It was twenty years ago today...

We interrupt This Week's Discussion Question (and will step out of the third person) for a bit of personal reflection.

A co-worker and I were chatting yesterday about The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", an album he'd just listened to for the first time in a long time while driving to his uncle's funeral. His uncle succumbed to cancer at 56 and it reminded me that it was 20 years ago today that my dad lost his battle with lung cancer at the much too young age of 58.

20 years. Twenty years! The then-youngest grandchild, who'd just turned two, graduated from college in May. The now-youngest grandchild, born nearly 10 years after his passing, just turned ten.

And I'm now six years shy of 58 and I am reminded of what a gift each day is. Recently, I asked a former pastor how she and her husband were enjoying retirement, she said simply, "We're doing the things we want to do and not doing the things we don't want to do."

Yeah. Do the things you want to do. Don't do the things you don't want to do. Savor each day. You never know how many you're gonna get.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress. Heck, we don't even remember what the current question is, but feel free to wander off into "Should I get the Stereo Box set, the Mono Box set, or the individual Beatle albums?"

Breakdown Dead Ahead

Look at this and when you're done shaking your head, take a whack at This Week's Discussion Question:

How long before Glenn Beck completely melts down?

Please keep the discussion civil and shame on you if you're watching Beck for the impending flameout. Also, shame on you if you're watching Beck thinking he's got some insight to share. To borrow a line from the great Fredonian philosopher Rufus T. Firefly, Beck "may talk like an idiot, and look like an idiot, but don't let that fool you: he really is an idiot."

Discuss.

School's Out

We interrupt This Week's Discussion Question to say that if you object to this, the only acceptable note that ought to be accepted to excuse your kid from watching it/coming to school that day (Who knew Fox News was pro-truancy?) would read:

Please excuse (kid's name here) from class today because her/his parents are morons.

Also, we'd like to remind you that even though Van Jones resigned, it doesn't mean that Republicans aren't assholes.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

This Is How We Do It

Bill Moyers hit one out of the park Friday night:



Here's This Week's Discussion Question:

Is PBS an example of a government-run agency outperforming the private sector?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "If you added Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity's intellect to that of Crazy Michele and Princess Dumbass of the Northwoods [1] how many hammers would you have to take out of the bag to make it competitive?"

Discuss.

[1] h/t Charles Pierce

Idiot Wind, Pt. 949

We interrupt This Week's Discussion Question to bring you yet another gem from TWDQ's former congressional representative. (Have we mentioned that getting out of her district was the best side benefit of last summer's move? We have? A couple of hundred times? Oh, well.)

Here's Michele!:

"They want to make sure no women, no woman becomes president before a Democrat woman," Bachmann said, "and so they're doing everything they can to, I think, sabotage women like Sarah Palin, perhaps women like myself, or similarly situated women, to make sure that we don't have a prominent national voice."

Damn it, kids! She's onto us!

Okay, you've sussed us out, Congresswoman. We just want a "Democrat woman" in the big chair before you or Sarah get a turn.

Doesn't have a thing to do with the fact that the two of you are dumber than a bag of hammers. (And that's the two of you combined vs. a single bag of hammers. And it's not a large bag.)

Nope, not a thing.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.