Roger Ebert cracks me up

A good example of his dry wit can be found in this exchange in his most recent "Answer Man" column:

Q. There is a pants/no-pants continuity error in Padme's maternity getup when she arrives on the lava planet. How do such errors creep into movies made with such budgets and so many eyes checking and approving things? Mark S., Springfield, Ill.
A. I cannot recall this detail, but as you describe it, it certainly sounds like the kind of detail that should be noticed.

Made me smile, he did.

Rob

Lost: Found

Kathy & I saw it last night. So thanks, everyone, but you can erase your tapes and clear your TiVos now, if you were holding things for us.

And what's down that friggin' tunnel?

UPDATE: Here's a link to a list of all the times Hurley's numbers have shown up in the episodes so far. It's a big list.

Rob

Bring on the Bulldozers

Tom Friedman writes about the prisons at Guantanamo Bay in todays Times. It's called "Just Shut it Down." Read the whole thing (before it goes behind the pay wall in a week), but here's the key graph:

Guantánamo Bay is becoming the anti-Statue of Liberty. If we have a case to be made against any of the 500 or so inmates still in Guantánamo, then it is high time we put them on trial, convict as many possible (which will not be easy because of bungled interrogations) and then simply let the rest go home or to a third country. Sure, a few may come back to haunt us. But at least they won't be able to take advantage of Guantánamo as an engine of recruitment to enlist thousands more. I would rather have a few more bad guys roaming the world than a whole new generation.

He's right. This place should go. We should make the cases against the people we can, and free the rest, sending them to other countries if we truly believe they're dangerous (but we can't hold them) and letteing them resume their lives if they're some of the folks erroneously picked up in the hamhanded enfocement of the PATRIOT Act. Review the cases, decide who goes where, and bring on the Bob the Builder.

And don't do it gradually, or secretly. Acknowledge that the place has become the symbol of a behavior we're ashamed of, and we won't be doing it anymore. Then take the wrecking balls and the bulldozers and raze the place, for all the world to see.

Becuase people don't riot because of Newsweek.

Rob

Freaking the Fuck Out

The goddam TiVo didn't record Lost because the season finale was named "Exodus," just like last week's cliffhanger.

Fuckity fuck fuck fucky fucky fuck.

Rob

Island Life

So, tonight’s the last episode of Lost. This has been one of my favorite shows this year, and for fun I thought I’d wonder aloud at some of the mysteries that we may or may not see wrapped up tonight.

The Black Rock: It’s obviously a very old ship. The question is, did the French lady (I’m blanking on her name) sail over on it? How old is she? Is there time displacement involved?

The Raft: The previews show them encountering something in the water. Will it push them back to the island? Is it some sort of security system to keep them from escaping?

The Others: How did DeLenn (yep, I’m still blanking) know the Others were coming (since the black smoke hadn’t started yet). What do they want with Claire’s baby? What’s their relation to Ethan Rom.

The Hatch: What’s in there, anyway? I certainly don’t think it’s a safe lace to hide – and psychic Walt seems to think so too. When he heard they’d be opening the hatch, he suddenly seemed a lot more gung-ho to take his chances on the Raft.

The Numbers: Hurley’s lottery numbers appear everywhere. Who sent the signal out that eventually led them to the Hurl-man? Why? This is one mystery I think has a chance of being answered this episode. When that hatch opens tonight, we’ll learn a lot.

And I honestly can’t wait.

Rob

The Compromise

After all I had to say about the filibuster, I find I don’t have much to say on the compromise that saved it. On the one hand, Democrats seem to be happier about it than Republicans. On the other, though, the Republicans are getting a few odious judges through, and the Democrats are getting a promise. It’s all very precarious, and hinges on what the various compromisers consider “extreme situations.” But, at the very least, it’s a small cease-fire in the Senate war, And it took some brave senators on both sides of the aisle to make it happen.

So to the 14 senators who risked a lot to get this compromise through: Thanks. In the words of Strong Bad: “You just keep doin’ what you’re doin’.”

Rob

Snowflakes

I don't imagine this will be a very popular post. But when a bull like me sees a new china shop, the result is inevitable, but not always pretty.

President Bush held a PR event with almost two dozen little kids today to show his opposition to stem cell research. These weren’t just any kids: They were “snowflake babies,” children born from frozen. But not to their genetic parents, or one genetic parent; these kids were adopted as embryos.

The timeline, as I understand it, goes like this. Couple A goes for in vitro fertilization, and it’s successful. They have their baby and live happily ever after. However, there are a number of frozen embryos left at the clinic. Once Couple A decides they’re through having kids, they have to decide what to do with the unused embryos. One choice is to put the frozen embryos up for adoption. Somewhere down the line, Couple B comes to the embryo adoption center. Somehow (and I happily note, with a consultation with Couple A), Couple B is able to adopt Couple A’s unused embryo, implanting it in Wife B, who becomes pregnant and carries the new baby to term.

And the result? Two happy families – two moms and dads who obviously wanted very much to have their babies.

Nothing wrong with that.

But taking a wider view – isn’t there the possibility to make Couple B happy without bringing baby AB into the world? He’s not linked to them at all genetically, from what I can tell. Aren’t there plenty of kids out there – kids who exist now, rather than potential kids who could exist – who could use parents like Couple B?

I don’t begrudge any of these snowflake babies their lives, certainly. You spend 9 months getting fed through a tube inside someone, you deserve to step out and get some fresh air for eighty years or so. But I can’t help think that there’s a more charitable choice that could have been made by Couple B. Beyond increasing their own joy, they could have helped to lessen someone else’s loneliness.

Look, my cards are on the table – most people who know me know that we’re opting out of the kid thing. So there’re probably plenty of these urges that I just plain don’t get. That’s one reason why I tried to write this in a more restrained manner than my usual napalm prose. But if to have a baby of your own – with the help of a fertility clinic or not – is beyond you, why not lighten someone else’s load when the opportunity is clearly before you?

That’s what I don’t understand.

Rob

You were a good one, Mr. Ravenscroft

Grrrreat, as a matter of fact.

I just learned that Thurl Ravenscroft, who's best known to me (and probably you) as both the voice of Tony the Tiger and singer of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, has passed away at 91. Mark Evanier has details.

Rob

Per second per second

First, watch Mr. Robot. After you see this video of this astounding android, I'd never be able to prevent you from exploring the rest of Eugene Mirman's site. So I won't even try.

Rob

Then again...

It's not like the Nazi rhetoric is a one-time thing. Swing State Project led me to PA candidate Chuck Pannacchio's site, where he has a link to a 33-second video in which Senator Stain lumps the New York Times in with Nazis, Baathists, etc.

And this puzzles me, since via Blogenlust, we have this gem of a quote appearing in the March 3 Pittsburgh Tribune Review:

"Senator Byrd's inappropriate remarks comparing his Republican colleagues with Nazis are inexcusable," Santorum said in a statement yesterday. "These comments lessen the credibility of the senator and the decorum of the Senate. He should retract his statement and ask for pardon."

Of course, Sen. Stain's office issued a statement calling the Nazi rhetoric a "mistake." Which sounds like an apology, but isn't.

Someone should probably ask him what he's thinking, with all this flip-flopping? Are Nazis fair game in senatorial discourse, or aren't they?

You ask me, he should stick to animal husbandry.

Rob

Goat: Gotten

I've been discussing with Andrew the possibility that Santorum was intentionally baiting us with yesterday's Hitler rhetoric. Essentially, he's using that language as a lightning rod -- to draw criticsm to it, rather than to the substance (or lack thereof) of the argument behind the nuclear option.

Andrew makes a good point. And in my case, Rick Santorum is uniquely qualified to get my goat. See, when he was elected to office in 1994, mine was one of the votes that put him there. I bought the Republican line that Social Security wouldn't be there for me by the time I retired hook, line, and sinker. And Social Security was all his opponent, Harris Wofford, was talking about. I don't recall Wofford ever addressing any other issue, and I remember thinking, "What's in it for me?" And in the most selfish and short-sighted votes I've ever cast, I helped elect the cherubic, venomous Rick Santorum to the U.S. Senate.

Hey, it was 1994. I sure as hell wasn't the only one who made a big mistake that November.

Nonetheless, I feel responsible for him being there, even though I had the pleasure of voting against him in 2000. Every jackass thing the man says, I wince and think: My vote's behind that. I handed this moron a microphone.

More than anything else, that's what's behind any venom I direct at Rick Santorum. It's why I'll contribute money to whoever his Democrastic challenger is, and why I'll be in Pennsylvania on election day 2006, helping the Dems get the vote out. Until he's out of office, I feel tainted.

And no one wants their taint displayed for all the world to see -- especially when there's Santorum involved.

Rob

On further reflection...

I'm not certain that the clearly deranged individual who compared Democrats to Nazis on the Senate Floor (confused? click here or scroll down!) was actually the Senator Rick "Man on Dog" Santorum we've all come to know and loathe.

Why do I have doubts? Is it because comparing your political opponents to Hitler -- and not just any Hitler, but Adolph Fucking Hitler -- is a ludicous comparison that goosesteps all over the final precious shreds of decorum in the Senate? Nah. Santorum is just the sort of inelegant blowhole to do just that.

And it's certainly not because he's doing the bidding of the so-called "religious" so-called "right" in opposing judical filibusters so Bush can get his radical, right-wing, civil-rights-hatin' judges approved. Face it, Santorum is so deep into the James Dobson's back pocket that he can smell his ... well, santorum. So it ain't that.

No, it's this: In comparing the Democrats to Hitler, he compared his precious "nuclear option" -- eliminating the right of the minority party to filibuster judical nominees -- to Paris. And when was the last time you heard a Republican say something nice about France?

But if this indeed was Santorum, he might have just put the final nail in his Senate career. This seems to me a major political blunder, revealing him for the extremist he is. He'll roll right through the primaries, but come the general election...

...it'll be "man on dog" time. And he should expect to bark.

Rob

Holy Fucking Shit

Rick Santorum just compared Democrats to Hitler on the Senate floor.

I'm speechless. This man is horrible. He's just an embarassment to... well, to everything.

Jeff Dubner has more at Tapped. And you can see video of it at Crooks and Liars.

I'm going to go pick my jaw up off the floor.

Rob

UPDATE: I eventually put my thoughts in order. And then I had more thoughts. And some more links, here -- including a video of another case of Santorum using Nazi rhetoric.

If you have hair…

You can have MANGA HAIR!

Via Doc Beechler at the Comics Cave.

Rob

CPB Update

If you want to get in touch with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to object to the pressure to limit NPR news (or to praise it, for that matter), , the CPB contact page is probably a good place to start. I plan to write them a letter tonight.

Thanks, Sharon, for reminding me ( in the comments) that it's not enough to complain about this to you guys.

Rob

Uncleville

Okay, so maybe Season 3 of Arrested Development isn’t that big a deal after all.

My sister-in-law Alison just gave birth to my newest niece, Emma Elaine this morning. Both mama and child are doing well.

And that’s the best news I’ll hear all week.

Rob

Flush with Links

Josh Marshall and Kevin Drum both make salient points about the current tempest in a toilet.

Rob

Taking us for a Ride

I love music, music of all kinds. Music I wish I heard more of on the radio.

Still, I'm an adaptable creature. There are wonderful internet webcasts and podcasts, there's iTunes, there are CDs and mp3s and all sorts of file sharing going on in the big bad world. If you want to hear music, you've got plenty of options.

Which is why I'm dismayed that there's a push going on to make NPR play more music.

Here's a passage from today's New York Times story, "A Battle Over Programming at National Public Radio."

About a quarter of [the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's] $400 million budget goes to radio, with most of the rest to television. NPR recently received a huge bequest from the estate of Joan B. Kroc, the widow of the founder of McDonald's, and it gets only about 1 percent of its overall funds directly from the corporation. But its member stations are far more reliant on the corporation's money, and they use a significant part of that to buy programs produced by NPR and others.

Last month, the corporation's board, which is dominated by Republicans named by President Bush, told the staff at a meeting that it should prepare to redirect the relatively modest number of grants available for radio programs away from national news, officials at the corporation and NPR said.

"We heard sentiments from the board that they are interested in support of more music," said Vincent Curran, a senior vice president in charge of the radio division. He said that the board had made no final decisions on funds.

Participants in that meeting said there was a brief discussion by board members in which one of them, Gay Hart Gaines, talked about the need to change programming in light of a conversation she had had with a taxi driver about his listening habits. Ms. Gaines, a Republican fund-raiser and the head of the political action committee of Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, did not return a call to her office seeking comment.

I'm sorry, but taxi drivers have plenty of places to find music to jam along to as they find roundabout ways to take us around the corner.

We need news. Solid, in-depth reporting. Unslanted, but unflinchingly questioning those in power, whoever they might be. We need public radio news -- unbeholden to advertisers or ratings as much as possible, serving its listeners above all. NPR reaches people who don't read the paper, who don't find news on the internet.

Naturally, a Bush appointee like Kenneth Tomlinson (chairman of the CPB) wants to limit the news as much as possible -- particularly the news broadcasts that do their job in asking difficult questions of his boss, and letting people hear those answers. These people shun the truth like Pigpen shuns a bath. (Come to think of it, that might be why they're all so damn dirty, too.) We need NPR's news shows, and we need other news outlets to show some backbone, too.

The cabbies will just have to find something else to tap their toes to.

Rob

Can't Get Arrested? Sez Who?

This is probably the best news I’ll hear all week ... assuming my new niece is born next week, that is.

Rob

Been a Long Time

...but I'm back. Had a swell vacation, made even better for all the time spent with friends and family. I'll get to hard core blogging soon enough, but to be honest, I've got very little idea of what went on in the world this week. So here's a brief overview of what went on with me & Kathy.

Drove to my bother and sister-in-law's place. They're doing well, and I'm damn close to being an uncle again. Like in a week or two. We had some great chili, and saw Hitch at the Arlington Cinema Drafthouse, a combo bar and 2nd-run movie theater. It's an idea whose time has long since come, but for some reason isn't spreading like kudzu.

The next day, we drove to West Virginia. Had some mighty good peanut soup on the way. Set up camp just before dark, and ate dinner at a gourmet pizza shop called Pies and Pints in Fayetteville. The Cuban pork pizza was plenty tasty.

Went whitewater rafting on Monday and Tuesday with Class VI outfitters and our excellent guide Eric. Rafter the New River first, and the next day took smaller boats into the low-flow upper Gauley. Eric said that probably only about 5,000 people have rafted the upper Gauley at this level; it's most often rafted at peak flow in the fall. This was challenging water -- two of the three guides were tossed from their boats!

Wednesday, Kathy & I headed up to Maryland, stopping to hike to the top of Seneca Rock in WV. It was a good walk; we gained 1,000 feet of elevation in 1.5 miles, and were rewarded with a spectacular view.

We spent Wednesday night through Saturday with our friends Chris and Jeri, and it was great to see them for such an extended period. Time was, they were both part of my everyday life -- there was barely a day that went by when I didn't see them. Now, at least, we keep in touch more with blogging and commenting, but face-to-face is best. Particularly when Kathy cleans everyone's clock at poker (mine first). We took a driving tour of Gettysburg, had some terrific meals, and generally had a great time.

Saturday afternoon we were back up in Pennsylvania. Spent a little time with my Mom and my already-extant nephews, and then I headed out to a bachelor party while Kathy headed home. I can't say much about the party (bachelor's code and all), but at one point in the evening Kathy receieved a text message from me saying:

I heart u. Jay is the goddam Pope.

Which might give you some idea of how much fun we were having. Congrats Jay -- and remember to bring ice for the road.

Rob

Fristin' by the Pool

The Frist Filibusterers are in hour 257 right now, still going strong. More professors and local politicans have participated, and it's a wonder anyone is getting any studying done. But man, has the story broke wide!

Over 40 newspapers (including the New York Times, Washington Post, and the UK Guardian) have picked up the AP story on the filibuster. Also, there was a Times editorial on it on Friday. And it was mentioned on Crossfire yesterday too!

Keep it going, guys! Don't let them go nuclear in silence!

Rob

It's Free Comic Book Day!

Yeah, you heard me right. If you go into your local comic shop today (Saturday), chances are they'll have free comics for you.

This has been going on for several years now. It's usually tied in with one of the major comics book movie releases, but this year (as far as I know) it's not. I guess they're testing the waters to see if it can stand on its own. The one other constant of FCBD is that I will be out of town. I've never been to a Free Comic Book Day yet.

But that's okay. It's not for me; I'm already hooked. But this is a great event for kids and adults interested in getting some free reading.

Here's a list of all the free comics available. The Gold Sponsors (including the Simpsons, Donald Duck, Fantastic Four and Batman) will be in every stores; Silver Sponsored books (I've heard good things about Amelia Rules and Owly) are available in many of them. And here's a link to a bunch of preview pages of the free comics. Other publishers sponsor on the Bronze level, giving away previously published comics. There should really be something for everyone. And here's where you can find a participating store (one of 1900 nationwide) near you.

Rob

Shifting Gears

I'll be mostly offline for the next week; we're heading to West Virginia to go rafting and other relatively nearby places to see family and friends. So posting here will be sparse, if it appears at all.

Of course, the most dangerous thing we'll be doing is not the class-IV rapids, but getting there. Since we're taking Kathy's car, for the first time since high school (other than short trips the past few days) I'll be driving with a stick shift.

Roads, Marty? Where we're going, we don't need roads...

See you all soon.

Rob

Domo Arigato

Did any of you know about this? And not tell me? Say you didn't know!

(Thanks to Miss New Orleans for leading me to Wang Chi's House of Pancakes, which let me know what's going down in JUST FIVE DAYS. Cool blogs, both of them.)

FIVE DAYS til The Big Bang.

FIVE.

DAYS.

Rob

Housekeeping and Welcome!

If you know me, you know the two go hand-in-hand. If there's not some sort of visitor coming over, then everything but the dishes falls by the wayside.

Looking to the right, you'll see I've adjusted the blogroll. No really big changes yet, but I plan to add more links as we roll along. But, there a couple of notable changes to the Friends section (above and beyond the designation itself, that is). First, I've updated the link and changed the name to Jack Curtain's blog. What was once The Great Disconnect is now I Have Heard the Mermaids Singing; go for the politics and beer, stay for the general musing. One of my favorite writers to work with, back in the day.

And now, the welcome: the wise and funny PapaGoose has joined the ranks of bloggerdom! Hail, PG! The estimable Mr. Goose launched his blog, Cream of Consciousness, earlier this week, and I urge you all to have a look. Fly, my minions! Fly!

Rob

Shaken up this morning.

I walked out of the house on my way to work and found a dead robin on the deck. That’s gotta be a bad omen of some kind, and I hesitate to think about what it means for our upcoming vacation. I went back inside and put a plastic shopping bag over my hand, then picked up the bird and put it in the trash. It was cold and stiff, and hit the bottom of the can with a thud.

In my car, the radio turned on to the middle of a press conference. Something bad had happened – an explosion, I soon found out – and judging by the voices, it had happened in New York. I started driving to the train station, wondering if I’d make it into work.

Soon, the details became clear. A pair of makeshift grenades had exploded in a concrete planter outside the building that houses the British Consulate. The incident happened at 3:30 in the morning; no one was hurt and the damage was minimal. I had no idea of the scope of this when I first turned on the radio. Scary stuff.

Still, I did see a headline that made me smile—for a moment at least, until I realized it actually read “Coulter Heckler Arrested.” Can that be true? Is it really against the law to shoot fish in a barrel?

Rob

200 hours!

The Princeton Filibuster has made it to 200 hours. To put that in perspective, stop reading this now and come back on May 12th at 4 a.m.

...

Uh, wuzzat? You wanna -- did I say four in the mumblefug mornin'? You gotta be kiddin' me...

Okay, welcome back. Did you do anything fun in those 200 hours? Did you, say, watch all four seasons of 24 twice? Including the five eps yet to air, and filling up the time formerly allotted to commercials with DVD extras? Or you could have tried to stop a government that represents the views of 52% of the population from running roughshod over the rights of the other 48%. That's what the Princetonians are doing, and they've been doing it loud and proud since April 26th.

By the way, here's a link to the Hardball appearance way back when on Tuesday, May 2nd. College Republicans joined in to grab some of the limelight, and while they also deserve to be heard, I wish they hadn't drowned out filibuster organizer Asheesh Siddique when he tried to answer Chris Matthews' questions.

Karen, a blogger at Princeton Progressive Review, wrote about the experience. I particularly liked this paragraph:

The Republican counter-protesters (i.e. media-grubbing partisans) attempted to use the chant "U-S-A!" And what did the rest of the crowd do? We joined in. You should have seen how confused they looked. You could hear them thinking "wait a minute! WE'RE the patriots here!" Unfortunately not, guys. You can't lay exclusive claim to that designation. What we're doing here might just be the most patriotic thing it's possible to do at this place and time. And we're going to KEEP ON DOING IT.

Sing it, Karen.

Rob

Bustin' Out

The fine folks at CampusProgress.org have assembled a heap o' tips for organizing your own campus filibuster. Assuming you have a campus, that is. At the very least, you have a hippocampus, which is probably useful.

Rob

Fins to the left, fins to the right

Well 24 has always been a paranoid, right-wing fantasy, but the episode I just watched (I’m a week – no, two weeks – behind) took it to another level. It’s easy to believe this show is on Fox; the only surprise is it’s not being produced by its “news” division.

All through the season, Jack and company have been torturing people willy-nilly. There’s not a skilled interrogator anywhere near the halls of CTU – apparently they all work in Baltimore and New York. All they have in LA is Barney Fife and a tire iron. Everyone in CTU jumps right to torturing people, disregarding the facts that a) most info given up during torture is bullshit, just frightened, hurt people telling their tormentors what they think they want to hear; and b) the torture pretty much invalidates any future legal case against almost anyone involved (except the torturers themselves), but that’s probably okay, since CTU rarely leaves anyone alive, unless they slip through their buttered fingers altogether.

But now, they’ve got someone in custody who knows crucial information, and the plot has given them every possible justification for torturing the SOB – up to and including “he killed my muddah” (thank you, Edgar). But they throw two monkeywrenches into the works: a lawyer for Amnesty Internat—I’m sorry, Amnesty Global, don’t wanna get sued, after all—and a cowardly new President, both of whom oppose CTU’s handling of the new suspect with anything but the cuddliest of kid gloves. The point seems clear: anyone who opposes torture is either cowardly or a sleazeball. Forget Abu Ghraib, forget Guantanamo, forget shipping folks on the no-fly list out to “friendly” Arab nations who supply their own pliers and electrodes. Anyone who brings them up is a troublemaker who probably just wants to sell more books.

And then, the most preposterous solution imaginable. In order to circumvent the regs, Jack Bauer resigns, then tortures the guy in CTU’s parking lot after he’s released. This is perfectly in character for Jack, who has always been willing to take personal responsibility for any moral gray areas in order to get the job done. But the idea that this little paperwork shuffle is going to fool anyone, or even provide an adequate fig leaf for higher-ups to hide behind is laughable (although it’d probably be good enough for Fox reporters, come to think of it). And to tell you the truth, I’m not even particularly clear what job Jack is resigning from. He was working with the DOD in the beginning of the season, but was somehow fuzzily “reinstated” with CTU, whatever that means. Maybe he wrote two letters? If you’re the ever-on-the-go Jack Bauer, where do you find the time?

I have to admire the balls behind the idea that “We’re CTU. We have cameras everywhere, and can tap into those we don’t directly control. But if one of our ex-agents tortures one of our ex-prisoners five minutes after his release in our own parking lot, we’re Sergeant Schultz. We know nothink. We see nothink.”

See that fin behind you, Jack? Congratulations on the jump.

Rob

You miss a day, You miss a lot

Luckily, the folks doing thefilibuster in Princeton haven’t missed a minute. They’re still going strong,closing in on 168 continuous hours.

Here’s what’s coming up for them, speakers and press-wise.

Aspreviously mentioned PA Senate Candidate Chuck Pennachio will speak todayat 3 o’clock. His opening act is Senator Jon Corzine's Deputy Press Secretary,who will read the senator’s statement at 2. At 4 o’clock, some of the filibusterorganizers will be interviewed for Hardball with Chris Matthews, which willbe broadcast later today. And tonight for 6 to 9 p.m. the “Filibuster Players”will be performing an impromptu version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Therest of the week is beginning to take shape as well. Tomorrow morning at11:30 Princeton English prof Jeff Nunokawa will speak, and on Friday, PrincetonTownship’s Municipal Chair Dan Preston will make an 11:30 appearance.

Keep speaking, folks. You are being heard.

Rob

133.5

That's how many hours the Princeton Filibuster has been going on for -- and it's scheduled to go on til at least Tuesday, apparently. At 3 in the afternoon, Chuck Pennacchio, a candidate for Rick Santorum's PA Senate seat will be taking the bullhorn. Go, Chuck! Go, Tigers!

(Y'all are gonna need one helluva lozenge when you're through, but it's worth it!)

Oh... and the Filibuster made the Washington Post!

Rob