WHERE DO WE EVEN BEGIN?

It is a rare thing for me to be at a loss for words. It is also rare for me to be indecisive. Today I am a little of both. There is so much stuff out there - yes stuff! - that it is a little hard to know where to begin.

I'd grab the popcorn and a drink and put your feet up as you start to read this. We're going to be here for a while.

We could go with Tiger. Eleven women and counting apparently and insulting e-mails to one of them about his wife. We could talk about Gatorade dropping the Tiger drink and could even ask if he will ever play golf again at a professional level (yes - he will).

We could talk about an apparent deal between Senate Democrats to drop the public option from health care reform to get it passed. Harry Reid looked so miserable last night when he made an announcement of some kind of deal, but then again Harry always looks like he's just been told he has three hours to live so its a little hard to tell.

We could talk about the CONVICTED FELON in the White House (yes, another one!) who is apparently the architect of health care reform. We could ask how all these literal criminals (this one was convicted of a $2.3m bank fraud) are allowed to get close to the President. We could even talk about how one of the President's closest advisers - Axlerod - could even think about saying this Felon's past doesn't make him a bad person!

We could talk about Global Warming and how our media simply refuses to do its job. This is one I will come back to again and again in these pages because it places the future of our country in real and potentially terminal danger. Once the press stops doing its job - either by regulation as in places like Venezuela and Russia - or voluntarily which is what is happening right here, right now, then the most important check on power is removed.

I was extremely proud to tell people I was a journalist when I was a very young man. I was respected because of it. Now I look on these people with disgust. Why do they continue to ignore the conspiracy to change the data to prove man made global warming which simply does not exist? Why? Is it embarrassment because they bought into it so completely, or have they been paid off? I really wonder.

We could talk about the nearly $6 million in stimulus money that was paid to two firms run by Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton’s pollster in 2008. Apparently it went to preserve jobs. THREE JOBS to be precise. No huge outcry about that either.

We could move to Florida and talk about Orlando's commuter rail which was passed by the Florida Legislature today. A Republican Legislature which has produced a Bill for a Republican Governor to sign (and he will) which demands Federal stimulus money for a rail project that NO ONE WILL USE and then when that money dries up, the State will have to fund in order to keep on the tracks because its shortfall in profit terms will also be huge. I repeat, these are REPUBLICANS and frankly their actions today are REPUGNANT!

So I considered all of that before deciding on the most important story of the day. And I take my lead from another Republican. He is in fact Texas Rep. Joe Barton, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Now I love Texas, but this guy needs to be thrown out of office. You see with everything facing our nation right now (please note I did not even touch on the economy or the war in Afghanistan, or the President's Nobel prize for peace which was followed by him finally announcing a troop surge, or even the myriad of problems we are facing as a nation), the most important issue according to Joe is whether or not College Football should have playoffs to decide which two teams fight for the National Championship.

Right on Joe! As a friend of mine said this morning over a different subject - ARE YOU ON CRACK? Now my personal preference would indeed be a playoff series, but for Congress to waste time and money on sticking their noses into college football at THIS time in our history, simply defies belief. Not only that, but Barton knows he has ZERO CHANCE of getting the legislation through the House. So why bother?

Is his profile not high enough in his Texas District? Is it even smart when Texas just made it to the National Championship against Alabama on January 7? CAN WE PLEASE HAVE OUR MONEY BACK FOR YOUR SALARY, JOE because you have clearly lost your freakin' mind!

AP reported the following today: At a May hearing, Barton warned college football officials that unless they took action toward a playoff system within two months, Congress would probably move on his bill. It took a little longer, but the timing of this week's vote isn't exactly a coincidence. "Part of it is because BCS is in the news," Barton said. He said he hasn't lobbied subcommittee members much but doesn't think there is much resistance to the idea that there should be a playoff in college football. But there is opposition to the bill. Subcommittee member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., said he would prefer to see affected parties work out a playoff system themselves rather than have Congress do it.

Maybe I can forgive Joe just a touch, because after all he is merely following in the footsteps of the President - THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!!! - who spoke very soon after his election in support of playoffs - "I'm going to throw my weight around a little bit. I think it's the right thing to do."

My point exactly - where do we even begin today?

If you'd like to comment on this blog you can do so by e-mailing me at simontalkshow@gmail.com

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