thank you dairy lobbyists!

Something pretty damn awesome happened just now. No, it wasn't the fact that during a budget mark-up in the Senate, Old Man Time Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) shouted "Make way for liber-tay!" multiple times as a staffer wheeled him over to his spot at the head of the appropriations table. Nor was it the fact that this was possibly the shortest approps bill mark-up in the history of time. Nope. It was this:

Neal Perry, Todd Anderson, Knox Overstreet and Nuwanda hold their meeting at the toppings table.

That's a free ice cream social on the Hill! Why? No reason! The International Dairy Foods Association just wanted to bribe throw a party for "Congress, their staffs and families and special invited guests." Well, luckily for me, security was pretty lax so I, along with several new homeless friends, were able to walk right in (to the unguarded open public space) and grab our free ice cream.

Zoinks! Watch those cuffs!

Invited or not, this event was solid. And the ice cream was delicious. The International Dairy Foods Association does not skimp. This wasn't your supermarket-bought vanilla. This was something fancy, with flavors like Blackberry Chocolate Chip, Triple Fudge Brownie, and my flavor of choice, Mango. Likewise, this wasn't just one free scoop of ice cream. It wasn't even two free scoops. Nope. It was three free scoops of ice cream! TIGHT. Not to mention, root beer floats and sundaes. Did I mention this was free?! I've never been so happy to be on the Hill in my life.

Make way for liber-tay? If this isn't liber-tay, I don't know what is. Can't wait to see how many federal subsidies and earmarked monies the dairy industry receives next year!