Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader spied two articles on the news wires that he felt he’d pithily opine upon.

The first one is this: New York Governor Unveils Agenda to Revive Upstate. From a quick reading of the piece it seems as though newly inaugurated New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, is hoping to encourage development in upstate New York by promising more money to and tax relief for upstate New Yorkers.

Now, allow your Maximum Leader to go on the record and say that he doesn’t like Eliot Spitzer. Something about the man, and everything your Maximum Leader knows about the man, just rubs the wrong way. This piece seems to confirm (reconfirm?) that dislike of Spitzer.

Doesn’t it seem ironic to you all that Governor Spitzer is hoping to get businesses to return to upstate New York by pouring money into various public programs and offering “tax relief.” Funny. He doesn’t seem to have equated his (and his predecessors) actions as Attorney General with why businesses left New York in the first place. Sure a little tax relief is going to help some. More money will help too. But where is this money coming from? People downstate paying more? One supposes that is the source. Of course, with crusading Attorney Generals (in the Eliot Spitzer mode) going after businesses for all manner of preceived illegal behavior, one wonders if tax relief is enough to bring back employers who now rightfully fear doing business in the state.

Also… If you clicked through and read the linked piece, does it seem like Spitzer is getting all the glory? Woo! Eliot Spitzer is going to revitalize upstate New York! Only in passing is it mentioned that Spitzer’s plan is very similar to an earlier plan proposed by New York Republicans. Your Maximum Leader should be glad of the mention at all… Otherwise he might have been deluded into thinking it was all Spitzer’s idea.

The other piece was the cleverly titled: Guiliani campaign strategy is out. This is a clever title because of the pun. The campaign strategy is “out” - as in no longer secret. But it is also “out” - as in “out the window” because everyone who cares now has access to it.

Of course, there doesn’t appear to be much interesting in the document. Except that Guiliani’s people were trying to pry away some big donors who are already supporting McCain. All the other stuff is already out there. Guiliani’s three marriages. His support of gun control and abortion. It is all there. Don’t think that the McCain people ween’t going to be reminding Republican voters about all that stuff.

All in all, your Maximum Leader prefers McCain to Guiliani. He is unsure of what he thinks of Mitt Romney vs McCain/Guiliani. He’ll have to study the Romney record more. As it stands, your Maximum Leader is uncommitted to any candidate of any persuasion now. The only tough hypothetical for him at this point is a McCain vs. Lieberman. But we all know that isn’t going to happen.

On the Democratic side, it will be interesting to see how this all pans out. Your Maximum Leader is ambivilent towards Senator Barack Obama or Governor Richardson of New Mexico. He is disinterested in Governor Vilsack of Iowa. He dislikes Senators Bayh and Feingold. He thinks that Representative Kucinich is laughable. Your Maximum Leader is filed with bile by Senator Clinton. And finally your Maximum Leader would like to see a great chasm open in the earth and swallow up Former Senator Edwards.

Yes loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader dislikes John Edwards more than he dislikes Hilary Clinton. Hard to believe, but true. Clinton has few virtues in your Maximum Leader’s eyes, but one of them is that she doesn’t appear to be a faux-populist. The whole faux-populist thing makes your Maximum Leader want… Well it makes your Maximum Leader wish that a great dark hole would open in the earth and John Edwards would fall into it.

Okay… Your Maximum Leader used the same image twice… The other images in your Maximum Leader’s mind are not suitable for public consumption.

Carry on.