NOTE: I originally posted this on November 4 last year, but it seems it got a little lost in the flurry of pre-election posts. So as I again don’t have time to do a new post this week, I thought I’d re-post it.

After all my serious election related posts, I thought it was time for a humorous one as Americans head off to the polls. On the surface, this brilliant Mad TV sketch is a parody of a Steve Jobs Apple keynote (and it actually works pretty well on that level), but underneath it is actually an even funnier parody of something else entirely. Definitely one of the cleverest comedy sketches I’ve ever seen!

I don’t have time for a full post this week—and I figure it’s time for a little comic relief anyway—so here’s an amusing, Quentin Tarantino flavoured religious satire. It’s based on a parable from the web site jhuger.com, which features a lot more material casting a very critical eye over religion as well.

It seems pretty ironic that just after my previous So How’s Obama Doing? post went up, two events occurred that could well come to define his presidency. One of these was his very impressive Cairo speech. Given how keen George W. was to go to war with the Muslim world, I think it’s pretty hard to argue that Obama represents more of the same. Cynics will say it’s just another one of his charming public performances, but the reality is, when it comes to diplomacy, speeches like this do matter—a lot. He has once again demonstrated his remarkable diplomatic skill in negotiating his way between what are in many ways opposing ideologies, which is exactly what is needed if there is to be peace between the west and the Muslim world. While Bush burnt more bridges than perhaps any other US President in history, Obama has what it takes to rebuild them as few other people do. Yes, a lot of it does come down to charm, but once again, in matters of diplomacy this is a very positive attribute. Plus it’s not as if his speech lacked substance anyway, and I think his expressed intent is genuine.

I have far less positive feelings about the other major Obama-related event that occurred in the last week, however: his “date night” with wife Michelle in New York. At first blush, this trip comes across as a colossal waste of taxpayers money, but in fairness, for security reasons the US President has to travel anywhere by government jet. And it’s hardly as if he’s the first US President to travel at the taxpayer’s expense and enjoy a bit of leisure time—indeed, he has had far less time off so far than Bush, who spent a very large percentage of his presidency on holiday. Still, the reason few people talked about that was because he (like most Presidents when engaged in leisurely pursuits) tried to keep it low profile. The same definitely cannot be said for Obama’s night on the town with Michelle though, and while you could say that’s more honest and open, it also comes across as irresponsibly extravagant, especially in these tough economic times. Let’s not forget that many people who voted for Obama were quite poor, and even a lot of relatively wealthy people have had to tighten their belts during the current economic crisis. Still, once again he is hardly the first President to do this kind of thing. He may be the first to be so public about it, but then and again, there’s more media interest in Obama’s private life than any President since at least Kennedy, so perhaps it just can’t be helped.

While I still feel Obama is doing a very creditable job so far, I hope he isn’t blinded by his own myth.