Not to put too fine a point on it. . .

. . .politics really suck these days. There's no joy in it. It's one outrage after another -- if it's not Obama nationalizing Chrysler and vilifying legitimate creditors, it's Arlen Specter adopting John Edwards's signature penchant for disgraceful demagoguery concerning the misfortune of others. King and Brad have the skinny on both, so you can read about those topics at their respective links. And you should, because they both have highly worthwhile insights to share.



But I don't want to talk about politics today. These low, contemptible creatures on the Washington stage get far more attention than they merit. So tonight I'm going to talk briefly about some people who are more worthy of attention.

• As anyone who reads this feature knows, I'm pretty much a music obsessive. Even after 40+ years of consuming music, there remain new treasures to discover, even if they have been around all along. I recently got hold of a compilation of music from Taj Mahal, a truly gifted guy who is an ace bluesman, singer, composer and interpreter of various musical styles. I had friends in college who loved the guy, but I never really got around to listening to him until recently. If you don't know his music, you really ought to give him a listen. Here are two examples.


• It's easy to take Mitch Berg for granted, since he's of the of the bigfoots in the local blogosphere. We shouldn't. The guy is amazingly prolific and writes on a wide variety of topics. And he's just fun to read. Yesterday he wrote separate pieces on Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Jack Kemp, the renaming of a St. Paul school, the upcoming visit of various talk show luminaries and Ron Howard's posturing concerning his latest movie. I don't know how he does it.
• I heard from Gino last night, who has been fighting a tough battle to recover from the surgery he had back in November. One of the best things about blogging is the people you get to meet and Gino is one of the best people I've met. He's managed to get away from California and is currently visiting family in Georgia. That's a pretty remarkable thing, considering how tough his rehab has been. We had a long conversation, which is the most encouraging part, because he has had a very difficult time talking since the surgery. Gino is not sure if he'll be able to make it up here for the Wedding of the Century, but I know he'll try and it wouldn't surprise me if he gets here.