This is an unusual August. Even during the election, August represented a quieter, slower month on the canvassing/phone-banking/direct mail calendar. But not this year. This year, August is a hungry, hot tornado of health care babble in Washington, DC.

"Twin of Myself" - Black Moth Super Rainbow

Batshit crazy teaparty people, stammering politicians, stifling D.C. heat and my withering-on-the-vine vacation plans. I'm leaving the city this week for a wedding, and had planned to spend another week in Maine and Connecticut, bumming around and generally forgetting about the maelstrom in DC.

"Yesterdays" - Ella Fitzgerald w/ Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra

The longer this fight goes on, the more I just want it to be over. A public health insurance option? Employer mandate? Reimbursing hospitals 5% above Medicare reimbursements? Only months ago these legisltative components seemed like forgone conclusions in a final health care bill. Now, they're suddenly controversial.

"Untitled 8" - The Real People

"I Live A Lot of Places" - Woodpigeon

It seems like a Democrat is peeled away every day against the public option. Just wait until voters figure out that, while they're required to now have health insurance, the government isn't going to offer a competitive option for them to choose from. The entire country will be auctioned away to private insurance. Yeah, fellow Democrats, the American people will LOVE that.

"Supermellofied" - Peter & the Wolf