He brought us atheists! He brought us breakdancing and hip hop! He brought us a mass demonstration of audience fainting spells! Wait, that last one was a hoax delivered unto him by an apparent quality control artist.

But anyway, yes -- we're talking Phil Donahue, baby! And now -- toot-da-do! -- anti-war activist, Emmy winner galore, and world's-most-famous-talk-show-host-until-Oprah-came-along-to-steal-his-weepy-gentle-audience Donahue is bringing us Norman Solomon!

That's right, folks, Donahue, as a news release says, "will be on a barnstorm tour across the North Coast alongside Solomon, the independent progressive Democrat in the race for the open seat in the new 2nd Congressional District."

Here's the sched for Humboldt:

Wednesday, Jan. 11:

Noon -- Donahue and Solomon reception (till 1:30 p.m.); Persimmons Garden Gallery, 1055 Redway Dr., Redway.

5:45 p.m. -- "Body of War" screening, followed by on-stage conversation between Donahue and Solomon; Eureka Theater, 612 F St., Eureka.

The two men go back: Both worked on war films. Donahue's was "Body of War" and Solomon's was "War Made Easy."

Now, who's Oprah stumping for?