Yet another reason to love Robert Byrd:

he is old enough that he can unreservedly lay the smackdown.

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY): "Regular order!"

Byrd: "Who said that?"

Bunning: "I did."

Byrd: "Who are you?"

Bunning: "I'm a senator."

Byrd: "You're a great baseball man."

Bunning: "I'm a senator; I have the same rights as you."

Byrd: "Yeah, man, you're a senator." [Ends by laughing hysterically at Bunning.]

Jim Bunning, BTW, is not only an actual baseball player but also also a crazy old man who has been ranked among the five worst senators, so Byrd (no stranger to "old" and "crazy" himself) is kind of justified here. But regardless, I get so much joy from imagining the withering tone in which Byrd would have said "Who are you?"

Sunday Screening

Well, as we look ahead to an Obama vs. McCain general election, we should start sketching out lines of argument we can use against the gentleman from Arizona. We can talk about his right-wing politics, his abysmal record, his wild-eyed militarism; but I have to say right now I'm not comfortable with attacks on McCain's age. We have too much dignity, and respect for our elders, to resort to... to...

OH HELL IT'S JUST TOO EASY.

Although I have to give Senator McCain credit here -- Matlock was a quality show. You got Andy Griffith, you got a courtroom, what's not to like?

(If you paid close attention there you might have noticed Fred Thompson seated in the audience. Intertextuality much?)

It occurs to me that some of you young'uns out there might not be familiar with the work of Andy Griffith. If anything you know him from The Andy Griffith Show, classic 1960s TV-Americana, best remembered today for giving us the catchiest theme song ever. But Andy Griffith had a long and fulfilling acting career; the highlight is undoubtedly Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd, 1957, a brilliant and gut-wrenching drama/satire. The Network of its day, this is a criminally underrated film that you owe it to yourself to see:

That clip doesn't quite bring it across, but it's a really discomfiting look at entertainment, business and politics. Go get a copy.

I'll close there. Hope reading period isn't too stressful for those of you who, unlike me, aren't Gov concentrators and therefore have work to do (suckers). Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll see you around; this is an open thread.

MySpace ruins lives

Ashley Alexandra Dupre isn't the only one regretting her MySpace right now.

The first female mayor of Arlington, OR is single, looking, and looking fine. But Carmen Kontur-Gronquist found out too late what we at Dem Apples have known since we were 14 and that 30-year-old with an interest in "photography" friended us: MySpace is mad sketchy.

So when the voters of this sleepy little hamlet (population: 500) found pictures of Mayor Kontur-Gronquist posed in a bikini on a fire truck (among other suggestive images) on her MySpace profile, hilarity ensued... and by hilarity, I mean scandal, of course.

Political opponents circulated fliers. "Dozens" of Arlington's 366 registered voters held meetings. And, finally, a recall election was held. Ms. Kontor-Gronquist has been officially removed from her unpaid position as mayor of Arlington, effective Tuesday, by a vote of 142-139.

Prudes and minors, stop here. (Semi-scandalous image after the jump).

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