A blog by Dan Brooks
It’s 5:18am at the Missoula airport, and the gentleman next to me served in Korea. It’s 4 degrees and, somehow, foggy, but it’s not as cold as it was in Korea. Soon I will be winging my way to Iowa, which is where a guy who also served in Korea was from, and Combat! blog will accomplish nothing. We’ll be back to tomorrow; in the meantime, I will ask absolutely no leading questions whatsoever re: Korea and, you know, eat a Cinnabon or something. God, I hate this.
Here’s a fun question: do very ridiculous people feel things as deeply as the rest of us? It seems possible that the same power that enables a Sarah Palin, say, to wink and gosh-darn her way through American politics might limit her self-awareness in other, non-performative situations, too. Can we therefore assume that the lows are as strangely hollow as the highs? Follow-up question: can there be real tragedy in otherwise crass and insipid situations? Like when a Chuck E. Cheese catches on fire? Today’s link roundup looks for the tragically true in the professionally false, while maintaining our standard insistence on the laughable in the probably sad. It’s a paradox stew of contradictory emotions, plus Meghan McCain. Won’t you join me in mocking the tears of a clown?
Surprise, cockbags!
Yesterday, a federal judge in Richmond, Virginia ruled that the individual coverage mandate in Obamacare is unconstitutional. That is not as big a deal as it sounds. Judge Henry Hudson declined the plaintiff’s request to suspend implementation of health care reform pending appeal, so Obamacare will roll out as scheduled. Even if Hudson had ruled the requirement that most Americans carry health coverage was, in the words of John Jay, “just constitutional as shit,” the mandate wouldn’t take effect until 2012 anyway. By that time, this discussion will have reached the Supreme Court, and Judge Henry Hudson will be a literal footnote to history. Don’t worry: everything is cool with Obamacare. The independent judiciary is fucked, though.
When we woke up at 4:30 this morning, Combat! blog had a fun plan to write about Judson Phillips, head of Tea Party Nation, and how yesterday he called for the death of Wikileaks guy Julian Assange. Since then, though, everything has gone haywire, except for the economic system in whose participation I have enjoined myself to meet a ton of deadlines today, most of which remain unmet. We’ll be back tomorrow, extremely relieved. Until then, I dunno, think about your family or something.
Things I did yesterday:
1) Ate Greek yogurt and blackberries, a donut, cheese and crackers, a fruit plate, a 20-pound turkey (helped,) green beans with shallots and bacon, cranberry walnut stuffing, mashed potatoes, saag paneer, apple pie, pecan pie and pumpkin pie.
2) Watched Harry Potter and the Baffling Series of Exposition Scenes Involving No Action and a Bunch of Characters You’ve Never Fucking Heard Of.
3) Ate ham.
4) Played Celebrity, the game that combines Password, charades, and everybody yelling as much as possible.
5) Decided to take yet another day off from actual Combat! blogging.
6) Sleep