Dave & Barack talk retirement

I wish David Letterman and Barack Obama could hold on to their jobs a lot longer. But all good things must come to an end. Dammit.

Barack Obama: "Orange really is the new black."

As I have said before: Once his current gig ends in January 2017, Barack Obama should be able -- strictly on the strength of his White House Correspondents' Dinner performances -- to find steady work doing stand-up in Las Vegas. No kidding.

Ladies and gentlemen... The splendiferous comic stylings of Barack Obama

Meanwhile, off in the wilds of Wasilla, the increasingly irrelevant Sarah Palin made this desperate bid for attention. (BTW: Note that she still identifies herself as "Politician" on her Facebook page.)

There's nothing like getting encouragement from someone you respect... and this is nothing like getting encouragement from someone you respect.

So I asked my buddy what he thought of my applying for the film editor job at A.V. Club, and he... well, let's put it this way: Now I'm beginning to regret all the cash I forked over for that re-election campaign. (Photo credit: Susan Walsh/AP; Hat Tip: Huffington Post.)

Four more years! Four more years!

Celebrating the RE-election of Barack Hussein I Smoked Bin Laden's Ass Obama. Let the good times roll, y'all.

Insert Laurel and Hardy joke here

Politics make for strange... bipartisan partnerships.

This just in: Barack Obama is a colored person

A Twitter friend posted this with the message: "This is what Republicans see every time the President speaks in front of black folks." You know, I think he may be on to something.

Samuel L. Jackson in Wake the F**k Up!!!!

Personally, I think this is Jackson's finest performance since Snakes on a Plane.

Barack Obama: "I Am A Huge Clint Eastwood Fan"

Once again, Barack Obama redefines the term "class act" while maintaining his sangfroid.

(Yeah, I know, it's pretentious to use a French term in this context. But I also know that just annoys the Obama-bashers even more, so I can't resist. It's even more fun than mentioning Journeys with George to a Bush hater.)

"When you're rich, you want a Republican in office"

Looks like porn movie star Jenna Jameson is swallowing... er, I mean she's coming... oh, hell, looks like she's getting behind Mitt Romney.

On the other hand: The Huffington Post reports that Ron Jeremy remains an Obama supporter.

Rush Limbaugh outs Dark Knight Rises as pro-Obama propaganda

And in today's edition of Stuff I Wouldn't Dare Make Up: Rush Limbaugh makes the Bain/Bane connection -- and is predictably (so very, very predictably) outraged. (Hat-tip to the blog poster known as Paul D.)

Clint Eastwood: Stealth Pinko or Obama Tool?

Last night, I wondered how long it would take before some conservatives started complaining that Clint Eastwood's "Halftime in America" Super Bowl ad for Chrysler played too much like... like... well, like a thank-you shout-out to Barack Obama for the auto industry bailout.

Well, as it turned out, Michelle Malkin didn't wait until the end of The Big Game before Tweeting her disapproval. And this morning, Marketwatch reported a snippy reaction from David Limbaugh, a conservative writer who, as I understand it, is to his older brother Rush what Frank Stallone is to his brother Sylvester: “I think Clint Eastwood’s credentials as a conservative have been overrated for some time."

As Monday proceeded apace, there were reports that the ad itself had been removed from YouTube after NFL reps complained about an alleged copyright violation. No joke: The NFL bigwigs allegedly insisted that any ad using the term "Halftime in America" would be verboten simply because the NFL claims all rights to the term "Halftime." This may or not be true -- after all, we're talking about an organization that doesn't allow free use of the term "Super Bowl" in non-approved advertising -- but in any event, cooler heads prevailed, and the spot is back on view at You Tube.

And, trust me, not everybody is happy about that. As reported today on Chris Cillizza's The Fix blog, Karl Rove (a.k.a. Bush's Brain) views as the ad as nothing less than -- are you ready for this? are you sitting down -- propaganda approved by the Obama re-election campaign:

“I was, frankly, offended by it it,” said Karl Rove on Fox News Monday. "I'm a huge fan of Clint Eastwood, I thought it was an extremely well-done ad, but it is a sign of what happens when you have Chicago-style politics, and the president of the United States and his political minions are, in essence, using our tax dollars to buy corporate advertising.”

Meanwhile, left-leaning commentators could barely contain their glee. Over at the Daily Kos site, writer Laura Clawson took a tongue-in-cheeky approach to parsing Rove's comments for deeper meaning. ("It's not clear whether Rove is implying that Obama saved Chrysler in 2009 in order to get a 2012 Super Bowl ad that some would interpret as positive about him, or that Obama actually called up Chrysler and demanded the ad, but whatever.") And Michael Moore -- yes, that Michael Moore -- Tweeted a thank-you to Clint Eastwood for what Moore sees as Eastwood's ringing endorsement for President Obama's re-election: “Your sermon seemed 2 b a call 2 give O his ‘second half.’”

Eastwood has not officially responded to the controversy -- yet -- but given his history as a political maverick, I am certain he will say something that will not entirely please folks on either side of the political divide. (And good for him.) I also have no doubt that, right now, someone somewhere is planning to take a publicity shot of Clint Eastwood from some movie, and Photoshop onto the superstar an "Obama 2012" T-shirt. Might I humbly suggest a photo of Eastwood from True Crime, his under-rated 1999 drama? You know, the one with the unmistakable anti-capital punishment message?

UPDATE at 5:34 pm: According to MSNBC.com:

Eastwood, for his part, told Fox News producer Ron Mitchell, "There is no spin in that ad. On this I am certain. l am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama. It was meant to be a message about just about job growth and the spirit of America. I think all politicians will agree with it. I thought the spirit was OK."


So there! Now get all these damn political pundits off his lawn!

Thank you, Mr. Obama

Ummmm! Doughnuts!

Hey, kids! Want to know what Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly will be frothing about tomorrow?

Robert Redford has announced plans to direct and star in The Company You Keep, which Variety describes as "a political action thriller" about "a former Weather Underground militant wanted by the FBI for 30 years who must go on the run when a young, ambitious reporter exposes his true identity." (Shia LaBeouf is set to play the reporter.) Er, with all due respect, Mr. Redford: Don't you remember all the grief Barack Obama got when he got tied to a Weather Underground alumnus? No? Well, I strongly suspect you're about to reminded. Very soon.

Obama bashes Birthers, thumps Trump at White House Correspondents' Dinner

As I have said before: I fully expect that, after he completes his second term as President, Barack Obama will pursue a profitable career doing stand-up in Las Vegas. Though probably not at a casino owned by The Donald. (BTW: Check out all the movie references -- everything from The Adjustment Bureau to The King's Speech, with a well-chosen clip from a classic cartoon as lagniappe.)

The horror. The horror.

Maybe it's just the B-movie horror buff in me, or the old Castle of Frankenstein influence at work, but I just can't help lovin' the fact that the President and the Vice-President of the United States chose to have lunch in a joint with posters for Chamber of Horrors and Mantis in Lace on the wall. Cowabunga.

Yes, he did!

Segregated schools. “Whites Only” water fountains. Blacks compelled to sit on the back of the bus. TV news bulletins about civil rights workers found buried in shallow graves. Newspaper ads for In the Heat of the Night that used silhouettes, so you couldn't tell a black man was a protagonist.

I am 56 years old and I grew up in the South, in New Orleans, so you know I have living memories of all these things. But do you have any idea how amazed and exuberant – and, yes, how very proud – I am tonight? Can you imagine how much more I love my country than I already did before?

Just wondering...

As the numbers of Obamacans increase, I am left to ponder a provocative question. Even if John McCain had run the very same campaign – and, indeed, picked the very same VP candidate – would so many notable Republicans have been so quick to support Barack Obama for President had McCain been running after eight years of Al Gore? Put it another way: Are people like Colin Powell saying “No” to McCain (and “Yes” to Obama), or “Never Again” to (and/or “I’m Sorry” about) George W. Bush?

Would Obama or McCain be the better 007?

According to Daniel Craig: “Obama would be the better Bond because -- if he’s true to his word -- he’d be willing to quite literally look the enemy in the eye and go toe-to-toe with them. McCain, because of his long service and experience, would probably be a better M... There is, come to think of it, a kind of Judi Dench quality to McCain.”

Hope, not fear

I had to stay in line about a half hour before casting my early vote today. It was worth the wait.