One of the most ridiculous things about the current American health care system is the accidental legacy of the price controls of WWII which led companies to promote health care benefits since they could not compete on price. The weird and unnecessary tie between health care benefits and working distorts all sorts of possible ways of dealing with lack of insurance.
But I'm not here to talk about how to fix that today. I'm here to show you the result of that strange tie, I give you Runaway Box "Boyfriend with Health Care Benefits":
Today's Week in Review has an article on various American Presidents' affinity for Shakespeare. Total juvenile snark, but this is still great stuff from the Artist Formerly Known as the Decider:
George W. Bush knew Shakespeare, too: he told an interviewer that on vacation in 2006
he had “read three Shakespeares,” but he didn’t disclose the titles.
Somehow, I had missed that. But I'm clearly not referring to the plays as anything other than "Shakespeares" henceforth.
"Gov. Palin received a phone call on Saturday from a French Canadian talk show host claiming to be French President Nicholas Sarkozy," emailed spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt. "Gov. Palin was mildly amused to learn that she had joined the ranks of heads of state, including President Sarkozy, and other celebrities in being targeted by these pranksters. C'est la vie."
Now: I do not want to make fun of Sarah Palin over this. (I would be prepared to make fun of whomever it is who screens her calls, but that's different.) After I first heard this, I tried to imagine being in her position -- wondering what on earth was going on, not wanting to say "huh?" to someone who might, after all, be Sarkozy, etc. And sometime around the point at which the non-Sarkozy says" "I love the documentary they made on your life -- you know, Hustler's "Nailin' Paylin"?", it seemed pretty clear to me that she had caught on. (That said, I do think she should have known the name of the Prime Minister of Canada.)
What I want to do is footnote the call, because it's funny. (This was definitely a moment when it would have been good to speak French: she would have caught on a lot quicker. I was in stitches.) Here are the bits I've figured out:
"My special American advisor, Johnny Hallyday": Johnny Hallyday was an established rock star back when I was in junior high. During the Ford Nixon administration. I believe that Jimi Hendrix played his first concert opening for Johnny Hallyday. This YouTube is kind of funny, both for the alarming 60s-esqueness and for the little "Waoww!" bits on the bridge, which for some reason reduced me to hysterics.
Hunting: "Like we say in French, on peut tuer des bébé phoques" -- trans.: we could kill some baby seals.
"The Prime Minister of Canada, Stef Carse": this one I only know because Politico flagged it (though I did know that whatever the comedian said, it wasn't "Stephen Harper".) This YouTube is definitely worth checking out: it's his French version of 'Achy Breaky Heart'.
I don't know who the comedian says is the Prime Minister of Quebec, but it's not Jean Charest.
The song Carla allegedly wrote for Palin: "Le Rouge À Lèvres Sur Un Cochon", or: Lipstick on a pig.
Anyone else catch other funny bits?
***
Update: not funny, but in the interests of completeness:
From the very beginning: "This is Franck Louvrier; I'm with President Sarkozy..." Franck Louvrier is, in fact, Sarkozy's communications advisor.
If anyone is looking for an early Christmas present for me, I have a suggestion: The Republican Policy Committee's new "spoken word" CD, Freedom Songs: The American Empowerment Agenda. Here's a description:
Freedom Songs: The American Empowerment Agenda is the RPC's policy recommendations presented on a spoken word album. Listen and leave your thoughts on the tracks. . . . Chairman McCotter states "Freedom Songs is just the beginning of our discussion. We hope to make this an ongoing effort and are hopeful that you, the American people, will join the discussion by commenting on the beats."
I dig those beats daddy-o.
The same friend who alerted me about the CD also sends along this exasperated complaint from Mark Davis in the WSJ about the GOP's youth problem:
So how are Republicans reaching out to them?
I have on my desk a CD sent out this spring from the Republican House Policy Committee. Fat, 1970s lettering bears the title, "Freedom Songs." The cover image of the CD package is a sepia-tone photo of Teddy Roosevelt.
Open it up and you are treated to photos of Warren G. Harding staring into the horn of a crank phonograph, Herbert Hoover listening to a wireless, and a glum-looking Calvin Coolidge simply glowering at a camera. In an accompanying letter, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan writes that the CD includes "riffs by Dr. Russell Kirk," as well as "the pounding rhythm section of the Austrian School of Economics."
So while the Obama Democrats transform America's youth into a Facebook army, the Republican Party is offering this disc, Mr. McCotter writes, "as an alternative to an eighty story high stack of dry white policy papers."
Let's move on to a more serious topic -- The Office. To my shame, I was a BBC snob and refused to watch the American version for years. But after hearing virtually everybody I know (including people whose tastes I share) rave about it, I decided to jump into Season 3 for starters. And now I just finished Season 3 (so I can sympathize with Ezra).
Question -- what'd you think?
Answer -- great, great show.
Anyway, consider this an Office open thread. But I want to throw two questions out there.
First, why did I actually find myself interested in following the Jim-Pam drama? I don't feel good about it -- indeed, there's nothing easy about saying this. But I got sucked in, and I'm not sure why. One theory I heard is just that they're the cool kids, so you want to associate yourself in some way. Not sure I buy that though -- I think it's more that they're the idealized "Really Great Fun Friend of Other Sex" that people assume they have (or want to have or whatever).
Second, is there any larger sociological significance to the show's rise? I mean, I suppose it makes fun of PC mentality as applied by well-meaning idiots. But maybe there's nothing "higher" going on -- maybe they're just a group of very talented writers and actors with a great sense of timing.
And with that, I'll leave you with Kelly (you should watch the first 30 seconds if nothing else -- also, go to about 4:18):
Andy Borowitz, "Liberal Bloggers Accuse Obama of Trying to Win Election":
The liberal blogosphere was aflame today with new accusations that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) is trying to win the 2008 presidential election.
Suspicions about Sen. Obama's true motives have been building over the past few weeks, but not until today have the bloggers called him out for betraying the Democratic Party's losing tradition.
"Barack Obama seems to be making a very calculated attempt to win over 270 electoral votes," wrote liberal blogger Carol Foyler at LibDemWatch.com, a blog read by a half-dozen other liberal bloggers. "He must be stopped."
This was simply too good to leave in the comments. In Hilzoy's post illustrating that McCain doesn't seem to know what cap-and-trade actually means, commenter Model 62 writes:
Maybe McCain's campaign should develop a cap-and-trade system for clarifying remarks. Advisers who shed more light on what McCain Actually Meant can sell their additional clarity to McCain advisers who can't reach the Campaign's Overall Targeted Lucidity Floor.
Ralph Nader apparently feels the need to save us from our corporate overlords, just like he did in 2000. Feel free to discuss this or whatever else strikes your fancy.
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