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I got to witness a little bit of history Sunday night in Washington, sitting in the gallery of the House of Representatives as the vote was tallied for final confirmation of the health-care reconciliation package. It was a pleasure seeing the beaming faces of Democrats (and there was no small bit of schadenfreude in seeing Republicans' scowls), especially people like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who looked fresh and energized despite probably having had no sleep for 72 hours or more, and my own representative, Jim McDermott, who has fought consistently for health-care reform for several decades now.

Of course, I only sort of witnessed the final vote. You see, security was rotating groups of about 18 people in and out of the seats every 15 minutes, because demand was so high; and my group's time ran out just as the count reached 200. I returned quickly to the item-return room (you had to leave behind your cell phones), where a big screen ran the tallies on C-SPAN; when the vote hit 216, a loud cheer erupted among the 30 or so of us gathered to watch.

Not all of us cheered, of course. A sizable portion of the crowd forming those long lines, in fact, comprised Tea Partiers who had spent the day outside the Capitol protesting, "Kill the Bill!" And they scowled and booed while the rest of us cheered.

I had, in fact, spent a portion of my day among these Tea Party protesters, wandering among them with a video camera in the hours before that afternoon's massive March For America. (And it has to be mentioned that this crowd, of several hundred at best, was utterly dwarfed by the crowd of immigration-reform activists behind them, estimated to be 200,000 strong, a contrast that must -- or should -- have struck some of them as a wee bit ominous for their Beckian claim that "We Surround Them".)

As you can see, some of the leaders of the chants were not above some ugliness in the process. A woman reporter from the local ABC affiliate was mercilessly harassed by one of the bullhorn holders, as you can see. And there was no shortage of kooky signs, including:

I DID NOT SERVE SO THAT DICTATORS COULD RULE

Obama

Take Your Flight

Now And Don't Ever

Come Back

We'll Manage!

A brief exchange of insults occurred when a middle-aged man in a blue soccer shirt made clear he adamantly supported health care, and a man in Michigan Militia T-shirt said, "F--k you," to which the older man responded in kind. Someone in the crowd (the guy holding the "Take Your Flight Now" sign, in fact) called out, "Commie!"

(And yes, the incessant chant of "Kill the Bill!" did start to remind one, after awhile, of the crowd of zombies chanting "Im-ho-tep!" in The Mummy.)

Media Matters spent all day among them and produced some even more disturbing clips.

Dave Weigel at the Windy also found some prime violent wingnuttery:

As a Democratic victory looked more and more likely, Tea Partiers got more ornery about the liberals who’d showed up to cheer for reform and take commemorative photos of what, to them, looked like the end of a year of agenda-slowing right-wing activism.

“Look at that idiot!” said Linda Cocsy, a New Yorker who’d spent the weekend in Washington for the protests, pointing at one of the young Democrats who’d infiltrated the protest, holding up a pro-reform sign provided by a pro-choice Catholic group. “This one, here with the stupid grin on his face! He looks likes he’s brainless. You look at these people and, they really look like jerks. You look at the other people, with the Don’t Tread on Me [flags], and they look like real people!” Cocsy stared off at another protester, waving a sign he’d picked up from a pro-immigration reform protest that had broken up around the time that Stupak announced his flip. “I just wanna kill them!” said Cocsy.

Meanwhile, the NY Daily News reports that one right-wing blogger called for Obama to be shot:

Solomon "Solly" Forell tweeted: "ASSASSINATION! America, we survived the assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy. We'll surely get over a bullet 2 Barack Obama's head."

The crazy talk isn't just coming from the rank and file. Some of the Tea Partiers' favorite congressmen are saying similarly nutty things, such as Rep. Steve King's call for secession (via Amanda Terkel) as a response to HCR, following up on his earlier call for an armed revolution.

So it was very interesting listening and observing their responses that evening as we all crowded together into a line to watch the House vote -- Tea Partiers and reform supporters together, required to remain quiet and civil with each other, upon pain of being immediately removed by security.

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Dear Ann Coulter:

No matter how tempting it might be, we're not going to be mean-spirited and all schadenfreude over your recent jaw wiring, like some people who are celebrating the fact that it apparently will shut you up for awhile.

For one thing, we've had friends who've had their jaws wired shut and it's a singularly unpleasant experience we wouldn't wish on anyone, not even miserable excuses for humanity for whom it might be a small piece of karmic justice. Getting your meals through a straw for months on end really, um, sucks.

And besides, we're not so foolish as to suppose that this will actually silence you. After all, you're at least as well known for the hateful, crazy crap you write as for the hateful, crazy things you say.

My guess, in fact, is that being denied a verbal outlet for your venom, you'll just pack that much more crazy into your writing. We can hardly wait.

In the meantime, we do hope that all that money you're making from in far-right investment scams is helping to pay for all this ...

Love, your friends at C&L

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A few weeks ago in a candidates' debate for the South Carolina governor's race (to replace the disgraced Mark Sanford), Tea Party favorite and Sarah Palin endorsee Nikki Haley was asked the following question:

Mark Sanford, John Edwards, Bill Clinton, all men who have cheated on their wives while in power. When faced with opportunities and temptations that come with power, how do you stay true to your family, your faith, and your values?

Haley's answer:

You know, I think the answer is you keep the Lord, you keep your family and you keep your friends very close. And you always remember that you have to stay as humble as possible, and understand that service is just that -- it is service. And you are being held to a higher standard, and so you have much more service that you have to give. And you're a role model to everybody that follows you.

Ah, nothing like the smell of schadenfreude on a Monday morning:

A political blogger and former aide to Gov. Mark Sanford claims to have had a past romantic relationship with Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley. Haley, who is married and has two children, "emphatically" denied the claim Monday morning.

"Several years ago, prior to my marriage, I had an inappropriate physical relationship with Nikki," Will Folks announced Monday morning on his political blog, FITSNews. Folks said political opponents of Haley and himself were leaking evidence of the affair to the press, and claimed the story would've come out this week no matter what.

"I will not be discussing the details of that relationship, nor will I be granting any additional interviews about it to members of the media beyond what I have already been compelled to confirm," Folks continued. The blogger did not say when the alleged relationship took place or whether Haley was married at the time, and gave no proof of an affair.

Of course, Haley vehemently denies it:

I have been 100% faithful to my husband throughout our 13 years of marriage. This claim against me is categorically and totally false.

It is sad, but not surprising, that this disgraceful smear has taken form less than a week removed from the release of a poll showing our campaign with a significant lead. It is quite simply South Carolina politics at its worst.

The denial, naturally, is good enough for everyone on the right, like NRO's Jim Geraghty, who take it at face value.

And Palin herself goes even further, and offers her usual "stay strong" advice to Haley -- that is, she oughta make like Sarah and use it as an opportunity for martyrdom:

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Good Morning! Closing out the week guest blogging, it is once again me, Alex that is, leaving the familiar confines of Martini Revolution. Thanks to Mike for asking me to fill in, and especially thanks to all the readers who dropped kind notes in comments and email.

The big newz of the day was, of course, Al Gore being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Among other insanity, one especially rabid wingnut assaulted Bush for not reacting like a rapid dog, as she did. Wingnuttia also fell suddenly in love with unelected judges.

Breaking later yesterday were uncharitable, if accurate, comments by General Richard Sanchez regarding the administration's war plan, if I may call it such, which the general referred to as a living nightmare. Naturally, all the wingnut hypocrites who defecated their drawers and cried foul about MoveOn's Petraeus ad promptly slimed the general who spoke unpleasant truths their wee little minds didn't want to hear.

I would be remiss if I failed to link this brief but incisive breakdown of Howie Kurtz, ultra-putz.

This take down of the Doughy Pantload demonstrates why I read Roger Ailes every goddamn day, while praising God for inventing the internets.

In the schadenfreude category, our nomination for the day's blogstorm is the Kerik scandal. Rudy's sidekick gets dirtier and dirtier.

This week was, as one blogger put it, "a gourmet, five-course meal of wingnuttery. I would be remiss if I didn't thank the Batshit Crazy community for providing such ample fodder for the week of roundups.

If you have more suggestions for links, please email thenextguy AT someothermailaddress DOT com.

Dusty at It's My Right To Be Left of Center has video of a Japanese journalist being killed in Burma. I had to look away. *link fixed

Buck Naked Politics spends a Sunday in the Park with George Bush.

Orcinus, Sisyphus Shrugged and Roger Ailes think that maybe Matthew Shepard has been bashed enough.

That old-time religion: Higgaion on a teacher fired for questioning Genesis and The Smirking Chimp on the Theology of the American Empire.

Circle Jerk in the Square reports on Bill O'Reilly's visit to a Chinatown restaurant.

Driftglass presents The Adventures of Sgt. Iraq.

This was the last Blog Round Up hosted by noted conservative blogger Jon Swift. Tomorrow Steve from The Opinion Mill is hosting. Send your tips to Steve at steve.theopinionmill [at] gmail [dot] com. I want to thank everyone here at Crooks & Liars for being such great hosts and all the readers and commenters, even the ones who mercilessly attacked me. In fact, I think I'll miss you most of all. Have a piece of schadenfreude pie on me. And thank you also to everyone who sent me tips and my apologies if I didn't get to yours. Whatever Atrios might think, your blogs don't suck.

There are basically two ways to look at the David Vitter/DC Madam story: shame (senator cheats on spouse) and hypocrisy (moralistic blowhard champions sanctity of marriage, gets caught as an adulterer). CBS News’ Brian Montopoli reports today that the mainstream media is focusing on the prior, while the blogs care about the latter.

The blogs are having a field day with that hypocrisy…. The mainstream media, however, has largely steered clear of focusing on Vitter’s past statements, opting instead to play the story relatively straight. The Washington Post, noting only about his rhetoric that Vitter is “reliable conservative vote in the Senate,” didn’t front the story, opting instead for A3. Rather, it’s the blogs and liberal sites like Salon that are jumping on the story and hammering Vitter for statements at odds with his behavior.

If you want a straight news story, then, you can stick with the traditional media. But if you want a spotlight placed on Vitter’s hypocrisy — and the rush of satisfaction that comes with experiencing schadenfreude that you can justify — you can head over to the blogs. Is it any wonder that the latter get so many clicks?

That Vitter championed “family values” is pretty much the only thing that makes this story interesting. Why would traditional reporters sidestep the obvious?

There's a delicious sense of schadenfreude to this story.

  Houston Chronicle:

From a wooden bench in front of a shop selling mementos of "The Western White House," tourist Chuck Yorde wondered aloud why he seemed to be the only visitor in town.[..]

The Youngstown, Ohio, resident was almost apologetic about his own presence in the town that hosts President George W. Bush's 1,600-acre ranch. He said he was visiting his sister in nearby Gatesville who's "a big Bush fan. ... She dragged me over here."

Shuttered storefronts and eroding retail sales figures show tourism and the Bush memorabilia business are slumping in this once-sleepy farm-and-ranch town of 732 residents.

A for-sale sign is the only thing in the smudged window of the turn-of-the-century, two-story brick building that once housed the Crawford Country Style store. "The numbers just weren't working," said Norma Nelson Crow, who closed the shop at the beginning of the year.[..]

Bill Johnson, owner of the Yellow Rose, Crawford's largest gift shop, said he has been stocking more Texana and Americana items in response to the drop-off in sales of Bush merchandise. "We're changing our mix," Johnson said. "As a business we have to do what we have to do to be successful."

 The comments attached to the article are worth a laugh or two as well...

I had to link this up from John Cole:

There is, however, the strong possibility I am suffering from a potentially lethal dose of schadenfreude in the wake of the Ted Haggard story. My favorite reaction so far is from Red State:

I have never heard of the man before today, but if you go check out Memeorandum apparently it is the BIGGEST NEWS EVER that Ted Haggard is gay.
I guess this is the kind of thing that is news five days before an election when there isn’t a war or other major issues to talk about. Oh, wait…

This is the same Red State that featured not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, but TWENTY-ONE front page stories about John Kerry’s botched joke.

Good thing Red State is focussing on the ‘issues.’....read on

They certainly are.

Frank rich is in fine form....In the annals of election year 2004, Oct. 13 will be remembered as the day it rained lesbians in red America. That was when we learned that Andrea Mackris, an associate producer on "The O'Reilly Factor," had filed her sexual harassment law suit, charging that her boss had an obsessive interest in vibrators, phone sex and, most persistently, erotic scenarios involving pairs of women. That night brought the final presidential debate, in which John Kerry's description of Mary Cheney as a lesbian so riled the Bush-Cheney campaign, not to mention the easily aghast Washington press corps, you'd have thought the vice president's daughter was accused of enlisting in a threesome with Bill O'Reilly.

What's followed ever since is an orgy of schadenfreude and hypocrisy almost entertaining enough to take your mind off Iraq (as the Bush-Cheney campaign hopes it will). It's the kind of three-ring circus that makes me love this country. Only in America could Mr. O'Reilly appear on "Live With Regis and Kelly" to plug his new moralistic children's advice book (sample dictum: "Healthy sex is a combination of sensible behavior and sincere affection") just as old and young alike were going online to search thesmokinggun.com for the lewd monologues attributed to him in Ms. Mackris's 22-page complaint. Everyone is now so busy matching Mr. O'Reilly's alleged after-hours oratory - none of which he or his lawyer immediately denied - with his past condemnations of Janet Jackson, Ludacris, wet T-shirt contests, Joycelyn Elders and the televised Madonna-Britney smooch that the findings could fill another Starr report. My own favorite example, hands down, is Mr. O'Reilly's reverie about hooking up with "hot" Italian women during a visit to the Vatican while his pregnant wife was marooned at home in Plandome, Long Island. More