The Pendragon's Hall

Rudy Giuliani is reminding me more and more of Howard Dean. Not only is his arrogance increasing by leaps and bounds, but he is now out to identify himself with the strangest of Bible stories. Nailed for his disgusting personal life, Giuliani whined that people who point out his personal foibles are just like the people who wanted to stone the woman caught in adultery, to whom Jesus said, "He who is without sin cast the first stone." Remember how Dean was persecuted like Jesus and he felt like Job when people criticized him? Giuliani, of course, conveniently forgets to mention that Jesus then told the woman to go and sin no more. How many divorces is that now? Can Republicans risk, especially if the Democrats retain control of Congress, having a president go through a messy divorce? Won't the Clintonistas point out that we impeached Clinton "for sex" and begin impeachment proceedings? And who can blame them? The prospect of a Giuliani presidency actually makes the Pendragon long for a return to the Clinton days. At least then I wouldn't be expected to be on the same side as the scumbag.

But they seem to be all the same these days. Fred Thompson was asked if it was harder to be president or to play a president on TV. An idiot question from the media, considering Thompson has only ever done either, but whatever. His response: "Neither one is that hard." Wonderful. He announces his candidacy with a few jokes on Lenno and now we learn that he expects the presidency to be a breeze. He is not fit to be president and he joins the lengthening list of Republican presidential candidates the Pendragon will never endorse, vote for, or support in any other way. John McCain has sold out the Republican party one too many times. Giuliani is worse than the Democrats. Ron Paul and Tom Tancredo are ignoramuses. I am still constantly told that an evangelical Christian cannot support a Mormon for president, on what basis I do not know, but Mitt Romney seems to be the only one currently in the race that I can even consider casting a vote for. If he is out before the New York primary, I will support Mike Huckabee, a no-name candidate going nowhere. Or, I may, gasp, support a Newt Gingrich candidacy after all. He's got the record to give Clinton a run for her money.

The Democrats are no better. Hillary is campaigning on Ellen Degeneres' show and promising socialist health care if elected. HillaryCare was rejected by Democrats, leading to the Republican congressional takeover in 1994. John Edwards is a vain pretty boy with thin skin and Barack Obama is shamelessly exploiting the race card, while being unaware that our neighbor to the north is governed by a prime minister, not a president. Richardson has good credentials but no chance of going anywhere. Snoopy for President in 2008.

The Pendragon grows weary of the world. A terrorist is feted in New York City on the campus of one of our most prestigous education facilities. A bunch of clowns are running for president. Hence, the long delay. One of the more amusing pastimes comes from seeing the disparities between real world and the liberal wonderland everyone thinks we should live in. I will pass up on the opportunity to speculate on what Bill Clinton's latest book "Giving" is about. He does know how to give of himself. There is another book making the rounds, purported to be the memoirs of a soldier, entitled "The War I Always Wanted." It's only liberals who conceive of war being glorious and then get shocked to find out how brutal it is. Bush and all his ilk warned from the beginning how war would be. We saw the images of 9/11. Plus we have numerous memoirs of soldiers from two world wars, from Korea and Vietnam and the first Gulf War, from the Civil War, the Revolution etc. to tell us how terrible war really is. And movies don't even try to whitewash it anymore. Battles are gruesomely portrayed on the big screen. So if any soldier went off to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan with ideals of a glorious war, they really have only themselves to blame. Maybe they should have read more books.

So he's finally in. Former senator and current movie star Fred Thompson announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination last night on Jay Leno. That's right. Leno. The Pendragon is completely disgusted. Other candidates, even the Clown Candidate from NYC, at least made a semblance of seriousness in their announcement. My man Mitt Romney chose his father's old hometown and made a serious speech about policy. Thompson announced it on Leno. I had no personal grievance against the man--his positions on the issues are generally good and being an actor is no indication of political ineptitude (though to be fair, Reagan was more famous as a California governor and conservative politician than as a B-list movie actor so Thompson's resume looks a little shakier since nobody remembers him as a senator but only as a lawyer on "Law and Order"). But the way he trivialized his pursuit of office suggests that he looks at the whole thing rather like entertainment. He's better than any of the Democrats and most of the Republicans but his attitude is very nonchalant and I think it is well worth asking whether someone this laid-back (or as Time magazine put it: lazy like a fox) has the get-up-and-get-em to be president.

The latest addition to outrageous reality shows is something on CBS (surprise, surprise). It's called "Kid Nation" and I have not seen it nor plan on seeing it. The show centers around 40 kids who are left in charge of a western "ghost town" and charged with making a new civilization. The flap is over whether it's cruel to leave kids with no adults, other than the film crew, for cheap entertainment. The Pendragon really couldn't care less about this particular issue, but rather the complete impossibility of the premise. Sorry, John Locke, but the children are all in the 10-12 range category. They are not "blank slates" nor are they starting a new civilization. By their age, they have all manner of preconceived ideas about how civilization is supposed to work. Their parents and friends have influenced them far more than CBS, or western theorists in general, want to admit. They have imbibed the values of their society already and will transplant them as best they can. So watch the show or don't, but let's stop pretending that reality shows are real, or even possible.

As usual, the only sin liberals are willing to excoriate is hypocrisy. Idaho Senator Larry Craig (Republican) has been justly criticized for his restroom tryst. The Pendragon wholeheartedly supports his resignation (a rare agreement with John McCain) but it is constantly annoying how the real problem the liberals on Capitol Hill and their trained dogs in the media have with Craig is not that he is a scumbag or that he engaged in improper sexial activity in an airport restroom. There is no disgust here--in fact the media is elated as are liberals in the blogosphere and elsewhere. They love this. Now when someone brings up Bill Clinton, they can shoot back that Republicans have Craig. Of course Dems have all the Kennedys and many others, but apparently Craig makes up for all of them. The Pendragon is saddened and disgusted by the senator's misbehavior, as I was by Clinton, Kennedy and the myriad of others throughout the ranks of the Democratic party, but I do not rejoice in it. And libs would do well to learn that the hypocrisy charge is a double-bladed knife that can easily cut the hand that wields it. Republicans can remind them that "everyone does it" and leaders should not be held accountable. Actually, Republicans throughout have portrayed more consistency than the Democrats ever have. They have not hesitated to attack and drive from office the man who did this--Democrats on the other hand defend felons and sexual predators with a D after their name; only when it is a Republican do they become concerned with morality. There's no hypocrisy here, folks.