Politics

[Updated 5:08pm] A few thoughts on the continuing bruhaha over Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's former pastor and ever-popular subject of the mainstream news media echo chamber:

Sure, you might have suspected it after he stood before the United Nations and told a bushel of bald-faced lies about Saddam Hussein's nonexistent mobile chemical laboratories (even when he knew beforehand that it was bullstuff), but Colin Powell has -- at long last -- admitted that he has no shame.

Okay, I've been holding my tongue on the escalating war-of-the-words between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but I gotta break my vow of silence for this one.

Proving beyond any doubt that politics makes strange bedfellows, here's the matchup I never, never, ever would've expected to see...

So the big political story this week is the revelation that New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was caught soliticiting high-priced prostitutes (sorry, "escorts") for sex. This item is guaranteed to grab headlines for at least a week, as it features the irresistible combination of titilation with hypocrisy (Spitzer was a former Attorney General who busted prostitution rings).

I don't know about the rest of you, but right now I'm feeling rather sorry for John McCain.

Much to my surprise (not), there are some yaboos still obsessing over the "leaked" photo of Barack Obama wearing traditional Kenya garb from a trip to Africa a few weeks ago. One of the favorite tactics of the yaboos is to claim that the photo shows Senator Obama wearing his father's "tribal outfit," I presume because of some bizarre attempt to imply that Obama isn't really an American and/or to associate him to the negative aspects of Kenya.

To those folks I have to ask -- if you're going to go around trumpeting Obama dressing up from his father's side of the family, why not give equal time to his mother? Why aren't you waving around photos of Obama dressed up in his mother's culture?

Here, I'll help you out. Ladies and gentlemen, a photo of Senator Barack Obama wearing his mother's cultural costume:

[Updated 12:36pm, February 26] Another day, another bushel of election controversy...

[Updated February 21, 9:55am] So the latest Circle Of Outrage™ today apparently started on Monday, when Michelle Obama -- wife of presidential hopeful Barack Obama -- addressed a rally in Milwaukee and said:

Since I babbled a bit about John McCain last time, it seems only fair to give a bit of attention to the Democratic candidates. As if either of them cares what some geek on an obscure web site thinks...

I haven't said much so far regarding the 2008 Presidential election primaries. This is not out of neglect, but simple cynicism; come November, we'll walk into the voting booth and have to choose between a bottle of either Democra-Cola or Repubi, with nary a 7-Up or Dr. Pepper in sight. And as we make our choices, that little sniggering voice in the back of our heads wonders if we'll get stuck with another disasterous New Coke instead.

If you're a regular follower of the "Stuff You Should Read" blurbs on this site, you probably saw that link to a New Republic article the other day about Presidential hopeful Ron Paul's racist-filled newsletters.

Well, CNN contacted Paul about those newsletters today, and his response is a knee-slapper of a doozy:

So according to the news, Al Qaeda has invited journalists to submit questions for their Top Guy #2, Ayman al-Zawahri, in a sort of 21st century virtual interview.

With the pansy-assed limp-wristed corporate-controlled jokers we've got passing for journalists these days, here's the one question that's sure to be conveniently overlooked -- even though it should be the first out the gate:

Short and sweet: Dan Bartlett, former advisor to George W. Bush, describes conservative bloggers in the January 2008 edition of Texas Monthly:

Sometimes I run across something that's just so cool, so nifty, so neat that I have to gush about it to everyone.

This is one of those times, and if you're anything like me, the title alone is enough to make you squeal in glee:

As if you needed more evidence that American conservatives are batshit insane...

This week's turd of nutsy-cuckooness comes from Family Security Matters, a front group for the Center for Security Policy (CSP), a conservative Washington think tank. These are the folks who still think George W. Bush is doing a "heckuva job," and that the other 76% of the nation who feel otherwise are disloyal Al-Qaeda-loving traitors.

Dueling headlines:

Okay, so let me get this straight:

1. The Spanish-language television network, Univision, had to cancel a forum for Republican presidential candidates because all but one of the hopefuls chickened out of the event.

While driving in to work today, I happened to catch a bit of Thom Hartmann's radio program. My ears perked up a bit when he started talking about TPM's coverage of the little-noted political scandal around former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman.

[Updated 1:35pm] In light of Idaho Senator Larry Craig's arrest for soliciting sex in a public men's bathroom (ewwwwwww), it'd be all too easy to make jokes about closeted gay Republicans and their penchance for "water sports." Heck, we could just dust off those Mark Foley jokes and have them circulated inside of 10 minutes.