Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has enjoyed himself by watching the news this week. On the one hand you have the carefully scripted foreign tour of Barack Obama. On the other, you have the not-so-scripted voyages around our great republic by John McCain.

Frankly, your Maximum Leader can’t make out what seems to be happening this week. Obama has been getting positively gooey (and your Maximum Leader means gooey in the best way possible) news coverage. He’s looked pretty presidential. He’s had lots of fun photo-ops with all manner of fun people. (Your Maximum Leader is waiting for pix of Obama and Carla Bruni Sarkozy from this Paris leg of the trip. Carla Bruni Sarkozy is a fine female specimen.) Your Maximum Leader would have expected some small bounce in “the polls” to materialize for Obama. This doesn’t seem to be happening. Your Maximum Leader suspects that at some level people are thinking (to themselves at any rate) that Obama is rushing out to get photo-ops and nothing more. McCain doesn’t need those photo ops. McCain has been making the rounds in Europe and the Middle East for decades.

Could it be that at some level Obama’s trip is back-handedly helping McCain? Could Obama’s trip be seen as somewhat craven and pandering? Your Maximum Leader isn’t sure that this is exactly what is happening; but it would explain the steady polling of the week.

By the way… Speaking of meeting interesting folks on the campaign trail… John McCain met with the Dali Lama today. Your Maximum Leader isn’t sure, but he was pretty sure that he heard the Dali Lama tell John McCain something to the effect of “Gunga. Gunga-galunga.” If this is the case, even if John McCain doesn’t become president he can rest easy knowing that on his deathbed he’ll receive total consciousness.

Carry on.