It must have been late 1994 or early 1995 when we met Pete DeFazio, Eugene’s Congresscritter for Life, at a campus event. Having missed that particular installment of Schoolhouse Rock, we asked him what the practical difference was between Demrats and Repugs controlling The People’s Funhouse.

We forget the exact wording of his response, so we prefer to remember it as follows: “It means you don’t get to do shit.”

Meaning: Repugs were now driving, and the best Demrats could hope was that the airbags were working. Maybe you can crack open a window for air, but hands off the radio. We’re cruising on Classic Rock the next two years, and stop whining, you indie poser.

That’s as it should be in These United States, never mind that the Senate is driving some training car where everybody gets a brake. You win, you get the wheel.

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Body turns up in landfill, TV plot ensues:

Police in Delaware have discovered evidence that a former Pentagon aide may have been involved in an attempted arson days before his murder, a law enforcement source has told The Inquirer.

Police found evidence linking John Parsons Wheeler 3d to devices planted at the New Castle home of a neighbor with whom he had been feuding, said the source, who is close to the investigation. The feud was over the size of the neighbor’s house, which was under construction in the city’s historic district.

And who is John Parsons Wheeler 3d? Well, among many other things, he was chairman of the organizing committee for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and the first CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. He also worked on a book with The Atlantic’s James Fallows, who posted a remembrance Monday.

Man found in landfill tied to arson attempt [Philadelphia Inquirer]

This morning’s email blast from The Flunky to The Preznit of These United States:

Our progress is under attack.

Their majority is not even a day old, but House Republicans are already getting ready to pass a bill to repeal health reform.

Quickly followed by this morning’s news:

The Obama administration, reversing course, will revise a Medicare regulation to delete references to end-of-life planning as part of the annual physical examinations covered under the new health care law, administration officials said Tuesday.

Memo to House Republicans: You win.

U.S. Alters Rule on Paying for End-of-Life Planning [NYT]

“ABC News has learned that Bachmann, R-Minn., also is seriously weighing whether to seek the Republican nomination for president in 2012.”

We’ve been blissing out the past couple weekends to podcasts from The Nerdist — thanks, Apple TV! — and somebody mentioned in passing a classic Onion video we somehow missed the first time, but are proud to present on this, the first day of the Zombie Apocalypse 112th Congress.

[CNN]

The Day the Seventies Died: Stuck in the Middle with You? Baker Street? Oh, now you remember.

Gerry Rafferty dies aged 63 [Guardian UK]