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Pastimes : Don't Ask Rambi -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rambi who wrote (64970)	3/21/2004 10:06:40 AM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71178

"Big Al for president" has a certain ring to it.

To: Rambi who wrote (64970)	3/21/2004 10:34:39 AM
From: Crocodile	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 71178

For what it's worth, Kerry passed the "Canadian Acid Test" for humour quite ably a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, Dean didn't do so well. Up here, our top-rated comedy show, "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" goes to great lengths to put our politicians on the spot when they least expect it -- generally in front of every camera crew in the country. Sometimes it's by throwing in a fake journalist to ask some bizarre question, but usually it's by doing something absolutely in-your-face. This may be a bit of a Canadian idiosyncrasy, but we like to see how well our politicians can keep their cool when confronted by comedians going for the jugular in front of the country. Most can pull this off with flying colours, probably because they're so used to having to negotiate their way through "The Scrum" -- a sort of traditional mobbing of politicians each day at the stairs in our parliament building. Our recently retired Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, was known for his incredible agility when taking the stairs 2 or 3 at a time to race past the mob of reporters so that he could be above The Scrum before turning to face the cameras to answer questions without a mic shoved in his face. We Canadians do love to keep our politicians in fine athletic form by chasing them with cameras and mics at least a couple of times a day. (And yup, I know, I'm probably revealing some Canadian political traditions that most of you aren't even vaguely aware of). Anyhow, the THH22M people did some spots in the U.S. during the Democratic leadership campaign and managed to catch both Kerry and Dean off guard. Kerry didn't catch on to what the hell was happening, but he pretty much came through looking okay and not blowing his cool in front of the cameras. Unfortunately, Dean didn't fare quite so well -- not that you can blame him that much as our comedians are pretty tricky about how they do what they do. But yes, I agree, a politician has to have the ability to shrug off plenty of things. Btw, if you're wondering how Bush did in his encounter with THH22M in the weeks before your last election, the crew managed to get him to wave at the camera and give his best wishes to "Prime Minister Poutine" for some absurd, non-existent accomplishment (note: a "Poutine" is a big tray of french-fries covered with gravy and melted cheddar cheese curds). And yes, it's true, we really are terrible people up here. (o:

To: Rambi who wrote (64970)	3/21/2004 10:43:42 AM
From: Ish	Respond to of 71178

In the photos of Kerry when he was calling the SS guy a SOB, he wasn't smiling.

To: Rambi who wrote (64970)	3/21/2004 12:33:44 PM
From: Constant Reader	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71178

While I tend to agree with choosie (this is really no big deal), the New York Times report of the incident left little doubt that the intent was not humorous. The AP report agreed with the Times. Stories like this (being rude/short with others, especially those in service jobs like airline agents and waitpersons) have followed in John Kerry's wake for years --- long before he started this run for President. In fairness, many (if not most) U.S. Senators have similar reputations. That said, I prefer politicians with a longer fuse, and a little more humility. One reporter noted that after saying "I don't fall," Kerry resumed skiing and promptly fell six other times, all on his own. It seems to me that his temper tantrum did not endear him to the members of the press corps present. A fatal flaw? Probably not. A shining moment? Hardly. Does he have a sense of humor? Sure - almost everyone does.