Welcome Back, "Hillary"

Millions of Americans gave up on "Saturday Night Live" after the election, so in case you missed it, new mama Amy Poehler came back this weekend and brough new Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with her... Enjoy!

An Instant SNL Classic!

If you missed the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, you missed an opening skit that will no doubt go down as a classic among more than 30 years of political SNL sketches... Tina Fey as Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton. After watching this, I almost felt bad for Hillary. Almost.

Since NBC usually makes youtube take down its SNL clips, I have used the version from hulu.com (which NBC co-owns). It may include a 15-second ad, but it's worth the wait! Enjoy!

Thanks, Sophie!

The creator of "It's Academic", Sophie Altman, has died at the tender age of 95. If you can even manage to live to 95, God bless you, but Sophie continued to produce the high school quiz show at Channel 4 until just three weeks before her death! Thousands of America's brightest scholars got their starts on It's Academic, and the roster has also included an astronaut, two U.S. Senators (find Hillary Clinton in this picture!), scores of doctors and lawyers, and hopefully, next school year, my son, Brad!

"It's Academic" levels the high school playing field for those kids who don't find their niche in sports, but in academics. My son doesn't watch MTV... he watches the History Channel, and "It's Academic" provides him with an outlet to hone his craft - to make him want to excel in education. What a blessing it's been!

In its heyday, "It's Academic" was syndicated to 24 other cities, and it is still aired in eight markets, from Washington to San Diego. The DC version is the original, of course, and it's still hosted by the ageless Mac McGarry, himself a D.C. institution as a broadcaster and the longtime announcer voice of both Channel 4 and many NBC programs. I had a chance to meet Mac at a taping of "It's Academic" earlier this year, and it was a thrill. He is not that far behind Sophie Altman in age, but I think Mac has many more miles in his tank!

You can and should read about Sophie Altman's fascinating life and career in this obit in the Washington Post. She even had Hollywood connections - her daughter-in-law is Wonder Woman Lynda Carter!

Thank you, Sophie, for giving geek squads a fighting chance in this world!

It Doesn't Matter If It's John Matthews or Chris Matthews - Political Pundits Don't Know Squat!

While digging around for Friday morning blog fodder, I ran across articles in both Time and the Politico about the possible benefits and downsides of an Obama/Clinton ticket in the Presidential election. The pundits interviewed in the articles had all kinds of strong opinions about whether such a plan would unite Democrats and ensure success in November, or throw more votes to McCain because fence-sitting voters who do like one of the candidates, but DON'T like the other would have reason to flee.

I don't know which direction voters would go, but I do know this for sure... Political pundits don't know what will happen any more than you or I do. Their guesses are just that - guesses, and they are not even particularly educated ones because nearly all of these gasbags are naturally inclined to try and wish their particular point of view to be true.

How do I know these guys are all full of hot air? Because I can put myself in their shoes. All of us are political pundits to some degree. We all make predictions about what will happen in high-profile races, than wait to see if our guesses turned out right. It's no different than taking part in an office football pool. And like nearly all Americans, I thought the primary races were going to be over back in February. What has happened since has been completely unpredictable, which is why no one predicted it. And no one could have guessed the 2000 Bush-Gore race would have turned out the way it did, either!

Sit back and watch, America... Barack, baby... you can listen to the pundits or you can flip a coin in deciding whether to take Hillary along for the ride. At this point, I'd say one strategy is no better than the other! And I will also say this (being a pundit and all)... If you DO take Hillary as your running mate, I think it will provide an instant yea or nay for millions of Americans. Some will be with you from now to November. And some will never consider you again. I know MY decision will be made for me, depending on what you do. Choose wisely.

We Still Have A Long Way To Go

Friends - Some people are supporting Barack Obama in the election because they want to prove that racism is no longer a big factor in American society. The following article from the Financial Times seems to confirm just the opposite. Obama's pending nomination is bringing out the racism in America! The piece speaks volumes about West Virginia, and makes me wonder if Hillary Clinton's expected huge primary election victory there will really be much of a victory after all. The article shows us all just how redneck that state still is, making the crackers from the film "Deliverance" seem almost like effete snobs!

Like most people in Mingo County, West Virginia, Leonard Simpson is a lifelong Democrat. But given a choice between Barack Obama and John McCain in November, the 67-year-old retired coalminer would vote Republican.

“I heard that Obama is a Muslim and his wife’s an atheist,” said Mr Simpson, drawing on a cigarette outside the fire station in Williamson, a coalmining town of 3,400 people surrounded by lush wooded hillsides.

Mr Simpson’s remarks help explain why Mr Obama is trailing Hillary Clinton, his Democratic rival, by 40 percentage points ahead of Tuesday’s primary election in the heavily white and rural state, according to recent opinion polls.
A landslide victory for Mrs Clinton in West Virginia will do little to improve her fading hopes of winning the Democratic nomination, because Mr Obama has an almost insurmountable lead in the overall race.
But Tuesday’s contest is likely to reinforce Mrs Clinton’s argument that she would be the stronger opponent for Mr McCain in November, and raise fresh doubts about whether the US is ready to elect its first black president.

Occupying a swathe of the Appalachian Mountains on the threshold between the Bible Belt and the Rust Belt, West Virginia is a swing state that voted twice for George W. Bush but backed Democrats in six of the eight prior presidential elections.
No Democrat has been elected to the White House without carrying West Virginia since 1916, yet Mr Obama appears to have little chance of winning there in November. Recent opinion polls indicate that Mrs Clinton would narrowly beat Mr McCain in the state but Mr Obama would lose by nearly 20 percentage points.

West Virginia is hostile territory for Mr Obama because it has few of the African-Americans and affluent, college-educated whites who provide his strongest support. The state has the lowest college graduation rate in the US, the second lowest median household income, and one of the highest proportions of white residents, at 96 per cent.

A visit to Mingo County, a Democratic stronghold in the heart of the Appalachian coalfields, reveals the scale of Mr Obama’s challenge – not only in West Virginia but in white, working-class communities across the US. With a gun shop on its main street and churches dotted throughout the town, Williamson is the kind of community evoked by Mr Obama’s controversial comments last month about “bitter” small-town voters who “cling to guns or religion”.
“If he is the nominee, the Democrats have no chance of winning West Virginia,” said Missy Endicott, a 40- year-old school administrator. “He doesn’t understand ordinary Americans.”

There is much more to this article, and you can read the entire thing here. There is a similar story about the rednecks of my mother's home state of Indiana in today's Washington Post.

I Love The Smell Of Desperation In The Morning!

When we were traveling on vacation in California two years ago, Robin and I chuckled over a bumper sticker we saw. It read "God Bless Our Stupid President". That's really how I'm feeling about our Presidential candidates right about now. Hillary wants to give Americans a gas tax holiday, and allow the average driver to save about 70 bucks this summer - enough to take the family to Outback once. Meanwhile, Barack wants to issue another stimulus check.


Look - Lord knows I could really use some extra cash right now, but how much longer can we really go on looking the other way? Our probable future President, whoever he or she may be, wants us to pleasure ourselves, and not worry about the fact that we're shooting ourselves as a nation in the foot with every extra dollar the nation borrows in the name of economic stimulus. Any extra money rebated back to Americans isn't coming from some secret bank account - it's yet more national debt.

Meanwhile, to make matters ever worse, we must worry about what this kind of political thinking says about us as a nation. Clinton and Obama are now just openly pandering - there's not even really a shred of dignity left between the two of them... And yet, we're supposed to go into a voting booth in November, hold our noses and make a choice? God help us. And don't for a minute think all of this is some sort of oblique endorsement of John McCain. He's out of the spotlight for the moment because he can enjoy watching the other two beat each other's brains out, but I'm sure McCain will have ample time to shame and embarrass himself down the road!

I think perhaps the real villain in all of this is the election process itself. I used to make a joke in the newsroom that, because of the length of the presidential campaign, no one stands a chance of still being liked by the time election day rolls around... Joe Gibbs and Jesus Christ could be the candidates, and we'd still be holding our noses in the voting booth!

The good news at the end of the day is that Hillary and Barack's plans to give away more cash will likely be vetoed by President Bush if either bill lands on his desk. God Bless Our Stupid President, indeed!

The Next Humorist-In-Chief?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - No matter what the issues are, no matter who has the most impressive bona fides - the next and every President of the United States will be elected based on the personality he or she exudes. This is why George H.W. Bush beat Mike Dukakis, and also the reason his son beat John F.-ing Kerry. Would you want to be stuck next to either of those Dems on a cross-country bus ride?

The personality factor is the reason why it has become a standard practice now for all of the candidates to appear on Leno and Letterman... Daily Show and Colbert... and it's a big reason why I think ultimately that Hillary Clinton is in trouble. She has had her moments on the comedy circuit, but I don't think she sells it nearly as well as John McCain or Barack Obama.

Interestingly enough, I have seen McCain give policy speeches before, and he can be like watching paint dry. But he is also known for having a great sense of humor... As for Obama, he took his turn on Letterman last night, handling the Top 10 list chores from the home office, and I think he acquitted himself well:


Now, by way of disclaimer... I may be underestimating Hillary Clinton, because I'm a man and she does not do particularly well with men. But considering we're the gender that has kept the Simpsons on the air... that we're also responsible for every one of the 30 or so Police Academy movies in existence... and that we make up nearly half of the available voting pool out there, Hillary better start getting her funny bone on!

A Man After My Own Heart!

As the Democratic presidential race drones on ENDLESSLY following Hillary Clinton's win in Pennsylvania, GOP candidate John McCain continues to sit back and enjoy watching Clinton and Obama beat the crap out of each other. I made a decision some time ago to NOT make my choice for this election until shortly before election day in November. In fact, I'm just barely paying attention to the hoopla right now... Why? We have to pace ourselves friends, and what's being discussed right now today will mean nothing come November. Think about it. A year ago, the election was all about Iraq. Who the hell is discussing Iraq now? It's still the economy, stupid - and as long as gas prices are rising, housing prices are falling and jobs are being lost, that's going to remain the story right up to election day. We'll have plenty of time to sort out who's saying what come October.

Having said that... you've gotta love a guy with a sense of humor, who doesn't mind putting himself out there to make a point. For those of you who have not seen John McCain's sendup of Barbra Streisand, this might just help to sway your vote. Enjoy!