This time of year is about celebrating, right? Couldn't think of a better thing to throw a party over: Florida congressman Robert Wexler is proposing we impeach old Chainsaw McGraw! Wow!....

Happy Winter Solstice, y'all. And now, to make sure your holiday is so rich with DOOM-grade terror, let's again remember that 2008 may look like far worse than 1929 ever did.

2007 was, for me, for many, a year that needs to go away and at warp speed. For others, it will be a nightmare remembered: A 17-year girl has died, and according to some, at the hands of a health-care insurer playing Ebenezer Scrooge to the last, fatal chapter of this tale.

Make it three and counting when it comes to states officially worried about the accuracy and integrity of the electronic equipment used to record and tally our votes. In the past week or so Ohio and Colorado have joined California in concluding that the machines that have decided the last several elections really can't be trusted any further than you could throw them.

In 2002, blogging evangelist Dave Winer made a long bet with New York Times executive Martin Nisenholtz: "In a Google search of five keywords or phrases representing the top five news stories of 2007, weblogs will rank higher than the New York Times' Web site." Today, Associated Press editors and news directors chose the top 10 news stories of the year, which makes it possible to determine who won the bet.

I don't think I've ever seen anything in American politics quite like the "Ron Paul Revolution," the fervent support for the grandfatherly old-school constitutionalist who is pulling liberty-minded voters and money into the Republican primary at astonishing rates.

Ah, yes, the Birdbrain regime. Creators of jobs, right? Such as nice ones overseas? In incredibly hostile territory, we suppose? Problem is, some are so desperate, and the price so lovely, some are willing to take their chances with bullets flying as they work.

Select quotes from Paul B. Farrell's "13 reasons Bush's bailout won't stop recession," at MarketWatch:

For a speech being praised so highly by so many mainstream pundits and pols, Mitt Romney's speech "on his faith" didn't engender much faith in him, at least in my house.

And it's wah, wah, wah as our government starts to turn the tables on the credit card issuers, what with their quantum math, statements that read like Tolstoy, and well, unfair practices. And the cool part? They're not happy, of course. Didn't they, using their lobby dollars, revise the bankruptcy laws to their liking? Yes. So, what are they unhappy about now?

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