Jim: Worst Idea of 2006: Oh, I don’t know, maybe writing a book about the influence of terrorism on the U.S. political system and releasing it a month before the political world goes insane over Mark Foley’s pants and the issue of corruption more or less single-handedly switches control of the Senate and House of Representatives?

Runner Up: Marshall mentioned this in his “worst political theater” category, but I would suggest the You-Tubeization of American politics and the fallout from “Macaca,” ensuring that every candidate for major office for the next ten years will be followed around by an opponent’s staffer with a video camera and will be continually harassed and heckled in an attempt to provoke an unflattering outburst. Because it is normal, human and fairly common to lose one’s temper and say something one later regrets, this 24-7 monitoring of candidates will ensure that no sane person will ever want to run for office.

Second Runner Up: Crunchy Cons.

Marshall: The Worst Idea of 2006 was, without a doubt, the boneheaded decision to nominate White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.

What’s that you say? That was actually in 2005? It doesn’t matter. Nominating Miers was such an astonishly bad idea that it wins on the basis of carryover.

Seriously, the Miers nomination permanently damaged the President’s standing with his most important supporters — conservatives who vote in damn near every election and conservative activists who give the money and do the work that make conservative causes a success. The impact of the Miers nomination clearly carried over into the 2006, making it harder for the President to hold his coalition together in the face of bad news from Iraq, irresponsible spending by Republican Congressional leaders, and mushrooming scandal. Would these issues have been non-factors in the absence of the Miers nomination? Of course not. But it would have been easier for the President to mitigate their impact and recover from the damage they did.

Runner-up Yeesh. It was the year of the bad idea. So, here are a few possible nominees for runner-up:

• Basic Instict 2
• Going hunting with Vice President Cheney
• Naming an impeached (and convicted) federal judge to be chairman of the House Intelligence Committee
• Installing Katie Couric as anchor of the CBS Evening News.
• Hewlitt-Packard Chairman Patricia Dunn ordering surveillance on her own Board of Directors
• Demoting Pluto from planet to “dwarf planet”

Cam: Hey, I’d rather go hunting with Dick Cheney than be a passenger while Patrick Kennedy’s driving.

Okay… more bad ideas. I can’t pick just one, so I’m going to divide these up between Pop Culture and Politics.

Pop Culture

- The Beatles “Love” album. Seriously. What a waste of money this was. Oooh, they added the opening guitar chord from “A Hard Day’s Night” to “Get Back”. That does not make this some new and unique Beatles song.

- Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip. The biggest problem with this show is that Aaron Sorkin can’t write a comedy sketch to save his life. I tried with this show, I really did. But between the liberal clap-trap and the unfunny comedy, I had to bail.

- The Armed Forces Bowl. Not that I have a problem with the concept, I just have a problem with Tulsa, Oklahoma hosting a bowl.

Politics

- You know, I’m actually so sick of talking politics right now that I’m just going to say there really were no good ideas in 2006.

Shempu: Wheeee!!! Cam’s calling it in, not giving his all, going through the motions, running at 50%, doing the

Cam: Just thought of another “Best Idea for 2006″: Whale Stew.

Marshall: Dude, don’t be hatin’ on Studio 60. The politics aren’t personal. Sit back and enjoy. It’s the best written show on television, because Sorkin is the best dialogue writer, maybe ever.

Oh, and another thing — Save the Whales!

Cam: Best thing on television?? Dude, I could drop trou and take a poo on my tv and that would be something better on television than “Studio 60″. House and The Office are much better shows than “Studio 60″.

And Sorkin the best dialogue writer ever???? Sorkin, like Kevin Smith, writes dialogue that reads like a play. And I don’t mean that as a compliment. If you’re in the mood for it, it’s great, but his dialogue has the tendency to draw me out, not draw me in to the story.

Marshall: Dude — you’re threatening to poo on your television and Shempu is the one living in the tub? I think you might have that backwards. Bring back the whale. At least he understands fine culture when he finds it.

Shempu: Right! I love Studio 60.

Cam: That’s it Shempu. You get your cetacean self over to Marshall’s. Go live in his bathtub for awhile. You can watch your Studio 60 together and eat popcorn and plankton. You two can be the pretentious version of “Beavis and Butthead”, chuckling at the oh-so-witty dialogue written by America’s Shakespeare, Aaron Effing Sorkin.

Me, I’ll be watching Season 6 of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. Joss Whedon is my master now.

Marshall:Come on over Shempu. We’ve got fresh fish and nice, big tank for you. We know how to treat our guests — especially our cultured guests. By the way, would you care for the Bordeaux or the Burgundy?