Froomkin wins the Super Bowl. "A reporter could get up at the next press conference and ask a very simple, very basic question: Why should the American public trust you anymore?"

{ 1:59 PM }

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Axis of evil. "Iran is the country most widely viewed as having a negative influence in the world, with the US in second place, a new poll for the BBC suggests."

{ 10:47 AM }

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Where do Democrats come from? "There's a reason that veterans are flocking into politics as Democrats (55 and counting) to rid Congress of the Republicans who are working at cross-purposes to the best interests of our nation's men and women in uniform," says Kos.

{ 2:43 PM }

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The New Untouchables. Are you wondering on what date Abramoff is to be sentenced? How about the date of the murder trial of the Gambino goons who killed the previous owner of Abramoff's casino company?

Josh Marshall puts on his Eliot Ness hat and keeps track of the major players in the American political mafia with his new Grand Ole Docket project.

"The Grand Ole Docket tracks trial dates, court appearances and sentencing hearings for players in the current array of national political scandals. But not just any crook can make it on the Docket - it only tracks perps who've been named by prosecutors in indictments or plea agreements."

{ 9:16 AM }

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Sick economy. "At another point [in the SOTU address], Bush said the number of jobs went up by 4.6 million in the past two and half years. There was a reason he chose not to start from the beginning of his presidency -- that would have brought the net number of added jobs down to 2 million over the five-year period, says Glenn Kessler in WaPo.

{ 5:16 PM }

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Sick democracy. "Arresting Cindy Sheehan for asking how many more American troops must die on the same day that Coretta Scott King passsed away is perfectly emblematic of the bankruptcy of every soaring tribute George W. Bush makes to freedom and democracy," says Digby.

{ 5:08 PM }

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Sick proposal. "I have no idea why the idea that you get to save money tax free so that you can spend it when you get sick is appealing," says Atrios.

{ 9:05 AM }

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Freelance Enron asskissers. Ken Lay has a fan club? Who knew?

A man who identified himself as Lee Perry held up a homemade sign proclaiming Lay's innocence. Perry said he did independent auditing of the company in its heyday and that everything was on the up and up.

"I've heard all the talk about what people think will happen," said Perry, who believes the trial will exonerate the former CEOs.

Enron is one of the most written-about companies in history, particularly with respect to its auditing and accounting players. But, naturally, a Google search of "Lee Perry" turned up nada.

Of course, if you've already spent nearly $100 million on your defense, you can probably afford to buy a few pseudonymous asskissers to stand around outside the courthouse, complete with "homemade" signs designed to casually impress the Houston Chronicle.

{ 9:41 AM }

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VICHY MOTHERFUCKING BALLAST. Maryscott O'Connor:

What I want is a complete list of every scumsucking fuckstick Democratic asshole Senator who voted for Cloture. That's what I want.

I don't know what to DO with that list, not yet -- but I know for GODDAMNED sure I won't be VOTING for any of them, lt alone sending them any goddamned MONEY.

Frankly, right now I'd like nothing better than to torpedo the entire lot of them. Just dump them like so much worthless, leaden, VICHY MOTHERFUCKING BALLAST.

I got nothin', folks. Don't look over here if you want comfort or a nice, uplifting LIVE TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY speech.

Yep. That's about right.

{ 5:32 PM }

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State of the Enron. Here's a trip down Memory Lane, with some of our favorite Enron posts in reverse chronological order...

Ken Lay: "I'm a victim of terrorism."
Scraping by on $76,000 a month.
Enron in charge of Inauguration '05.
Poppy's Enron birthday party.
The Terminator gets Layed (the secret Lay-Schwarzenegger-Milken meeting).
Enron's "mighty man adventure vacations."
Charity begins at home — Ken Lay's home.

{ 2:09 PM }

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Sequels suck. WaPo: "...Americans dipped further into their savings, pushing the savings rate for all of 2005 into negative territory at minus 0.5 percent. That was the lowest annual savings rate since a decline of 1.5 percent in 1933, a year in which the country was struggling to cope with the Great Depression."

What's so Great about the Depression? Nothing at all. What is noteworthy, though, is that it was another Republican Depression. ("From the Civil War until the Depression, the Republican party was the dominant political party--it generally controlled the House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and the Presidency.")

{ 8:51 AM }

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