Fresh Loaf

— It’s Veteran’s Day tomorrow, which is set aside to honor the men and women who have put their lives on the line on our country’s behalf. Call a vet  and thank them for their sacrifices. At the Daly Briefing, our intrepid correspondent is back in the U.S. from Iraq. But he’s stuck in Kansas because of military bureaucracy. And will be stuck there a day longer because … well, federal offices are closed because it’s Veteran’s Day. Patience, patience.

— Strong words from Erick at Peach Pundit, who is tired of hearing Johnny Mac’s folks whine about the shortcomings of Caribou Barbie. After all, they’re the ones who plucked her out of a moose hunt to be the next vice-president, right? Erick is so pissed off that he has a petition to make Republicans who bash Palin official political lepers.

— The Republican Party is obviously in trouble and Newt Gingrich has volunteered to be the savior. DownRight is down with that notion, but not the idea that the party has to become more moderate. They argue that Johnny Mac ran as a moderate and lost, which is evidence the party has to turn even harder right. But, listen, don’t forget Newt has this little issue with, you know, family values.

— Left On Lanier also delves into the Republican Party’s post-election tug-of-war and points out that for the far-right wing, even Fox News has become too liberal.

— Georgia’s U.S. Senate run-off will be under the national spotlight. At Georgia Women Vote, Amy takes note that unmarried women came out strong for J-Mart and Obama. Will they come back for the run-off?

— And, finally, there can’t be a worse feeling in journalism than to pursue a story, miss it, and then see a competitor nail it. Live Apartment Fire follows the tale of the two Atlanta garbage men who chill out in East Point while collecting OT, and how WSB trumped WGCL in the local television news wars. But that doesn’t erase the fact that WGCL still has its ace in the hole: Dagmar Midcap.

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— The wit and wisdom of Caribou Barbie is still a hot topic around the blogosphere and if you haven’t seen the latest SNL take, it’s a must-view. Amy Morton at Georgia Women Vote gathers some pointed post-debate feedback.

— Meanwhile at Going Through The Motions, the lovely Sara wonders why Americans seem to vote for the person they most identify with rather than the person they agree with politically. When she broached the topic with her Republican father, he dismissed her for using a “liberal talking point.” Ouch.

— Why does it matter? Dcup brings it home at Politits as she details her family’s fight to stave off foreclosure. And their lender gave them a cynical Catch-22. The bank first said they wouldn’t discuss helping them “work through it” until they brought their mortgage up to date. After that happened, the bank said they didn’t qualify for any programs to adjust their rate because they weren’t late anymore.

— TV stations love “gotcha” journalism, but Doug at Live Apartment Fire takes WGCL-TV to task for its report on Atlanta sanitation workers who allegedly lounge around during working hours and then go out when the overtime kicks in. Trouble is, Doug points out, the station never actually got them on camera doing anything wrong. It’s an example of a story rushed out before its time.

— Is anyone in a good mood these days? Edwin, at Chicken Fat, had to pick up friends returning from a trip at the airport and found himself lost and circling Hartsfield/Jackson in heavy traffic. Instead of helping him out, a grumpy cop slammed his fist on the windshield of Edwin’s car and told him to get moving.

— And, finally, the fine ladies at Pecanne Log had an even worse weekend after discovering they had missed the event they’d anticipated for months: the annual bowling showdown between the Furries and the Klingons. What they don’t know is the bowling match never happened. It was a trap. The Klingons ate the Furries, then trashed the bowing alley and took off in search of Spock.

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— As the fall campaign season goes into full swing, Travis over at Lucid Idiocy notes that one reason voters are so cynical is because of all the lies, lies, lies that candidates expect us to swallow. When Paris Hilton becomes a political voice of reason, we know something’s drastically wrong.

— For most of us, the Olympic Games have devolved into another made-for-television event that is very easy to ignore. Juliana at Blog For Democracy reminds us of one of the reasons the 2008 Summer Olympics still matter. Hankies not provided.

— Another heartwarming moment comes from the Daly Briefing, where our intrepid correspondent in Iraq gets a care package from home, and it’s all about the Orange Monkeys.

— And yet another tug on the heart string from Live Apartment Fire, which discovered a video deep on the WGCL-TV website. It’s “The Evan Thomason Show,” a spoof on TV news that runs nearly 15 minutes and features a kid who is too adorably cute. Turns out the Make-A-Wish Foundation sent him to do a newscast at the station. The video is funny, it has a Dagmar Midcap sighting and hats off to the News 46 staff for being such good sports. In Evan, a new television star is born.

— The very-much-missed Atlanta song siren Kelly Hogan, who’s now living in Chicago, turned me on to Blossom Dearie many years ago. At Cable & Tweed, Rich notes that it’s the 50th anniversary of the jazz singer’s best album. And Kelly, won’t you please come home?

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Channel 46 weekend news anchor Cari Champion says she was fired last week following an off-color comment that made it on the air.

According to this report by Richard Prince, the station thinks Champion uttered the “MF” word as she and co-anchor Mike Moore bantered during a commercial break. What the anchors didn’t know was that their conversation was being broadcast over the air.

Champion has appealed her dismissal to the station’s corporate headquarters, saying she didn’t drop the “MF” bomb. Instead, she says, she used the word “Mothasucka.” Kind of like saying “heck” instead of “hell.”

It had to have been an absolutely fascinating conversation between Champion and her bosses the next day. Imagine them dancing around the distinctions between “Mothasucka” and “Motha-…” well, you know.

I’m reminded of what George Carlin once said about middle-class housewives who shriek out the word “Shoot!” when they drop the casserole dish: “You can’t fool me. Shoot is shit with two O’s.”

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