In No Particular Order....

A few notes:

Note 1: On Thursday's Larry King episode, Ben Stein took a stab at graciousness but -- damn it -- came up just shy. He started out okay, complimenting the efficiency of the Obama campaign. But sadly, that wee moment of sanity goosed his fight-or-flight adrenals, kayoed his nervous system and caused him to say the Obama team had run the most brilliant campaign since Nixon in 1972.

Nixon. In. 1972.

Imagine, Obama's team can be mentioned in the same breath as those who composed the Canuck Letter to destroy Edmund Muskie. David Axelrod's strategies can revel in being as effective as Nixon's squadron of USC boys who sabotaged Democrats through "rat fucking." David Plouffe can take the same pride in his efforts as those who planned the break-in of DNC headquarters leading to Nixon's resignation as the most disgraced public official in American History.

Note 2: Considering the money his campaign blows on make-up, it is astonishing to see McCain on the stump. He's been pancaked into looking like a long-time fugitive whose face has been digitally aged to approximate his current appearance. A fugitive on an Un-Wanted Poster. Even Cindy, standing icily behind him looking like someone who can hang up on you in person, seems to glance at her husband as if he's someone who seems only vaguely familiar.

Note 3: As has been the case for 40 years, the most insightful and incisive coverage of the Presidential race comes from Garry Trudeau. Only Doonesbury boils things down without the crushing repetitiveness of all other media. And for Trudeau's most dazzling trick, he keeps the strip just as up-to-the minute as everyone else.

Oh... and he's a lot funnier.

Outside the Doonesbury oasis of thought, following the campaign coverage is a zero sum game. Or maybe a once-in- three-weeks sum game. That's about the frequency of actual news amid the exhausting accounts of campaign stops, the blizzard of polls that drip toward obsolesence the minute they come out and the tortuous man-on-the-street interviews with the small town Democrat for Obama, the same small town Republican for McCain, the same small town attention junkie who's undecided and the same small town rebel who won't vote because the whole thing is fixed anyhow.

(Dumb people were so much more pleasant before they got cynical, no?)

Note 4: If McCain loses, can Sarah Palin go back to Alaska and be happy? She'd miss those outfits, those private jets, those SNL appearances, wouldn't she? When you think about it, her situation is just like the Dalai Lama's situation. (No really. Hang in. This is brilliant) After years of hanging out with Brad Pitt and Richard Gere and all of those demi-zen actress, would the Dalai Lama really be happy if China relented and he had to move back to Tibet?

Whatever the case, it's nice in a We-Are-The-World kind of way to muse over how Sarah Palin and the Dalai Lama share common concerns.

Comments

[S1m0n]

How much fun could hanging out with Richard Gere be?

You know, there are people who look like a lot of fun, but not one of them is Richard Gere. Sorry.

[Shrinath]

Dalai Lama loves peace. And does not believe in taking lives. Even the life of a moose. So, a serious comparison between Dalai Lama and SP is unjust. But, but, he would be the first person to laugh at this. :-) And he has an infectious laugh too. By the way, he recently acknowledged that the struggle is a futile one. That is, gaining autonomy from China.

[miguelobrien]

Been reading the Anchorage Daily News and blogs and am thinking that maybe, just maybe, a significant bunch of very smart Alaskans don't want her either. Am guessing that impeachment and/or indictment are waiting for her there. If you don't know why, you can find out if you just do a bit of research on her true history.

[kellygrrrl]

you betcha'

in a few short days, Sarah will be returning home to face the music, and it's quite a tune

[YunekFlava]

Got to love that free speech.

[exxman]

"After years of hanging out with Brad Pitt and Richard Gere and all of those demi-zen actress, would the Dalai Lama really be happy if China relented and he had to move back to Tibet?"

Yes!

[sclucie]

what an extremely bizarre comaprison. i agree, exxman.

[Aaror]

I have seen other good cartoons keeping track of politics...
Winslow is funny and kinda on track, and there is a great strip about Chuck Norris and Wesley Snipes going to Veitnam to rescue McCain's honor, can't remember the name of the strip, but it is in stars and stripes newspaper...

[vietveter]

Now THAT is funny

[Sergeantsmom]

The active duty soldier is more politically savvy than is often presumed.

[ToonMoene]

All the names of people on the top of the campaign who were there when Iowa was won and New Hampshire lost - are still there.

*That* is the accomplishment of Obama's campaign - there's no reason to "loose" anyone, or switch to random bystanders (Joe the Bystander) to make your point.

Oh, BTW, this 30 minute infomercial was absolutely necessary - to free the Obama campaign of the confines of the "sound-bite" 30 second advertisement.

I hope to see more of them, in the coming four years. (Oh, BTW, I'm from Europe, so I can't financially support, nor vote for my favourite candidate: Barack Obama).

[Sergeantsmom]

Re: "(Oh, BTW, I'm from Europe, so I can't financially support, nor vote for my favourite candidate: Barack Obama)."

Well then, thank you for logging on & voicing your cogent & persuasive opinions. We all do what we can. I posted in (imperfect) Spanish on the online news sites prior to the primary elections in California & Texas, where I cannot vote either. Every day we in the "swing states" benefit from the generous volunteer efforts of folks who live in Illinois or New York or California-- states which will vote solidly Democrat, & thus their influence has "topped out."
It's all a matter of doing what you can, given the regulations.

[RingWorlder]

Wonderful article. Amazing how Stein still clings to Nixon.

[tuttlemsm]

He should form a support group with Pat "But Can Obama Win These Reagan Democrats?" Buchanan.

[thebluecrayon]

The Dalai Lama would be happy if he went back to Tibet. He's practiced in happiness all his life. Palin would not be happy should she be exiled back to Alaska. She's practiced all her life to be in this particular spotlight. Truth being told though, not a chance of either happening anytime soon.

p.s. At this point the only thing Ben Stein still agrees with McCain about is the abortion issue. The Nixon thing was Ben Stein trying to convince himself why he should still be voting for McCain.