Funniest politcal op-ed of the season to date

Parent Cafe
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<p>The thing I enjoy most about political season is when the op-ed writers turn to snark. I mean who didn’t enjoy Hunter Thompson.</p>

<p>Funniest political cartoon of the year (and I can’t find the link) lampooned Hillary Clinton’s positioning as strong on defense. It showed a Hillary characature dressed in full miltiary garb – the uniform, the boots, the medals on the chest, the hat, machine gun in one hand, riding crop in the other. A characature of Bill is standing off to the side, sizing up the outfit and pondering. The caption is Bill saying, “Uhhhm…maybe lose the riding crop…”</p>

<p>Funniest op-ed piece of the year is a brilliant lampoon of poor Rudy Guiliani’s position in the Republican race in today’s Washington Post, penned by Richard Cohen. It alternates, back and forth, between Rudy’s internal thoughts while standing on stage at the Republican debate about what he’s gotten himself into and then answering yet another question on abortion:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/07/AR2007050701224.html[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/07/AR2007050701224.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>A taste:</p>

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<p>Funniest line of the whole article, Guiliani’s private thoughts about Mitt Romney during the debate:</p>

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<p>I like this one comparing Hillary to Margaret Thatcher.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.northstarwriters.com/ct034.htm[/url]”>http://www.northstarwriters.com/ct034.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>"There is one big difference between Mrs. Clinton and Mrs. Thatcher. Every one of the former’s public pronouncements sounds as though it has been first offered to a focus group and then neutered by a political consultant. She’s trying to be all things to all people, and so ends up as nothing much to anyone.</p>

<p>Not so Mrs. Thatcher, who often spoke her mind forcefully – like Mr. Sarkozy. As leader of the Conservative opposition in 1976, she denounced the old Soviet Union in such harsh terms that the Red Star newspaper and then Radio Moscow dubbed her “Iron Lady,” a would-be insult that she embraced and turned into a positive.</p>

<p>Mrs. Clinton and Mrs. Thatcher do share one trait: They were/are polarizing figures either loved or reviled, with not much in between. </p>

<p>Moving many people to detest her did not hurt Mrs. Thatcher’s rise to power, but it may doom Mrs. Clinton’s quest for the presidency. That’s because Mrs. Clinton lacks a political philosophy to function as a counterweight to her groundbreaking gender, which my former history teacher knew so well was critical to allaying the public’s fears about voting for a woman. </p>

<p>When this country finally does elect a female president, she will probably sound a lot more like Margaret Thatcher than Hillary Clinton - or Segolene Royal."</p>

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<p>I don’t know. That one seems more like a straight op-ed piece. Those are a dime a dozen. Where’s the snark?</p>

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<p>"Every one of the former’s public pronouncements sounds as though it has been first offered to a focus group and then neutered by a political consultant. "</p>

<p>Sounds pretty snarky to me…(especially the “neutered” part). ;)</p>

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<p>If you just want straight, humor-free commentary on Sen. Clinton and her focus groups, The Nation has a terrific piece on pollster Mark Penn. Of course, The Nation is hard left wing, so it’s not terribly complimentary of Clinton or the role that Penn plays in the campaign, but Penn’s an interesting operative. He’s scaled back his corporate work during the election. Between now and the election, he’s only working for Microsoft and Hillary Clinton.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070521/berman[/url]”>http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070521/berman&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Not really. I certainly wouldn’t put it up there with good political humor that makes you spray coffee on the monitor.</p>

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<p>There have also been a lot of pretty funny commentaries on Clinton’s famous “Drawl on Demand”…</p>