I saw Borat last night.  Let’s just go ahead and get that out of the way.  I was tired, I don’t own a TV (not pretentious, just too busy), and I really had know idea Borat’s schtick was all about.  But it looked silly, my brain was fried, and I was seeking some base low-brow humor to lift my spirits.  A good fart joke perhaps?  Maybe some quasi-clever double entendre? 

But I got so much more!  Yes, the film was about as low-brow as you can get.  It was offensive and childish and occasionally made me a little nauseous.  But it was also a shocking expose on modern Americana the likes of which ought to send all of us into a panic.  The foul emanations that this comic genius is able to solicit from people in “polite” society is an accomplishment on its own.  But for these people to betray a complete lack of shame in signing the consent form is just mind-boggling.  If you live in a liberal city, or if you simply live – as I do – in an academic bubble, I highly recommend you go out and get a good look at what’s going on in your neighbors’ heads.

Did somebody leave the good news faucet on last night? 

A roller-coaster recount that uncovered vote-counting flaws in several Connecticut towns gave Democrat Joe Courtney a narrow victory over three-term Republican Rep. Rob Simmons on Tuesday. 

Yup … Lay ‘em down and smack ‘em yack ‘em!

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What a bunghole: 

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut said yesterday that he will caucus with Senate Democrats in the new Congress, but he would not rule out switching to the Republican caucus if he starts to feel uncomfortable among Democrats. 

This joker is a relic of establishment Democrats.  He’s an anachronism.  He ran an election in CT against the legitimate Democratic primary winner by promising, if elected, to caucus with the Democrats.  How many votes do you think he would have gotten if he had been honest about his Republican leanings?  Well, enjoy your petty revenge Joe, because you can officially kiss your presidential ambitions goodbye. 

Oh, and did somebody say recall election?

Paul Rosenberg has written an absolutely brilliant piece over at Kos on the apparent paradox of conservative governance and why conservatives might consider giving liberalism a chance. This is an argument that I have been trying to articulate for years without success so I won’t try to summarize it, and it's far too succinctly nuanced to clip.  Just go read it for yourself.

Yeah, this looks hella fun:

Ok, this is weird.  According to the official (government certified) final count for the Connecticut 2000 election, Phil Giordao, Joe Lieberman’s Republican opponent, received exactly 448,077 votes.  Fast forward to 2006, and according to CNN, Ned Lamont received – you guessed it, 448,077 votes.  WTF?! 

Thanks to August for finding this one.  Let’s hope it’s just a typo.  Or that it is a shocking, improbable (though possible) coincidence.  Let’s hope it’s anything besides evidence of impropriety.