If I was Garrison Keillor, I'd stop writing about politics until Lileks retired, as Lileks really is funny and really does understand the world.

I'm betting it was the Giant Ukelele that silenced the room at the Saint Paul Hotel, btw.  I used to be invited to those gatherings, but since Jay Larson arranged for my lifetime ban from the Minnesota State Fair, I haven't been to a gathering of the Valli Basement Boys.

Speaking of funny people and liberals, though I am not completely sure, I suspect Bill Bryson of being a man of the left, but as I told an audience at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books yesterday, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is one of the very few laugh out loud books out there, and for me it is the only book that has obliged me to laugh and laugh while running and listening to it on an iPod, which occasions distinct looks of concern from passerbys.  Do yourself a favor and read or listen to it, especially if you are from the midwest and most especially if you are born anywhere near 1951 or Des Moines.