You don’t have to look far today to find people talking in plain language how America is the greatest nation in the world. Whether it’s the correspondents on MSNBC, Newt Gingrich, Fox News, it’s basically reiterated every time you turn on the TV, and how Obama, by trying to be diplomatic somehow doesn’t believe in “American Exceptionalism” despite the fact he directly spoke of his belief in American Exceptionalism in his speech in Cairo, is not a believer in America.
I’m not in a position to make a statement on American Exceptionalism, as having never left the country, I have no basis of actual comparison beyond what is jammed into my head by media every day. I’ve never even been to San Francisco, which apparently shouldn’t even be part of the U.S.
Having said that, I have to defer to Lewis Black and his position on American Exceptionalism. As he says,  “There are countries that may be giving stuff away every day. Canada’s one of those countries, you know what they give away? HEALTH INSURANCE!”

Once again, Mr. Obama is being faulted for bowing to a foreign leader.  Here is the video of our president briefly genuflecting to Emperor Akihito of Japan.

Barack Obama bows to Japan’s Emperor Akihito

All the president is doing is showing his respect for another culture’s traditions.  I happen to believe that many traditions are antiquated nonsense, such as saying “god bless you” after someone sneezes, but a diplomatic rendezvous with one of the world’s most powerful leaders is not the best platform to assert your views on outdated conventions.

Critics of Obama’s graceful curtsy can call it a sign of weakness all they want; it only shows how cripplingly insecure they really are.  I doubt the president’s momentary bending at waist will trigger a massive overthrow of the United States government.

“He bowed to the emperor? That’s the sign we’ve been waiting for! Bust out the nukes boys.”

Respectfully bowing is the very least of our worries.  If another country wanted to destroy our nation, I’m sure we’ve given them plenty of other, more relevant reasons, such as the two wars we are currently fighting, or the career of Nicolas Cage.  And let’s not forget the hand-holding stroll through a park former President Bush took with Saudi King Abdullah.  At least Obama didn’t treat the emperor like a nursing home resident.

So I think our country is going to be just fine.  No Pearl Harbor 2 (Pearl Harder), and no more Pokemon designed to secretly poison our youth against us.  After all, this country did nuke the hell out of two Japanese cities not that long ago – the least we can do is be a little nice.

There’s really only one video I’ve seen this week that’s worth repeating (besides Rep. Buyer’s amazing interview) -

1) Auto Tune the News

But in honor of the recent IU conference on Black impact on Rock , I thought that it was worth mentioning the rapper from “the only place more dangerous than Kandahar,  and that’s kind of hard”,

2)  Somalia

It’s nice to know there’s modern music out there that’s not autotuned and doin the stanky leg.

In my previous post, I linked to an interview of Buyer from CBS, but I missed THIS link to an amazing video of him singing in session about smoking lettuce.  There’s also a cameo by Joe Biden. No further words could do this video justice.

Overwhelmingly no! At least, that is, according to a new poll by NPR.  In fact, with nearly 1.8 million votes saying no currently, compared to only 200k voting yes, clearly they are not biased, if even NPR listeners say no. Well, except that it turns out that conservatives sent out mass emails to “win” the poll, similar to the tactics used by  the ‘great’ band Panic at the Disco to procure similar results to name their album as Npr’s Album of the year last year.

In case you happened to miss them,  these have to be two of the best things I’ve seen this week.

One: Cartman singing a much less terrible version, somehow guitar hero made, of poker face to a montage of Stan fighting whalers.

Two: The Box parody – Funny or Die.

Just when one would imagine that the comedy pinata, Glenn Beck, had been busted, John Stewart makes a few insightful connections.

11/3 Project

It seems right after our local fight here in Bloomington for the atheists to have the right to say that they too can be good, even without god, that now the city of New York finds itself in the same situation. And who better to remind the citizens of New York of the horrible atrocity that this represents to those of faith than the big man himself, the truest christian of America, the man who lives by the adage “Easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get into heaven” than Sean Hannity?

There’s nothing better than a good gut laugh on a cold day to cheer the soul. And Sean Hannity delivers better on this than any comedian I’ve ever heard. Who else could continue this monotonous culture war as far as he is? With Jeff Hostetler (not the qb, the former indiana rep) no longer available to decry the “War on Christianity”, thank goodness Sean is still around.  It’s funny how those most against the fairness doctrine, and who promote themselves as fair and balanced, throw a hissy fit the day that there’s an atheist ad between the millions of church ads and billboards in NYC. Yes, they certainly lack churches and the right to promote them in NYC.

news from wisconsin: Glenn Beck not burned alive.

(Obviously, the following is satire)

God, in an extremely rare public appearance, admitted Tuesday morning that He hadn’t been consciously present during the past 1000 years.

“I know a lot of people assumed I was up there, listening and guiding and all, but I was actually in somewhat of an extended nap,” said the Supreme Being. “Honestly, it’s a little embarrassing.”

The Almighty, who had previously been diligently involved in all earthly events, stated He “got a little bored of the same old wars and silly empires.”

“It’s not that I didn’t appreciate everything the humans were doing, it just got a little predictable after a while,” said the Divine. “So around the time when that Caligula was assassinated, I kicked back, threw on some De-Phazz and sort of dozed off. Next thing I know, it’s 2009.”

Shortly after God awoke, He called a press conference and politely asked to be brought up-to-date on everything He had missed.

“We plan to hold a special seminar at the Holiday Inn tomorrow at noon,” said renowned historian Paul Burkadeli. “During the seminar I’ll do my best to highlight the historical events I think God will deem significant. I’ll try to focus on the really crazy stuff like the Crusades, World Wars, the Enlightenment. He’ll love it.”

However, God’s revelation has made some people very upset. Many well-known athletes and musicians are protesting the seminar, citing that they are angry God wasn’t actually overseeing each of their games or award ceremonies.

“When I scored the winning touchdown at last week’s game I thanked God for helping me do it,” said Adrian Peterson, Running Back for Minnesota. “But it turns out He wasn’t even watching, much less divinely assisting me. Lazy bastard.”

God hasn’t addressed these accusations, but He did express genuine surprise when he spoke to some of his believers.

“I have to say, I was little worried people would have gotten over me by now,” said the Heavenly Father. “But what do you know? People love me!”

In light of the recent development, a group of prominent political figures have gathered from across the globe to discuss what God’s previous absence means for certain important wars and confrontations.

“I said that God was on our side when we went to Iraq,” said former president George W. Bush. “But now that I know he wasn’t really paying attention, I’m a little confused.”

“If he was awake then he totally would have been on our side,” said Abida Akbari, former member of the Taliban. “It’s a no-brainer. I’m going to ask him tomorrow, but I’ve already taken bets.”

After tomorrow’s seminar, God says he plans to continue his former position as ruler of the universe. He has already purchased some Adderall to help him stay alert, and plans to avoid succumbing to a siesta at all costs.

“I slipped man, and it won’t happen again,” said His Holyness. “I just hope I don’t get too bored, although it seems like things are getting a little nuts out here, so that’s good. But don’t count on me watching all your football games, I’ve got better things to do.”