Videos of the Week: Hillary Sobriety Test 2

Before I get to the videos, I want to address our regular readers. I try to check comments a few times a day, and respond, especially to those addressed specifically to me. Sometimes I do it in the story, or in the comments, but often, the person I am responding to has moved on. (This means you, Katherine!) So, if you have a comment or question that you want to be sure I get and respond to, copy me on email at tommychristopher@comcast.net. My comments inbox is too full, this one's better.

The title video is somewhere after the jump, and it is Hillary-ous. If you only watch one Video of the Week this week, make it that one.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to mark time in this presidential primary season. It seems that so much can happen in a week. I'm going to remember this as "Spitzer Week." I wrote a couple of stories on the subject, here and here, so I won't rehash my feelings on the subject. Since it is the iconic story of the week, I'll lead off with "The Daily Show"'s take on the subject, and a very funny movie trailer satire. Videos of the Week is proud to present "Tainted Gov."

This election has become the political equivalent of the TV show 24, where the writers pack so many stories into each episode that by week 3, they're out of ideas and making sh!t up. Brave New Films takes a look at how the mainstream media acts as a megaphone for every plot point Fox makes up.
From Fox's lips to The Political Machine's comments pages.

Speaking of Barack Obama, the Illinois Senator has been widely praised as a leader on the issue of loose nukes, which happens to be the subject of our Frickin' Cool Video of the Week, Nuclear Terrorism: What is a Nuclear Bomb?

Look, some people need to throw a boring voice-over into clips of nuclear bomb tests to make it OK for them. Me, I turn down the sound and put on some Outkast.

This next video is about 5 minutes of a college basketball broadcast, Alabama vs. Mississippi State, noteworthy for the weather delay that occurs at the Georgia Dome.

My brother, Jesse, who is a teacher and activist in Georgia, told me there were pieces of furniture sucked out of office buildings onto the street. Years ago, I survived a tornado that touched down on Jesse's front lawn, jumped over his house, and touched down in the back yard. The writer in me is annoyed that they really do sound just like being run over by a train.

There are a slew of videos out this week about Barack Obama's controversial pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. This next clip is of Barack Obama's reaction to the story on MSNBC's Countdown.

This is one of those infuriating issues that cannot be compressed into a sugar-cube of a soundbite. I like Barack's analogy to the loudmouthed uncle, but I also think the mere question is ridiculous. Who gives a rat's ass what his pastor said? Now, before you accuse me of some kind of Obias, go back and read what I said about Mitt Romney and the people who questioned his religious leaders, and then save it.

Also, there is a ridiculous double-standard here, as the Republicans at one point had a frontrunner who is, himself, a minister and whose sermons have been gathered up and stowed away in Jimmy Hoffa's condo. John McCain is getting endorsement from crazy ministers. I care about none of it. Look, if you actually do everything your pastor tells you to, then maybe you can worry, or just don't vote for yourself.

Another clip that made a huge impact this week was Keith Olbermann's Special Comment to Hillary Clinton. If you missed it, I wrote a companion piece earlier this week.

This week, Gerry Ferraro resigned from the Clinton campaign, but was unapologetic about her remarks. You may recall I was not one of the people piling on to Ferraro, a pioneer herself. While I think her statement was unproductive and bereft of valuable context, I agree with James Carville that these automatic resignations on all sides are stupid. This ain't an ice cream social, people. Carville employed a rationale similar to Barack's "Uncle" comparison, and I think it holds true here as well. Gerry's understandably defensive reactions, on the other hand, have not been helpful.

They say all politics is local. I don't know what that means in relation to this next clip, except that it seems to illustrate that the issue of racism has more to do with an individual's character than with that of an entire group. A local news reporter is attacked by family and friends of a murder suspect after they hurled racial epithets at her.

Guess that leaves the suspect short on character witnesses.

Here's a quickie from Obama Girl, courtesy of Barely Political.

Can an honor for Tommy Christopher in the Male category be far behind? Well, to paraphrase Barack Obama, "Yes, it can!"

I'm really lazy, or else I would bump this one up to the front page. This is, hands down, the most cringeworthy Video of the Week yet.

Wow Here's another embarrassing uncle. We owe a debt of gratitude to all the Bothan spies who died to bring us this video.

Yeah, we're not ready to laugh about Katrina or Scooter or any of that. Why don't you try the "Where are the weapons?" bit.

Once again on the local front, another great metaphor for this Presidential campaign.

By the way, I should've mentioned, it's disturbing.

Pat Buchanan loses it a little on the Dan Abrams show. Rachel Maddow correctly came to his defense in saying that this was out of character for him as a commentator.

His personal views aside, Pat has consistently been one of the more astute observers of the Democratic primary race. As an aside, Kelli Goff makes the excellent point that Obama didn't start out getting 90% of the black vote, but perceptions of a race-baiting Clinton campaign, right or wrong, seem to have pushed many voters away from Hillary as much as toward Obama.

There's a new John McCain video burning up the Youtube charts, this one focused mainly on his status as a POW. It is very well-produced and evocative, but there were some disturbing elements as well.

I am not going to deconstruct this video, but you all are free to do so in the comments. I will say that John McCain showed unquestionable bravery in his military service. To see him limping off of that plane is a poignant image. However, just as the things in this ad that I am less comfortable with, I don't think any of this is relevant to his fitness to lead our nation, positive or negative. John McCain has a lot of great qualities, but he wants to lead this country in a direction that the majority of us don't want to go. By all means, admire John McCain. Just don't vote for him.

I'm going to wrap it up with a real gem: A Saturday Night Live political bit that's actually funny. Their last few episodes have featured sketches with somewhat astute premises, but they just weren't funny. This clip is of Tracy Morgan, who is, I have learned, a comic genius. Try not to get too wrapped up in the political analysis, because it will distract you from the funny.


One more note to my regular readers, all 16 of you. You may notice I'm not linking to my personal blog anymore. That's because, as it turns out, it is way too personal, so I've made it by invitation only. If you're interested, and you can follow the rules, shoot me an email at tommychristopher@comcast.net, and we'll discuss. There are only 96 slots left, so that should give you plenty of time. See you next week, Tube Boobs.