Biggest, Best, Latest, Loudest: (Almost) All-Comedy Edition
| Tuesday, May 26 2009 08:18 AM
Last Updated Tuesday, May 26 2009 08:18 AM
Loading Stories
Advertisement
(ALMOST) ALL-COMEDY EDITION
Best reverse-gotcha: White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, who pranked the entire White House press corps Friday when he announced that President Obama would name his pick to replace retiring Supreme Court justice David Souter at 6:30 a.m. Saturday. The room instantly got quiet. "Gotcha!" Gibbs howled. "Somebody ... quickly text me the name of a chiropractor, because at least four dozen necks snapped in one direction."
Saturday morning would indeed have been a quick turnaround, but word is that Obama is plugging away at a decision. The White House won't say who's on the short list (not terribly shocking), but Chicago federal appeals court judge Diane Wood is said to be among the candidates. So far, despite talk-radio allusions to that effect, Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright have not been seen lurking around Camp David, where Obama could actually conduct an interview or two this weekend.
Best reason to go back to just three TV channels: Those electronic ideologues, who are getting downright silly the more they talk about each other. First, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann challenged Fox's Sean Hannity, a torture defender, to allow himself to be waterboarded for charity. (Hannity hasn't responded.)
Then Rush Limbaugh challenged Olbermann to stop talking about Limbaugh for 30 days. "MSNBC is hoping to build its ratings on my back," said Limbaugh, the radio host whose more outrageous statements often end up on one of the cable TV programs.
Olbermann then accused Limbaugh of having "suddenly gone all Greta Garbo on us." The MSNBC host said he'd play along if Limbaugh stopped talking about himself for 30 days.
Limbaugh's response (in an e-mail to the Associated Press): "That's incoherent."
And, applied to the whole tediously self-absorbed lot, only getting more so.
With Liberty and Just-Us for All award: Liberty University, which apparently forgot that it is located in the United States. The Virginia school has ordered its months-old College Democrats club to shut down, saying the organization goes against the conservative Christian school's moral principles. No word on how school officials feel about the importance of upholding democratic American principles.
Club president Brian Diaz said he was shocked when he learned his club had been axed by the private university in Lynchburg, founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. But then he was surprised the university allowed the club to be recognized at all last fall. Talk about limited expectations.
Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. said the club's previous recognition by the school was "an oversight by an administrator." It sounds like the university does indeed need oversight.
Worst reason to revise an editorial: Platinum Equity's purchase of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Platinum benefits from a $30-million investment from the pension fund of Los Angeles police officers and fire fighters, along with substantial sums from other public-employee pension systems throughout California. And some of those union reps don't like the fact that the Union-Tribune has been hard on police unions. So they want the newspaper to change its editorial stance on labor issues -- or fire its editorial writers.
Bob Kittle, editor of the Union-Tribune's editorial page, says the paper will continue to be critical of San Diego's benefit and pension commitments, when appropriate.
Facebook user of the week: Pope Benedict, even though fellow Facebookers can't "friend" or "poke" the pontiff. It's part of a new effort by the Vatican to reach out to young, tech-savvy people. Last week, Pope Central launched a website (Pope2u.net) as well as iPhone and Facebook apps designed to help believers connect with the church. His Holiness already had his own YouTube channel.
How long can it be until the Popester is tweeting? Soon, we expect.
Best solution to traffic congestion: No cars, as demonstrated by the good people of Valiban, Germany. Residents of the upscale town have banned them. Completely. As a result, 70 percent of Vauban's families do not own cars, and 57 percent sold a car to move here. "When I had a car I was always tense. I'm much happier this way," said Heidrun Walter, a mother of two.
Hmm. How did they pull this off? Oh -- the city was built in 2006 with car-lessness specifically in mind.
