Title: “A Patriot’s History of the United States: From Columbus’s Great Discovery to the War on Terror”

Authors: Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen

Rank: 1

Blurb: “For the past three decades, many history professors have allowed their biases to distort the way America’s past is taught. These intellectuals have searched for instances of racism, sexism, and bigotry in our history while downplaying the greatness of America’s patriots and the achievements of ‘dead white men.’

“As a result, more emphasis is placed on Harriet Tubman than on George Washington; more about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II than about D-Day or Iwo Jima; more on the dangers we faced from Joseph McCarthy than those we faced from Josef Stalin.”

Review: “This book has taught me more about our history than any I’ve read in years.” (Glenn Beck)

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I have no idea what’s going on (except the ski jumping) because I’ve been too busy to check my Google reader – there are over one thousand pending. I suck. So instead of my usual ranting, I present what is, in my opinion, the second best Bugs Bunny cartoon of all time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXU9SntbatE

Word is that — yes — the luge competition will go on.  Tonight.  In prime-time.  Notwithstanding the fact that a guy died on the track yesterday.  AP / NBC confirms it:

Fast and frightening, yes. Responsible for the death of a luger, no. 

Olympic officials decided late Friday night against any major changes in the track or any delays in competition and even doubled up on the schedule in the wake of the horrifying accident that claimed the life of a 21-year-old luger from the republic of Georgia.

They said they would raise the wall where the slider flew off the track and make an unspecified “change in the ice profile” – but only as a preventative measure “to avoid that such an extremely exceptional accident could occur again.” …

The International Luge Federation and Vancouver Olympic officials said their investigation showed that the crash was the result of human error and that “there was no indication that the accident was caused by deficiencies in the track.”

Last night, the local NBC affiliate in Chicago (who sent a reporter to Vancouver for some unknown reason) said that the B.C. coroner’s office and the RCMP were conducting an investigation and would not release the track to training, much less competition, until the investigation was complete.  The investigation, it seems, took no longer than an investigation on the Dan Ryan at rush-hour.  Positively criminal.

Remainder of the docket, and other thoughts, post-jump.

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Just about the time we were ready to do some intensive research on a hilarious post about a new online wingnut game, we got distracted by the most awesomely wrong opening ceremony in Olympic history.

Well, except Berlin, of course.

If you weren’t there for Vancouver FailFest 2010 last night, we weep for your grandchildren, forever denied the story of how you survived it.

Dear gawd, we should have run with this Wednesday or Thursday, before it got out of hand…

But we didn’t, so let’s take it from the top.

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Why send flowers for Valentine’s Day when you can send talking disembodied arms?

This is Your Hug: Hug-E-Gram [Videogum, via Sully]

We’ve been ignoring the Dimwit News out of Texas all week, but it just keeps coming, so let’s share…

• The photo above is from Sunday’s Rick Perry rally, featuring Sarah Palin and Ted Nugent. Everyone got a chuckle when the Houston Press published it, but now Perry opponent (and former Demrat Houston mayor) Bill White has posted it on his Facebook page. [via SFL]

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