One good thing about home being well to the west…

…you get up well before the morning shows back home that you otherwise would have slept through.

In fact, this is the first time I've watched anything from CNBC before the opening bell in a long, long time, if ever. Go figure, though: I looked it up because of the appearance of "Mizzur-uh" Senator Kit Bond on this morning's Squawk Box.

CNBC has just uploaded four segments of Bond's appearance from this morning. On protectionism, Bond expounded on his opposition to provisions that mandated "Buy America" and prohibited the entry of Mexican trucks into America. He also discusses concerns about consumer protection becoming politically driven. On healthcare, Bond stressed concern about government intervention into this field and the ballooning deficit. And on cap-and-trade emission standards, Bond simply called it "cap-and-tax".

Meanmwhile, his one-time Senate colleague and successor in the governor's mansion, John Ashcroft, today will endorse Roy Blunt's bid to succeed Bond in the Senate. And here in Folkestone, TVs will be switching between the first day of Wimbledon and the selection of a new Speaker of the House of Commons, which could either be a significant swing toward reform or a complete and utter farce before the night is done. Speeches will begin in 20 minutes, but given that there will be 10 candidates and a new exhaustive and secret ballot system in place, this could easily reach sunset. Which this month is after 9pm.