he’s got mental problems and freedom of speech is a bitch...

ever since all the hoopla over wes clark's legitimate question as to how exactly mccain getting shot down over vietnam and sitting in captivity means he would be qualified to be commander in chief I've been wondering why I am not hearing anything about the obvious problems with putting someone that suffered as a POW into the white house. we all are well aware that mccain has some mental issues - after ditching the wife that waited and raised his children while he was in a prisoner camp (granted she got chunky and disabled, and what self-respecting soldier wouldn't leave a fat cripple? especially one destined to drive the "straight talk express" when there is a pretty insanely rich girl with political connections waiting in the wings) he went on to berate the new wife (who sadly has been relegated to virtual arm candy status thanks to our media's love of over-simplification) in an alarming display of an underlying violent temper. we all are aware that spending years in captivity in the hellhole that was vietcong prisoner camps can seriously damage a person's pysche...hell a few months in solitary confinement can permanently and severely damage the mind of our prisoners in this country (and the deplorable conditions in our prisons is an entirely other topic worth exploring). so how has this not become an issue to consider? hell, the press fell all over themselves to annoint the boy king because you could sit down at the bar with him and have a beer (followed by a few shots and a few lines)...and we are told over and over and over that character counts and that the white house is not for the unstable. so why are we not questioning whether a man with obvious mental problems, albeit entirely understandable, should really be at the helm of the nation and the jaugernat that is the american military? is it because we have really become that militaristic of a country that an unstable but "tough" hawk has become our ideal leader? either way, here's a big thank you to the ever-vigilant american media for addressing things that matter...

obama and a whole bunch of others are up in arms over the new yorker cover for next week in which obama is in traditional arabic garb (since he is a muslim and all) and his wife has a big afro and an AK as an american flag sits in the burning fireplace behind them. the artist and the magazine say the picture mocks the ridiculous ignorance that is flying around the internet claiming obama is a muslim (and the fact that so many people not only find that to be true, but that they find it to matter at all is pretty fucking alarming), his wife is a bring-down-the-man-gun-toating-foxy-brown character, and the two of them are vehemently unpatriotic (because we all know, that true patriots put yellow ribbon magnets on their SUVs and tiny american flag pins on their lapels - nevermind that wearing the likeness of the american flag in such a manner is demeaning to the flag). and you know what...they are right. the cartoon is amusing and accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do (keep in mind it is the cover of the fucking new yorker...not exactly known to be widely read by the same crowd that is forwarding the manchurian candidate emails to your inbox). and even if not, even if it is "tasteless and offensive"...fuck them. freedom of speech is a bitch when it actually involves some sort of speech and not just throwing money into your campaign coffer isn't it. deal with it. brush it off and move on. of course this will be just another opportunity for the media to ignore what matters and give us two weeks of a "story" that has nothing to do with shit and will only accomplish one thing - the new yorker will sell. and kudos to them for that...

streets like a jungle, so call the police...