Ron Paul! Ron Paul!

Jon Stewart had a great line last night in his opening monologue - Which I apparently was the only one watching. The ratings were abysmal. The lesson to learn for the academy would be : If No One Has Seen Your Movies, No One Is Going To Watch Your TV Show or Stars Good, Actors Bad.

They tried though, they tried! George Clooney was nominated, Harrison Ford was in the building! But sadly, so were the eventual winners. Also, the acting categories were made up of, for the most part, of actors nobody knows in moves nobody saw , I mean, come on! Amy Ryan and Saoirse Ronan? Tom Wilkerson and Casey Affleck? Would it kill them to nominate pictures that anyone actually saw? And no, I am not even kind of suggesting The Academy turn itself into Gawd Forbid into The People’s Choice Awards, but come on! Throw us a bone every once in a while.

Can no one make a good movie for grown-ups that isn’t about blood or death or insanity or pregnant teens? And would it kill the academy to nominate films that actual inspire laughter? Does every character in ever movie either have to be dead or in tears? Dying is easy, everyone cries at the same things there is nothing subjective about watching some one die, even a fictional someone. Comedy is hard. Comedy is subjective, what makes me laugh isn’t necessarily going to make you laugh. The ability to make everyone laugh at the same thing at the same time is a talent and one that should be rewarded.

I’m still glad that Juno didn’t win though.

Oh, you know who I knew the ratings and interest in the Oscars(tm) were low? I posted the results and my hit count didn’t bounce. Usually, award show results are hit bait and Oscar(tm) results are like chum in the water. I was shocked. No sharks, no hits.

So, in the furtherance of hit whoring. I’ve decided to try another tact. RON PAUL! Woo-Hoo RON PAUL RELOVUATION!!!

I think that Nader got into the race because he’s contractually obligated to the GOP through 2012, The Republicans are freaking out and they think that Nader is going to confuse the Prius drivers - Gore style Green, yes, Nader style Green? No.

Nader is in because putting him into the mix has worked well for the RNC in the past and they are comfortable in the past. They are hoping to defuse the Democrats potential for victory in November by adding another “liberal” candidate, but also because they must have noticed that the RON PAUL army is made up of the kind of crazy people that are usually lined up behind Nader. Nader has always been single issue, and as a candidate he’s a single issue candidate for the crazies, Paul is about as single issue as they come and they both know the secret:

Write one speech, tell whomever shows up to listen that no one else is listening to them, that Washington is out of touch with them, that they are victimized while everyone else is getting away with murder! Then pick a goal, something insane... Like abolishing the FDC! Bring back the Gold Standard! Flat Tax! Get the crazies lathered up, rinse, and repeat in every town between Washington D.C and Washington State. And of course all the while reminding them that they are part of something “bigger” then the twelve people there. It's the candidates job to make them feel like they are a secret army. It makes them feel good. Give them something to follow and they will write checks to it until the ends of the Earth.

If RON PAUL can pull the cash that he’s pulling, Nader can be sure of at least pull in enough to make it worth his RNC handlers time, and besides, The Straight Talk Express has a hit a funding road block, if the campaign can’t raise the funds for itself directly, who is to say Nader’s freak show can’t... even a half assed Nader run is going to pull in funds that the McCain campaign can use to keep it self going.

The right-wing doesn’t actually own the Ron Paul army - Just like they didn’t own Perot's’ and they didn’t really own McCain's back when he was a Libertarian- These are the free range crazy people. They love to follow and they’ll follow anyone who doesn’t actively run away from them; Really, try it sometime, stand on a corner and say crazy things while asking for money and people will give you cash and their email address. Followers have to follow, but they do seem to prefer to follow someone successful and as time goes on and Paul’s campaign begins to flounder (even more than it is now) , all those crazy people are going to need a new candidate to throw their money and their crazy at and for the GOP, and McCain's campaign, Nader is their man.