Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader believes that many of you will read this post and think that he must not be terribly sympathetic to the “plight of working people.” Well… On some counts you would likely be correct. But actually, your Maximum Leader is quite ambivalent about the Writers strike. He doesn’t stay up late enough to watch the late night shows that have gone into re-runs because the writers are striking. None of the (very few) programs he watches on TV have yet to be affected (and frankly even the ones that he cares a little about have been mediocre at best this season - so perhaps the time off will refresh the mind, spirit and wit of the striking writers so that upon their return they will be sharper).

Anyhoo…

Your Maximum Leader reads that an upcoming Democratic presidential candidates debate has been cancelled because the candidates refuse to cross the writers picket lines. Here is part of the piece:

The decision by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) came after several candidates said they would not cross picket lines of the Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike against major film and television studios since November 5.

All eight Democrats running for the White House originally had agreed to take part in a debate scheduled for December 10 at the CBS Television City studio in Los Angeles, where striking writers have been picketing.

The canceled event would have been the last DNC-sanctioned debate before the January 3 Iowa caucuses, the first of the state-by-state contests to determine which Republican and Democrat will face off in the November 4, 2008, general election.

To this your Maximum Leader sticks his thumb to his nose and makes funny noises towards the Democratic presidential hopefuls. What exactly should informed people in this country think by this? Here are some thoughts of your Maximum Leader… 1) The Dem’s witty repartee writers are now striking and the candidates will not have enough new material for the debate; 2) The majority of the prospective audience for this debate will be out picketting - so there is no purpose to holding the debate; 3) The campaigns are using the absence of new shows to catch up on all their favorite re-runs of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart;” 4)The candidates believe that political speech should be sublimated to the will of the Writers Guild of America; 5)The candidates were afraid that Katie Couric would be writing her own questions at the debate; 6)The candidates really want to spend ANOTHER night in some musty barn in Iowa talking about corn subsidies with a bunch of hayseeds.

Your Maximum Leader isn’t surprised by this turn of events. And in all honesty, he believes that the candidates are happy to be done with this debate. They probably don’t relish the opportunity to put themselves on the line so close to the Iowa caucuses.

It is sorta sad though… Your Maximum Leader is just begining to pay attention to the campaigns now. (He refused to do so earlier. It is unseemly to start campaigning so early…)

Carry on.