Since the election of Obama, a little bit of the steam has gone out of this institution of American political-junkiedom in the late Bush years, for obvious reasons--things have gotten better, at least in that "our leaders are pirates and war criminals and to all appearances dumber than a wheelbarrow of bricks, and they are ruining everything" sense. But for a while it was a daily ritual for me--from the 2004 election to the 2008 election, or so, which when you think about it is a pretty fantastic run. The kind of balanced commitment to principle (meaning there was a progressive political project behind it, at least at its best) and mockery (meaning that said PPP never stopped democrats or guys we like from coming up for humiliation when needed) was and still is a recipe for Jon Stewartesque satire, only with more blingees and gin and bum sex. Wonkette was needed in that decade of mindboggle and bafflegab, and when we needed it it was there. http://wonkette.com. ( )