The Reason I Post (part 1): Cause Life is Funny

Seriously... funny. So I've been pretty scant with the posts lately, and right now I'm totally procrastinating on a boatload of work I need to still finish up for the day, but I couldn't resist contributing to the blogosphere's embrace of the now famed Iraqi Journalist/Shoe Thrower. I wasn't the genius who created this fake beer ad remixed from clips of the shoe throwing show, but I love it so much I couldn't resist sharing it with you and hoping you'll find someone to share it with as well:

SNL Will Ferrell's Brilliant George Bush Returns

I'm a pretty huge fan of Will Ferrell, I'm not gonna lie. Elf? Perhaps my favorite Christmas movie... ok, perhaps second to It's a Wonderful Life, with Home Alone a close 3rd. Did anyone else see the Ice Harvest? That was kinda fun too. Crap, I'm totally off topic. Anyway, Will Ferrell, I love the guy, I'll be honest with you, I love his music, I do, I'm a Will Ferrell fan. For my money, I don't know if it gets any better than when he sings "When a Man Loves a Woman." celebrate his entire catalogue... yeah, oops, off topic again.

SNL rolled out Ferrell for the latest brilliant installment of the Tina Fey as Sarah Palin show. While we all now know that playing Sarah Palin causes Fey the kind of pain typically reserved for Guantanamo Bay interrogations, the sketches really are amazing. I'll be happy to see Palin and McCain lose so that Fey doesn't launch herself into space, but I will miss the comic hijinks. Check it:

When Judges Make Foreign Policy

This is a truly interesting article in the NYT magazine today. The idea, essentially, is that the US Supreme Court has become an important factor in how the United States relates to the rest of the world. The idea might displease some conservatives, and it is probably part of a wider question about the enormous power judges wield in this country. (What is it the French say about us? We have government by judge?) But whatever you think about it, it is probably a true observation. The authour breaks the battle down into the conservative "sovereignty" camp and the liberal "internationalist" camp. I belong pretty strongly to the latter and I suspect the authour does too, but he's pretty fair. There is an interesting tid bit about Medellín that I did not know:

What made this conflict between the Supreme Court and the International Court of Justice particularly stark was that the Bush administration had for once taken the side of international law. Before the Supreme Court issued its opinion, President Bush issued a memorandum advising state courts to follow the judgment of the International Court of Justice.

I would never have thought that Bush would have done something like that (though possibily he was just completely unaware).

The article also serves as a potent reminder that the next president will very likely be able to appoint more Supreme Court justices than Bush. To me at least, this argues strongly for an Obama presidency, though obviously more conservative folks may disagree.

New Favorite Political One-Liner

There have been lots of barbs tossed around this week at the Democratic Convention, and I hope people are starting to feel satisfied that the party is really going on the offensive against McCain, the Republicans, etc. Still, I missed this great line and only caught it today when Andrew Sullivan posted about how he missed it.

Peggy Noonan caught it, as did, apparently everybody out in Denver:

"By the way, the best line of the convention so far? Ted Strickland of Ohio, when he echoed the 1988 Democratic convention joke about George H.W. Bush, that he was born on third and thought he hit a triple. Strickland said of George W. Bush that he was born on third and then stole second. It didn't get much attention in any of the commentary, but it's all people were talking about in the bars of Denver that night."

Scandal, wha???

Confused by the layers and layers of controversy and scandal, crimes and misdemeanors that have swirled around the White House over the last 7 years? Wondering where the Department of Justice firings connect to Coercive Interrogation of Guantanamo Bay detainees? Just want to chuckle to yourself while thinking of John Ashcroft, Larry Craig and Mark Foley in a barbershop quartet together... wait... was Foley in the quartet? I think I'm wrong on that last one. Well if you're feeling the first two, check out Slate.com's supercool interactive chart of Bush Administration scandals! This clever little info graphic is not only fascinating and nicely designed, but informative as well.