[NOTE: revised slightly, and with links, this was the presentation that I made last night for Prof. Steven Candee's Political Science class at LCC, carried on Comcast Channel 23 last night in Eugene, Oregon. A necessarily abbreviated time line essay, given a 15 minute time slot for the presentation. -- HW]This is not the first time in American history that our language has become so toxic.

If you haven’t heard, Rush Limbaugh is trying to buy a piece of the St. Louis Rams (as part of a group headed by former MSG head honcho Dave Checketts).  At this point, we don’t know if Limbaugh will ultimately receive his piece of the Rams.  However, it seems a fair question to ask whether someone whose hustle is making waves is someone the notoriously controversy-averse NFL wants to do business with. What resulted was one of the best conversations we’ve had on this show.

He just may well become known as Rush “The Ram.” An item circulating has Rush Limbaugh teaming up with Dave Checketts who owns the St. Louis Blues in an effort to put a bid in to buy the Rams. This really isn’t too surprising as most of us know Limbaugh is a huge football fan.“Dave Checketts and I have made a bid to buy the Rams and we are continuing the process,” Limbaugh said.Forbes magazine has estimated the Rams franchise has a value of $929 million.Frontiere’s children, Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez, inherited 60 percent of the Rams when their mother died in January 2008.

Detroit has received $15 million in stimulus money for handouts to enable Detroiter’s to pay rent and house homeless. Thousands stood in line to receive their checks at Detroit’s Grand Hall on the  west side, but there was no money today. According to the video below, only applications were handed out – no money.  Apparently, 3500 people will be chosen to participate. Doing the math, if this information is correct, each applicant will receive $4,285.71…before administrative costs.

David Brooks’ new Op-Ed reveals something I need to remember : Don’t Panic. The sick sadists leading the media charge for the right wing seem bigger and more powerful than they actually are. Brooks cites their failure to rally support for their 2008 candidates Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney, and against John McCain and Mike Huckabee. McCain won, and Rush Limbaugh’s ‘mighty army’ didn’t do much. They didn’t do much when Limbaugh asked them to vote for Clinton in the primary to bloody Obama up.

“Dave Checketts and I have made a bid to buy the Rams and we are continuing the process.” Rush Limbaugh, saying he is teaming up with St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts in a bid to buy the Rams. The St. Louis Rams are the current owners of the NFL’s longest losing streak at 14 games, and just 5-31 since 2007..

In a profound move of eco-wackiness, Japanese airline All Nippon Airways has begun to ask its passengers to hit the can before they board , in an attempt to reduce their CO2 footprint. All Nippon Airways (ANA) reasons that empty bladders means lighter passengers, which in turn means lighter aircraft and lower fuel use. Don’t all line up to buy your tickets at once, gaia fans. The airline will position staff near the boarding gates in terminals to ask passengers waiting for their flight to relieve themselves before boarding the aircraft.

It was Bill O’Reilly supporting the public option a couple of weeks ago. And now here’s FOX News’s Shepard Smith supporting the Public Option: *** From the NY TIMES : At various points on his Fox News program, the anchor Shepard Smith irritated Rush Limbaugh, teased Glenn Beck and grilled Samuel J. Wurzelbacher (a k a Joe the Plumber) over his attacks on President Obama.

Jonathan Roy pleads guilty to an assault charge stemming from an on-ice fight during a 2008 Quebec junior league game. Roy, the son of Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy, entered the plea in court in Chicoutimi, Quebec, with his father by his side. In March 2008, Roy was playing goal for the Quebec Remparts, coached by his father, when he charged down the ice and attacked Chicoutimi Saguenéens goalie Bobby Nadeau during a general brawl.

Consider this a perfect example of the pot calling the kettle black Larry King being an idiot during an interview with Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. King: Would you want the Limbaugh, that crowd — would you want them to be your voice as the Republican Party stands in this country? Bachmann: Well remember it’s who the American people are referring to Larry. And the American people are looking to voices like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck – King: I just told you — it’s 2 percent of America.