Boy howdy, today’s a big day. The boys in their funny dresses are all locked in the Sistine Chapel (I think – try as I might to ignore this stuff, it’s near impossible to keep some of the trivia from leaking in) ready to start voting on a new pope. They say they’ll probably even be a vote today, so maybe we’ll see some white smoke up the old chimney. I’m sure that would disappoint Cokie Roberts, though, who seems to have become NPR’s Vatican Reporter. If I must hear about this nonsense, I’d much rather listen to Sylvia Poggioli, but I assume that beat is a bit below a reporter of her stature. Ah and as soon as I say that, there she is. Too bad.

Otherwise, there’s not much new going on out there in the world. Paul Ryan is still trying to screw over the poor and the old (good Catholic that he is), 11 people were shot in a drive-by shooting in DC (see, gun laws don’t work), Bretibart published a story about Paul Krugman going bankrupt that was based on a fake news story in the Currant, and Ashley Judd needs to hurry up and move to Kentucky if she wants to run against Mitch McConnell. Personally, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea. She’s a little too much of a UK hoops fan, in my opinion. Plus, I’ve never been all that crazy about “celebrities” becoming politicians. I guess it can work out occasionally (seems Al Franken is doing a pretty good job, but for every Al there’s a Ronnie Raygun).

At least she’s not a former pro athlete. I mean, Heath Shuler, Jim Bunning, and Stever Largent? No thanks (though I suppose Bill Bradley was OK).

Oh well, back to work.