Linked Up

I'm thinking of a new name for this regular item. The Dump? Unloading? Linkilicious?

Eh. It's not a big deal, either way:

1. Ben Smith makes a great point: if the GOP burns through Michael Steele, Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin before 2012, who do they have on the bench that isn't a white male?

2. Brilliant: "How is it that the stars of the Republican austerity movement come from the states that suck up the most federal money? Taxpayers in New York send way more to Washington than they get back so more can go to places like Alaska and Louisiana."

3. "Slum love," eh? Friggin'. Baby. Off the hook. TNC pwns Michael Steele about his painful attempts at slanguage. Are we not sure that he's a mole in the Republican Party?

4. Out there, beyond the cutting edge, GOP elected officials are still saying stupid things.

5. A good friend sent me this link, where some run-of-the-mill right-wing nutjob calls for several states to think about nullification in response to President Obama's stimulus plan. I suppose this idea has appeal for people fond of the Civil War. Like some of Sean Hannity's fans.

6. If you can't take your woman out for a date that doesn't involve a restaurant with $240 tables or rounds of $15 martinis, chances are you're spending money on the wrong woman.

7. If you roll with President Obama, you have to be made of win. Even the in-laws.

8. A quintessential example of bad timing. I'm not sure phenomenon is quite the right word.

9. It's Penthouse magazine. Not quite sure that I expected the work atmosphere to be all that tame. But still ... no excuses.

10. As long as you're not hurting anyone and you're being responsible, I could really care less about what goes on in your bedroom. And I absolutely loathe people who resort to name-calling when it comes to women in this regard: "whore," "slut," "ho." Thus, I'm digging the portion of this somewhat explicit sex column labeled "Slut Factor."

11. Speaking of which, I honestly can't understand the antipathy directed at former Danity Kane member Aubrey O'Day. Puffy is some sort of audacious hypocrite, with the nerve to talk about someone being "overly raunchy, and promiscuous."

12. Believe it or not, things are looking worse for Sen. (at the moment) Roland Burris.

13. What to do if you get laid off. Remember: it could happen to any of us.

14. That in mind, my thoughts and prayers are with the folks at the Rocky Mountain News, San Francisco Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News. 2009 is shaping up to be as bad, or worse, than 2008 for the newspaper industry. Sheesh.

15. Regular commenter and blogger extraordinaire A.T. has an on-going list of 25 albums that have made an impression on him. The link is to part one. I've never asked him before, but I get the feeling that he's a music teacher. Even if he's not, I'm still learning quite a bit over at his site.

16. And to make this a Sweet 16, I feel like mentioning that the First Lady has somewhat improbably turned me into a huge fan of Bravo's "Top Chef." I only tolerated the show at first because Padma (pictured above) was involved and because I'm something of a tee-vee hog during football season. But now, I'm hooked. I was absolutely riveted by the season finale, even though the FL's favorite finished in third and an absolute goober won the top prize. It was a good look for them to film the final two shows in N'awlins. Made me miss Louisiana. Once again.

Posting might be light over the weekend. But somehow, I usually seem to find a way to come up with something to talk about and the time to do it.

Stay tuned.