On Day Two of the new "Air America Mornings" (actually, Day One for me), I already find myself drifting—even backsliding

Sorry to have gone silent on you over the New Year's weekend. (Assuming anyone noticed.) And since I did allude to a health crisis on the part of my 86-year-old mother the week before, let me add that no, that hasn't worsened—in fact, after that really alarming weekend, she's much better. (Again, assuming anyone noticed.) I may, however, have underestimated the exhaustion involved in trying to cope with such a crisis at a distance of 1500 miles, or however far it is from New York to Miami-Dade County, Florida.

So here I am preparing for my first official day at work since, oh, one of those days last week. Tuesday, I guess it was. Officially, I used my remaining use-'em-or-lose-'em PTO days for the rest of the week, but that doesn't mean I didn't go into the office. Heck, the work had to get done.

Anyway, getting ready for work meant today was my first exposure to the new Air America Radio morning lineup, which has Mark Riley from 5 to 7am and Rachel Maddow from 7 to 9. My radio was set for 6, and sure enough there was Riley, trying alarmingly hard to be "up" and "energetic," and here after 7 is Riley still, as Rachel is sick today.

Somehow I had the TV on, and somehow I found the channel drifting to Imus on MSNBC, though still with the sound off. This is my first Imus exposure since I went cold turkey a few years ago, no longer able to endure the man's drift from his erstwhile crotchety iconoclasm to pompous right-wing stoogery.

So on my first exposure to the new "Air America Mornings," I show signs of backsliding into the old Imus habit. I even put the sound on for Newsweek's Howard Fineman.

I'm not proud, or encouraged.