I’m out tomorrow, travelling this weekend, so the singin’ and dancin’ and whatnot comes a day early. My personal 3-day weekend means early entertainment for you!

But, before we get to dessert, I thought I’d throw out something nutritious. Don’t worry, it’s funny too, but it’s something substantial to chew on. Here’s James Howard Kunstler smacking America around with its own architecture and city planning.

There’s not enough Prozac in the world to make people feel okay about goin’ down this block.

Enjoy the stinging sensations!

Dear Congress and Senate: Fuck You.

I know that this kind of thing drives John Cole crazy, so please don’t misconstrue this as an attack on Obama solely. And it’s not like I’m going to give my vote to McCain behind this, or even stay home. I’ll certainly give money to Obama’s campaign, I may even volunteer.

But not today. Not for Obama, not for the Democratic Senators that voted against amendments to strip telecom immunity from the bill, not for Democrats that supported this subversion of our Constitutional rights and gave another victory to an outlaw administration. Certainly not one fucking dime or phone call for any organization that might channel resources to Steny “Fucking” Hoyer. No, today I’m going to do a little grieving over a couple beers, maybe pour some out for another measure of lost liberty (which I think we can all agree is no longer a “phantom”, Mr. Ashcroft).

Tomorrow, I’m going to give some money to these guys. From here on out, my political focus is on fighting these bastards who care so little for the civil liberties which I hold dear. You wanna talk about guns or welfare or immigration or energy or abortion? They’re important issues to discuss, but all of those discussions are built on the bedrock of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The War on Drugs is in dire need of reform, but what’s the point in even debating drug policy, or any issue of criminal law, if it’s not grounded on the principle that Habeas Corpus is an absolute requirement of a meaningful system of justice?

We start by restoring the Constitution and the rule of law, and then commit to squaring off with anyone, in either party, that finds it an inconvenient way to govern a nation. For me, everything else comes after.

[Update]: From commenter socalmonk at DKos:

By the time the election rolls around…
the only people left supporting Bush will be the democrats in the House and Senate.

Want a better name for it? How about, Holiday from Reason and Good Sense, That Promises To Have Absolutely No Beneficial Effects For Anyone? Or, better still, The American Voter Is a Fucking Chump? Because that’s what this idiotic proposal really says: you think that we’re chumps.

So, candidates, if you want to prove to me that you’re:

• incapable of distinguishing good policy from bad
• incapable of supporting good policy by taking a stand and explaining to America why a bad policy is bad
• capable of pushing really, really stupid policy in pursuit of a demagogue-alicious tactical advantage over your opponents
• think that I and my fellow Americans are idiots that will respond positively to this sort of bullshit

Then just keep this stupid shit up.

We’ve had almost 8 years of putting food on our families and making the pie higher. A top priority for me in selecting the next president is whether or not he or she can make some serious traction reducing the myriad mountains of residual stupid we’re going to inherit from the Bush administration. The thought that he or she is going to put whipped cream and cherries on top of them is fucking infuriating.

Cut it out.

Update: Well stated, by hilzoy:

Clinton is presently making a big deal about the fact that she is “a fighter”. After this primary season, I don’t think there can be any doubt about her willingness to fight. What Clinton’s gas tax proposal tells me is what she’s willing to fight for. She is not willing to fight for what she thinks is right in the face of public pressure. She’s not even willing to restrict her compromises to cases in which public pressure to do something stupid already exists. She will sacrifice principle and the public good when it’s expedient for her to do so.

Update 2: I’d thought that the Gas Tax Hollandaise was about as stupid as pandering, half-assed populist proposals were going to get this season. How wrong I was (h/t John Cole).

“We’re going to go after OPEC which remember is a monopoly cartel,” Clinton said. “There’s nothing free-market about it. They sit in some conference room a couple of times a year and decide how much oil they are going to produce and how much they are going to charge for it. So lets change our laws so we can sue them on anti-trust reasons.”

We’re going to break up OPEC’s cartel, comprised of sovereign nations. We’re going to use U.S. federal antitrust laws to do it. By suing them. Somewhere.

Looks like someone’s trying to lock up the “Idiot Voter” block. The next pander should be aimed squarely at the block of folks who vote for candidates based on weather-related phenomena.