Winners and Losers: July 25, 2008

Compiled by Chris Graham
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TOO MUCH TIME ON OUR HANDS: Zogby poll shows one in five favor secession

“One in five American adults — 22 percent — believe that any state or region has the right to ‘peaceably secede from the United States and become an independent republic,’ a new Middlebury Institute/Zogby International telephone poll shows.”

This was from a press release that I got from Zogby this week.

I guess the good news is that 73 percent of those surveyed don’t think the South can rise again, or whatever.

The 5 percent who aren’t sure – um, you know, you can take a stance on this one. It’s OK.

I don’t know whether to be bothered more about the one in five who think secession to be OK, or that we’re even asking this question of people in the first place.

 

BONEHEAD AWARD: McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds

OK, so I know, the guy is just doing his job. And his job is to say bad things about Barack Obama. But seriously, you can do better than this.

In a statement on Obama’s speech in Germany before a few hundred thousand people, Bounds said, “While Barack Obama took a premature victory lap today in the heart of Berlin, proclaiming himself a ‘citizen of the world,’ John McCain continued to make his case to the American citizens who will decide this election. Barack Obama offered eloquent praise for this country, but the contrast is clear. John McCain has dedicated his life to serving, improving and protecting America. Barack Obama spent an afternoon talking about it.”

So Bounds is trying to say that McCain’s patriotic jones is bigger than Obama’s. And this qualifies as political discourse … how?

 

TODAY’S HOT OR NOT: Has reality TV jumped the shark?

Remember when “Survivor” was the cultural hot topic? When “Real World” casting specials played like the Super Bowl?

It all seems so 2000, doesn’t it?

There are still a hundred of these shows on these days, but that’s mainly because they’re cheap to produce. At some point soon we’re going to see them go the way of the prime-time game show, though I have to say that the genre has lasted a lot longer than I would have ever assumed.