I know once every three or four weeks I claim I’ve gone too far on Hair of the Dog.

But, honestly, you’ll never look at Robert Gibbs the same way again. You might not be able to look at him at all.

It’s the greatest video ever made, even including the stuff I do. Honest.

(Probably not appropriate for work, but nothing terribly naughty, either.)

UPDATE: I didn’t realize the good folks at Red Stick Rant had blogged this. When you tweet me stuff, pimp your blog, too!

Hot off my Twitter feed, from Stephen (no relation) Ertelt:

Marian Berry (D-AR), who backed Stupak & likely no vote just backed recon bill in cmte. Call him. http://www.house.gov/berry.

Go!

Via my Year One blogging buddy, Pejman Yousefzadeh, comes this happy fun story about America’s good credit:

Moody’s Investor Service, the credit rating agency, will fire a warning shot at the US on Monday, saying that unless the country gets public finances into better shape than the Obama administration projects there would be “downward pressure” on its triple A credit rating.

Examining the administration’s outlook for the federal budget deficit, the agency said: “If such a trajectory were to materialise, there would at some point be downward pressure on the triple A rating of the federal government.”

If you had a time machine and it was good for only one trip, would you go back and give contraceptives to Hitler’s parents — or to the parents of John Maynard Keynes?

Obviously, I’m being facetious, but only by half.

Hitler discredited fascism, by launching wars of aggression and sending millions of Jews, Gypsies, gays, and the handicapped to the gas chambers. And, minus the extent that he started all those wars and killed all those people — well, good for Hitler.

Again, obviously, I’m being facetious.

But I’m not being facetious at all when I tell you that Keynes legitimized fascism, by giving decent, liberal democracies license to tax and spend and borrow in the name of political expedience.

Look, whatever Keynes may have gotten right — I suppose he could wipe his own bottom unassisted — what he got wrong is precisely what bedevils us today. And Keynes, the fascistic bastard, I think got it wrong on purpose.

Let me explain.

Quite famously, Keynes wrote, “In the long run we are all dead.” Which politicians of the Great Depression, and long thereafter, took to mean, “Right now I can buy votes with money borrowed from people who aren’t even born.” And Keynes enabled them. Keynesian theory held that governments should save money in the good times, so that they could spend it during recessions to “stimulate” the economy.

Gee, where have we heard that word before?

But let’s be frank here. That bit Keynes said about saving money must have been with a wink and a nod and a nudge, nudge — because popular democracies almost never save any money. And Keynes was too smart not to know it, and too conniving not to say it.

Of course, Keynesian theory also held that inflation and recession couldn’t coexist — but then Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter and the 1970s came along and disproved all that. And yet, somehow, liberal governments still hold by Keynes.

But why?

Simple. What Keynes did was to give license to government today, to borrow from tomorrow — and the consequences be damned. And there’s nothing a politician likes to hear better than that he can buy votes from Paul, using Peter’s money, without Peter ever being the wiser. Because if you follow the Keynesian example, Peter hasn’t been born yet. Convenient, that. In olden times, politicians had to rob from people who could shout to high heaven that they’d been fleeced. But then the unborn don’t exactly turn out in huge numbers on election day.

And that’s where we are today — borrowing trillions from China and Japan in the expectation that our grandkids will someday, somehow, foot the bill.

France, Germany, China — these countries ignored Keynes during the recent Great Recession, and now they are all well on their merry ways to recovery.

The United States and Britain are still, tragically, under JMK’s sway — and it’s no coincidence that our two nations our about to go for a double dip in the pool of total suckiness.

Keynes got one thing right in his inglorious career. In the days after World War One, he argued that Weimar Germany would never be able to repay the debts it owed under the terms of the ruinous Versailles Treaty. And he was right. The German economy burned to the ground, and Hitler arose from its ashes.

And yet, by the theories of that same inglourious basterd, we have saddled ourselves — in the space of just one year! — with debts perhaps as great as those faced by the fragile Weimar Republic of 1920. What will come from our ashes? No one can say.

Had anyone listened 90 years ago, Keynes could have saved the world from Adolf Hitler. Had anyone listened just last year, we’d be spared the risk of becoming Weimar America.

So. You’ve got that time machine. Who gets the condom?

Watching the Sunday morning chat shows, as I must, I had one of those semi-coherant thoughts. Why is it every time a politician complains Washington is spending too much money, the solution is always to pass another law?

Well, OK, duh. We all know the answer to that one.

That’s when I came up with (yet another) Stupid Amendment to the Constitution. (I have a shoe box full of them.) We’ll call today’s the Enough Already Amendment, and it goes a little like this:

Congress shall pass no law or requirement without first repealing another law or requirement of approximately equal expense and length.

That oughta slow’em down for a while.

It’s a huge, big, ginormous PJM Political this week, what with the long-awaited return of Five Questions for James Lileks, and my return to talking shop with Producer Extraordinaire Ed Driscoll. Plus –Duke’s Walter Sinott Armstrong, Bill Whittle, Scott Ott, Allen Barton, Terry Jones, and the unbearable lightness of Al Gore’s honorary degrees.

That’s what I call good radio.

You’ve watched the video, now click the links:

“Well, Yeah” of the Week.

Prediction of the Week.

Video of the Week.

Good Idea of the Week.

Comment of the Week.

Motivational Poster of the Week.

Scary-Ass Chart of the Week.

Tweet of the Week.

Factoid of the Week.

Blog of the Week.

And after typing “of the week” so many times, next time I’m going back to making blind links using song titles.

Someday — not today, but soon — I will write an essay proving, once and for all and beyond a reasonable doubt, that “Smokey and the Bandit” is the most unapologetically American movie ever made.

But not tonight.

Tonight I’m going to pour another scotch and go to sleep.

But that essay is coming, I’m telling you.

Hot off my Twitter feed, from Chicago News Bench.

CNB’s next tweet reads, “Hot Tip: Insiders are telling me that Giannoulias is considering pulling out of the race against Mark Kirk.”

If the story pans out, then the Democrats are losing competitive candidates in Illinois — before the election season even begins, with their home state favorite son sitting in the Oval Office.

Unprecedented. Uneffingprecedented.

UPDATE: Some days I’m slower than others. It only just now clicked that the Senate seat in question once belonged to one… Barack Obama.

Can the GOP score an upset win in one of Florida’s most heavily-Democratic districts? Edward Lynch has the report at Big Government. But if you don’t read the whole thing, take this bite-size sample:

But several major factors can negate Democrats’ structural advantages in this race. The first is the fact that special elections almost always have substantially lower turnout— approximately 15% of your typical Presidential election, making success in this race heavily dependent upon whose side is most engaged and enthusiastic. Second, more than any demographic, seniors are opposed to Obamacare by nearly a 2-1 margin by virtue of the fact that their access to our health care system is directly jeopardized by the proposed $500 billion cuts to Medicare over the next 10 years. But the most important factor is obvious- with the outcome of President Obama’s government takeover of the health care system potentially at stake, and with the increased significance of every House vote, our race should now attract increased attention from concerned citizen activists across the country.

Man the battlestations.

Although as I quipped to Lileks yesterday when we were recording Five Questions For James Lileks for this week’s PJM Political: The good news is, the Democrats are about to lose power; the bad news is, the Republicans are about to win it.

Real Clear Politics — about the most level-headed site when it comes to these things — has the GOP up seven Senate seats come next January. Here’s how they get us there:

Curiously, RCP shows Colorado as a toss-up. It might be a toss-up if our Single-Payer loving moonbattered appointee asshat Michael Bennett manages to lose the Democratic primary. But if he’s the candidate, he’s going down in November.

Now you can keep up with Trifecta on Facebook.

For me the real action is still on Twitter, but Scott Ott did a great job setting up the page — after I sent him a semi-coherent email last night, the result of an idea I stole from a PJTV commenter.

There was vodka involved, needless to say.

Anyway, the Facebook page is growing quickly — just a couple hours old and over a hundred followers. Check it out.

Apple is now taking pre-orders for April 3 deliveries of the iPad. You can also order the fancier 3G/GPS models, but they won’t arrive until late April.

I’m playing with the order & accessory options, but with my birthday coming up, my wife has informed me that any major purchases will be met with having my “na-nas cut off.” And I’m really quite fond of those, so I guess I’ll have to wait.

California isn’t exactly suffering from a preponderance of statesmen in its Congressional delegation, and yet most incumbents are safe and 15 (of 53) districts won’t have major party competitors at all in November.

However, Jim Geraghty has a look at some of the more interesting challengers the GOP is putting up. Well worth your time, especially Nick Popaditch, who’s making a run in 51 against Bob Filner.

Via (again) Ed Driscoll, we’ve got Jen Rubin’s take on the latest reconciliation revelation:

So there you have it, House Democrats. Once you vote for the Senate bill, Obama will sign it, the Left will declare victory, and who knows if reconcilliation will ever happen. This confirms that the Democratic leadership has once again been hiding the ball and not leveling with either their own members or with the public about the procedural aspects of the bill. It will certainly not help to calm the nerves of House Democrats, who already suspect the “fix” is in and that they are being trapped into voting for the noxious Senate bill — Cornhusker Kickback and all.

So, here’s what else you have, House Democrats. The “fix” for the Senate bill is, the fix is in.

Meant to link this earlier in the relevant post, but — d’oh! Anyway, Ed Driscoll has a good roundup of today’s tax & spend & regulate & lose-your-majority news.

It must be the most ethical Congress in history, because there’s nothing to see here. Move along:

House Democrats have stopped a Republican bid to force an investigation into whether Democratic leaders covered up allegations that former Rep. Eric Massa sexually harassed male employees.

House Republican Leader John Boehner attempted to order the House ethics committee to investigate and report to the House by June 30. Instead, the House voted 402-1 to allow the panel to determine the next step—a move that could kill any further investigation.

Personally, though, for me this is a plus. After having already made a TV show about Massa, I’m not ready to watch any more.

Alternate Headline: Reconcile THIS!

From Fox:

The health care reform bill passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve appears to be dead on arrival in the House, as six anti-abortion Democrats intend to join the ranks of lawmakers who plan to vote against the legislation, Fox News has confirmed.

The health care reform bill passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve appears to be dead on arrival in the House, as six anti-abortion Democrats intend to join the ranks of lawmakers who plan to vote against the legislation, Fox News has confirmed.

Six new no votes would be enough to kill the Senate bill, and several more fence-sitting lawmakers are under pressure from both sides of the aisle.

Don’t do a happy dance just yet, but it’s probably safe to go ahead and lace up your slippers.

Meanwhile, I’ll be in my bunk.

Watching Republican Minority Leader John Boehner get all prepped to become Speaker in January makes me feel like Tom Hanks at the end of Saving Private Ryan — whispering earn this to Ryan just before bleeding out. Well, maybe there’s a chance Boehner’s worthy after all:

WASHINGTON, DC – House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement after House Republicans adopted a unilateral moratorium on all earmarks, including tax and tariff-related earmarks:

“For millions of Americans, the earmark process in Congress has become a symbol of a broken Washington. Today House Republicans took an important step toward showing the American people we’re serious about reform by adopting an immediate, unilateral ban on all earmarks. But the more difficult battle lies ahead, and that’s stopping the spending spree in Washington that is saddling our children and grandchildren with trillions of dollars in debt. Only then will we have succeeded in bringing fundamental change to the way Congress spends taxpayers’ money.”

That’s a very small start, but it is something.

Well, we can hope the health care bill is dead, after the latest from The Hill. Read:

More than two dozen Democrats are expected to vote against the healthcare reform bill that will hit the House floor in the coming weeks.

At least 25 House Democrats will reject the healthcare reform legislation, according to a survey by The Hill, a review of other media reports and interviews with lawmakers, aides and lobbyists. Dozens of House Democrats are undecided or won’t comment on their position on the measure.

The 25 opposed include firm “no” votes and members who are likely “no” votes. Most Democrats on The Hill’s whip list are definitely going to vote no, but others, such as Reps. Lincoln Davis (Tenn.) and Harry Teague (N.M.), could vote yes.

However, The Hill has not yet put Democrats who are insisting on Rep. Bart Stupak’s (D-Mich.) language on abortion in the “no” category. Stupak has said there are 12 Democrats who supported the House bill in November who will vote no unless his anti-abortion-rights measure is melded into the final bill.

The Hill’s list does not include members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who are threatening to vote no unless changes are made to the bill’s immigration-related provisions. Most on Capitol Hill believe that language will not be changed and that most members of the CHC will still back the final measure.

What we need to know is this: How many of these potential No votes, voted Yes the first time around?

Anyone?

The Trifecta team says: “Get to know me!“

Because shiny, happy New York doesn’t have anything better to worry itself over:

Some New York City chefs and restaurant owners are taking aim at a bill introduced in the New York Legislature that, if passed, would ban the use of salt in restaurant cooking.

“No owner or operator of a restaurant in this state shall use salt in any form in the preparation of any food for consumption by customers of such restaurant, including food prepared to be consumed on the premises of such restaurant or off of such premises,” the bill, A. 10129 , states in part.

The legislation, which Assemblyman Felix Ortiz , D-Brooklyn, introduced on March 5, would fine restaurants $1,000 for each violation.

You have got to be fracking kidding me. If it’s too salty, send it back. Otherwise, let the chef do what he does best — and let Felix Ortiz suck eggs.

I’ve come along to Professor Reynolds’ view that it’s time to bring back tar and feathers. And in prodigious quantities.

Say it with me again: Amateurs study strategy, professionals study logistics. With that in mind, I direct your attention to Erick Erickson at Red State, who has what might be the most important report you’ll read between now and Election Day:

One would think the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (”DSCC”) would have a joint fundraising committee with Robin Carnahan, running against Roy Blunt in Missouri. And one would think they would use Barack Obama as the front man for the joint fundraiser.

If one thinks that, one would be wrong.

Today in Missouri, Barack Obama spoke at the fundraiser organized by the joint fundraising committee of the DSCC and sitting United States Senator Claire McCaskill — a woman not up for re-election.

At this event, Robin Carnahan, the 2010 Democratic Senate candidate in Missouri, was no where to be seen.

[SNIP]

Carnahan should be able to do like Rick Perry and run a race against Washington and against the Republicans. Except she can’t. Her party owns Washington. And because her party owns Washington and Barack Obama owns the party, Robin Carnahan is screwed.

Barack Obama knows it. He’s trying to stay away lest political reporters finally start paying attention like the rest of us and realize Barack Obama is exactly what I said he was — Barack Obama is now a social pariah and most Democrats and he know it.

Unprecedented. And that makes it a huge indicator for what might happen next fall.

A couple weeks ago something occurred to me, but I didn’t mention it — because A) I hadn’t looked at enough races, and B) I didn’t want to look like an idiot. OK, I didn’t want to look more idiotic than absolutely necessary. I still haven’t done A), but I’m now willing to go out on a limb and do B).

So here it is: The Republicans won’t just capture the House this fall, but their majority could be as big as the one the Democrats now enjoy.

I’m still not willing to call the Senate for the GOP. Their very-best-case scenario is a 50-50 split, with Joe Biden casting the tie-breaking votes. But if that does happen, you might expect to see enough Democrats voting with the Republicans on the big issues, that Biden won’t be of much use.

But he’s used to that.