Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was out looking for something quick to post… And here is another quiz, the results of which please your Maximum Leader.

Which Epic Poet Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as P. Vergilius Maro You are Vergil, author of The Aeneid. Your epic meditates upon broad themes of history and fate, as well as especially glorifying Rome and your patron Augustus. Your perfectionism is notorious; it was said you would start a day with forty lines and end with four. P. Vergilius Maro 80% Torqauto Tasso 50% John Milton 45% Homer 45% Dante Alighieri 40%

Your Maximum Leader was a little surprised that he wasn’t Milton - whom he has always enjoyed a lot. And for the sake of being honest, your Maximum Leader has never heard (or never remembers hearing about) Tasso prior to this quiz…

Your Maximum Leader was recently talking about Vergil with Villainette #2 who is studying Ancient Rome now in school. He even pulled out one of his many copies of The Aeneid to have her read some. (She read in English, but saw the Latin on the opposite page.)

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader saw this quiz over on the interestingly named Dad’s Deadpool blog and took it. He likes it a lot and finds that the results suit him well.

Which Great US President Are You Most Like? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as George Washington 1st President, in office from 1789-1797 Born: 1732 Died: 1799 George Washington 74% Ronald Reagan 71% Dwight Eisenhower 64% Abraham Lincoln 59% Theodore Roosevelt 57% Thomas Jefferson 52% John Kennedy 52% Harry Truman 48% Franklin Roosevelt 45% Woodrow Wilson 36% Lyndon Johnson 36%

Interestingly, while taking the quiz, and when pondering its results, your Maximum Leader was reminded of James MacGregor Burn’s book on leadership and was contemplating the nature of presidential leadership. He thinks there might be a post in trying to apply an academic analysis of presidential leadership to the current crop of candidates. Your Maximum Leader will have to file that one away and see if he can write up something on that topic.

Carry on.

Credo in unum Deum,
Patrem omnipoténtem,
factórem cæli et terræ,
visibílium ómnium et invisibílium.
Et in unum Dóminum Iesum Christum,
Fílium Dei Unigénitum,
et ex Patre natum ante ómnia sæcula.
Deum de Deo, lumen de lúmine, Deum verum de Deo vero,
génitum, non factum, consubstantiálem Patri:
per quem ómnia facta sunt.
Qui propter nos hómines et propter nostram salútem
descéndit de cælis.
Et incarnátus est de Spíritu Sancto
ex María Vírgine, et homo factus est.
Crucifíxus étiam pro nobis sub Póntio Piláto;
passus, et sepúltus est,
et resurréxit tértia die, secúndum Scriptúras,
et ascéndit in cælum, sedet ad déxteram Patris.
Et íterum ventúrus est cum glória,
iudicáre vivos et mórtuos,
cuius regni non erit finis.
Et in Spíritum Sanctum, Dóminum et vivificántem:
qui ex Patre Filióque procédit.
Qui cum Patre et Fílio simul adorátur et conglorificátur:
qui locútus est per prophétas.
Et unam, sanctam, cathólicam et apostólicam Ecclésiam.
Confíteor unum baptísma in remissiónem peccatorum.
Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum,
et vitam ventúri sæculi. Amen

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader sometimes sits in the Villainschloss and wonders if he should have brought children into the world. He loves his three children. He would trade his life for them. But he really worries about the world he’s brought them into. When he thinks about the future he doubts the viability of the species. If he was placing bets, he’d put money on cockroaches. (But then again, who wouldn’t? During the Cold War if you had to put a bet on which species would inhabit the Earth in 500 years you’d have chosen the cockroach over the human. Frankly, the cockroach is a good bet in any political/economic/environmental future-casting situation.)

What is causing your Maximum Leader to be so melancholy when thinking forward? Is it Super Tuesday results? Nope. Is it the Packers not making it to the Super Bowl? No. What then could it be?

Try this on:

Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.

Egads!

It gets worse:

The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.

And 23 percent thought World War II prime minister Churchill was made up. The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.

Three percent thought Charles Dickens, one of Britain’s most famous writers, is a work of fiction himself.
Indian political leader Mahatma Gandhi and Battle of Waterloo victor the Duke of Wellington also appeared in the top 10 of people thought to be myths.

Meanwhile, 58 percent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective Holmes actually existed; 33 percent thought the same of W. E. Johns’ fictional pilot and adventurer Biggles.

Great jeezey chreezey! There are still people alive who knew Churchill! There are still Britons alive who knew Churchill. Humm… Let your Maximum Leader think on this… How about… Oh… The Queen. As your Maximum Leader recalls, Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was Queen Elizabeth II’s first Prime Minister. Yet 23% of Britons believe Churchill to be a myth.

Your Maximum Leader is (surprisingly) willing to give (stupid) people a pass in thinking that Richard I (the Lionheart) is a myth. With all the Robin Hood stuff out there and every single crusader movie ever made having some sort of Richard cameo popular culture has helped to push society towards the mythic Richard.

But Winston Churchill a myth?!?!!!!!

Your Maximum Leader weeps for the future.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader, as he is typing this, is seeing that the early returns on this Super Tuesday are giving Georgia and Illinois to Barack Obama and Oklahoma to Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side. On the Republican side of things it looks like Romney gets Massachusetts, Huckabee gets West Virginia, and McCain gets Illinois, Connecticut and New Jersey. Your Maximum Leader is amused to see that some political types are speculating that Ron Paul can win the Alaska primaries.

Way to go Alaska!

You will recall that just a few short weeks ago your Maximum Leader mused that the Republicans could go to their convention without a clear nominee. Now he is beginning to think that the Democrats can go to their convention without a nominee. This is especially plausible considering the Democrats tendency to use a fun and exciting system of proportionally dividing delegates.

Depending on how things go tonight, your Maximum Leader is beginning to think that John McCain will wrap up the Republican nomination by the end of February.

Your Maximum Leader is attempting to look at these races as dispassionately as possible. He is not (admittedly) thrilled by any of his choices, so being dispassionate isn’t too hard. He’ll not lament that none of the candidates thrill him. (However since he did just mention it, none of the candidates thrill him.)

As your Maximum Leader mentioned a few lines ago, proportional division of convention delegates on the Democratic side of these primaries could really keep the Democratic candidates duking it out for weeks. Perhaps your Maximum Leader is the only one thinking this, but does it seem as though the Democrats are doing every thing in their power to weaken themselves during this primary season? By this he means that by making their nominating process more “fair” by not using many “winner take all” primaries, are the Democrats prolonging their nominating process and cutting into the time that their eventual candidate can raise money and campaign against the Republicans? Your Maximum Leader seems to think that this is the first step in the quadrennial march of the Democrats towards self-destruction. They always seem to find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of electoral victory. And if there was ever a year where the Democrats would have to intentionally sabotage themselves to lose the presidential race, this would be the year. Your Maximum Leader can hardly see how the Democrats can lose this race – all things being equal…

Lucky for all of us… Not all things seem to be equal. The Democrats have raised boatloads of money compared to Republicans. That is a big advantage for the Democrats. Pretty much everyone but the most committed party partisans dislikes George W Bush – and by default many Republicans. That is an advantage for the Democrats. The economy is not very strong, and possibly in recession. People (rightly or wrongly – frankly more wrongly) tend to blame the economic situation on the sitting president and his party. This is another plus for the Democrats. There are lots of positives out there if you are a Democrat.

Of course, on the negative side for the Democrats, the two remaining candidates have issues. Do Hillary Clinton’s negatives need to be repeated? Your Maximum Leader thinks not. Barack Obama’s big negatives are inexperience and a perception among many as not having much substance. Of the two Democratic candidates, Barack Obama’s negatives can be overcome by hammering home the empty theme of “change.”

If there is a term in (American) politics that your Maximum Leader has come to loathe as he grows older it is the term “change.” Walter Mondale promised change in 1984. His promised change was to not be Ronald Reagan. Bill Clinton was all about change in 1992. Bill Clinton’s promised change was to help the little guy and fix the economy. Bill Clinton was as obtuse as possible in detailing exactly what constituted change. In 2000 George W Bush promised a change from Bill Clinton and Al Gore.

Change really doesn’t mean much unless you are specific. And as we all know, most people don’t want to hear the specifics. Most voters want to hear good sound bite and start feeling good about the future. Change in the future is a fun and good thing if you put the right spin on it. Don’t like the economy being bad – Change! Don’t like the war in Iraq – Change! Fear for your job because of outsourcing or illegal immigration – Change! Think the Supreme Court is too Liberal/Conservative – Change! To promise change in a presidential campaign is not really to promise anything.

The emptiness of “change” is actually a huge strength for Barack Obama. Your Maximum Leader believes that if Barack Obama can wrap up the Democratic nomination (no easy feat in itself) then all he has to do to win the general election is just preach “change.” This is especially effective if the Republican nominee is John McCain. An Obama/McCain contest is going to be the election of 1996 writ large.

Do you remember 1996? Bob Dole was our bridge to a better past. Bill Clinton was building a bridge to the future. Bob Dole was an old and bitter man. Bill Clinton was a young horny man. Bob Dole didn’t feel anything and spoke in the third person. Bill Clinton felt your pain and finished your sentences as you uttered them. It was sad actually. At least it was sad to your Maximum Leader.

In the event of an Obama/McCain race, your Maximum Leader will gird himself for what will come. Bitter old man John McCain versus optimistic and young Barack Obama. Snippy McCain versus empathetic Obama. McCain is “old” and a “Washington insider.” Obama is “young” and a “fresh faced uniter.” Indeed, your Maximum Leader isn’t sure that John McCain can beat Barack Obama. Anything can happen of course. Politics are unpredictable. But it looks pretty damned tough.

That said… A Clinton/McCain fight. Now that would be a contest for the ages. Your Maximum Leader imagines that fight to be protracted and particularly nasty. He also imagines that John McCain wins that fight. Frankly, on the off chance that Mitt Romney becomes the Republican nominee, he can see Romney pulling out a win against Clinton. It would be very difficult for Romney, but Hillary is beatable.

At this point your Maximum Leader sees that the media are calling Super Tuesday thusly:
Clinton wins New York, Arkansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Massachusetts.
Obama wins Illinois and Georgia.
McCain wins Connecticut, New Jersey, Illinois, and Delaware.
Romney wins Massachusetts.
Huckabee wins West Virginia and Arkansas.

Slowly the story unfolds…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader wanted to take a moment to thank all his loyal readers who opined on his recent post concerning Johnnie Walker and making cocktails using Scotch as a primary ingredient.

First off, let your Maximum Leader thank Thomas for informing him that there was Scotch liqueur other than Drambuie. Your Maximum Leader will keep his eyes peeled for a bottle of Lochan Ora. He has never heard of it before, nor has he seen it. But now that he has heard of it… He may try to pick up a bottle.

Secondly, let your Maximum Leader assure you all that he would never (never EVAR) consider using a top shelf scotch in a cocktail. When your Maximum Leader says top shelf, he is not restricting this to single malts. Your Maximum Leader has had many single malts that are (in the words of Quasimodo) suitable only for cleaning sinks and paint brushes. There are many fine single malts for which it would, in fact, be a crime to mix with anything (except possibly ice). That said, your Maximum Leader believes there are a number of outstanding blends that should not be mixed. Chief among these is probably Johnnie Walker Blue.

Excursus: Quasimodo, in his comment, disparaged Cutty Sark Scotch. Your Maximum Leader must opine on this slam of Cutty. Your Maximum Leader will state on the record that Cutty Sark is not particularly good Scotch. It is, at best, passable for a blend. Your Maximum Leader has a soft spot in his heart – if not his palette – for Cutty Sark. You see, in his youth there always seemed to be a bottle of Cutty Sark around for those inclined to take a drink of whisky. Cutty Sark was likely the first Scotch your Maximum Leader ever sipped. (Or gulped more probably.) So, although he hasn’t had any Cutty Sark in years, he does remember it fondly as his “gateway” Scotch.

Lastly… For those of you who are curious as to what Scotch resides in your Maximum Leader’s liquor cabinet… Here is the list… Craiganmore. Glenfiddich Solera Reserve (which is at the moment your Maximum Leader’s favorite – his favorite changes with his mood and the season, Craiganmore was the favorite a few months ago). Glenlivet (Oak barrel special reserve). Bowmore (12 year old). And one bottle of Johnnie Walker Black.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has gotten himself on some fine mailing lists in his time. One of the mailing lists that keeps on giving about once a quarter is that of the good distillers of Johnnie Walker brand scotch. (Your Maximum Leader debated if he should put that link there - because you have to jump through some hoops to attest that you are “of age” to drink… But since he is going to be posting about some stuff they sent him it only seems polite to give them the link…

So… Your Maximum Leader is in the Johnnie Walker “Striding Man Society.” As best he can tell this gets him periodcial mailings and some invites to local events.

Now… Your Maximum Leader has always liked Johnnie Walker Scotch. Indeed, he has a bottle of “Gold Label” in his freezer. It is quite good. And your Maximum Leader also likes to relate that tale of scottish thrift involving Johnnie Walker Scotch. (Here tis: Why does Johnnie Walker come in square bottles? So you can pack more of them in a single crate (compared to round bottles) and thus save money in shipping.) He generally keeps a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black or Gold around.

(Excursus: Truth be told… Your Maximum Leader, when it comes to “mainline” brands of Scotch (mainline meaning a Scotch that you can walk into any reputable bar and find available) he is more a Glenfiddich man than a Johnnie Walker man. Glenfiddich has a little more smoke - which is desirable to your Maximum Leader.)

Anyhoo…

Johnny Walker sent your Maximum Leader a little mailer recently. The mailer contained recipes for cocktails involving (Johnnie Walker brand) Scotch. He opened it and read it over and was, at first, quite sceptical. You see, your Maximum Leader believes Scotch should be consumed two ways. 1) Neat. 2) On the rocks. That is pretty much it. Your Maximum Leader believes that Scotch shouldn’t be defiled by adding “mixers” and other such stuff. Having said this… One recipe in the mailing caught your maximum Leader’s eye. Here tis:

1 oz Scotch (Johnny Walker Green is recommended)
.5 oz Scotch Liqueur (none recommended but is there any other type than Drambuie? If you don’t have a Scotch liqueur you can substitute .5 oz of honey)
7 mint leaves
3 oz of Green Tea

Basically you mix the Scotch and liqueur first, add the mint leaves and alcohol to an old fashioned glass with ice, then top off with Green Tea. Your Maximum Leader doesn’t know what possessed him to try it, but he did. And it wasn’t all that bad. In fact, it was pretty good. He doesn’t think he’ll drink many of these. But it was a nice change of pace.

Of course, your Maximum Leader wonders if this bandying with a Scotch cocktail with result in him loosing some points off his “Man Card.”

Humm….

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is living out a little dream of his. In this little dream he gets the bedroom he would have wanted as a little boy. Only the bedroom isn’t his own; and the little boy in question is not your Maximum Leader but is, in fact, the Wee Villain.

The Wee Villain (aged 3) has had his bedroom repainted and newly decorated. He has white walls. The trim is black. And the walls are festooned with images of Batman. The curtains are Batman curtains. The comforter, sheets, and pillow cases are all Batman. Over the summer it is possible that an artistically inclinded friend of ours will come over and will paint a Gotham City skyline on one wall of the room.

It is pretty damned cool actually.

If your Maximum Leader thought for a moment that he could get away with similar decor in the master bedroom; he’d give it a shot.

Alas, your Maximum Leader knows Mrs Villain all too well…

So, recently your Maximum Leader was digging through some old VHS tapes looking for some episodes of the Adam West Batman TV series that he recorded a long time ago. This search was prompted by his desire to get the Wee Villain some other Batman stuff to watch on the TV (and to try and retire the Scooby Doo meets Batman DVD that has long been a staple of his viewing around the house.) He found one tape after much searching. It had four episodes on it. All episodes with Batman foiling the plans of Catwoman. In one set of episodes Catwoman was Julie Newmar. In the second set Catwoman was Eartha Kitt. Your Maximum Leader had to explain this change of appearance to the Villainettes - who also decided to watch the shows with the Wee Villain.

Seeing Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt got your Maximum Leader to thinking… Which Catwoman is most alluring. Your Maximum Leader could think of four actresses to start in the role. The aforementioned Newmar and Kitt. Then Michelle Pfieffer in Batman Returns and Halle Berry in Catwoman. Your Maximum Leader must admit that he’s never seen Catwoman. So as much as he thinks that Halle Berry is one of the most physically attractive women ever (and a good actress all in all) he will supply her as a voting choice, but will not himself vote for her.

Excursus: Your Maximum Leader remembered one more Catwoman - Lee Meriweather. She was Catwoman in the 1966 Adam West Batman movie. He made up the poll before he remembered her - and he is too lazy to change the poll… Even though the poll is free…

Well… To help jog your memories on who is who…

Julie Newmar:

Eartha Kitt:

Michelle Pfieffer:

Halle Berry:

There is your review. Now you vote.

You really ought to get used to this type of voting. You know… Polls that make you feel good but don’t really mean anything. They will be a hallmark of the Mike World Order…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader had such high hopes for his blog so many years ago when he began it. It would be a highbrow blog. It would comment on issues of the day, religion, philosophy, history, and culture.

And now what has it become?

Well… It is still written in the third person…

Your Maximum Leader was just thinking about writing a few posts. Indeed, at any given point he likely has about three decents posts sitting in his wee little villainous brain. It is just a question of finding time… He wonders if he should just try and be a periodic essayist in this space…

Anyhoo…

Today your Maximum Leader wonders if he has enough energy to blog. This has been a rather busy week. It has been busy in that the schools are in a “teacher work day” mode and the villainous offspring are being shuttled around a bit more than normal. Excursus: Has anyone wondered about the whole concept of the “teacher work day?” Isn’t every school day a “teacher work day?” Shouldn’t a day when the teachers work but the kids have off be called a “teacher catch-up day” or a “teachers need to do their paperwork day?”

Anyhoo.. Back to your Maximum Leader… He isn’t feeling very energetic today. It could be due to his diet today. He was recounting to himself what he’s had to eat. Breakfast consisted of a Diet Coke. Between breakfast and lunch he drank a few cups of water. For lunch he had a chicken salad sandwich (on whole wheat bread), a small handful of crunchy cheetos, perhaps a half cup of applesauce and a glass of hot chai. Then he drank some water between lunch and dinner. For dinner he had a broccoli spear, a chicken sandwich (on whole wheat), and a glass of milk. Now he feels exhausted. Perhaps he should have eaten something more - or something different.

Anyhoo… Your Maximum Leader is tired.

Is this post banal enough for you?

Are you still reading?

Highbrow? This blog? Highbrow my arse.

Carry on.

“Nancy. Good to see you.”

“Good to see you Mr. Vice President.”

“That lavender suit is quite fetching.”

“Thanks. It’s Vera Wang.”

“Heh… You said wang…”

“Are you going to do that all night?”

…

“Get your hand off my knee!”

“I’ve got an ‘earmark’ in my pants for you.”

…

“Nancy! Look there, Sam Brownback is undressing you with his eyes.”

“Shhh!”

…

“Dick, if you pinch my ass one more time I swear…”

“Executive Privilege sugar tits. Wanna complain? I see John Roberts right over there…”

…

“Good night Mr. Vice President.”

“Catch ya later toots.”

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has been so busy of late that he just now realized that today is Robert Burns day. As he just now realized the day, he’s not made plans. It is unlikely that he will have a big Burns Supper. It is likely, however, that he will consume some of the water of life (as it were).

After dinner (whatever that may be) he will crack open his book of Burns’ poetry and read some to the family. He may read this particularly well-known Burns poem (which his daughters particularly liked last year).

To A Mouse (1785)

Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim’rous beastie,
Oh, what a panic’s in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi’ bickering brattle!
I was be laith to rin an’ chase thee,
Wi’ murd’ring pattle!

II

I’m truly sorry man’s dominion
Has broken Nature’s social union,
An’ justifies that ill opinion
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion
An’ fellow-mortal!

III

I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen-icker in a thrave
‘S a sma’ request;
I’ll get a blessin wi’ the lave,
And never miss’t!

IV

Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!
Its silly wa’s the win’s are strewin!
An’ naething, now, to big a new ane,
O’ foggage green!
An’ bleak December’s winds ensuin,
Baith snell an’ keen!

V

Thou saw the fields laid bare an’ waste,
An’ weary winter comin fast,
An’ cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell,
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro’ thy cell.

VI

That wee bit heap o’ leaves an stibble,
Has cost thee mony a weary nibble!
Now thou’s turn’d out, for a’ thy trouble,
But house or hald,
To thole the winter’s sleety dribble,
An’ cranreuch cauld!

VII

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft a-gley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

VIII

Still thou art blest, compared wi’ me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But och! I backward cast my e’e,
On prospects drear!
An’ forward, tho’ I cannot see,
I guess an’ fear!

Your Maximum Leader suspects he’ll also get out the kilt and wear it to dinner. Perhaps he’ll even post a photo if there is a clamor to see your Maximum Leader’s knees.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader received a message from one of his favorite bloggers today. She requested that a movie be posted by one of her loyal readers right away…

Her wish is your Maximum Leader’s command…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader really enjoys Eric’s site. Today, your Maximum Leader read Eric’s lastest post a few times… All the while he thought of the wood that lay in his back yard waiting for cutting…

Excerpt from Eric’s great post:

…how he’d [Eric’s Dad] turn the wood to just the right angle, lean in and let his eyes search the surface for natural splits, breaks, or signs of weakness…. and once he had achieved some sort of near-mystical understanding between he and the hunk of wood, he’d steady himself, bring his mall to the port-arms position, and in one single moment of extreme violence, precision, and focus, he’d smash down on the wood…. and more often than not, he’d make the split in one beautiful movement….. and if the wood didn’t bow to his will after the first lick, it usually gave up after the second…..

Great post. Read it.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader notices that two things died today… Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign and Heath Ledger.

Okay… That was sorta tasteless…

But it was amusing…

Admit it.

Your Maximum Leader has been saying for a little while now that Fred Thompson’s campaign was toasted. He had said that a strong, but not winning, showing in South Carolina might keep Fred going for a while. But, Fred didn’t do well in South Carolina and thus, dropped out of the race. Your Maximum Leader is not really sad about this. He had resolved himself, a while ago, that Fred wasn’t going to win the nomination. Politically speaking, Fred Thompson was probably as good a candidate as your Maxmium Leader could hope to see in this cycle. But, Fred didn’t have the fire in the belly to run. As your Maximum Leader noted before, not having the fire in the belly might in an earlier time have been an attribute. At any rate, Fred is done. He can now go back to his young wife and daughter and making TV shows.

Your Maximum Leader believes the Republican race is effectively down to McCain and Romney. If your Maximum Leader had to choose between those two, he would choose McCain. Romney just doesn’t do anything for your Maximum Leader. If your Maximum Leader had to lay a wager on the eventual Republican nominee he would choose Romney. He would make that bet solely because Romney can self-finance if he wants.

Your Maximum Leader wonders if the current cash crunch that so many candidates are experiencing is because of the protracted run-up to the primary race. These candidates have been raising money for ages already. They have been spending money for ages. Now, due in part to campaign finance laws, they can’t go back to the same big donors they have already tapped. (This probably hurts Hillary Clinton more than any other Democrat by the way.) People are tired of giving. They are tired of being asked. They are probably just tired of the campaigning.

And to close out your Maximum Leader’s tasteless opening…

Heath Ledger has died. He was 28. Apparently he died of a drug overdose in his New York apartment. Your Maximum Leader really enjoyed “A Knight’s Tale.” He thought that “Brokeback Mountain” was well done, even if the subject matter didn’t really appeal to him. He thought “The Patriot” was positively awful. And as far as your Maximum Leader can tell, those are the only three Ledger films he’s seen. There probably are more, but he can’t think of them now.

It is sad that a man with so much promise should die so young. But if he OD’ed, that is his own fault and your Maximum Leader is much less remorseful. Your Maximum Leader wonders if Heath Ledger will become a sort of James Dean type icon for a new age. He sort of doubts it. But anything is possible.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader doesn’t think of himself as a basher of Islam. He believes that a significant portion of the Muslim world lives under a rather twisted interpretation of Islam. He says this not as a Muslim, but as a man firmly rooted in the Western Judeo-Christian tradition. There are aspects of Islam that a praisworthy, and there are plenty that leave your Maximum Leader just scratching his head wondering what the hell is going on.

To wit:

Two years ago, a knock on Fatima and Mansour al-Timani’s door shattered the life they had built together.

It was the police, delivering news that a judge had annulled their marriage in absentia after some of Fatima’s relatives sought the divorce on grounds she had married beneath her.

Now, your Maximum Leader believes that his own lovely and intelligent wife, the wonderful Mrs Villain, married beneath her station. She is a wonderful and giving woman - and marvelous mother (and frankly your Maximum Leader is… well… a man). But to think for a moment that Mrs Villain’s relatives can sue in court to have his marriage annuled is beyond the pale.

Excursus: Let it be known that your Maximum Leader is, here and now, declaring that no man is good enough for either Villainette. He will sue any man that attempts to marry one of his daughters by claiming they are beneath the girls station.

So… To continue with Fatima and Mansour’s story…

Fatima said her husband, a hospital administrator, followed Saudi tradition in asking her father for permission to marry her in 2003.

“My brother reported good things about him, so my dad accepted his proposal,” said Fatima, a computer specialist who was 29 when she married.

She said her father knew that Mansour came from a less prominent tribe than hers, but that he did not mind because he “cared about the man himself.”

A few months after the wedding, several of Fatima’s relatives, including a half brother, persuaded her father to give them power of attorney to file a lawsuit demanding an annulment, she said.

Then her father died, and Fatima said she had hoped the case would be dropped.

But on Feb. 25, 2006, police knocked on the couple’s door to serve Mansour with divorce papers — which said his marriage had been annulled nine months earlier.

Your Maximum Leader admits that this is one instance where he is willing to overlook a little pontificating by the Assocated Press (who ran this story). The story, like your Maximum Leader’s reaction to it, is rife with an undercurrent of shock that this sort of thing can happen in a “civilized” country. Of course that last line implies that Saudi Arabia is a civilized country. Your Maximum Leader isn’t sure that his definition of civilized and the Saudi’s would be quite in line. It is at times like this when your Maximum Leader wants to go all Charles James Napier on some foreign country.

Excursus: Can your Maximum Leader try and coin a phrase? He’d like to see “going Napier” or “pulling a Napier” but into the lexicon as meaning “to subdue a nation or tribe by force.” Your Maximum Leader means this in the most positive way of course. Frankly, your Maximum Leader would like to see the more foreign policy based on “pulling a Napier.” But it isn’t going to happen… Sadly…

Anyhoo… According to the AP article, if King Abdullah doesn’t reverse the al-Timani’s annulment Fatima (who is incarcerated by the way - with her children - whom your Maximum Leader supposes are bastardized by the annulment) says she will kill herself.

Your Maximum Leader tries to be a modest Christian at times and doesn’t easily bandy about his thoughts on someone’s eternal fate. He knows that status of one’s soul is determined by the Almighty. And in a case like that of the al-Timani’s, if Fatima were to kill herself because of the injustice done to her, your Maximum Leader would hope divine retribution is severe on those who drove her to the fatal act.

Carry on.