This week\’s Sports Illustrated features a lengthy article about my former boss, Rick Majerus. An interesting read from beginning to end. I also think it gives an accurate picture of what working for him is like – it can be brutal when you\’re actually there, but he breaks his back to help you when you\’re gone.
And the \”six inch\” story is absolutely true.
The list of liberal popular entertainers is never-ending. However, music lovers will recognize that R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe deserves a place near the top of the staunchest liberal activists. (Who can forget his \”White House Stop AIDS\” t-shirt at the 1991 MTV video awards? Okay, just me? Am I dating myself?)
Anyway, it appears Stipe inexplicably has a thing for Mike Huckabee. According to Politico.com\’s \”Shenanigans\” blog from last week:
REM frontman and rabid liberal Michael Stipe likes Mike Huckabee? Kinda. While speaking on Sirius radio over the weekend, Stipe told host Jane Pratt: “I’ve never seen the guy [Mike Huckabee] talk, not even online. I have never seen him talk for 30 seconds, … [and] he’s really charming. I instantly wanted to call [Generation X author] Doug Coupland and say, ‘OK, project one year into the future for me: What the hell does this mean?’ Because he’s a creationist; he’s a Baptist minister. I can’t think of probably a single issue in which I am even remotely in the same universe as that guy … and yet, he was kind of charming and … self-deprecating. He was actually kind of a good sport, and funny, and I don’t know what that means. Maybe it’s a good thing that’s he’s being lauded right now by the right. He’s an evangelical. May God bless all living creatures, but my god … how weird.\”
Granted, Huckabee isn\’t a \”conservative\” in the strict sense (and that\’s being kind.) But this has me completely confused. I guess, in one sense, it\’s kind of cool that Stipe has opened his mind to the possibility that an evangelical minister might not be that bad of a guy. But on the other hand, it kind of throws my universe out of whack. I\’ve been a Stipe devotee for two decades, and have come to expect a certain brand of liberalism from him. Now, I think it\’s entirely possible that on my way home from work, dogs will start talking to me. Nothing makes any sense anymore.
The National Indian Gaming Association really, really needs a better acronym.
Big news from the Clinton campaign:
Chelsea campaigns at Farm
Q&A targets college female demographic
The former first daughter’s address followed a smaller round table discussion at Old Union. Campaign organizers reached out to sororities in an effort to target women, one of Hillary Clinton’s “core demographics,” according to Carolyn Forstein ‘10, an associate with the Clinton campaign in San Francisco and a member of Stanford Students for Hillary.
In my college days, I was woefully unsuccessful at targeting the college female demographic. And my efforts in reaching out to sororities was even worse. I should have had Chelsea with me to figure it all out.
Fortunately, I get four or five e-mails a day offering me a chance to speak with live college girls. Maybe that\’s my path to the Presidency.
In an effort to not be so fat, I have been using a one week free pass to the Princeton health club here in Madison. I showed up today at lunch to work out, but realized I had lost my pass.
I told the girl behind the counter that she could probably look me up in the computer. She searched for me, but couldn\’t find my name. At that point, I saw the employee that I met with to get the pass, and blurted out this unfortunate phrase:
\”There he is – that\’s the guy that entered me!\”
At which point his eyes got big and he scowled at me. I then realized what I had said. I think it\’s possible that the dozens of health club patrons milling about didn\’t hear it, but not likely.
In other news, the Princeton Club has failed miserably in its attempt to make me skinnier after three visits. I also determined running on a treadmill is a lot harder when people are watching you. Especially since you can\’t eat a ham sandwich on their treadmills.
My quest to find tickets to the game Sunday led me to this Craigslist entry:
Mallards tickets for Packer Tickets – $1
Reply to: sale-538606796@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-01-14, 9:10AM CST
I will trade two Mallards tickets for Pack/Giants tickets this Sunday. I am a huge packer fan so please make me happy.
He then finished the ad off with this touch of irony:
\”Only serious inquiries please.\”
And they say there\’s no drug problem in Madison.
I\’m not sure how I missed this story about Greg Jennings\’ relationship with Brett Favre, but it\’s an outstanding read.
If you\’re looking for a read that is somewhat less outstanding, feel free to peruse Peter King\’s appalling, bloated \”Monday Morning Quarterback\” feature at Sports Illustrated. If you enjoy hearing this \”insider\” make the most obvious statements imaginable, feel free to peruse insight like this:
\”Atari Bigby. Great name. Played a great game for the Packers.\”
\”The Patriots\’ Josh McDaniels calls a good game.\” (Really? Was it the 17-0 record that led you to go out on a limb like that?)
\”I don\’t know how many more injuries the Giants secondary can take, but that is a physical and confident unit, whoever plays.\”
\”Eli Manning has played three straight games without making a game-killing mistake.\” (Is that why they\’re in the NFC Championship?)
\”Bob Sanders is a great player, and my choice for defensive player of the year, but that was a bush league thing he did after Nate Kaeding missed a second-quarter field goal try, putting his arm around Kaeding and tapping him on the helmet.\” (Incidentally, Sanders and Kaeding both went to Iowa at the same time, so they could be friends. It is entirely possible Sanders was encouraging him. Somehow I know this, but not the \”insider.\”)
\”Patrick Crayton, you\’ve got to be kidding me. That third-quarter drop just might have been the biggest play of the game.\”
Okay, that\’s enough. I can\’t take any more.
I have to admit that I think this week is the Packers\’ Super Bowl. The Patriots are unbeatable. They\’re just an absolute machine. So fans should live in the moment, enjoy winning the NFC, and bask in the Favre mediagasm the two subsequent weeks. Because the Super Bowl isn\’t going to be pretty.
I am a simple man with few needs. Unfortunately, one of those needs happens to be a ticket to the NFC Championship game at Lambeau Field on Sunday.
(Warning: If you are allergic to groveling, this post is not the place for you.)
![\"\"](\"http://www.christianschneiderblog.com/wp-content/uploads/blogger/_wvG0NnggKqk/R4rtjKNWkVI/AAAAAAAAAow/3Q0W9dm5G9U/s1600-h/packerlogo.jpg\")
Throughout the years, I have given blog readers at least three dollars worth of entertainment value. At this point, I would like to cash in that goodwill, in the event that one of the eight people reading this blog actually have a ticket to sell me. Honestly, I feel that there\’s a wall between you and me. And I see no better way of making the whole blogging experience more personal than you offering me a ticket. We would totally be best buds.
Therefore, I am willing to do anything for a ticket. I will say nice things about you on this blog. I will say mean things about someone you hate. I will give you free advertising. I will let you see a picture of my butt. I will rake the snow off your roof. I will give you my secret list of the best public bathrooms in South Central Wisconsin. I will grow a thick, flowing ironic mustache. I will call your wife every time you need to tell her you won\’t be home on time. I will make you a Boba Fett costume. I will call Al Sharpton and apologize on your behalf. I will discreetly let your co-worker know that he needs to shower more often. I will stand next to you in public to make you appear thinner. I will drive to Illinois to buy you cheaper smokes. I will do a research paper for you trying to explain the appeal of Julia Roberts. I will vote for you in the NBA all-star balloting. I will let you borrow my kids for a week to convince your girlfriend once and for all that she never wants to have children. I\’ll take the rap for you. I\’ll go to the drugstore and pick up the prescription-ordered extra small condoms you need. I\’ll learn to play the violin, then follow you around and provide accompaniment to the more emotional events in your life. I will punch people that snicker about your combover behind your back. I will follow you around and take detailed notes of the things you say when you are drunk, then apologize to everyone you spoke to. I\’ll let you beat the crap out of me in front of a table of hot girls at Chili\’s. I\’ll send big bouquets of flowers to your work and make sure all the other women see them. I\’ll break into your house after your death and steal all your porn so people don\’t know what a dirtbag you were. You can have your steroids sent to my house.
So I will be sitting at my computer here, waiting for your e-mail. I promise not to stop staring at my screen until your offer pops up. I imagine it\’ll be any minute. Any minute. Just sitting here waiting. Just sitting here. Any minute. Take your time. I\’m sure you probably just ran out to the grocery store. That\’s fine, whenever. Just sitting here. No hurry.
I\’ll be quick with my GOP debate observations, since my son\’s double ear infection has left me dizzyingly devoid of sleep. (On the bright side, it\’s a lot better than if he had a triple ear infection.)
1. I thought Romney cleaned up. Pitch perfect throughout.
2. Nice to see Fred Thompson go on offense – but he seemed to be straining a little too hard to come up with quick one-liners. It\’s obvious he thinks South Carolina is his last stand.
3. McCain began the debate babbling completely incoherently. I thought he righted the ship about halfway through – thanks in large part to Ron Paul, who McCain was able to use as a target to discuss his strong foreign policy positions.
4. Huckabee also scored some points by taking Paul on with regard to Israel. Seriously, they should want Ron Paul in these debates – he makes them all seem a little more level headed. I also thought Huckabee gave a fantastic answer with regard to his evangelical beliefs. (Then again, asking Huckabee about religion is like asking me about Twinkies.) However, I thought he gave a really poor answer when asked about his support of past tax increases. He was insufficiently apologetic, and mentioned at the end that all that new spending made highways more accessible to children. Then again, if the minimum driving age in Arkansas was 8, would it surprise anyone?
5. Rudy was really solid, if not spectacular. I think it\’s telling that nobody\’s going after him – clearly, the other candidates\’ internal polls either show him far behind or sinking.
Need sleep. Sadly, my keyboard isn\’t drool-proof.
For as long as there have been political campaigns, there have been critics of how those campaigns are financed. Good government groups deride campaigns that raise and spend bucketloads of money, fearing those campaigns have a leg up over their challengers. The more a campaign spends, they argue, the better chance the candidate has at winning an election. Apparently they believe there exists a “magic candidate” who is being held out of office for lack of resources, and they decry the undue influence of money on choosing our elected officials.
Perhaps they should purchase a newspaper.
In 2008, America will pick a new president. At this point, despite wildly disparate fundraising numbers between the candidates, nobody has a clue who the next chief executive will be. While some candidates are dropping money out of airplanes and faring poorly in the polls, others have caught fire while running their campaigns on food stamps.
The reason? Voters just might deserve more credit than they get from campaign finance reformers. In fact, the list of reasons candidates appeal to voters is long and varied – and financing often only plays an ancillary role. Fundraising doesn’t guarantee success. In sports parlance, there’s a reason they play the games.
In three years, Barack Obama has gone from being an Illinois State Senator to an even-money bet to be the next president. In doing so, he has stared down the political machine of a candidate whose name has been on the lips of American voters for 16 years, despite raising nearly $10 million less than Hillary Clinton.
With less fundraising prowess than the Clinton campaign, how has Obama surged to where he is now? The reasons are myriad. He’s attractive. He delivers thunderous, inspirational speeches that appeal to people’s hopes and dreams. He has the support of a slobbering press corps. And he has the backing of Oprah Nation.
Of course, all of these attributes tell us nothing about how he would govern as president. But they influence voters – some would say they provide undue influence on the electorate. After all – what’s the cash value of Oprah’s endorsement? A gazillion dollars? At the very least it, has to be as much as John Edwards’ entire budget for hair care products.
On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee has done for campaign finance reform what David Koresh did for Waco as a family vacation destination. While spending virtually nothing, the quick-witted Huckabee pummeled his Republican opponents in Iowa on a campaign of charm, Godspeak, and Chuck Norris jokes.
Conversely, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has been printing his own money during the campaign, yet has been collecting nothing but humiliating losses as a result. In Iowa, Romney was pounded by Huckabee despite dumping millions of dollars on the state. Television station owners all across Iowa will be sending their children to Ivy League schools based on Romney’s generosity alone.
Romney suffered a similar fate in New Hampshire, only this time to John McCain. According to reports, candidates of both parties spent $23.9 million in television ads in New Hampshire – of that total, Romney spent $9 million. Yet McCain, who spent $3.6 million on TV ads, emerged with a convincing victory, which may just propel him back into being a legitimate contender. Rudy Giuliani spent $2.4 million on television in New Hampshire, yet barely beat out fringe candidate Ron Paul for fourth place.
All of these instances indicate that voters are picking their candidates for a variety of reasons – yet campaign spending doesn’t seem to be one of them. As for Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton, they lack some of the influential qualities other candidates do have, and it’s just not fair.
This is why we clearly need regulations in place to have a truly egalitarian field for presidential candidates. Since issues are the only thing that should influence voters, we need to control for the other attributes that might unfairly sway voters away from a candidate who might not be so fortunate.
For instance, we need to eliminate Barack Obama’s good looks from the equation. From now on, Obama should be forced to wear a ridiculous, bushy fake mustache when he gives speeches. We’ll see if women voters are as enthusiastic about his message of hope when he looks like Borat. (Although, admittedly, he might earn my vote if he did so.)
Next, we need to equalize the market for celebrity endorsements. When Chuck Norris endorses Mike Huckabee, every other candidate in the field will be assigned a taxpayer-financed washed-up action star to serve as their campaign spokesman. Jean-Claude Van Damme, we need your cell phone number – looks like John Edwards is cratering!
Under my plan, candidates will be barred from playing instruments while on the campaign trail. Everyone remembers Bill Clinton’s thrust in popularity after he played the saxophone on late night television. Mike Huckabee recently showed up on Jay Leno playing the bass guitar. (Less memorable was Steve Forbes’ performance of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” on the triangle.) Whether a candidate can play a few notes on an instrument doesn’t tell me what I need to know about their position on CAFTA.
Finally, we need to get rid of all these troublesome catchwords that seem to be getting people so excited. Obama should be limited to two uses of the word “hope” per speech. Huckabee should only be allowed to refer to God as “the man who lives in the clouds,” and will be limited to using the following joke, written by my four year-old daughter:
Q: “What did the fish say to the seaweed?”
A: “Fish can’t talk!”
All of these important reforms will give real people a chance to run for office. Real ugly, dull, uninformed people.
Then again, maybe we should just recognize that voters are smarter and more complex than we have given them credit for. Maybe the things we think influence their votes, like “excessive” campaign spending, aren’t really all that important. Perhaps citizens see through campaign ads and pick their elected officials on actual substance.
Undeterred, good government groups in Wisconsin forge on with their plans to use taxpayer money to solve the fundraising “arms race” that leaves some candidates with more money than others. These groups believe candidates raise money, which makes them more viable. In fact, they have it exactly backward – it is the best candidates that are able to attract contributions once they have demonstrated their electoral worthiness. What they do with their funds at that point is their own business – and quite often doesn’t mean victory. Until we can control for all the variables in a campaign, some candidates will continue to have natural advantages that appeal more broadly to voters.
-January 10, 2008
UPDATE: Originally, this column suggested Charles Bronson as the go-to washed up action star. Unfortunately, it appears that Bronson has been practicing his own vigilante brand of justice in heaven since 2003. RIP.
During the presidential campaign of 2000, a clandestine group of Wisconsin Capitol staffers used to meet occasionally to plan the state strategy for the John McCain campaign. These were not the quintessential insiders – one limped a lot and one had a lisp. They met in poorly lit rooms, spoke in hushed tones, and discussed how McCain could possibly upset the Bush campaign machine. They were wrong, and not by a little bit.
![\"\"](\"http://www.christianschneiderblog.com/wp-content/uploads/blogger/_wvG0NnggKqk/R4RNDqNWkUI/AAAAAAAAAoo/RMOTX-kzyW0/s1600-h/mccain.jpg\")
I was one of those handful. In their 20s, some people experiment with drugs, some with heavy drinking. I experimented with McCain. And heavy drinking. I admired his heroism and independence, and I didn\’t really appreciate the fact that party leaders had essentially chosen George W. Bush for me as my candidate. (When the Wisconsin primary rolled around, I voted for Alan Keyes – this has allowed me to tell my lefty pals for eight years that I voted against Bush.)
Since 2000, I\’ve become old, crotchety and cynical. I had pretty much dismissed McCain as a legitimate presidential candidate. (He still may not be legitimate – New Hampshire seems to vote for him reflexively at this point.) He angered me with his ridiculous support of campaign finance reform. The party\’s base has chafed at his moderate immigration plan (although it doesn\’t bother me all that much). He gives crazy-eyed speeches about following Osama bin Laden to the gates of Hell. His bragging about working in a bipartisan fashion goes over like fingernails on a chalkboard in a Republican primary. At 71 years old, he looks old and brittle. My grandmother is 74, and we don\’t let her go too near the toaster, much less the Oval Office.
But tonight\’s speech after his victory in New Hampshire seemed to rekindle some of that old feeling I once had for Senator McCain. It was like seeing an old girlfriend after having split for years – you may have moved on with your life, but you know there had to be something there that attracted you two in the first place. And while I\’ve thinking about dating Giuliani or Romney, it appears that McCain is still single – and he wants me back. (Of course, the bastard never let me come over to pick up the t-shirts I left at his house after the split.)
Naturally, this may all just be crazy talk. McCain could get hammered in Michigan and South Carolina and be relegated forever to the scrap heap of \”close but no cigar\” presidential candidates. (As opposed to Bill Clinton, who was the \”come close, I have a cigar\” president.) But for one night in January, the 71-year old candidate who has spent a lifetime in the U.S. Senate looks like the candidate of change. Without question, he\’s the candidate who is most right on the issue that matters the most – the War on Terror.
So while I consistently deride voters who pick a candidate based on their electoral \”bounce,\” it seems I may have become one of those voters. At the very least, the New Hampshire primary gave me the chance to see McCain in a different light. Who knows if I end up supporting him – but now he\’s on the map.
Let\’s just hope he accepts the mix tape I\’ve been making him.
***
How perfect was it that John Edwards\’ entrance music was the \”This is Our Country\” song by John Mellencamp? The song that makes me want to throw my television out the window utilized by the candidate that I would crawl over broken glass to vote against. It\’s like electoral Feng Shui. The universe is in harmony.
***
The most undercovered local angle to the presidential race? The fact that Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and Mike Huckabee roomed together on a 10-day trip to Iraq. This deserves front-page treatment – can you imagine this Odd Couple pairing?
DOYLE: \”Jesus, Mike – can you open a window? Your socks reek.\”
HUCKABEE: \”Well which one are you talking to – Jesus or me? He\’s right here next to me.\”
JESUS: \”Sorry, dude.\”
Okay, so I admit that I didn\’t watch the entire Democratic and Republican debates on Saturday night, although I did catch little bits. Thus, I have nothing really to say about any of the actual content discussed.
But I do have to mention one of my pet peeves about the whole process. Some people are bothered about how Iowa and New Hampshire have so much influence in picking our new President. Others complain about the length and banality of the whole charade.
I, on the other hand, have found something else that is ruining the whole political theater for me. Specifically, I can\’t stand how much John Edwards blinks. You\’ll thank me for pointing this out. Watch this video from a previous debate:
Honest to God – it looks like his head is trying to fly off the rest of his body with the way those lids are flapping. And once you notice it, you can\’t notice anything else – what he\’s saying becomes completely irrelevant. (Okay, slightly less irrelevant than it already is.)
Nobody on the GOP side is quite that bad, although I noticed Mike Huckabee is quite the blinker. Fred Thompson doesn\’t really have to worry, since his eyelids are closed during most of the debates.
Apparently, one of the signs that someone is lying is that they blink more. I\’m not saying Edwards necessarily lies any more than any of the other candidates. In fact, maybe he\’s just trying to generate a breeze to keep himself cool on stage. But any time he wants to come over and play poker with his trial lawyer pals, he\’s more than welcome.
With Barack Obama\’s meteoric rise topping the news these days, many people have forgotten the bizarre series of events that paved the way to his stunning ascendance. It\’s especially interesting given that some personal and minor details, thought at the time to be insignificant, could now eventually shape the world we live in – given that Obama has a realistic chance to win the presidency. In retrospect, Obama\’s presidential run was the candidacy that almost never happened.
![](\"/blog/wp-content/uploads/jeri-ryan.jpg\")
Back in 2004, Barack Obama was an Illinois state senator with some modest accomplishments on his resume. He spearheaded welfare reform in the Illinois statehouse, and took the lead in passing a law that required interrogations in murder cases to be videotaped.
After unsuccessfully challenging strong Democratic incumbent Bobby Rush in a Congressional primary in 2000, Obama returned in 2004 to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Senator Peter Fitzgerald. Obama emerged from a crowded Democratic primary that included multi-millionaire Blair Hull, who spent $29 million of his own money in the primary alone (including paying homeowners $75 a day to keep his signs in their yards). In an 8-candidate race, Obama garnered 53% of the vote, routing his opponents.
Yet despite running away with the primary, Obama still had a formidable challenge in Republican Jack Ryan. Ryan was an impressive candidate – attractive and wealthy, with law and business degrees from Harvard. After making a fortune at Goldman Sachs, Ryan left to teach in an inner city school.
Yet Ryan had a problem – during the campaign, he was going through a messy divorce from actress Jeri Ryan, of \”Star Trek: Voyager\” fame. Details of Jeri Ryan\’s testimony contained lurid details about Ryan forcing his wife to go to sex clubs in Paris. These details were toxic to Jack Ryan\’s campaign, and he saw his poll numbers plummet – eventually, Republican leaders pressed Ryan to quit the race, fearing he was toxic to the statewide ticket.
Eventually, Ryan bowed out, leaving the Illinois Republican Party to find a candidate to run against Obama. This led to the national embarrassment of Alan Keyes moving to Illinois to run. Naturally, Obama won 70%-27%, buoyed by his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention.
The rest is history. Certainly, Obama deserves all the credit for the way he has excited Democratic crowds around the country – leading to his rout of Hillary Clinton in Iowa. And he may have beaten Jack Ryan on his own. But it\’s fascinating to think that the salacious testimony of a woman scorned could one day fundamentally alter the path of the world in which we live. Without it, Barack Obama could still be sitting in the Illinois statehouse, planning his next political move.
***
UPDATE: Charlie Sykes discussed this post today on the air. Listen to it here.
![\"\"](\"http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/c/c2/WildStallyns.jpg\")
Even though most of my historical knowledge comes from multiple viewings of Bill and Ted\’s Excellent Adventure, I appreciate the fact that Wisconsin has a state agency dedicated to writing down the important stuff. That state agency, of course, is the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Last month, I posted a few crackpot letters received by Wisconsin state legislative offices. People seemed to enjoy seeing the type of thing their legislators are asked to respond to, so I thought I\’d kick off this year with a classic e-mail from November 14th of 2005:
Dear Senator:
I am a deaf person who was ferociously molested on the job and off by a network controlled by Oliver Stone who printed my name in Cineaste Film Quarterly. They tortured me and they brutally raped my retarded deaf girlfriend after letters in evidence of John Lennon\’s murder were found to have been planted on my house by a 12 year old Jewish girl who wrote to me when I was tortured as a child. Stone and his network have made me into a human sacrifice and treated me for years with the utmost hatred and with acts of beastiality, morally depradating and criminally disturbed in nature.
In 1982, I wrote a letter to Leslie Katz which was used to justify torturing me and to rape my deaf girlfriend. The persons responsible are Reagan, Clinton and Peter Gabriel. They were practicing sorcery of a sort to mollify Yoko Ono who maliciously blames me for the death of John Lennon.
They had an agent placed named Evangelia Karmas, from Hidden Pun Studios which gives you a clear indication of how their minds operate. Neither me, nor deaf Jeannie, had any role at all in Lennon\’s murder. They are just molesting me to cover their own atrocity after working with Lennon\’s killers in framing me as an offender to make a grab on the storyline. I was a part time, deaf library clerk who they attacked on the job, after I reported being tortured as a child.
Please help us. Jeannie was raped and I have been tortured by these murderers. They clearly believe that their celebrity is made for impunity and override of fair play.
Come to think of it, that actually makes perfect sense when compared to some of the posts on the Democratic Underground. In fact, I think this letter is the inspiration for about 67% of Dennis Kucinich\’s presidential platform.
I love the members of the triumvirate – Reagan, Clinton (Chelsea?) and Peter Gabriel. Like Reagan and Clinton are sitting around thinking of who could be the third person to fill out the Axis of Evil, and Reagan turns to Clinton and says \”Hey, Peter Gabriel\’s not in Genesis anymore, right? He probably has some free time.\” Those must have been the days that Reagan and Clinton smoked a lot of pot together.
In fact, I\’m pretty sure this was one of Clinton\’s first executive initiatives. After his election, he probably gathered his cabinet together and said \”Okay, we\’re going to get to universal health care and welfare reform and all that stuff – but first, find this guy and frame him for the death of John Lennon that happened 12 years ago. Then molest him.\”
I would bet Hillary\’s not getting this dude\’s vote.
Finally, I love the fact that he blames the planting of evidence on a 12 year-old Jewish girl. He had to work that in. This illustrates one of my theories: That while not all people that hate Jews are necessarily \”crazy\” (just bigoted), all people who are crazy hate Jews. You never hear a legitimate crazy person sing the praises of Judaism – they\’re all invested in some crazy Zionist plot against them. (See: Barrett, Kevin.)
Certainly, reasonable cases can be made both for and against the War in Iraq. But chances are, you haven\’t heard the anti-war case made as convincingly as Kids Incorporated did in their cover of Culture Club\’s \”The War Song:\”
By the time you watch that, I will have deliberately sprayed oven cleaner directly into my eyes to avoid having to see it again.
Incidentally, taking a position of equal depth and contemplation might just be enough to get you the Democratic presidential nomination.