Our C-SPAN streaming plug-in is on the fritz, so we’ve invited famed political illustrator Pieter Bruegel the Elder to depict the Senate as it casts its historic healthcare vote at this hour.

Susan Sarandon And Tim Robbins Call It Quits [MTV]

Anthony Galluccio swears he’s innocent. No, not for the hit-and-run — he fessed to that, and the Massachusetts state senator has been confined to his home for six months. But the terms of his probation include random alcohol testing, and he set off the breathalyzer several times Monday.

His excuse? Toothpaste.

After discussing it with a physician, we have determined that is the result of my using two toothpastes — Colgate Total Whitening and Sensodyne Toothpaste, both of which contain sorbitol. While I knew that mouthwash or cold medicine would set the machine off, it did not occur to me that toothpaste would.

Didn’t occur to us either, but we’re adding Colgate Anticavity Single Malt to our shopping list.

Galluccio Flunks Alcohol Test, Blames Toothpaste [WCVB]

Guess who loves Joseph Stalin more than she loves Jesus? That’s right, the website Truthdig has revealed that, even as she rails against government spending on social programs, GOP wundernut Muchelle Bachmann has been pulling in a pretty penny from U.S. Government agricultural subsidies:

According to the [Environmental Working Group] records, Bachmann’s family farm received $251,973 in federal subsidies between 1995 and 2006. The farm had been managed by Bachmann’s recently deceased father-in-law and took in roughly $20,000 in 2006 and $28,000 in 2005, with the bulk of the subsidies going to dairy and corn.

That’s right: government redistribution of wealth is good for me, bad for thee. You start wondering whether hypocrisy is a requirement for membership in the GOP, or if it just develops naturally after years of pissing on working class families while telling them it’s raining.

(Via Crooks and Liars)

Ornament		Meaning
	Mao	The Che ornament was sold out.
	Transvestite	We know why Rudy’s not running for Senate.
	Rushmore Obama	Will Smith has been signed to the North by Northwest remake.

Read more »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0uxURKIFqU

Robert Byrd may have dodged Tom Coburn’s Holy Bullet on Sunday — “What the American people ought to pray is that somebody can’t make the vote tonight” — but a caller to C-SPAN this morning feared that God may have gotten His signals crossed:

Our small teabag group here in Waycross, we got our vigil together and took Dr. Coburn’s instructions and prayed real hard that Sen. Byrd would either die or couldn’t show up at the vote the other night.

How hard did you pray because I see one of our members was missing this morning. Did it backfire on us? One of our members died? How hard did you pray senator? Did you pray hard enough?

Playing the part of Deer In Headlights is John Barrasso (R-Cheneyland), who was unable to explain why James Inhofe skipped today’s cloture vote, nor whether Inhofe deserves to live.

After Coburn Asked Americans To Pray ‘Somebody’ Misses Health Care Vote, Inhofe Skips Today’s Roll Call [ThinkProgress]

Senate Republicans have decided that eggnog trumps politics, so the final-final (but not final-final-final) vote on the healthcare bill is now scheduled for 8 a.m. Thursday.

Action then moves to the conference committee, where plenty of mischief still awaits:

As the Senate prepares to vote on health care reform, American voters “mostly disapprove” of the plan 53 – 36 percent and disapprove 56 – 38 percent of President Barack Obama’s handling of the health care issue, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today…

While voters oppose the health care plan, they back two options cut from the Senate bill, supporting 56 – 38 percent giving people the option of coverage by a government health insurance plan and backing 64 – 30 percent allowing younger people to buy into Medicare.

So Americans support the provisions that Douchebag Joe undermined, but Douchebag Joe won’t support the provisions Americans want, so the only way to get a successful healthcare bill is to embrace failure, and does somebody smell smoke?

U.S. Voters Oppose Health Care Plan By Wide Margin, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Voters Say 3-1, Plan Should Not Pay For Abortions [Quinnipiac University]