On a day (and week) when the news has been less than fun, we want to take some time out to wish our own wonderful VlogFather, John Amato, a very happy birthday!!!

It's a running joke among the staff that John's main squeeze is Liz Cheney. Amato remarks: "Liz and I are going for some sushi and then I'll be taking a tour of the new Haliburton factory...That really gets her going..."

Happy Birthday, John!

You're all invited to leave well-wishing in comments below....

Happy Birthday to our own John Amato!!! (And as a surprise we got his squeeze to jump out of the cake.)

Open thread below.