We're All Bozos On This Bus

• Back in the 80's there was a secret language some of us were using and it consisted of strange utterances such as "more sugar!" and "aren't we all yearning for a little stopping power?"  Well, it was called Firesign Theater, and one of the great founders of it all died the other day, Peter Bergman.  The group's record albums rate number one on my list of funniest things I've ever heard, especially the classic "Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers."  Maybe you had to be there, but damn it was great if you were.
• Garry Trudeau's beautiful comic tribute to sanity, "Doonesbury," has been running re-runs in our local newspaper and others all over the nation all of last week because of the subject matter.  Seems it might upset some people.  They should make it mandatory by law to read it.  Click here for the missing week's strips.
• And along the same vein, Mark Morford revs up his brain cells to explain Rick Santorum and his minions of evil.  "You might say Rick Santorum is the lesser of three evils. But that's not exactly true -- he's actually just the most blandly reliable of three evils. He's your standard-issue, card-carrying bigot, a dimestore homophobe and misogynist par excellence who is actually quite consistent in his shocking sociopolitical illiteracy."  He's dangerously close to summing up the entire Republican list of candidates.
• We talk about the "Death Tax" and not the proper term, "Estate Tax." Two little words—"Death Panels"—were capable of nearly derailing the best thing that's happened to health insurance in this country in decades. Harvard-educated President Obama is universally considered "elite," while Yale-educated George W. Bush is considered "down home."  Here from AlterNet is 5 Words And Phrases Democrats Should Never Say Again.