Winner and still champeen...

Rush Limbaugh!
Very good in-depth article on the man who, as much as Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich, pulled the Republican party out of its post-Nixon doldrums and made it a force to be reckoned with again, to say nothing of bringing AM radio back from the edge of its grave. Surprisingly balanced, considering that it's a NY Times piece. Or maybe not; the Mike Weiss post on Gawker linked to in the NRO piece claims the author used to do PR for Menachem Begin. Like that's a bad thing? Weiss redeems himself with the joke about Rush using his nine-figure advance to buy a pyramid constructed of the gilded skulls of Air America investors, though.
(Kevin Williamson @NRO Media Blog)

My father and I liked Rush for different reasons. He preferred Limbaugh's books, The Way It Ought To Be and See, I Told You So and also was a lifelong subscriber to The Limbaugh Letter- but he couldn't stand to listen to the show. As for me, the books were okay, but the show was definitely where it was at. I suspect the difference in taste was largely due to our respective musical tastes. Wonder what Dad would have made of Jackie Mason's YouTube channel? Assuming we could have gotten him to log in to begin with, of course.

Winner and still champeen...

Rush Limbaugh!
Very good in-depth article on the man who, as much as Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich, pulled the Republican party out of its post-Nixon doldrums and made it a force to be reckoned with again, to say nothing of bringing AM radio back from the edge of its grave. Surprisingly balanced, considering that it's a NY Times piece. Or maybe not; the Mike Weiss post on Gawker linked to in the NRO piece claims the author used to do PR for Menachem Begin. Like that's a bad thing? Weiss redeems himself with the joke about Rush using his nine-figure advance to buy a pyramid constructed of the gilded skulls of Air America investors, though.
(Kevin Williamson @NRO Media Blog)

My father and I liked Rush for different reasons. He preferred Limbaugh's books, The Way It Ought To Be and See, I Told You So and also was a lifelong subscriber to The Limbaugh Letter- but he couldn't stand to listen to the show. As for me, the books were okay, but the show was definitely where it was at. I suspect the difference in taste was largely due to our respective musical tastes. Wonder what Dad would have made of Jackie Mason's YouTube channel? Assuming we could have gotten him to log in to begin with, of course.

explosions and tubes of meat, with sides

So P and I wound up tailgating with RS in the parking lot of their place; I'd stopped at Wal-Mart on the way back from Alexandria and picked up bandages, cheese brats, more buns, a portable/one-shot grill, flame source, and wood-tipped El Ropos, which I wound up not needing since the pyrotechnics and grill threw off enough smoke to confuse whatever anopheles were around. Hebrew Nationals and Johnsonvilles were grilled, RS boiled up some sweet corn and cooked up some rice & red beans, stout and Diet Coke were consumed, and stuff was lit off. The sparkle towers were good, the whirligigs (field expedients for Catherine wheels) less so but still kind of neat*. P expressed interest in meeting a friend of one of RS' friends who could possibly get her onto a mortar crew for next Independence Day; as for me, I am far too out of shape to be emplacing and feeding 6" mortars, no matter how beautiful the fireworks they produce are.

So, yeah, pretty good for an extemporized celebration. Next year I think I'll get the Smokey Joe instead; a lot harder to tip over.

*Sorry, stuckintraffik, no pix; P and I both forgot our cameras. :(

explosions and tubes of meat, with sides

So P and I wound up tailgating with RS in the parking lot of their place; I'd stopped at Wal-Mart on the way back from Alexandria and picked up bandages, cheese brats, more buns, a portable/one-shot grill, flame source, and wood-tipped El Ropos, which I wound up not needing since the pyrotechnics and grill threw off enough smoke to confuse whatever anopheles were around. Hebrew Nationals and Johnsonvilles were grilled, RS boiled up some sweet corn and cooked up some rice & red beans, stout and Diet Coke were consumed, and stuff was lit off. The sparkle towers were good, the whirligigs (field expedients for Catherine wheels) less so but still kind of neat*. P expressed interest in meeting a friend of one of RS' friends who could possibly get her onto a mortar crew for next Independence Day; as for me, I am far too out of shape to be emplacing and feeding 6" mortars, no matter how beautiful the fireworks they produce are.

So, yeah, pretty good for an extemporized celebration. Next year I think I'll get the Smokey Joe instead; a lot harder to tip over.

*Sorry, stuckintraffik, no pix; P and I both forgot our cameras. :(