“Tom DeLay” on The Daily Caller

1.) Anticipating health care showdown, Republicans studying, slapping one another in the face — Congressional Republicans training for Thursday’s health care summit swallowed an extra raw egg and ran additional wind sprints upon learning Sunday night that Pres. Obama plans to further empower health care regulators. The Daily Caller’s Jon Ward reports that Obama plans to “include in a health care proposal new authority for the secretary of health and human services to veto insurance rate hikes that it deems excessive, and will create a federal panel that would set guidelines for health insurers to follow in determining their rates.” On Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell went on the TV and asked a very interesting question: “If they are going to lay out the plan they want four days in advance, what are we discussing?” Answer: Open your mouth and close your eyes, and you will get a big surprise! (more)

It’s been an excruciatingly long week. It began with the Daytona 500, where Tony had a less than stellar day and I spent an interminable 16-hour caution drinking with Andy Levy. For the rest of the week, I’ve been a shut-in, toiling away on my master’s thesis, due inexplicably soon, drowning in Durkheim and Freud and Geertz, reminding myself to eat and bathe, and assuring myself that any of this actually matters. I can sum up my fragile state of mind in one sentence: My mother wished me a happy birthday, and I said, “When is it?” (more)

John Murtha was one of those guys whose influence didn’t really translate that well in today’s media culture. (more)