The theme is "Sad but True in U.S. Politics." Of course, there are too many of these to ponder, but these are the ones I have thought about or come across lately that struck me.
- After George Bush leaves office, he will be paid tens of millions of dollars to give speeches.
- In a September 2006 CBS News/New York Times poll, 31 percent of Americans believed that Saddam Hussein was "personally involved" in the attack of September 11, 2001. 75 percent of Americans believe in angels.
- Vice President Cheney's dog is named Dave, but his Chief of Staff was named Scooter.
- Fox News, under the taglines "Fair and Balanced" and "We Report, You Decide," has hired Karl Rove to provide regular political commentary.
- A substantial group of well-known Republicans are using Barack Obama's middle name as an argument against voting for him.
- A December 2007 Gallup Poll showed that 17 percent of Americans would not vote for a Mormon presidential candidate under any circumstances, but 48 percent would not vote for an Atheist.
- At a debate several months ago, three Republican candidates for President stated that they do not believe in evolution. One of those candidates, Mike Huckabee, has won almost ten primary states, and he is still in the race.
- In a recent California poll, 81 percent of nonvoters agreed that voting is an important way to influence issues and policies that affect them, but about 65 percent said that they don't vote because special interests control elections.
- In order to avoid political embarrassment, Bush has consciously chosen to continue mispronouncing the word "nuclear" as "nucular."
- If George Allen had said "jerk" instead of "macaca," he would likely be the Republican nominee for President.
