment by a bill — which Mr. Hair will veto or sit on for weeks, but which would put any appointment under a cloud that would give nuclear winter a run for its money.

But the story here is that Michael Madigan, the House Speaker (fist of iron, as most leaders of state legislatures are) is apparently wavering on passing articles, in a supposed move to promote Lisa’s image.

How these people act just fascinates me. Who says nepotism is dead?

Anyway: my guess is that Gov. Blagojevich, after much soul-searching and prayer, will decide this week that the best interests of the state require that he step aside.

And now, if you will excuse me, the nurse is bringing my nightly medication. Laters.

Well, Blagojevich’s chief of staff wants to spend more time with his family. Weird timing seems to be an issue with these guys, you know.

But also: Lisa Madigan seeks the TRO knocking Rod out of office. It seems to be the quickest way to get him out — the Legislature then can take its sweet time to impeach him and it won’t matter because he would be toast. Plus, Lisa Madigan has, of anybody left in Illinois government, the best rep.

(Still unresolved: whether or not Lisa Madigan is hawt. I can appreciate arguments either way.)

Everybody’s favorite op-ed scold, Nicholas “PAY ATTENTION TO AFRICA YOU HEARTLESS BASTARDS” Kristof, wrote today with respect to remaking the Department of Agriculture into a more consumer/small-farm friendly outfit than it is now, without so much influence from Big Corn et al.  A worthy topic — which, of course, turns into his usual vigorous defense of how wonderful he is. (Did you know, for instance, that he grew up on a farm in Oregon? And gives to charities? Wow!)

But there was this:

The most powerful signal Mr. Obama could send would be to name a reformer to a renamed position. A former secretary of agriculture, John Block, said publicly the other day that the agency should be renamed “the Department of Food, Agriculture and Forestry.” And another, Ann Veneman, told me that she believes it should be renamed, “Department of Food and Agriculture.” I’d prefer to see simply “Department of Food,” giving primacy to America’s 300 million eaters.

No. This is too good. THIS MUST HAPPEN. What on earth would the Department’s official seal look like? A close-up of a guy preparing to chomp into a turkey leg, surrounded by thirteen stars? And I’ve always been clamoring for the naming of an Undersecretary of BBQ Best Practices, which would be the best government position ever created.