Remember Keith Ellison, the Minnesota Democrat who was elected to the House of Representatives in 2006? As the first Muslim elected to Congress, he naturally wanted to be sworn in on the Quran. This caused an uproar among such champions of liberty as Dennis Prager and Representative Virgil Goode (R-VA) who felt that people of all religions should be sworn in on the Christian Bible.

Well, the story flared up for a bit and then seemed to fade away. But when the time came, Ellison ended up being sworn in on a Quran that had been owned by Thomas Jefferson:

“It demonstrates that from the very beginning of our country, we had people who were visionary, who were religiously tolerant, who believed that knowledge and wisdom could be gleamed from any number of sources, including the Quran,” Ellison said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

“A visionary like Thomas Jefferson was not afraid of a different belief system,” Ellison said. “This just shows that religious tolerance is the bedrock of our country, and religious differences are nothing to be afraid of.”

What do you get when you cross an iPod and a cell phone, and then throw a web browser into the mix? The Apple iPhone, of course, available in June.

They are also introducing a video player, called Apple TV that can download digital content from the Internet and play it on a television.

Steve Jobs announced the new products at the MacWorld expo.

My prediction – the iPhone will be a huge hit. It’s exactly the easy-to-use, all-in-one device that the market has been hungry for. The Apple TV, not so much. I think between Tivo, DVR, Netflix, Video On Demand, and people just generally being busier than they used to be, the market for more video content is over-saturated. iTunes videos probably sell specifically because they can play on portable computers and iPods, not because people can’t find anything to watch on their televisions. Bottom line: Apple TV, no; iPhone, oh yes.

But however it turns out, Bravo to Apple for once again pushing the envelope and moving us to the next level.

This was the actual front page of the “liberal” New York Times on Friday:

The headline about “Jubilant Democrats” is sitting atop a picture of Nancy Pelosi presiding over a gaggle of small children. The implication here, whether the reader is aware of it on a conscious level or not, is that the “Jubilant Democrats” are just children compared to their predecessors, reinforcing the ridiculous canard that the Republicans are the party of grown-ups.

These things really do matter. And this is the New York Times. We have a right to expect better.