Lizz Winstead FTW

I'm finally reading Lizz Winstead's collection of essays, Lizz Free or Die, which was her gift to me for allowing her to use a joke I made on Facebook in her stand-up act. She's a funny woman, and though I can't quite relate to her Catholic upbringing and her bouts of popularity and deserved but also lucky rise to fame, I do relate to her sense of humor and her frustration with the apathy and wrongheadedness in modern American culture. She has some damned good stories, especially that of the evening she realized she could still be funny while experiencing the ultimate wardrobe malfunction on stage.

And she legitimately and correctly uses the word "smegma" -- while referring to one of her dogs. The dog stories particularly crack me up. Especially the part about how she finally gave in to Sarah McLaughlin's caterwalling.

I haven't gotten to the part where she works with Rachel Maddow, but I can't wait.

Liberal Media Gets Less Liberal

I have been mulling for several days over writing a post about Kennedy's "Ask Not" speech and modern related speeches, but tonight I am flabbergasted by Keith Olbermann's abrupt announcement he is leaving MSNBC. I have often been critical of Keith's style, which is sometimes too sarcastic to be taken seriously by anyone not in his political camp. Nevertheless, he has been an important liberal voice and has carved a path for more circumspect commentators, particularly my political muse, Rachel Maddow. That's why this is a big deal. At a time when Fox News continues to ratchet up the rhetoric from the right and MSNBC's message is threatened by the Comcast merger, I hope Rachel and her MSNBC colleagues like Ed Schultz and Lawrence O'Donnell can take Keith's torch and run with it. In the meantime, I also hope Olbermann finds a new outlet for his unique vision and commentary. I'll miss his show.