What Happens in Vegas: Political Signs Never Come Down

In the 18 years I've lived in Las Vegas, I think a total of maybe 3 years of it were spent with no political signs strewn around town. They're as common as litter, which is kind of redundant. But politicians ought to be a little snappier taking their signs down, because they make very, very tempting targets for (creative) vandals!

Click to embiggen, the "art" isn't as obvious at this size. It's too bad this intersection is so busy, or thy could have taken it further. And yes, I'm still digging out rescued files from my crushed phone to share. . .

Kids Hate Politicians!

Image from source, Huffington Post

I got a little bit of a late start blogging tonight, so please excuse the laziness of posting a Huffington Post list. But hey, you have to admit, that photo is hilarious.

[Excerpt]

Kids Hate Politicians And Here Are The Pictures To Prove It

Children don't care about politics; in fact, the more they know, the more bored they become. But politicians are constantly using them to show they have a soft side, either by kissing them at campaign rallies or visiting their schools to read Dr. Seuss books. This little conundrum has provided for some hilarious tantrums and "oh, brother" looks from children, while the politicos try their best to keep it cool (unless you're John McCain, then you just throw back your head and laugh maniacally). . .

See the rest at: Huffington Post

Old Washington White Guys

This is a frivilous and possibly ill-advised post. But after watching a lot of Sunday morning news programs over the last year, I've noticed something. The world of politics is ugly. I'm not talking metaphor here, I'm talking literally ugly. I've commented before that Meet the Press with Tim Russert's usual round-table discussion group looks something like Jim Henson's Land of Gorch. And the other shows ain't much better: Chris Wallace, William Kristol, Brit Hume? All caricaturists' dream subjects.

And then there are the politicians. Now, I'm no raving beauty either, but I don't try to make a living in the public eye. This clip highlights a little of what I'm saying. First, it's John Kerry. I voted for him, mostly because I thought he had a groovy wife, and because he was running against a chimp. And honestly, he does have a hint of handsomeness about him. . .but just a hint. Like Ann Coulter, there's something out of skew about the guy. And then there's Lindsey Graham, who looks like a constipated turtle, and sounds like Leslie Jordan's Brother Boy or Beverly Lesley.

I might need to revise my theory that old, pale, hunched, short John McCain would lose to young, hale, tall Barack Obama just on the visuals alone. We keep electing the ugly ones. . .over and over again!

Deceit in Politics: Why Just Accept It?

The last post on Donald Rumsfeld got me to thinking a little about how politics works in America. Politicians lie. We know it. We shrug and say, "that's politics."

Let me give you some examples. Karl Rove said he quit to spend time with his family. This is the standard-issue non-answer many politicians say when they leave office. Nobody believes it, but nobody calls it what it is: a lie.

Likewise, Rumsfeld resigned on a Monday, the news is held until Wednesday (after the election). They didn't just fudge the facts, they said he waited until after the election. Now we know that isn't true, but nobody's calling it what it is: a lie.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle do it, for sure. I personally don't believe that the Democrats do it quite as reflexively as Republicans do, but they all do it. And in most cases we don't call them on it; quite the contrary, we expect it.

The two examples above are relatively minor lies in the scheme of things, I suppose. Then again, so was "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." Only in that case, we did call it what it was: a lie.

Maybe that's why they aren't called on it more often. . .look at the ridiculous lengths they took that.