Short Takes

*When on earth did Tiger Woods' personal problems become anyone else's business? Since when does he owe anyone an explanation for his private behavior? Why do so many people think they have the right to know intimate details of his life that are none of their concern? Celebrities are not our property; we don't own them, we don't have any right to know about their lives at home, and they owe us absolutely nothing. A lot of Americans can't seem to grasp these facts.

*And speaking of celebrities, anyone who obsesses about the weight, clothing, hairstyles, or dating lives of famous people is fit for little else intellectually than reading Us and People magazines. People who are morbidly interested in such things are wasting their lives and their minds, in my humble opinion. Then again, these people may have such humdrum and ordinary lives that they must lose themselves in the lives of others. That's even sadder.

*John McCain has been on the major Sunday talk shows repeatedly since he lost the 2008 election by 9.5 million votes and an electoral vote of 365-173. Why? He has proposed no major legislation, he isn't part of the Republican Senate leadership, and his responses to almost any question are tiresomely predictable. Why is he given a platform so often?

*For that matter, as I have said, who really gives a damn what a pathetic, know-nothing amateur like Charles Krauthammer thinks about foreign policy? That the brilliant and insightful Juan Cole, who actually speaks four different Middle Eastern/South Asian languages and is deeply knowledgeable about the Middle East, is heard far less often than a neocon fanatic like Krauthammer, is a damning indictment of our so-called "mainstream" media.

*Salon employs both the brilliant and invaluable Glenn Greenwald and the wretched, demented Camille Paglia. What kind of corporate thinking is reflected in this? I won't be giving a cent to Salon as long as they give Paglia an outlet for her Limbaugh worship, her Obama bashing, and her non-stop lies and distortions. Period.

*If I believed in karma, I would consider it karmic justice that the horrible, pathologically selfish Ayn Rand died of lung cancer because she refused to believe government-issued warnings about the danger of smoking. Gee, what a shame.

*Those who believe in the "Magic of the Free Market" should check out the story of how George Steinbrenner, perhaps the richest owner in all of sports, got the city of New York's taxpayers to finance his grotesque new stadium. Look at it here. Again, for the hundredth time: there is no free market in America. There is a rigged market in which the rich and powerful manipulate the law to benefit themselves. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to get their head out of the Dreamworld.

*President Obama said withdrawal from Afghanistan would start in July 2011 contingent on conditions on the ground at that time. The Right Wing Eternal War Machine has ignored that part and is saying that the President is "comforting" our enemies by "setting a deadline". Are the people who hurl this filth simply: A. Inattentive B. Insanely hostile to anything Barack Obama proposes C. Stupid D. Some gruesome combination of all of the above?

*For all you Democrats and Independents who lean Democratic who don't feel like voting in 2010, remember this: if you don't vote, you're handing America back to the people who wave signs with swastikas and Barack Obama's picture on them. You're handing America to the Sarah Palin fan club. You're handing our nation over to religious fanatics who hate everything our Constitution stands for and who consider you a class of anti-American subhumans. You're turning America over to the sickest, most malicious political opposition I have seen in my entire lifetime. Can you really live with that? Remember: the Perfect is the Enemy of the Good. President Obama isn't perfect by a long shot, but ask yourself this: which America do you want--Barack Obama's or Glenn Beck's?