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Friday Afternoon Random Question: Animal Politics!

Sick of all the dirty campaigning and so on, the two presidential candidates come up with an unorthodox strategy to determine a winner: each will be allowed to choose an animal, train it for one month, and then pit it against his opponent’s beast in a no-holds-barred, winner-takes-all battle. (Just assume for our purposes that, somehow, PETA is on board with this.) UPDATE: Should have noted: no weapons allowed.

You are a presidential candidate. What (real — not imaginary, not mythical, not something out of a book or movie, not extinct) animal would you choose? And state your case.

Me? I’m leaning toward bull hippo. Super strong, perpetually bad mood, faster and more agile than it appears.

Why Zac Crain Can’t Rent An Apartment in Farmers Branch

Because, according to this headline, his fisherman’s-wharf beard would exclude him. Also, if you read into the story, ugly cars can keep you from a two-bed-one-bath dream shack as well. IJS, Zac.

Answer To Marty Cortland: I’m More Pro-Obama Than Ever

Our former columnist raises the question, which I am compelled to answer:

Just curious: do you have the same level of conviction in your endorsement that you had when you made it, or has it lessened (or increased)? I would also be curious if you would phrase your endorsement the same way or would you make different arguments or emphasize different policies? And has Obama done anything to disappoint you since you made your endorsement? (And for the record and to be fair, although I will be voting for McCain for pocketbook reasons, he has done nothing but disappoint me since the date of your endorsement.)

Two major events have occurred since I wrote my endorsement: (1) McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin, and (2) the financial collapse. My thoughts on both after the jump:

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Dallas Earthquake!

Forgive us for not yet mentioning the earthquake and aftershocks that hit the Dallas-Fort Worth area last night. I’m still not convinced it’s not part of some new, Halloween Fools’ Day tradition. Or… [dum dum dum] is it Barnett Shale related?

Friday Fun: Cat Bowling

Happy Halloween-y Friday. A co-workering FrontBurnervian suggested Cat Bowling for the Friday Fun on Halloween, ’cause there’s a witch involved and some pumkins and other Halloween-related iconography. Or maybe she’s a dog person. Either way, here’s it is. Enjoy. (Note: One should not try to recreate this Flash Friday game with real cats—like you could get 10 of them to stand closely together in a triangle at the end of an alley, anyway.)

Eruptions From The Fever Swamps

I’ve gotten a lot of reactions, pro and con, from my endorsement of Barack Obama, most of which on both sides have been thoughtful and cogent. But as the election draws nearer, I am hearing from more people like Paul J. Henry of Colville, WA:

Wick, you are an idiot. Obama is a slick talking Muslim terrorist.  He has promised to destroy SDI, eliminate our nuclear arsenal and destroy our economy by raising taxes and increase government spending. You should look for another job.

(Paul, haven’t you noticed? There are no other jobs.)

DMN Kicked Off Obama Press Corps Plane

To make room for network reporters? Or, as Drudge would have it, because it endorsed McCain? My question is different. Why is the News spending scarce resources covering a very well-covered national campaign in the first place? Do its news editors still hold pretentions of being a national or regional newspaper? Boys, I got news for you worse than being shuffled off an airplane: those days are long gone. Every dime you don’t put into local coverage is a dime you might as well have tossed down the drain.

Leading Off (10/31/08): Halloween Edition

1. DISD adopted a new ethics policy for board members, amid catcalls suggesting it isn’t stringent enough. (Trustees can’t have a “substantial interest” in a business contracted by the district.) What did the catcalls sound like? Boo!

2. TexasWatchdog.org reports that there could be 6,000 dead people on the Dallas County voter rolls, but the Morning News quotes an election official saying the report is questionable. My take? Beware the undead!

3. The Dallas Mavericks lost their opener to the Houston Rockets, who were led by Ron Artest’s 29 and (pictured) the Chinese Frankenstein’s 30 points.