Droopy Dog -- The Chump Champ

I used to love these Saturday cartoons, but I gotta admit, Droopy Dog is forever ruined for me because of that traitor Joe Lieberman. And guess what, boys and girls? The most craven politico of them all, Joe "Screw my constituency, it's all about me" Lieberman will be on Face the Nation this week, disgustingly unrepentant about his complete 180 on health care reform. But perhaps in response, the White House is sending out a bunch of spokespeople to make sure that that needy, attention-whore sell-out isn't the only one setting the dialog, with Valerie Jarrett on This Week, David Axelrod on Face the Nation and David Plouffe on Meet the Press. But the ultimate cartoon, the completely shameless fact-free zone has to be awarded to Fox News Sunday, because their sole guest this week is none other than Rush Limbaugh. Excuse me while I lose my breakfast.

ABC's "This Week" - White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - White House senior adviser David Axelrod; Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner; David Plouffe, former Obama presidential campaign manager; author Jon Krakauer.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Katty Kay, Howard Fineman, Mark Whitaker, Mary Jordan. Topics: Afghanistan and Health Care and How They Will Determine Obama's Legacy. One Year Later: Why Isn't Obama's White House as Brilliant as His Campaign? Meter Questions: Will Afghanistan define President Obama's legacy more than health care? YES: 6 NO: 6; Is the Far Right more likely than the White House to have its hardball tactics backfire? YES: 7 No: 5.

CNN's "State of the Union" - House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio; Gov. Haley Barbour, R-Miss.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - Matthew Hoh, the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war, gives Fareed one of his first interviews since resigning. Plus, we have a superb discussion on the economy with two great minds -- Martin Wolf of the Financial Times and Robert Schiller, the economist who accurately predicted the financial crisis and the stock market collapse of 2000.

CNN's "Amanpour" - Zalmay Khalilzad, former US Ambassador to Iraq, Afghanistan & UN; Tom Ricks, author of Fiasco, and Tahera Shairzay of Women for Afghan Women.

"Fox News Sunday" - Rush Limbaugh, conservative radio talk show host.

What's catching your eye this morning?

We love Shakespeare's Sister because she writes posts like this:

Sometimes I just close my eyes and pretend that the media still plays a useful role in the republic, the Democrats are a genuine and effective opposite party, our government isn't being sold piecemeal to corporations, our elections are fair, we've got universal healthcare, and Al Gore is really our president.

And sometimes I just close my eyes and pretend I'm making out with Al Gore.

But mostly the president thing.

Open Thread below....

..and throws in some jokes, of course.

(part 2 here)

Franken's opponent, staunch Bush-ally Norm Coleman, is already on the offensive against Franken, drawing on his past as a satirist to argue that he is unfit to be a Senator. Seems to me that someone who votes with Bush 86% of the time is unfit for anything, let alone one of the nation's highest offices. I guess it will be up to the good people of Minnesota to decide that.

We're proud to have Al as one of our ActBlue candidates. Feel free to fill the coffers if you can. How nice would it be to replace a steadfast Bush loyalist with a true progressive, running on a platform of ending the war in Iraq and providing universal health care? Sounds pretty good to me.

For more on the race, check out MNpublius, who does a great job of tracking Minnesota politics.

This should never have happened in the United States. We're becoming a third world nation before our very eyes.

WaPo: (h/t Pach)

Twelve-year-old Deamonte Driver died of a toothache Sunday.

A routine, $80 tooth extraction might have saved him.

If his mother had been insured.

If his family had not lost its Medicaid.

If Medicaid dentists weren't so hard to find.

If his mother hadn't been focused on getting a dentist for his brother, who had six rotted teeth.

By the time Deamonte's own aching tooth got any attention, the bacteria from the abscess had spread to his brain, doctors said. After two operations and more than six weeks of hospital care, the Prince George's County boy died.

Deamonte's death and the ultimate cost of his care, which could total more than $250,000, underscore an often-overlooked concern in the debate over universal health coverage: dental care.

Confined Space: Top ten workplace safety stories of 2006

The Progressive Truth: G-Dub's original WSJ op-ed submission

Friendly Neighbour: A Canadian's personal experience with universal health care (h/t Blue Gal)...and friend Bob Geiger's personal experiences lead him wonder why life and death should be decided by income.

Attytood: Remember Ashcroft telling us about Padilla and his "dirty bomb"?  They didn't even charge him with that so now it's put-up-or-shut-up time for the feds.

Daily Kos: Spocko rocks ABC!  Mickey Mouse blinks...

Patrick W. Gavin: House GOP tries on the minority straight jacket

The Revealer: The “A” section of the December 7 edition of the Los Angeles Times featured five articles on the intriguing intersection of religion, sex and politics. Unfortunately, none of the reporters or editors involved in the stories seemed to make the connection -- or grasp the import.

LiberalOasis: Senator Ron Wyden has proposed a universal health insurance plan. It's a critical issue concerning something we haven't heard much about for the past six years: The Common Good

Empire Burlesque: Presidential tyranny untamed by election defeat (h/t House of the Rising sons)

TalkLeft: Can congress end the war in Iraq?

Lean Left: The Bible against itself

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: HillCountryGal...Arkansas Times Blogs...Truly Equal...Senate 2008 Guru: Following the Races

Taylor Marsh is covering the lock-out of SEIU nurses by Universal Health Services and David Bussone in Las Vegas.