But ultimately such cries for change are in vein.  Obama was the last time most of us will be fooled.  So much was riding on his rhetoric and we hoped and prayed we were getting a once-in-a-generation figure.  But it was actually image politics at its finest and so many were glad to be getting a guy who spoke in complete sentences because that’s where George W. Bush and Sarah Palin were setting the bar.  We made a big deal about Obama being the first black President but he’s shown himself to be as yellow as any other.

And truly, there are no replacements.  We won’t change campaign finance laws because people, no matter how well-intentioned, will almost always find their way to the money.  They’ll do a stint in congress and then find their way to a high-priced lobbying firm and trade access for fat cash.  And since there’s no profit in helping an ill-defined group of middle-class voters (we’ve already seen this year how unions can be destroyed), no organization on the behalf of the middle-class can ever raise enough money to compete with the Goldman Sachs and Koch Brothers of the world.  Even if they could, there’s more money to be made helping the richer organizations.

We live in an oligarchy and who we choose as our leaders is about as important as who we choose as the next American Idol.

I will not be inviting former House Majority Leader-cum-lobbyist Dick Armey to my home any time soon.  Armey appeared on last night’s The Daily Show and obviously there were going to be disagreements between him and Jon Stewart.  However, Stewart has shown that he is perfectly happy to have on guests who disagree with him.  Bill Kristol, Mike Huckabee, and (before he sold-out every belief he had), John McCain have all been repeat guests on the show.  The problem comes if there’s a guest who doesn’t respect the forum or Stewart.  The brilliant and gifted comedian does not abide rudeness.

Dick Armey wasted no time in getting there.  While he brought Stewart a nice hat, Armey–not even one minute into the interview–said that the hat would make Stewart smarter.  He followed up that gem by telling Stewart, “When I’m here saying ‘You’re all horse and no cattle,’ at least I know you’ll got the hat.”  So in less than two minutes, Armey has insulted the intelligence of his host twice.  It’s one thing to go in preparing for a war of words.  It’s another to treat your opponent like he doesn’t have a chance of winning.

And Stewart manages to keep his calm for almost a good 12 minutes of the 20-minute interview.  And then he not only takes down Armey’s “tyranny” argument with a couple sentences, and then calls Armey on his opportunistic bullshit.  Jon Stewart knows his stuff.  Armey should have known that before he stepped into Stewart’s house.  Watch the full interview below.

This is a strong special comment except for two things:

1) The rhetorical shortcut of using Pastor Martin Niemoller’s famous quote.

2) Not criticizing Obama for his back-peddling on the issue.  Obama first came out and made a strong stance supporting the cultural center.  Then, realizing he had made a strong stance, instantly retreated to a middling position and questioned the wisdom of building the center “near” Ground Zero.  And I would take the Obama Administration’s advice on wisdom like I would take driving tips from Stevie Wonder.

Artwork by Shane Parker