We were knee-deep in Clinton impeachment — and Prince.  Ah, 1999.

The USA Today building, without the U but still with the S and A.

(photo from the windswept Fishbowl)

UPDATE:

Loyal reader Richard Andrews asked for an image of the real SA.  Why not?  Sturm Abteilung it is!  (since we’ve been having sturmy weather, and all)…

What a way for Extreme Mortman to conclude 2008 — by earning a linking a link and shout-out from the below blog of indeterminate language from an unknown country.

If you know from whence it comes, please drop a note.

In the spirit of world peace, here’s the plug unedited from the blog Ajatuksien Akkunda:

Extreme Mortman on julkaissut jo järjestyksessään kolmannen vuosittaisen listansa hauskimmista poliittisista lainauksista. Aivan viimeaikaisimmat eivät ole tälle listalle päässeet, sillä lista on suljettu 29.11. Top Ten Funniest Political Quotes 2008.

And in the spirit of best wishes for the new year, here’s a special message of good will back to that blog …

A pleasant trip down memory lane in today’s Post:

Of course, there have been challenges to Times Square’s supremacy. One of the most ambitious campaigns was launched in Washington in 1983, when the city joined forces with the U.S. Postal Service to create a 14-by-21-foot “Love” stamp. It got larger over the years and eventually weighed two tons, featured neon lights and was lowered from the 310-foot spire of the Old Post Office.

“We’re going to outdo New York,” boasted Mayor Marion Barry in 1985. “We think we might just take over and become the best single event.”

But like so many New Year’s resolutions, it simply never happened.

At first, tens of thousands of people came to see the midnight novelty, but crowds soon gave way to mere handfuls, and the cost became prohibitive. Today, no one drops much of anything in Washington anymore.

CNN anchor Rick Sanchez’s fascinating reaction to Rod Blagojevich’s press conference with Roland Burris today:

There was something that just didn’t smell right about that whole thing.

It’s interesting. This thing begins with Blagojevich almost sounding like he’s stealing a line from the movie “Dave.” Remember when Kevin Kline was in that movie? And I will quote Blagojevich.

Blagojevich says, “Don’t allow allegations against me to taint this good and honest man,” referring to Burris.

Ummmm, huh?

Click here for the script to “Dave”.  We can’t find the line that Blagojevich is allegedly stealing — which itself is a new victimless crime to charge him with.  Can you?

Unless Sanchez was talking about this Dave …

We give in.

We end 2008 now squarely in the camp of fans of Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen.

What happened?  Why the switch?  This line from Cohen’s column today won us over …

“As Dwight Eisenhower once told me (I’m not making this up), he had more time as president to dabble in painting than he did in retirement.”

As Richard Cohen once wrote in a column I read, I’m not making this up.

Speaking of Rod Blagojevich, here’s a fun fact about his pick to replace Barack Obama, Roland Burris:

In an ironic twist, Roland Burris was appointed to his first state government job in 1973 by Illinois Governor Dan Walker — who later went to the hoosegow, one of three Illinois governors since 1960 to end up wearing prison garb (there have been seven elected governors during this period).

(from the New Editor via Instapundit)

Now, the latest in yachting news:

A boat carrying international activists, including former Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, and medical supplies to the embattled Gaza Strip sailed back into a Lebanese port on Tuesday after being turned back and damaged by the Israeli navy, organizers of the trip said….

The activists, organized by the Free Gaza Group, said their 66-foot yacht called “SS Dignity” would defy an Israeli blockade of Gaza and ferry 16 activists and three tons of Cypriot-donated supplies.

McKinney might be better off visiting Yacht Vashem.

Until then, let’s remember another maritime episode from the region — what the British did to the ship Exodus in 1947 …

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune, we learn about a stimulus package wish list from mayors, including in Minnesota…

$2 million for a lake-walk extension at Beacon Point and $6 million for snowmaking and maintenance facilities at Spirit Mountain.

$6 million to make snow in Minnesota?  Seems like a flimsy use of valuable stimulus money.  Now, if they were to use that $6 million in Florida, well, then it makes perfect sense.

James Wolcott!

Here’s Vanity Fair’s funny guy:

“In angry retaliation for the house arrest of Bernie Madoff, Israel has launched a hellacious air assault against Hamas in Gaza…”

(from Volokh/Instapundit)

Now that’s enlightened humor.  Don Rickles would be proud.  Hate to think whom Wolcott suggested should launch an attack after O.J. Simpson was arrested.