Mustaine Endorses!!!

I adore the nexus of hair metal and politics. Like when Ted Nugent or Gene Simmons go after President Obama. This stuff is always gold. Today comes word that legendary singer/guitarist Dave Mustaine, frontman of Megadeth has endorsed a presidential candidate.

After much consideration Mustaine is throwing his considerable heft behind Rick Santorum. "Earlier in the election, I was completely oblivious as to who Rick Santorum was," Megaman said, "but when the dude went home to be with his daughter when she was sick, that was very commendable."

So there you have it.

UPDATE: Mustaine wants you to know that he did not use the word endorse. He merely said he wants a Republican to win and that Republican will be Santorum. Got it?

And here's this, one of the great unintentionally funny songs of all time:

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Saturday Play--James Mercer of The Shins Live at San Diego's 91X

According to the station's site, the new song "It's Just Life" has been redacted until March 20, when the new album drops. Nevertheless, it's a damn fine set. 

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Pete Hoesktra Should Have Spent It Not That $150,000 On Racist Commercial

When Iranians bravely rose up in January of 2009, Republican House Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan was immediately reminded of a time when he and his fellow House Republicans themselves rose up against oppression. So overwhelmed with the memory was Rep. Hoekstra that he even tweeted it out.

Fast forward to the present. The very tolerant and totally sensitive Hoekstra is running for Senate, and he is the likely Republican nominee that will run against Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow in November. The Hoekstra campaign rolled out an ad during the Super Bowl that no one seems to like. Is it because of the childish name calling? Is it the intensely offensive race baiting that takes place on so many levels? Yes.



Hoekstra defended the ad, telling the Detroit Free Press, “It’s a very straightforward message. There’s nothing racist in this ad. This is all about holding Debbie accountable for her reckless spending.” Having your Chinese-American actress speak in broken English while "Theme to Yellow Scare" plays in the background isn't racist?

As for the underlying concept, tortured as they were, that Hoekstra is a wise, frugal, responsible person who will handle the taxpayer's money with care, ABC reported that the cost of airing the ad was $150,000. Yeah. A made up, unfunny, offensive, ineffective ad: $150,000. The backlash: priceless.

UPDATE: Is there a method to this madness?

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Let's Go All In on the Election

Huffington Post reported today that the Koch brothers have pledged $60 million to beat President Obama in the 2012 presidential election. The pledges--$40 million from Charles Koch and $20 million from David Koch--came at a private retreat in California last weekend. 300 other individuals pledged $40 million more to their cause, bringing the total to around $100 million. That, my friends, is a lot of free speech.

This is just the beginning. It's only February. While I'm disturbed that the demise of campaign finance laws has made a mockery of our elections, which weren't so great to begin with, I do relish the concept of billionaires betting this big this early on such a losing proposition. Maybe by the time Obama/Biden wrap this up in November these guys won't be billionaires anymore. 

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Is America Ready for Sugar Reform?

Sugar is in the news in a big, sweet, delicious, debilitating way today. A paper published in the journal Nature suggesting that sugar should be regulated has gone viral. While there is no way that will happen--if you think tobacco had a strong lobby, wait until you get a load of Big Sugar--the idea of studying and eventually reforming the way sugar gets into our food is a fantastic idea. Sadly, the only real legislation aimed at regulating sugar is a honey ham-fisted attempt by a Florida Republican to keep people on food stamps from buying snacks.

While we're on the subject: Cake or Death?

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East Haven Mayor Faces Difficult Choice--Tacos or Spaghetti?

On Tuesday Peter Applebome of The New York Times reported on the arrest of members of a rogue gang of East Haven, Connecticut, cops called Miller’s Boys by the FBI. Sgt. John Miller and three other officers were charged with conspiracy, false arrest, excessive force and obstruction of justice. "The indictment," Applebome writes, "described years of mistreatment of individuals, especially Hispanics, and efforts to cover it up."

The article itself is a must read. The behavior detailed in the article is reprehensible. But wait until you hear East Haven's Mayor, Joseph Maturo, Jr., when asked about the arrests:

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In Case You Missed It--State of the Union Video in Full

Pretty strong speech by the President in my opinion. Judging by instant twitter reaction--no one changed their minds about anything and everyone feels exactly the way they did about the president after the speech as they did before the speech. People don't really change their opinions in America anymore. 

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Saturday Play--Los Campesinos! play "By Your Hand" on Late Night

It is so validating when the obscure bands I so often become obsessed with actually show up somewhere in the mainstream. Also, nice exchange with Letterman at the end too. Kind of a shame that this didn't happen two albums ago. 




And while we're here, here's one from the band's debut album, Hold On Now Youngster, called "My Year in Lists":



And, to squeeze in a plug, to literally hear my year in lists, check out the podcast I do with the great Jason Edwards, Mailing It In.

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Sure, That Was Cool but Remember This...?

In the wake of President Obama's well-received crooning, comedian Jen Kirkman (@JenKirkman) reminds us via twitter that there is a high bar for presidential coolness:

That bar was set by this performance by President William Jefferson Clinton:

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Stewart, Colbert Team Up to Avoid Coordinating

Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart work out the kinks on their completely separate presidential campaign and Super PAC. 

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