John, You're Killing Me

It was a very warm feeling, at least at first. I was watching John Stewart on the Daily Show the other day, and he was doing the entire pre-guest show by himself. No bit from any of the other usuals. And the subjects he chose to examine (ridicule) were two subjects that I had just noticed and pondered a great deal as well, in the previous days.

He first focused on the piece in The Economist last week reporting on Dick Cheney's initial observation of the small silver box that had sworn to secrecy, on pain of death, the interpreter who was aiding Dick's exchange with Morocco's King Hassan. According to The Economist and John Stewart, Dick's thought was "damn, I need one of those". John's message here was, as is often the case, "You don't know Dick".

John second focused on the recent exchange between Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton in which Obama, somewhat refreshingly, pointed out that the US's not speaking to foreign leaders was not much by way of punishment for them. Accordingly, Obama would undertake, in the first year of his presidency, to speak with folks like Castro, Kim Jung Il, and Ahmadinejad. Hillary, based on the depth of her alleged foreign policy experience, said she would not commit to meet these folks in the first year of her presidency. The ever sharp US media has blown this difference into a huge and fundamental policy divide between the two candidates, which seems odd when one considers what each candidate apparently said. Both would seriously consider talking; one thought the first year was the right time and the other was not so sure. John's message here was, as is often the case, in what orifice is the US media's head?

Although many of you may also have seen and thought about these stories as well, I felt as if I had written the script for John that evening (OK, not the humorous approach that only John can deliver). But is that a good or a bad feeling? At first, I felt like I was "in touch" in some sense; close to things that this thinking media powerhouse also finds important. On longer reflection, I felt somewhat redundant. Who needs a poorly followed blog when John is broadcasting well enough to young folks? Even this post, how redundant can you get?

In search of a new train.....

Oh Hillary

Hillary Clinton is particularly upset about Halliburton's latest. The government's decision to permit Halliburton without competition to devour so much of the multi-billion dollar fund available for Iraq's so-called reconstruction was bad, yes. But now, if you can believe it, Halliburton wants to open up shop in - Oh Lord - Dubai! Where the heck is that again? Somewhere over there, near all those Middle Eastern and Asian countries that are taking all our jobs away, or were responsible for 9/11, or otherwise need a dose of good-old American values.

Somebody in Hillary's campaign has decided this is just the hook they need to rub the Republican's nose in the muck. How dare Halliburton take all that money off to Dubai? One supposes that it all would have been fine if the Halliburton HQ were to remain squarely in Texas, where the US Government has been so effective at overseeing Halliburton to date (that is, if rudely generous bank deposits = oversight).

Good stuff indeed, and once again confidence instilling. Successful campaigns know how to pick their battles. Must be Hillary is running for the town welcoming committee.