The Progress Report.

Robert Wexler, "Fire-Breathing Liberal"

New book by Robert Wexler, a Congressman from Florida:

"Fire-Breathing Liberal: How I Learned to Survive (and Thrive) in the Contact Sport of Congress"

Wexler is one of the real unsung heroes of Congress, and hopefully this book will get him more credit for all he's worked for. He's the kind of liberal that I think libertarians can also respect, as he's fought the administration on wire-tapping and voter fraud, among other issues.

"Wexler, a six-term Democratic congressman, opens his memoir-cum-civics lesson by saying, “I want to proclaim on every page of this book that I am a liberal Democrat and proud of it.” Fortunately for the reader, he is able to weave his proclamations into entertaining vignettes from the campaign trail to the halls of Congress in blow-by-blows of his involvement in defining moments of recent history: defending President Clinton from impeachment and challenging the Gore v. Bush decision . . . [a] fascinating and humorous insider account of the House of Representatives."

--Publishers Weekly

I also appreciate that Wexler is doing what I'd basically given up on, that is taking back the word "liberal," as a positive word. One could argue that the many of the Founding Fathers were liberal in that sense of the word. Hey I still prefer "progressive," because I think 'liberal' and 'conservative' have lost their meaning.

Read it.

David Cross's letter to Larry the Cable Guy. (Now an oldie but a goodie.)

This was comedian/actor David Cross's (Mr. Show, Arrested Development) response to a response from "comedian/actor" Larry the Cable Guy's umbrage with comments Cross made in a Rolling Stone interview. This is from last October, but I found it when searching for something else entirely, and it remains topical, compelling (and hilarious) stuff.  He takes LTCG to task, and not in the snooty, liberal hipster comedian way you'd expect (well not entirely).

An Open Letter to Larry the Cable Guy.

(One excerpt:

"Since I was a kid I've always been a little over sensitive to the glorification and rewarding of dumb. The "salt of the earth, regular, every day folk" (or lowest common denominator) who see the world, and the people like me in it, as on some sort of secular mission to take away their flag lapels and plaster-of-paris jesus television adornments strike me as childishly paranoid. But perhaps the funniest (oddest) thing in your book is you taking me to task for being P.C. Have you heard my act?!"