The Black Republican

For all of you iPhone Phreaks...

Hat tip to Laura W. at Ace

I've been telling people about this blooper-roll skit for years, and thinking about it just now I Googled it on a lark. Lo and behold someone put it on YouTube. Make sure you don't have any distractions, and that you have the freedom to make loud gasping noises while pounding on the floor. (It's totally mostly only mildy clean vulgar, but might be NSFW if you can't do that without having the boss call the men in white coats.)

I suppose in a strange sort of way we could call this topical to TBR - after all, isn't it politically incorrect to laugh at midgets and handicapped pachyderms?

Good news for Sox fans (many of whom reside right here in Ft. Myers and SW Florida - the Red Sox Spring Training home), after going so long without one win they now have two in the last four years.

And in related news, it turns out that Hillary has actually always been a Red Sox fan, forced to cheer them on in secret due to her husbands affection for the Yankees. (That whole "I've always been a Yankees fan" thing was just for Bill's sake, you see.) To prove her affection for the famed Bean-town team, she points to the fact that she named her beloved cat 'Socks' after the team - though she had to spell it that way to throw off suspicion!

Asked for a comment on this sudden shift of allegiance Mrs. Clinton commented "How about those Patriots? You know, I've always been a...."

(Goodbye Maestro, and thank you for the beautiful music.)

Bravo! Bravissimo!

Nessun Dorma

None must sleep! None must sleep!
And you, too, Princess,
in your cold room,
gaze at the stars
which tremble with love
and hope!

But my mystery is locked within me,
no-one shall know my name!
No, no, I shall say it as my mouth
meets yours when the dawn is breaking!

And my kiss will break the silence
which makes you mine!

(No-one shall know his name,
and we, alas, shall die!)

Vanish, o night!
Fade, stars!
At dawn I shall win

This is for pure entertainment value, and it does contain a couple of words they can not say on AM radio, mostly funny the language won't put you off.

Iowahawk delivers guest commentary by UK terrorist doctor.

LGF

Very funny stuff, if you are not an Islamofacist.

" National Lampoon's 72 Virgins
Two idiot college students unwittingly join an Al Qaeda cell in order to get the 72 virgins promised to terrorists when they die."

To see the video short and vote for the full-length movie, go here

LGF

Well it seems the man I dubbed an underdog isn't so much the underdog after all... he's actually won!

I must wholeheartedly disagree, however, with the comment judge Amanda Holden made in the first clip about this guy being a lump of coal about to turn into a diamond. I think this guy has proven that he is the diamond among a pile of cubic zirconia.

Even though I have watched American Idol and other talent competition shows that have proliferated over the past few years, I have become ever more disenchanted with them, mainly because they tend to lampoon people like Paul Potts rather than extol their talents. Any more it seems the American talent competitions have become as much about making fun of and embarrassing people as they are about finding talent.

With so much to be depressed about in this world it's uplifting to see an ordinary guy, an Everyman, not only get his shot at greatness, but actually reach out and grab it! That is why in my original post I called this guy a Samwise Gamgee, because he, like Sam, was an ordinary man with an ordinary life who just happened one day to take a walk down a different road... and that has made all the difference. Congratulations Paul Potts. I look forward to purchasing your debut CD.

It's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.

I saw this on Brit Hume last night and was blown away. We live in such a cynical, media driven, Paris Hilton pop culture world that we seem to have forgotten the simple elegance and passion of the Samwise Gamgee's of the world; the Everyman. Watch and listen... and see the passion in this man's eyes and hear the power in his voice. And pay special attention to the crowd. That is the reaction of ordinary people to a frumpy man with bad teeth as he restores their belief that somewhere within us all resides this quiet nobility, a trait so often overlooked or dismissed by those who believe themselves to be our betters. This is his one moment, his time, and he seizes that moment for himself, and for us all, with such unassuming, humble grace that, win or lose, you could almost hear this guy going back home and saying "Well, I'm back."

UPDATE: It seems that this underdog has made it to the finals. This truly warms my heart.

I suspect that knowledge of the existence of a comedy magazine/group called National Lampoon is a generational thing, and I am of the generation that was buying the rag. More often I bought their comedy albums, it was my aural period, in those years reading took too much effort, to tell the truth.

the magazine quickly grew in popularity during the 1970s, when it regularly skewered pop culture, the counterculture and politics with recklessness and gleeful bad taste.

An example of the bad taste is the song from their off-broadway production, Lemmings which included one song that would not be permitted today. In fact, it has been stricken from the recordings of that shows soundtrack. A commenter to the Amazon site linked above says;

But VERY DISAPPOINTINGLY omitted from this CD is the Joan Baez spoof PULL THE TRIGGERS _IGGERS("Pull the triggers, _iggers- we're with you all the way... right across the bay..."). As offensive and politcally uncorrect as the song is in its brevity, it's hysterically funny- and I'm bewildered why National Lampoon would edit the song out of this revue. Anyone know why?

Yes, "Trampyre", they took it out because this nation no longer finds anything funny in the use of that word. Sure, in some circles it is still permitted language, but only in the crude parts of society, not in polite company, and especially not on terrestrial radio. Now they spell it differently, and claim that it has a different definition if spoken by a certain clique too. And, besides, who among us would find it ironic to have a white peace activist sing as though she were a black militant? Not me. It really wasn't ever funny, though I am sure that I laughed uncomfortably back then, just shocking. And, as Don Imus can attest, shock as a form of entertainment (and revelation about where we are as people) is no longer protected by the first amendment.

I wonder if this spoof would make it today?

The caption says, "If Ted Kennedy drove a Volkwagon he'd be President today".

Anyway, the next time you hear Joe Biden ask how many shock jocks we had in this country in the seventies you can answer that he has asked the wrong question. The question is, how many shock jocks were we training in the seventies?

Of course, the answer is unimportant really, for we all know that it isn't what is said, it is who it is said about. So, we know that the VW ad would be in trouble, it mocks one of the untouchables.

Our friend Sue "the instigator" was at it again this weekend, snapping this photo with her cell phone while on a trip to her local grocery store. Yes this is a real product, in a large chain grocery store. I can't vouch for the taste of the sauce or how exactly it's made (and I'm not sure if this would fit into Rick's "Americana Photo" category), but the picture sure does have flavor!

Apparently someone over at Rolling Stone never got the memo: they ARE the establishment now. And the lessons they taught are gathering no moss with the new counter-culture.

Philadelphia fortune tellers closed down

If you haven't seen it yet, Hot Air has a little Jeff Foxworthy you should see. And if you like Jeff's comedy, be warned: he's dead serious.

(The Freepers have a transcript if you can't watch.)

Does anyone remember the film Lost Tomb of Jesus made by director James Cameron that came out a few months back? Well, there's some news about the claims made in that film:

Several prominent scholars who were interviewed in a bitterly contested documentary that suggests that Jesus and his family members were buried in a nondescript ancient Jerusalem burial cave have now revised their conclusions, including the statistician who claimed that the odds were 600:1 in favor of the tomb being the family burial cave of Jesus of Nazareth, a new study on the fallout from the popular documentary shows.

"Personally, I'm skeptical that this is the tomb of Jesus and I made this point very clear to the filmmakers," Gibson is quoted as saying.

"We need much more evidence before we can say that the Talpiot tomb might be the family tomb of Jesus," he added.

In the film, renowned epigrapher Prof. Frank Moore Cross, professor emeritus of Hebrew and oriental languages at Harvard University, is seen reading one of the ossuaries and stating that he has "no real doubt" that it reads "Jesus son of Joseph." But according to Pfann, Cross said in an e-mail that he was skeptical about the film's claims, not because of a misreading of the ossuary, but because of the ubiquity of Biblical names in that period in Jerusalem.

"It has been reckoned that 25 percent of feminine names in this period were Maria/Miriam, etc. - that is, variants of 'Mary.' So the cited statistics are unpersuasive. You know the saying: lies, damned lies, and statistics," Cross is quoted as saying.

Que Emily: "So the tomb in this movie was of someone named Jesus and his wife Mary, and their son... but there were hundreds, maybe even thousands of men named Jesus back then, and 1/4 of all the women at the time were named some variation of Mary? So the claims of this being THE Jesus' tomb are dubious at best?! Oh, that's quite different... Never mind."

No need to wonder if news of these revisions will make it into the ODM (Old Dead Media). We are all too familiar with the script by now... fake, but accurate! They'll publish the fake and ignore the accurate.

This weekend brings the NFL Conference Championship games, wherein the winner of each conference is promoted to the Superbowl. One of those matches pits the Chicago Bears against the New Orleans Saints. Yesterday Laura mentioned that Illinois Senator Barack Obama and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin would be sharing a booth at the game. So I imagined a wager between the two politicians, Chicago is known for its deep dish pizza, thus Obama bets a (flash-in-the) pan pizza, and Nagin bets a box of chocolates.

I'm a daily reader of NewsBusters.org. Today's content includes a link to a video of Dennis Miller. Please check it out. Favorite quotes:
"14:57, 14:58, 14:59."
"When Saddam Hussein arrived in hell last week..."
"...death must look like a promotion to him as he fires up his yak-powered dialysis machine..."
"Let's give that money and our support to the best troops on the planet so they can go and flatten the enemy."
Amen, brother.

Well, isn't this interesting. It seems that Mama Nancy's San Francisco is not the progressive, tolerant, peace-loving town everyone claims.

As Rapagnani tells it, his 19-year-old daughter was hosting a New Year's Eve party at the family's Richmond District home for the Baker's Dozen, who were in town as part of a West Coast tour.

The 16 singers showed up late to the party wearing preppy sport jackets and ties, and launched into "The Star-Spangled Banner."

A couple of uninvited guests started mocking them, and allegedly the words "faggot" and "homo" were tossed -- and so were a couple of punches.

I'm kinda surprised that I even found out about this incident. Usually stories like this only make it into the Lame-stream Media if there is some cause or link that can be made to Bush or the republicans. Maybe the person who booked the tour for the group had a friend who knew someone who once dated a republican. Yea... that's enough! IT'S BUSH' FAULT!!!

Update: SFPD Under Fire Over Yale Choir Assault

Lily Munster died this week. Of course I mean the actress, Yvonne De Carlo who played that role died. Though, for my generation, the distinction is a mute point, she will always be Herman Munster's wife, Lily, to us. I respectfully hope that she doesn't mind the association. And, my sympathies to her family and friends.

I normally wouldn't make mention of her passing here, but, the circumstances of my hearing that she died seem too funny not to share. And, given that she must have had a sense of humor, I hope she gets the internet up there and gets a chuckle too.

So here goes. It was a regular enough radio news cast; Bush to speak, Democrats to denounce Bush, Democrats not waiting until the speech to denounce Bush, rinse and repeat. And then, just before the weather guy's turn, the man reading the wire gives us the story that De Carlo has died. He finished the story by saying, "Miss De Carlo was 84 degrees". He did not acknowledge his oops, and I got a big laugh. He obviously had the weather in his mind and switched 'years old' to "degrees".But, then I started thinking, what if he wasn't wrong. If she was 84º three strong possibilites came to mind:

1) Given that the human body is normally maintaining a temperature near 98.6º, a temperature of 84º would explain her demise.

2) If her temperature was 84º, then she was cooling off rapidly. Though I am at a loss to understand why anyone was keeping track of such a thing.

3) And, lastly, it occurred to me, that if she was 84º, and if that was not an aberation; then her role of Lily the Vampiress may have been a case of type casting.

Godspeed, with a smile, Miss De Carlo.

Glenn E. (Bo) Schembechler -
April 1, 1929 - November 17, 2006

I am as big an Ohio State fan as there is on this planet (after all, I was born on Campus!) and this saddens me as much as when Woody left us. Those two men understood.

My sympathies and condolences to the Schembechler's and the entire University of Michigan family. He was a great man and will be missed.

But I really can't help but have a rye smile, thinking that Woody just wanted some familiar company for the game.

Dean is watching movies and invites us along for the ride.

I used the opportunity to comment on a masterpiece of satire. While I was there, I thought I'd post this, just to set the mood before you follow the links:

Speaking of the fair sex... I received this in the mail yesterday, obviously in reference to our About Us page:

Subject: poor thing!!!

While the photo is in itself quite telling, your views are probably the primary reason you seek cyber-love. I am a life long Republican. You neo-cons are a pathetic toy soldier imitation. OUT OUT DAMN SPOT!!!!!!!!

Later, though, the burden of Lady Macbeth's conscience becomes too great for her and her mental and physical condition deteriorates. A gentlewoman observes her sleepwalking and consults a doctor. The doctor and the lady observe Lady Macbeth sleepwalking, madly trying to cleanse her hands of the blood of Duncan and Macduff's family. Still in her sleep, Lady Macbeth asks, "what, will these hands ne're be clean?" foreseeing that she will never have peace of mind.

But sometimes you just gotta respect the art.

Robert at Dean's World

If you're familiar with the hilarious work of Despair, Inc., and you've long been a fan of Trekdom, have I got a website for you: Star Trek Inspirational Posters.

You'll need a few minutes in the neural neutralizer before you're done.

Ace (again, again... bastard)

Were you reading Slate today?

...are waiting for your phone call.

Superman eschews longtime patriot act

So, it seems that Superman no longer represents the "American Way"? Or, at least, the latest Superman movie's producers are willing to represent him to the world that way, if it means more dollars in their pockets.

"So, you play the movie in a foreign country, and you say, 'What does he stand for? -- truth, justice and the American way.' I think a lot of people's opinions of what the American way means outside of this country are different from what the line actually means (in Superman lore) because they are not the same anymore," Harris says. "And (using that line) would taint the meaning of what he is saying."

Well screw what the people outside America think of the "American Way" then. For a few of us inside America, it means just what it always meant, and that is the only definition that counts. The folks who created this movie version are quite happy to put money in their pockets, in the American way, but they are either too greedy or somehow ashamed to let the world think they are proud to be American? I'm not much of a movie goer, so not getting my dollars won't hurt much, but this just became one more movie which I will not be viewing.

The meaning of "the American Way" has not changed, and we should all be damn proud to shout that fact from the rooftops. If those outside this country don't get it, one, we need to educate them, and two, we don't need them coming here until they do understand.

"The world has changed. The world is a different place," Pennsylvania native Harris says. "The truth is he's an alien. He was sent from another planet. He has landed on the planet Earth, and he is here for everybody. He's an international superhero."

Damn right, he, and the "American Way" are here for the benefit of everybody; but nobody benefits if Superman adapts his virtues to some non-descript global norm. The best system man has yet devised is the American way, and it is about time that the rest of the world understood that. We would all benefit if the international crowd adopted truth, justice and the American way. Both, Superman and America represent strength used for good. That could have been the theme of the movie, and it would have resonated in the hearts of people everywhere. The movie could have continued the celebration of goodness over evil which has been a staple of the Superman story, instead, these movie-makers chose to go the path of the weak, and their message is that it is better to be liked for what you are not than to be loved for what you are.

"The reason there are two senators for each state is so that one can be the designated driver." - Jay Leno

I don't know when Leno made this comment, but I have confirmed that there has been no comment from either Mary Jo Kopechne or the security barricade at First and C Streets Southeast in Washington DC.

Belly Laugh

My baby sister.

Those who know me personally know that I love a good joke. There is a talent to delivering a joke that not all people possess (my lovely wife being one), so you must naturally acknowledge when you witness such talent. That having been said, this is without a doubt one of the best blond jokes ever...

Hat tip to GOPBloggers

Well, I'm finally on a post-holiday schedule where it seems I might be able to think about posting again. I expect by the time the Alito hearings start next week I might be stoked to a full boil, but for now I simply want to pass along a couple of funny links.

Today, James Taranto links to a post at an Iowa-centric blog I've seen occasionally called State 29. The post is a neat story of media bias and collegiate elitism, but check out the old Onion article it links to. I'm already a big fan of The Onion, but I don’t think I’ve ever read a more subdued piece of Onion satire than this. Other than the fact that it’s totally fabricated and gently pokes fun at someone (almost) recovering from clueless dorkdom, it could be a bona fide news story on page 5 of the local section in a small controversy-starved newspaper. (Well, yes... provided there's a paper anywhere that isn’t hostile to Christianity.)

Absolutely masterful.

BONUS: In the same issue, check out the Special 'Framer's Cut' of the Constitution.

I've been saving this image, taken on Marco Island, Florida, for a snowy day up north. Sorry folks, just have to rub it in now and then.

To Karen for helping me correctly identify that machine.

Tonight, for the 40th time, Charles Shultz' first - and still greatest - animated masterpiece, A Charlie Brown Christmas, will be shown on network television. In their cover feature today, USAToday offers us a glimse into MSM past, present, and future by explaining how it was "The Christmas classic that almost wasn't." Color us shocked.

When CBS bigwigs saw a rough cut of A Charlie Brown Christmas in November 1965, they hated it.

"They said it was slow," executive producer Lee Mendelson remembers with a laugh. There were concerns that the show was almost defiantly different: There was no laugh track, real children provided the voices, and there was a swinging score by jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi.

Mendelson and animator Bill Melendez fretted about the insistence by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz that his first-ever TV spinoff end with a reading of the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke by a lisping little boy named Linus.

"We told Schulz, 'Look, you can't read from the Bible on network television,'" Mendelson says. "When we finished the show and watched it, Melendez and I looked at each other and I said, 'We've ruined Charlie Brown.'"

Good grief, were they wrong. The first broadcast was watched by almost 50% of the nation's viewers. "When I started reading the reviews, I was absolutely shocked," says Melendez, 89. "They actually liked it!"

Hardly. Which begs the question: if Linus telling us about the birth of Christ is acceptable, popular, and profitable, why aren't more kid shows doing the same? It says something about CBS in particular that they decided five years ago they wouldn't pay for the right to show it anymore, so now it's shown on ABC.

As we visit The Black Madonna for a prayer.

Some people can't see things for what they are, they have to invent a problem. It is a design, it spells nothing!

Wonder how the jerk liked his ice cream? Maybe it will go down better for him with the new packaging.

A non-politically correct response to some illiterate ignoramous cry baby.

What do you get when you combine a loopy liberal activist, his entourage (including a personal photographer to capture all the compassion of his brave benefactor), a leaky boat, and a red plastic cup?

You get a great big shining example of why actors should try as hard as they can to stay in their insulated world of make-believe and away from real life situations.

Asked what he had hoped to achieve in the waterlogged city, the actor replied: "Whatever I can do to help."

It appears that he has just added one boat to the list of items that needs to be salvaged.

Gee, thanks Sean!

Hat tip to Sue, who is enjoying this episode far too much!

Update: Not that the story isn't funny on it's own, but the photo is just priceless!

I learned just last night, I am now Da Man. Word came during my stop at the local watering hole.

Jim: Rick, you are THE man.

Rick: I'm the man?

Jim: Yes, you DA MAN!

I am appalled at how far the standards for being Da Man have fallen. And I was, at first, taken to not accept the honor. For, as Groucho Marx said :

Please accept my resignation. I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.

But, by what right can I question the judgement of those who awarded this honor upon me?

Now, I am not yet certain what duties and responsibilities go along with being named Da Man, (I did not know I was even in the running), or how my schedule will be affected in fulfilling those obligations. I will strive to endeavor to continue my sporadic blogging habits. And no matter how hectic the days ahead become I will never forget the little people, who obstructed my every move as I attempted to simply eke out a modest living and be a good person and I promise to repay you all in kind.

Signed,

Rick aka Da Man

Your Supreme Vengeful Tyrant For Life Benevolent Servant Always

We are already into July. Where does the time go?

Having mulled this question over in my mind a bit (remember, I'm an evil conservative Republican!) I must conclude that yes, justice was served. And here, IMHO, is why I think that:

1. A properly seated and instructed jury has found him not guilty of the crimes for which he was charged.


2. No parent in this country will (let us hope) ever let their child sleep with him, no matter how innocent he may claim his intentions are.


3. If the country believes the same way many of the jury stated they do - that there was a great deal of evidence that Michael Jackson is indeed a pedophile, just not enough to convict him of this crime - then the court of public opinion will punish him more surely than the California courts could have.
   

Chapinesque?

I saw this man collecting the bananas which fell from his truck and my first thought was, Thirty Thousand Pounds Of Bananas.

(Hey, at TBR we can't be serious all of the time. And besides, consider yourself lucky that I wasn't inspired to photograph a reminder of a Loudon Wainwright III song.

If You Like The Outdoors; Thank A Republican

"Conservation means development as much as it does protection. I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful means, the generations that come after us." - Theodore Roosevelt

She Who Comes In Second, Michelle Malkin has news about how Laura Ingraham is doing after surgery. As an extra bonus prize, Michelle quotes Elizabeth Edwards as she tries to be nice - and almost succeeds! Better luck next time, Lizzy.

You know, eventually, at some place and time, badmouthing the President and the country crosses some line - not a line of decency (that line is often crossed, by those who do such things, fairly early on) but one of law. It seems the malcontents at Air America may have discovered just where that line is... and hopefully, just how stupid it is to cross a line that even Forrest Gump would have had enough sense to stay away from.

I've often said that I'd drop Ann Coulter in a heartbeat to have one evening with Laura Ingraham. That heart just skipped a beat with news that may favorite gal pundit is undergoing surgery today for breast cancer. We're praying hard for you, Laura.

UPDATE: Laura posted the news on her website.

Dan Rather was walking out the door to leave the CBS News headquarters for the last time tonight when one of his coworkers asked him "Hey Dan, do you have anything to say to those Bloggers who will try to claim that they were the ones who brought about your departure?" Dan wheeled around, grinned, and just as a photographer snapped a final picture, replied in that all too familiar folksy drawl he enjoys putting on at times like this...

Confusing message: Stop legalize? Stop Regulate?

Side By Side

[ The signs read: "Christian Congregation In The United States" and "Islamic Center of Naples"]

Please excuse the flippant note of Arthur Miller's passing as a title; it was the first thing that came to mind. Actually, I wouldn't be noting his death here at all if not that this Colby Cosh remark completely summarizes my own thoughts in elegant brevity.

" I don't have much to add, not being terribly familiar with Miller's oeuvre. When I think about the man who wrote plays about how capitalism thwarts human aspirations, and then got married to Marilyn Monroe, I'm afraid about all I can do is giggle."

Did anyone watch the Grammy Awards this past weekend? Judging from this article (hat tip: The Drudge Report), not many of you did. But if you had you would have seen a classic example of what is wrong with the Artsy-fartsy, Hollywood, celebrity, elite crowd - style over substance.

In what I consider to be a Herculean effort to feel good about themselves, the members of the Recording Academy decided to award Ray Charles the two most prestigious Grammy awards available - album and record of the year.

Now, please don't misunderstand me - Ray Charles was an excellent and inventive musician. I have been a fan of his music since I was old enough to know what good music was, went to see Ray the first night it was out and ask for, and received, Genius Loves Company for Christmas. But I must say, having listened to both that CD and Alicia Keys' Diary of Alicia Keys, there is no way Genius Loves Company should have won either of those awards! It is a good album, but Diary of Alicia Keys is great!

IMHO, Alicia Keys is the best musician in a generation or more, and it is a travesty that her CD was pushed aside just so the members of the Academy could honor a great musician who just happens to have died this past year - because it made them look good to the people they feel are important, and made them feel good about themselves. I guess their rational is (write this down, and mark the date 'cause it will happen!) that they can always make it up to her by giving her those awards next year.

Ray Charles' music does deserve recognition - it always has! That's not my point. My point is, if the Academy really thought that Ray Charles deserved an award for is music, why didn't his Ultimate Hits Collection (my fav) win one? Why didn't more of his earlier work? Look, I was a musician in High School and have (or at least had) nominal talent - not a great deal, but not zero either - and I knew way back in the mid seventies that Ray Charles was exceptionally great, just as I know now that Alicia Keys is exceptionally great. Why give a good album awards that should go to a great album? Why not just do a big tribute to honor him and leave it at that? Or better yet, why not just play clips of Ray playing the songs that we all know and love? Clips from when Ray was at his best - being Ray.

Perhaps the Recording Academy saw an opportunity to make themselves look good, feel good, and at the same time, to assuage some of their guilt for past oversights, and it was just too sweet to pass up. Too bad really. Ray Charles should have been lauded more during the years he was alive, and Diary of Alicia Keys should have been recognized - this year - for being what it truely is... album and record of the year!

GENEROSITY

The strangest escape ever?

Leave it to Mark Steyn to say what I've been thinking since Britain began its inane "Prince Harry the Nazi" episode, apologizing all over itself in the process.

It's a good rule of thumb that, no matter how big an idiot someone is, he can never compete with the political class's response to his idiocy. Thus, whatever feelings of unease I might have had about Prince Hitler were swept away the moment the rent-a-quote humbugs started lining up to denounce him....

The French sports minister suggested the "scandal" would undermine Britain's bid to host the Olympics. Londoners should be so lucky.

But, if I understand the concern of the sporting world correctly, being a totalitarian state that's killed millions is no obstacle to hosting the Olympics, but going to a costume party wearing the uniform of a defunct totalitarian state that's no longer around to kill millions is completely unacceptable.

(W)orrying about a minor Royal schoolboy's alleged Nazi bent seems something of an indulgence at a time when the neo-Nazis get as many votes in Saxony's elections as Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democratic Party; when from Marseilles to Paris, Jews are being attacked and their homes, schools, kosher butchers, synagogues and cemeteries burnt and desecrated in a low-level intifada that's been going on so long the political establishment now accepts it as a normal feature of French life; and when the Berlin police advise Jews not to go out in public wearing any identifying marks of their faith. It's not just Nazi insignia you don't see in Germany these days; Nazi wise, the uniforms are the least of it.

But if Adolf Hitler were to return from wherever he is right now, what would he be most steamed about? That in some countries there are laws banning Nazi symbols and making Holocaust denial a crime? No, that wouldn't bother him: that would testify to the force and endurance of his ideas - that 60 years on they're still so potent the state has to suppress them.

What would bug him the most is that on Broadway and in the West End Mel Brooks is peddling Nazi shtick in The Producers and audiences are howling with laughter. I don't know what kick Prince Harry gets out of his Nazi gear, but once long ago I was obliged for an historical scene to wear an SS uniform and I've never felt so screamingly camp as when mincing around doing that little flip-of-the-wrist mini-Heil thing.

One reason why the English-speaking democracies were just about the only advanced nations not to fall for Nazism or Fascism is that they simply found it too ridiculous.... That's why British party stores stock Nazi outfits - because they're a joke, and we made them one. So when prissy Krauts want to ban Prince Harry's party gear they should go suck an old bratwurst.

Comedy is always the art of poking fun at someone. It can be used with grace,