Howard Jones with Ringo Starr -- Things Can Only Get Better

Happy Fathers' Day to all the daddies out there!

I indulged myself into little funk last week, despairing over the the condition of the Gulf and the long-term consequences. I fed into my sense of hopelessness by being dissatisfied with Obama's address to the nation. But after engaging in the comments, I want to be clear about something: I feel strongly that it is my right and my responsibility to voice my dissatisfaction and to advocate for more progressive solutions. But not even in my darkest moments do I ever think that the political parties are essentially the same. And I believe with every fiber of my being that, given the current dual-partisan construct of our government, we will always be better off with Democrats in charge. Will they get everything right? Of course not. Will they be occasionally be feckless, corrupt and beholden to special interests? Yes. But hear me again: We will always be better off with Democrats in charge. That's not just me speaking, study after study show all the different ways things get better with the Democratic Party. Digby also addressed it this week:

I know the Democratic Party sucks. (It always has to one degree or another, by the way. Check out Roosevelt's policies on race. It's not like he didn't know they were bad --- it was his deal with the devil to keep the old confederacy in the coalition.) Sadly, that's true of every political party ever created. However, it is the only institutional governance vehicle we have for liberalism of any kind and it is the only viable tool our system provides to fight back the increasingly manipulative, nihilistic and fascistic conservatives.

Over time we must change the status quo and force them to be more responsive to their constituents and there are ways outside and inside the system to make that happen. But empowering the Republicans at the very height of their teabag madness isn't one of them --- the risk of it all going terribly, terribly wrong in ways we haven't contemplated in a time of crisis like this is far too great.

So keep that in mind as you look at the bobblehead, jockeying for position this Sunday.

ABC's "This Week" - White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.; Rep. Joseph Cao, R-La.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Gov. Haley Barbour, R-Miss.; Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.; Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass.; Kenneth Feinberg, who will oversee BP's compensation fund to Gulf oil spill victims; former Shell Oil Co. President John Hofmeister.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Savannah Guthrie, John Heilemann, Rick Stengel, Helene Cooper. Topics: How Obama Can Take Charge of the Gulf Oil Crisis; Is the Rise of the New Right Making Regular Republicans Harder To Elect?

CNN's "State of the Union" - Sens. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - The oil disaster came to Washington this week. Fareed's take: we need to stop vilifying oil...because we're not going to shake our addiction to it anytime soon. Then, Fareed sits down for an exclusive interview with Afghanistan opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah. And, finally, John McCain wants President Obama to help bring about further regime change in the Middle East. How's that?

"Fox News Sunday" - Defense Secretary Robert Gates; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

So what's catching your eye this morning?