Monday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

So we begin a new work week in a new year. 2011 should be lots of fun, right?

In two days, the new Congress will be sworn in. I don't think we have fully grasped just how painful this new House will be. One question is: which GOPer will emerge as the biggest whackjob? There are lots of contenders and the competition will be fierce. The ones who've been around for awhile, like Steve King, Louis Gohmert and Michelle Bachmann, won't want to cede any ground to the first termers. But, that freshman class is filled with extreme teabaggers.

Then, there's the Senate. The Democrats couldn't accomplish much with 59 votes. What's going to happen when they "only" have 53. First step should be some serious filibuster reform.

Speaking of the Senate, did people see Lindsey Graham on "Meet the Press" yesterday? This tweet and twitpic capture it perfectly. Carlos and I had the same reaction watching it.

The President returns to DC from Hawaii tomorrow. Yesterday, he did sign the 9/11 responsders bill into law. He'll pretty much be in reelection mode from now on (not explicitly, but in reality.) Still waiting to see which GOPers actually jump in.

So, we've got quite a year ahead. Won't always be fun, but should be interesting...