It's gone viral of late, and definitely warms the heart. Watch as an eight month old baby, deaf since birth, hears his mother's voice and laugh for the first time. How can you not melt at little Jonathan's face as he realizes his mommy is talking to him and he can hear her?

Open thread below...

Amato and Cheney in a secret love nest?!? Mister Amato rebuffed attempts to question the 'experienced State Department Deputy' at his front door with a curt, "She's busy."

[I sent this to Amato as 'office humor' and he thought you'd enjoy the laugh, too. And yeah, we've heard all the 'not with my father-in-law's tallywhacker' jokes, thanks.]

Open thread below...

What's that saying? "Out of the mouths of babes?"

Media Matters:

Limbaugh: "What's wrong with using a dead person's teeth? Aren't the Democrats big into recycling?" Responding to Slaughter's account, which he called the "sob story of the day, Limbaugh stated:

LIMBAUGH: You know I'm getting so many people -- this Louise Slaughter comment on the dentures? I'm getting so many people -- this is big. I mean, that gets a one-time mention for a laugh, but there are people out there that think this is huge because it's so stupid. I mean, for example, well, what's wrong with using a dead person's teeth? Aren't the Democrats big into recycling? Save the planet? And so what? So if you don't have any teeth, so what? What's applesauce for? Isn't that why they make applesauce?

Limbaugh previously told a caller who could not afford the $6,000 it would cost to treat a broken wrist that he "shouldn't have broken [his] wrist."

As Alan Grayson proclaimed: Don't get sick.

I know I'm a week late, but the NFL is finally under way and it looks like a pretty wide open year. I'm a NY Giants fan and they play the hated Cowboys on the road in the opening game of their new stadium on NBC's Sunday Night Football. The one where punters can hit the mega score board that Jerry Jones just had built.

Tom Brady was rusty, but in the end looked like Brady with the help of a fumble. JaMarcus Russell is very young and not ready to start in the NFL, but still hasn't been half as bad as Jake Delhomme. Adrian Peterson is awesome and even though I can't stand the media coverage surrounding Brett Favre, (He gets the Anna Nicole Smith treatment) I laugh at the way the media suddenly turned on their golden boy.

Injuries are hitting teams early and that's always a drag.

Anyway, who do you like and who are you rooting for?

Some big games for week 2:

New England at NY Jets

New Orleans at Philadelphia

Pittsburgh at Chicago

Baltimore at San Diego

NY Giants at Dallas

Indianapolis at Miami

This comes out just two days after my birthday. Guess how I'm going to celebrate?

Michael Moore wants his money back. Actually, he wants your money back, if you lost any in the financial meltdown.

And though he knows that probably won't happen, the filmmaker at least wants to stick it to the people who took it.

The still untitled film, which opens Oct. 2, will zero in on the corporations and politicians he says caused the global financial crash.

Wall Street robber barons are Moore's new on-screen enemy.

"The movie is not going to be an economics lesson; it's going to be more like a vampire movie," the filmmaker jokes. "Instead of the main characters feasting on the blood of their victims, they feast on the money. And they never seem to get enough of it."

When the collapse walloped the country last September, Moore says he knew not only that it would matter to regular people, but also that the inherent decadence was ripe for his style of satire.

"If you go to see my movies, even if you don't agree with everything in the movies, you're going to have a good laugh," Moore says. "I want them to walk out at the end saying 'Wow, that was something!' And in this case, maybe they also walk out asking the ushers, 'Um, excuse me. Where are the pitchforks and torches?' "

Balloon Juice: The White House has declared a "major victory," thanks to 105 sellout Dems and...(cough) 'leaders' Hoyer, Pelosi...and Barack Obama. This is "change you can believe in?" Reprehensible. Oh, and they caved on the War Funding bill, too.

The Hill: Darth Cheney gets the last laugh as congress concedes another defeat to the Bush Crime Family. And they also stiffed 'em on this one.

Liberty Street: All religious conservatives want is a total explanation for everything. Kinda like my children when they were four.

The Existentialist Cowboy: How Bush helped establish a corporate "New World Order."

Vagabond Scholar: Right-Wing Cartoon Watch

The Daily Banter: A wide-ranging interview with Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi.

Topeka Capital Journal: (h/t J & BillW)

A federal judge in Maryland on Thursday ordered liens on the Westboro Baptist Church building and the Phelps-Chartered Law office.

If the case presided over by U.S. District Court Judge Richard D. Bennett is upheld by an appeals court, the church, at 3701 S.W. 12th, and the office building, at 1414 S.W. Topeka Blvd., could be obtained by the court and sold, with the proceeds being applied toward $5 million in damages Bennett imposed on church members for picketing a military funeral.

The $5 million penalty is the result of a lawsuit filed against three of the church's principals by Albert Snyder, the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, whose funeral was picketed by church members. Read on...

It's too early to know how this will be resolved, but I'm hoping the appeals court upholds the ruling and the family of the fallen soldier prevails. These vile people drag their kids along to picket soldier's funerals and spread hatred around the country. For a good laugh check out this brave dude who Rick Roll'd the Phelps clan as they attempted to get their hate on.

President Bush has driven the GOP right into the gutter and it's finally starting to show in the wingnut media. Remember BillO going nuts in New Hampshire when he was given the B-list treatment by Barack Obama? We've covered a few of the latest warriors to fall, but my friend TRex has a more complete list of the losers: (Caution, may not be suitable for work)

Actually, it’s illustrative of the fact that the Pox News Cargo Cult is either dying off in waves (they are all 90 years old, after all), that Heath Ledger’s ghost is having a laugh at Gibson’s expense, or just that the wheels are totally coming off the Right Wing Propaganda Machine.

In the last six months, we’ve seen:

1. Michelle Malkin fired from “The O’Reilly Factor”.

2. Ann Coulter’s book sales tanking and her credit cards getting declined by Publix.

3. Melamine Misstatement fired from her job.

4. Tucker Carlson tossed out on his amply padded backside.

5. And now Jumpin’ John Gibson being taken away to be rendered into fat for cheap tallow candles for The Poor or whatever. Read on...

It’s been more than seven years, but I still laugh when I look back at this classic satirical item from The Onion, in which George W. Bush assured the nation that “our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over.”

“My fellow Americans,” Bush said (in this fake-news item), “at long last, we have reached the end of the dark period in American history that will come to be known as the Clinton Era, eight long years characterized by unprecedented economic expansion, a sharp decrease in crime, and sustained peace overseas. The time has come to put all of that behind us.”

Of course, this piece, written four days before Bush’s first inaugural, proved to be rather prophetic. But in the meantime, whenever I see or hear references to “peace and prosperity,” I think of The Onion, and the strength and success Bush squandered.

I was reminded of it again this morning, listening to Bush’s speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

“Listen, the stakes in November are high. This is an important election. Prosperity and peace are in the balance.”

Really? Where is this elusive “prosperity and peace”?

Remember when Fred Thompson---crushed in SC---made his way to the podium to tell us nothing? 9iu11ani just gave a speech that sounded like a goodbye, but still didn't make his plans known. Reports are that he's negotiating with McCain's camp. He did make me laugh with this one...

Rudy: The party of Lincoln and Reagan and Bush...

Hahahahahaha...