Hammer Mill Days

This looks like it might be the place. Yes, this is most definitely the place. Kind of. Hey, Mitch.... are you SURE this is the place? All right. We've been out on tour for a while, but not that bloody long. Certainly not long enough to forget where we came from. And yet here we are, trying to work out which abandoned mill belongs to us (and when I say "belong," I mean that in the broadest sense imaginable... broad enough to encompass loose associations). Trouble is, so many mills have closed down around here even since our departure some weeks ago that it's hard to sort it all out. Seems a lot of people are getting into the abandoned mill trade. It's a buyers' market, so to speak... or a squatters' market, actually. Yeah, so anyway... we limped back home, dropped into orbit, threw the anchor over the side, and shimmied down the rope to terra firma. Of course, our rent-a-wreck spaceship was not in stationary orbit, so the freaking anchor was dragging along...

What is the best thing that can be said about the House majority in the 112th Congress after its first full day of business? My vote would be for the fact that they seem to have the seeds of self-destruction sown deep in their DNA. It's a teeth-clenching joy to behold, frankly. I'm particularly enamored of the fact that, in the days leading up to the session's opening, they were swarming the swank venues of Washington D.C., being celebrated by lobbyists, plied with drink, etc. - the whole Abramoff/Delay machine back in action once again. Two of their number - Reps. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) - were so immersed in the never-ending delight of fundraising that they hilariously neglected to make it to the Capitol for the swearing in ceremony, opting instead to raise their right hands to a nearby T.V. screen at the bar/restaurant of choice. Good start, guys. One wishes that were the full extent of the madness - just the Keystone Cop-like clumsiness - bu...