at this point, i can't remember how i came across this, but the guardian posted a really great spoof article on the 8-year presidency of al gore, under the title "The change we need: After eight long, tiresome years, President Al Gore won't be missed. Even if he did save the planet."

I think I started to dislike Gore when he stirred up a media storm after the Feds broke up the terrorist ring conspiring to fly airplanes into buildings back in 2001. He could have let it pass quietly, as Bill Clinton did with the millennium plot arrests in 2000. Instead, Gore held a press conference to milk it for political gain and scare us into a 15 cent per gallon gas tax. But who can afford to pay over a dollar and a half per gallon? No wonder we're resorting to electric cars these days.

i've seen things like this before, but i'll never not think it's funny. also, this article actually takes a different spin on it, blaming gore for the things he's "done wrong," which we know, in today's reality, to be far better than the situation we find ourselves in currently.

read the rest of the article here.

my bff bethany just sent me this and it was too good/funny not to share:



don't you think they should do one of these every week? those not so in-the-know (like yours truly, more and more often) would be able to keep up with things in kind of a shorthand version, and if nothing else, it's pretty funny!

so, so what, i'm still a rock star...

I love how facebook would like us to believe that (a) you can actually get $12,000 out of the government in this economic downturn (or ever, really), and (b) that's actually Barack Obama holding up that check. Way to photoshop, guys. Anyway, I haven't checked it out--because it's a scam, trust me--but here's the link.

true story.

"Sometimes what I did wasn't popular. But that's OK. I always did what I thought was right. It is a great day because we got to come home once and for all. I come home with my head held high. The presidency was a joyous experience, but as great as it was, nothing compares with Texas at sunset. Tonight I have the privilege of saying six words that I have been waiting to say for a while: It is good to be home."

-Former President George W. Bush
in his homecoming speech in Midland, Texas

from, of all people, my grandmother...

Subject: BACK IN SERVICE



Subject: Message to the world



Dear World:

We, the United States of America, your top quality supplier of the ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for our 2001-2008 interruption in service. The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been located, and the software responsible was replaced November 4. Early tests of the newly installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly, and we expect it to be fully functional on January 20. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage. We look forward to resuming full service and hope to improve in years to come. We thank you for your patience and understanding.


Sincerely,
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

more than ever

another really good article on race/obama from a.coop., via twitter. basically just states the obvious, but i found myself saying "...yeah! ...YEAH!" to a lot of the points addressed. give it a read here.

"don't worry about history, they'll write it later."

i've been following anderson cooper on twitter for the past few days and loving the articles he keeps sending "my" way--here is one i just couldn't resist posting up here; the excerpt that follows is his speculation on what (if anything) our new president's predecessor might have left in a note in the top drawer of the desk in the oval office:

Keep a sense of humor.

Don’t forget to eat lunch.

Exercise helps with the stress. Keep shooting hoops.

Meet with the families of our fallen troops. Value their sacrifice.

Remember that you’re also a husband and a father and that the folks working around you have families.

Don’t worry about history, they’ll write it later. Have faith in your judgment. Protect the country we all love.

My new phone number’s unlisted but I’ll make sure you have it.

anyway, read the rest of the article here.

...from sea to shining sea.

Yes, we can.

Yes, we did.

Yes, we will.

PRESIDENT Barack Obama. As I live and breathe.