I am terribly ashamed that I have not yet chosen John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats as our Super Awesome Sunday Vegetarian Post of Awesomeness yet, and am now doing what I can to make amends.   So let me be perfectly clear: if there is just one post of mine you ever read in its entirety, or listen to all the music, please make it this one.   Because the Mountain Goats (really just Darnielle for the most part) deserve your attention.   I’m actually having trouble figuring out where to begin, my adulation for this band is so intense.

Let’s start with this quote from The New Yorker: John Darnielle is “America’s best non-hip-hop lyricist.”  Let’s test that hypothesis:

Yup.   And that one’s autobiographical.   In fact, his lyrics are, much of the time, more important than the music he places under them.

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Many drivers in Tallahassee Florida will sadly have to say goodbye to their testicles. Their fake bull testicles that dangle from their truck and car trailer hitches.

Republican Sen. Cary Baker, a gun shop owner from Eustis, Florida, called the adornments offensive and proposed the ban. Motorists would be fined $60 for displaying the novelty items, which are known by brand names like “Truck Nutz” and resemble the south end of a bull moving north.

The Florida Senate voted last week to add the measure to a broader transportation bill, but it is not included in the House version.In a spirited debate laced with double entendre, Senate lawmakers questioned whether the state should curtail freedom of expression in vehicle accessories. [Reuters]

Truck Nutz (which may just be my new favorite word) are described on their site as “a high-quality, novelty, automotive accessory that hang from any bumper and let folks show the world their Nutz”.

Personally I think there are things that are far more offensive like, oh I dunno, selling guns?

Is it not ones constitutional right to express themselves through plastic balls? Is it censorship to take a persons nutz away? Want to know more abut protecting free speech? and check out change.org .