The President's closest and oldest political friend, the Teleprompter of the United States (TOTUS), passed away last night. He collapsed in the middle of a speech by Obama in defence of his economic policies.

[caption id="attachment_739" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Rest in Peace, little friend"][/caption]

Early reports state he died exhaustion after being over-worked over the past year, and that his over-use had voided his warranty. He will be sorely missed - by President Obama.

As if the political graveyard weren't replete enough with the corpses of young Facebook noobs, there's one more cautionary tale to add to the pile: whatever you do don't do what Audra Shay, the newly-elected national chairwoman of the Young Republicans, did.

The complaint that 38-year-olds aren't young notwithstanding (Ed: thank goodness we don't have anyone trying to pretend 30-somethings are CFers - whoops!), it's pretty damn stupid of anyone with a pretence to political office to even look like they're condoning racism. Or homophobia or sexism, for that matter.

The comments may have been taken out of context, and the claim to privacy may be fair, but everyone has to agree: giving the media nothing to run is better than giving them a 'conservative is racist' story. Despite the protestations that the media are biased: yes, the media are biased, but they're still the media. Shay may have won, but, with the glare of publicity on her, that'll be the last election she'll ever win.

Racism is an accusation that dogs conservatives: one that is sometimes justified, and one that we have to shake off. If you want to condone racism, you can do it in private. But don't expect your privacy to be respected, don't expect your opponents to have any humour about it, and don't expect people that aren't racist to stand by you.

Now, we're not too fond of left-wingers here at KeepRightOnline. We're also not too fond of vegetarianism. Such a dangerous fad has already infected some in Conservative circles, with Lucy Roblin, the power behind Ed Hallam's throne, succumbing to only eating things that don't cast a shadow.

He may have been a Democrat, but Richard Ravitch had the right idea when the Democrat took the oath of office for New York state Lieutenant Governor - in a steakhouse:

They came a little early — I believe it was two men and two ladies — and they were joined by a fifth person and switched to a larger table. They drew out some documents, and they were very excited and everything. Mr. Ravitch said, "This is my favorite restaurant, and I wouldn’t take the oath of office anywhere else."

Mmm! The defection of a Republican state senator probably means Ravitch doesn't need to take office in a hurry, so the whole affair may have been moot, but at least Ravitch got a steak out of it: something that may anger some lefties.

As Joey tells the vegetarian Phoebe in Friends when she has meat cravings: if you're gonna do something wrong, do it right.

Sarah Palin has announced she's to resign as Governor of Alaska, supposedly sparking rumours she's cranking up a presidential bid. Sources close to Palin are saying she's out of politics for good.

People that want the Republican Party to stand a chance in 2012 (or 2016...) are probably breathing a sigh of relief. People who want their politicians to look hot and talk nasty are probably in mourning.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Wave goodbye, Sarah..."][/caption]

Thanks for the memories, even though they weren't so great. At least we still have the pictures...

Obama is taking to YouTube to answer viewer-submitted questions in a 'town-hall meeting' style at 6:15pm tonight (that's London time, natch).

It's just another indication that he gets the modern world far better than the dinosaurs squandering the Right legacy in the US talking about the Internet as a series of tubes.



You may not like his arguments, but no matter what he does, at least he can't come off as much of a twat as our Beloved Leader.

Update: If you're not really into Obamania, you can get your fix of American political commentary from Freedom Watch with Ron Paul and other guests at 7pm (again, Zulu Time!).