Tila Tequila makes an unlikely poster girl for freedom of speech. As a former hostess of a US dance programme in which writhing contestants strip naked to music videos, she is more than likely to be a poster girl for less elevated concerns.

The American TV Guide described her Pants-Off, Dance-Off as the 'dumbest show on television'. This bold claim may have been true, but it failed to hurt Tequila's career.

She didn't need the support of old-fashioned media; the net made her and if the pessimists are right, she shows where it is heading.   more »

All the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most easily (and) adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum.

The presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal.

On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron   more »

Rudy Giuliani officially announced

his plan to run for president of 9/11

"My fellow citizens of 9/11, today I will make you a promise,"

said Giuliani during his 18-minute announcement speech

in front of a charred and torn American flag

"As president of 9/11, I will usher in a bold new 9/11 for all"

If elected, Giuliani would inherit the duties

of current 9/11 President George W. Bush,

including making grim facial expressions,

seeing the world’s conflicts in terms of good and evil,

and carrying a bullhorn at all state functions

   more »

Keywords: memorabilia, 911, kitsch

Trying to say nothing to offend, Clinton ends up saying nothing to inspire or even inform, and Obama, though still far more engaged and human-like, risks ending up with another Ambien candidacy.

Part of the problem is structural. We make our presidential candidates campaign for at least a year at a stretch.

Take a normal person and subject him or her to month after month of trail mix and chicken Caesars, sleep deprivation, and the need to be "on," smiling and handshaking, 16 hours a day.

No solitary moments of reflection, no walks in the park, no escape into thrillers. What do you get after a few months of this? A golem, the artificial, man-like creature of Kabalistic lore, a personoid incapable of normal responses.

So yes, America is ready for a black or a female president. Just be sure to wake us up when it happens.   more »

The pretense that the Bush administration’s concerns lie with the aspirations of the people of Myanmar, who have taken to the streets in recent days in mass demonstrations, is farcical.

The US government has supported and directly installed countless military dictatorships from Indonesia to Chile, helping them to carry out far worse atrocities than the Burmese junta in suppressing their own people.

Rather, under mantle of “liberation” and “democracy,” US imperialism is once again pursuing its own strategic interests, attempting to bring to power a pro-American government that would open up the country to exploitation by US capital.

Given the Myanmar government’s close economic and political relations with neighboring China, such an exercise in regime change would significantly advance Washington’s attempts to challenge Beijing for supremacy in the region, while steadily working to militarily encircle China.   more »