Top Ten Cloves: Things About Christmas Around The Nation's Capital

News Item: Bush's Lame Duck Christmas Dinners: The White House Menus


10. 'Do You Hear What I Hear' ... Even on Christmas, no break from the wiretapping

9. Blackwater USA sings "Sleigh Ride" all year round

8. When John McCain sings "I'll Be Home For Christmas", he has to focus on just one of his seven homes

7. 'Silent Night' is, pretty much, the summation of Condi Rice's tenure as Secretary of State

6. Ted Stevens is afraid to sing "Deck The Halls", fearing it may bring new indictments against him

5. All the Obama Team will say is that he's 'Away In The Manger'

4. For Karl Rove, and his Legacy Project, is all about 'O Come All Ye Faithful'

3. Bob Novak's favorite Christmas tune is 'Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer'

2. All of Bush's pardons to cronies are hung by the fireplace with care

1. Cheney's still making the lists, and torturing them twice


Bonus Xmas Links

Wikipedia: Christmas music

Rawlin Blake: Christmas Songs

Santa's Sing-A-Long Christmas Carols

phillyBurbs Staff: Best and worst Christmas songs

Zach Baron: Another Free iTunes Single of the Week: Stephen Colbert's "Another Christmas Song"

Down Goes Stevens! ... Down Goes Stevens!

Oh man, who knew the Republican were going to pull out their 2006 playbook, and throw a good, juicy scandal into the election home stretch?

Alaska's Ted Stevens found guilty on all 7 counts

A federal jury on Monday found Republican Sen. Ted Stevens guilty on seven counts of lying about thousands of dollars of gifts and home renovations on his financial disclosure forms, a verdict that ended in disgrace the four-decade Senate career of a man whose imprint on Alaska dates to before its statehood.

It's an almost unprecedented conviction by a jury of a sitting U.S. senator and the Justice Department's highest-profile felony conviction in a sweeping four-year federal investigation into corruption in Alaska politics.

He batted 1000%

From the Anchorage Daily News;

Jurors found Stevens, 84, guilty of willfully filing false financial-disclosure forms that hid such gifts as a $2,695 massage chair, a stained glass window, a sled dog and renovations that doubled the size of his Girdwood home. Those gifts, valued at as much as $250,000 over seven years, came mostly from his former friend Bill Allen, the star prosecution witness in Stevens' trial and the former owner of Veco Corp.

Being that he is up for reelection next week, now, as a convicted felon, he does not pass Go, he does not get to vote.

And, guess who shows up, quite prominently with the now disgraced, convicted Senator?

The Wasilla Whiz Kid!

Sarah Palin Hearts Newly Convicted Felon Ted Stevens

Stevens' conviction will be a problem for Republicans generally, and for John McCain and Sarah Palin specifically.

In July, Palin sat next to Stevens at a press conference, talking about how much she respected him and how his voice needed to be hard across America. And during her gubernatorial campaign, she ran a television ad proudly touting his endorsement.

Be sure to go over to The Jed Report, and check out the videos

And, Mommy Moose will, very likely, pay close attention to this case.

She may have her own "Gift House" scandal to deal with down the road


Bonus Stevens To The Big House Links

Bmaz: Down Goes Toobz! Down Goes Toobz!

Eric Kleefeld: Stevens Conviction Makes Huge Dem Senate Pickup Very Likely

Steve Benen: DOWN THE TUBES...


Yes, Who Can Forget This

Series of Tubes


Bonus Bonus

Perhaps, in hindsight, Stevens should have watched this movie, before engaging in his 7-Felony-count activities.

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)

What's Next ... An "Ek-A-Lec-Tic" Reading List?

My, My, My ...

If you had to go through brain freeze, to come up with something that would top the news on the day that George Carlin dies ...

Ta-Da! ... Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain comes riding in ....

Or, in fairness, we should say, his staff.

First, a random image (perhaps while in the throes of that brain freeze);

Stumblin' Bumblin' John, in the Senate with his colleague, Ted Stevens, kicking it around, snickering at some young staffers, how the two of them have mastered all those "Internet Tubes" ...

This precious SB John moment comes via one his his aides, Mark Soohoo, at the Personal Democracy Forum in New York.

From Ben Smith's "The Google";

Pressed again on McCain's tech savvy, he defends his candidate.

"You don’t actually have to use a computer to understand how it shapes the country," he says.

"You actually do," former Edwards blogger Tracy Russo responds, suggesting he try to explain Twitter to his grandmother and then ask her how that applies to governing.

"John McCain is aware of the Internet," says Soohoo. "This is a man who has a very long history of understanding on a range of issues."

"Is aware of the Internet"

Priceless!

This goes some way in explaining his wife's recipe thievery.

We can only speculate, that McCain thinks that she, or someone, just ripped'em out of those "Internet Tubes" as they whizzed through Arizona.

We know that The Commander Guy uses "The Google".

So, does that indicate Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain still has a ways to go?

He may be "aware of the Internet", but is he hip to "The Google"?

If we extend this out, to the differences between his campaign, and Barack Obama's, we may have to lean towards the direction that SB John is a "The Yahoo" man.

What's Next ... An "Ek-A-Lec-Tic" Reading List?


Is Aware of Bonus Links

Cernig: John McCain Is Aware Of All Internet Traditions

Jane Hamsher: If You Can’t Use a Computer, How Can You Be President?

No Intel Inside

Top Ten Cloves: Other Things, Besides The Internet, That John McCain May Be Aware Of

News Item: This Is Nice To Know

10. Pretty sure you need to look both ways before crossing the street

9. You mean it's not a requirement to be Vice President that you have to know how to do an Exorcism?

8. Vaguely aware of not to eat yellow snow

7. Has heard you should wait an hour after eating before going swimming

6. It was a Beach Boys song, I'm certain of that ...

5. There are 50 states, right?

4. Those aren't Cindy's own family recipes?

3. After using the restroom, Lavos Sus Manos!

2. Yeah, Yeah ... There's the Sunni and Shi’ia thing ...

1. There are electric can openers now?