The People in Your Neighborhood

Ahmadine-jihad

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been spreading his brand of crazy across NY this week - speaking at the UN and Columbia University. Kudos to Columbia's President Lee Bolinger for calling him out as a 'cruel and petty dictator.'
However, the real enjoyment of the week has been watching every news anchor and political pundit trying to pronounce Ahmadinejad's last name. Katie Couric has been nailing it pretty well, and David Letterman actually had it roll off his tongue like he minored in Farsi. However, most of the time I'm picturing Ahmadinejad sitting around with his advisers, re-enacting the scene from Office Space where Samir Nagheenanajar is lamenting how no one can pronounce his name properly.

"No one in this country can ever pronounce my name right. It's not that hard: Samir Na-gheen-an-a-jar. Nagheenanajar. "

I think it was smart not to let him go to Ground Zero, but in the end letting him speak here in the US turned out to be a pretty savvy move - mostly because it let everyone see what a nutjob is running Iran. He commented that there are no gay people in Iran, the Holocaust probably never happened, and the Backstreet Boys' new album is super fly.

Erin Esurance
I'm not typically into the punk-rock dyed-hair look, but there's something about this pink-haired super crime fighter that catches my eye. Maybe it's the way she deftly battles interstellar aliens in games of basketball. Maybe it's the skin tight leather outfits she sports while defying another sinister henchman. Simply put, she might be the hottest animated character since Ariel from the Little Mermaid.
I had to see these commercials a good 20 times before I even realized they were selling online car insurance. You can forgive my ignorance, as these commercials have nothing to do with car insurance whatsoever. Either way, keep doing what you do Erin.

Hillary Clinton
Most of the polls this week are showing that The Hilldebeast is pulling away from Obama and the rest of the democratic presidential contenders. I hate to let the secret out of the bag, but quietly there's nothing we Republicans hope for more! The lesson the democrats refuse to learn - even after their Kerry debacle - is the lesson of electability. Even more confounding is the notion that a Clinton/Obama 'superticket' is even more unstoppable!

The truth as I see it is that the only electable democrat is John Edwards; but he has somehow lost all his momentum and drive from the 2004 election. I guess you can't blame the guy - his wife has pretty much been given a death sentence after her cancer recently returned.

East Coast Mark hasn't yet thrown his full backing behind a candidate - but we're leaning toward Mitt Romney. His voice hasn't completely gotten out to the general public yet - but when it does, he's going to turn a lot of heads. The guy is a brilliant businessman, Harvard graduate, former Governor of Massachusetts, and single-handedly stepped in and saved the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics after they were rocked by scandals. 5 kids, never been divorced...and I think he's done a pretty solid job of making his Mormon religion a non-issue.