Barrel Strength

SNL taped a sketch that tore the House Democrats and George Soros a new one over the sub-prime mortgage debacle. And then it vanished, to undergo a rewrite because it allegedly failed to meet NBC’s standards.

We here at Barrel Strength don’t take kindly to such petty uses of the Dark Side, so judge the sketch for yourself:

When a Time reporter drills into an Obama functionary about Ayers like this, you cannot tell me it is an accident, coincidence or spur of the moment whim. Those in the business will tell you that the secondary interviews, the ones with the supporting cast, can work really well when it comes time to skewer the Boss. “That’s funny, your secretary says it really was a human heart and it was still beating. Here’s the clip.”  In this case, the cool part is the ‘yes’ at 1:20.  Did Obama know Ayers was a terrorist? ‘Yes.’  And continued to work with him? ‘Yes.’ Even though he know full well that Ayers tried to murder American civilians, and wishes he could have done more? ‘Yes. Wait. No. Maybe.’ The debate tonight is going to be good.

Watching the CNN piece, it was clear the anchor and the reporter were both looking at the Obama-Ayers story the way a bush-man might look at a helicopter. “It’s there, and undeniable, and frightfully difficult to fit in any available frame of reference.  Maybe it will go away. I certainly will.”  As a reader of the hate-fuelled, spittle-flecked, Con-bot right-wing hate sites, everything the CNN report said was quite familiar. The real news is that the news is not new news. This war will go on for a long time.

Anybody remember those UN country ranking that Judo Jean used to quote so fondly in the Canadian House of Commons?  Late last year UN opined thusly.

UN Names Iceland as the Best Country to Live For 2007

Less than a year after sharing those profound and erudite insights with the unwashed masses, the headlines are as follows.

Financial crisis: Iceland’s dreams go up in smoke

Iceland on brink of ‘national bankruptcy’ over bank crisis

Thank you UN.  But then what would you expect from an organisation with background like this and this.