I was a good Canadian lad last night: I delayed digging into the psychodrama of the US Vice-Presidential debate in favour of devoting my energy to Canada’s five potential Prime Ministers.
Unfortunately, I was rewarded with an evening of roundtable sniping and disingenuous rhetoric. Worse yet, the four-against-one dynamic almost had me feeling sorry for Stephen Harper, who endured the abuse with that creepy half-grin he does, the one that says, “I’m going to eat your children.”
The strangest part came right at the end of the interminable telecast, when moderator Steve Paikin cheerily urged Canadians to get out and vote. It was like Paikin had just led us on a two-hour tour of a slaughterhouse and then put on an apron and said, “Okay, who wants a hamburger?”
Going into the American VP debate, people expected Joe Biden to be smart but too arrogant, Sarah Palin to be folksy but dumb as a post. Instead, Palin came off as competent but unwilling to answer a direct question, while Biden was statesmanlike but surprisingly warm and likeable.
When asked about gay marriage, both said they believed in equal rights but not in changing the definition of marriage (wow, thanks). Palin was blunter about it, refusing to agree with Biden even though she did, yet kept stressing how “tolerant” she is. I picture her running for VP in the 1950s: “I have so many black friends and I believe they can sit at the back of the bus whenever they like!” Here’s the video:
Mel Kuhn, the Mayor of Arkansas City Kansas, dressed up in drag for a fundraising event last week. Progressive guy, right? Not so much — he did it in blackface under the name “Smellishis Poon.” When criticized (you think?), Kuhn got mad and said, “All this PC is bullshit.” Oh Mel. He should heed the words of the late, great gay writer Paul Monette, who said, “It’s not so hard to be politically correct. All you have to do is not be an asshole.”
Speaking of assholes, it looks like rant show host Bill O’Reilly’s got some pint-sized competition. This kid is awesome!
Speaking of awesome, is this not the greatest album cover ever?
Speaking of Jesus, the new movie ‘Religulous’ opens today. From the director of ‘Borat,’ the documentary follows rant show host Bill Maher as he attempts to understand (or undermine) various people of faith, from Christian evangelicals to gay Muslims. Maher can be a jerk but watching him make a pass at “ex-gays” is comedy gold:
Maher’s movie feels necessary when you read about the trio of Catholic priests in Michigan protesting against an antidiscrimination bill. “We feel that this proposal goes against the rights of straight people,” says one priest while the other insists, “We have to keep the morals and have the regular families and bring up children according to God’s law. Keep it the way it was from the beginning.” Inspired, one of his followers then clubbed his wife over the head and dragged her by the hair back into his cave.
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