Before we begin here, I'd like to humbly propose a new law. No American television station should be allowed to have an exclusive contract for any Olympic games. Period.

Who's with me?

I thought about doing this column today in the spirit of the National Broadcasting Company's Olympic coverage. It would have gone something like this: post the title of the article, but then have the entire text read: "Check back in four hours for our Friday Talking Points coverage." Then, I would have released the winners of our weekly awards to the rest of the internet, so everyone would know who won before actually reading the article. Next, I would have updated the article here, but instead of the text of FTP, what you would have gotten instead would be a half-hour video of Bob Costas picking his nose. With inane commentary. And a video, complete with home movies of him as a kid, about how Bob Costas has had a lifetime of nasal problems which he has overcome so that he can proudly root in his snoot in front of millions of viewers (hours after it happened, of course). Finally, I would have posted the article's text, hours after you expected to see it. But it wouldn't have the awards, since we would have to move the awards to the end, and given them their own separate column, in an effort to make more money. Around one o'clock in the morning, I would have posted the actual awards themselves.

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Last year, I wrote an article the day after the first Tea Party "Tax Day" events took place. In it, I discussed two previous attacks upon the Internal Revenue Service which happened in 1991. While I wasn't trying to equate the Tea Partiers with the group which executed the attacks (one failed truck bombing, and one largely ineffective mortar attack on an I.R.S. processing facility in Fresno, California), but I would be willing to bet that these attacks will soon be dug out by a few of the better-researched journalists in the mainstream media, to provide historical background for today's suicidal air assault on an I.R.S. building in Austin, Texas.

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I'm going to start off today's column with a chart. I'm doing this for several reasons, not least of which is the fact that it's a really good chart. It is simple, easy to read, and involves very little mathematics (meaning it is accessible to a very wide spectrum of the American public). And it is a very effective way of presenting the facts, free of media spin. The chart comes from the White House, and shows the monthly number of jobs lost for approximately the past two years. It also uses color very well, to separate George W. Bush's term in office from Barack Obama's. Without further introduction, here is the chart:

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Senator Evan Bayh's recent announcement that he will not seek re-election this year just sent a serious shockwave throughout the American political universe. The timing of Bayh's announcement, though, belies his oh-so-pious stated reason for leaving -- that things were just too darn partisan in Washington. Because the immediate result of Bayh's announcement will be that the Democratic Party will hand-pick a candidate for the general election, rather than allowing the voters to make this choice for themselves. In other words, things are just so darn partisan that Bayh will let the party itself select a candidate, rather than having a primary election. When put this way, it doesn't sound so pious after all, does it?

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I am actually taking the day off today, so today's column will be brief. As a matter of fact, this may be the briefest column ever seen on this site.

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President Obama this week has successfully put the Republican Party on the defensive. Now, this could be a fleeting thing, or it could be the start of a whole new way for Obama's administration to operate. Time will tell.

Obama started off the week putting Republicans on the defensive over a single Republican senator who had put "holds" on every single one of Obama's nominees awaiting Senate approval (the senator in question was in a snit over an earmark or two for his state worth around a billion dollars). The Republican, in a matter of days, removed his holds on all but three. Tuesday, Obama threatened to make a whole bunch of "recess appointments" if the Senate continued to obstruct him. Today, twenty-seven of sixty-three of Obama's nominees were approved by the Senate.

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This column is in mourning today. For we have just learned of the passing of Fred Morrison, who died two days ago in Utah. Mr. Morrison was an inventor, and while his name is not generally known, he gave the world a simple device which has been enjoyed by millions ever since. Fred Morrison gave us the Frisbee.

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President Obama has recently announced a health reform summit, to take place across the street from the White House, with the C-SPAN cameras rolling. He's invited Democratic and Republican leaders from Congress to this summit. Many cynics have dismissed the effort already, either pronouncing it less than worthless legislatively, or calling it some form of political Kabuki theater which will do no good even politically. I think these pronunciations (especially the latter one) are a bit premature, to say the least. Because either on a substantive level or a political level, I think there actually is a chance for some limited success for Obama in this exercise.

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Washington D.C. is notoriously hysterical when it snows, I have to say. Barack Obama pointed this out last year, and immediately offended a few folks in the Nation's Capital -- who prefer to think of themselves as bravely fighting snowstorms that would make Nanook of the North tremble in his mukluks. When the reality is that the biggest snowstorm in Washington would be casually remarked upon as: "Oh, it snowed Tuesday" in the more frigid states in our Union.

So forgive me if I can't get all that impressed over the recent "snowmageddon." Call me a crotchety old grump if you must, but the fact remains that people in hardier climates deal with two feet of snow on a regular basis during each and every winter, and they never get their city in the national news as a result. Whereas D.C. falls into a quivering swoon if more than two inches falls during one storm.

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In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, there has been a lot of anxiety over what elections will now look like with corporations and unions free to spend as much as they like on political advertising. Much of the discussion focuses on the overwhelming influence that could be purchased by deep-pocket entities, or on whether or not foreigners will be allowed into the American election process. But my main concern is not the money that will be spent overtly, but rather with what happens outside the public's eye -- the unseen influence which may be wielded.

I am not denigrating the overt problems which may develop, but rather feel that these problems have been adequately explored elsewhere by many others. Giving corporations and unions full free speech rights when it comes to elections may destroy American democracy as we know it, and then again it may not. I do wonder how many corporations will actually take the opportunity to attempt influencing voters in such a fashion, personally, since corporations are in business to make money. And these days, annoying half the electorate may mean a serious drop in a company's bottom line. So, at least at first, I think most large companies will be rather cautious about this sort of political activity. As I said, they're in business to make money.

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