My, My - some last few days, huh?

Where to start? I think I'll do a list (no particular order of importance) :

1) Michael Jackson passed away

That was a shocker - a few years younger than me and gone just like that. I did have a weird reaction to his death though. I never thought I was much of a fan but as I watched the reports of his passing I was brushing tears out of my eyes. No matter what you thought of his private life, the man was one hell of an entertainer and that's how I choose to remember him. Still not watching the all-day coverage of his memorial though.

2) Farrah Fawcett passed away too

This one was expected, and still too bad. I remember her as the poster girl phenom from TV's Charlie's Angels but I remember her later work too. The lady definitely had some acting chops to go with the looks.

3) Governor Sanford and the Road to Appalachia

OK, this one was plain weird. Did the guy really think he could ditch his governor job for a week, lie about where he was so he could be with his Argentinian mistress and no one would notice? Of course, he has asked God and his constituents to forgive him so he won't be resigning since it's all good now. I'll bet he's glad he's not a Democrat and can get away with that. I read that he spent the 4th with his wife and kids - that must of been one relaxing weekend. I thought that was the height of Republican weirdness until....

4) Caribou Barbie resigns as Governor of Alaska

OK, this one caught me all unprepared. I'd just written in a post to one of my email groups that I thought she wouldn't run for re-election next year when the breaking news came across my email box (I don't watch much TV anymore). Now normally this would mean that a possible future Presidential candidate who quit without even completing one term in office was DOA, but according to what I'm seeing from the Party of Crazy that's not always so! Some of the really hard right GOPers think she has a chance at the White House still and are urging her to go for it!! That might work with the 73% of 22% who still like her but if they ever wanted to hand Obama his second term on a silver platter, that's going to do the job just fine.

And finally, the good news from the last few days.....

5) Al Franken is finally declared the winner and is sworn into the Senate

I've always been a fan of Franken's comedy and was a faithful listener to his radio stint with Air America. I'd hoped he'd run for something, having heard quite the undertow of a serious thinker and policy wonk under the laughs so I cheered when he announced for the Senate from MN. I'm thankful he didn't pull a Gore and go "oh well, guess I lost" when the Republicans tried every thing in their bag of tricks to hand his close win over to Coleman and stayed in to fight for it. I think he will be a fine Senator in the Minnesota tradition of Humphrey, Mondale and Wellstone. The gravy here is his win is also driving the far right even crazier than normal, just like Obama's did. Hurray and welcome, Senator Franken.