TABLOID HART:

Election TV: No Joke!

The Punditocracy was all up in arms when they learned that lots of Americans, especially young Americans, get most of their political news from The Daily Show (Comedy Central,) MTV, and late night talk shows. Don't surprise me none! After all, CBS's David Letterman told ole George Dubya --- when baiting him to appear on the show --- "The road to the White House runs through me."

And if you judge by the News-o-Meter on most late night talk shows, ya'll, the Biggest Story of the last couplah weeks was the Smirking Shrub calling that there New Yawk Times reporter a "... mayor league asshole."

Leno was a little more discreet than most late night folks and said that the Dubya used "...well, folks, a word that rhymes with blast hole." Then he went "He-heheh," like he always does. Jay Leno has got to be the one comedian who gets more fun out of his own jokes than his audience does.

Last Tuesday night, ole Dave Letterman used that word "ass(insert network 'bleep')" on his danged show about 18 times. It cracked the danged studio audience up. He didn't even have to mention the name George W. Bush for people to get the danged joke.... More



DAY ONE:

The Kohinoor Diamond & The Elgin Marbles

Last month a team of archaeologists in Turkey, working against the deadline of a dam inundation, unearthed a spectacular 1st Century BCE stone tablet. They photographed it carefully in situ and then transported it to a local laboratory prior to depositing it in a Turkish museum. This is what the boring, worthy, politically correct --- but nonetheless admirable --- manuals of good practice advocate. In this small matter at least, we are making good progress.

During the same week an intermittent campaign was renewed to restore the Kohinoor Diamond to its 'rightful owners'. The Kohinoor, tourists will recall, resides in the Tower of London among the Crown Jewels of the House of Windsor. It was acquired by the British in 1849 after the Second Sikh War. Here the manuals of good practice have little useful advice.

The Diamond, possession of generations of Moghuls, had a brief sojourn in Persia and was finally acquired by the Sikhs. To complicate matters, the battle after which it entered British hands took place on territory now claimed by Pakistan, so we have three irreconcilable claimants. No matter what the laws of booty and restoration, the Diamond is best kept where it is, for the time being at least. Its return to any of the three claimants would only exacerbate an already inflamed mandala of contention. More



AMERICAN DREAMS:

The Thespian-in-Chief

I'm getting too old for this crap. (Don't laugh!)

AND the Holy Days are looming once again. Do you think it was a coincidence we ran that Holiday Shopping Poll last week? Man-oh-man, I'm am so not ready for the holidays!