Oh, those Spanish names – so confusing, they sound so much alike…

1. John McCain says in an interview with a Spanish-language radio station that, when asked if he would sit down with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, he will continue to work with Latin American leaders [sic] and that he would stand up against those who would do harm to the United States [sic]. Everyone is confused as to what the hell he is talking about.

2. On Tuesday, McCain tells Katie Couric that his favorite movie is Viva Zapata! The movie is about Emiliano Zapata, a Mexican (Latin American) revolutionary who fought for peasant rights and land redistribution (what a Republican would surely consider as ideas that would do harm to the United States).

Hmmm….

His three economic advisors:

Rubin, Volcker, and Summers. These guys are brilliant. The guy who ended the stagflation problems of the 1970s? Volcker. The guy who engineered the budget surplus of the Clinton Era that spurred the stock market and economy? Rubin. (Followed by Summers)

Now McCain’s camp? Economics is a weak area for McCain (pretty much everything outside military matters is). His advisors? Phil Gramm, who pushed banking deregulation through the Senate, and who said Americans are a nation of whiners, and cosponsored legislation with the “Enron loophole“. Incompetent and irresponsible. Doug Holtz-Eakin, the guy behind the McCain tax cut plan, that gives EVERYONE a tax cut, the largest, naturally, to the richest 0.1%, people earning more than $2.8 million per year (remember, we’re in the middle of a war that McCain wants to continue to wage, and we’re running the BIGGEST tax deficit in history—where the hell is the money coming from?!).

Neither of them seems to be making much sense, but the reason both are on stage is because they look good.

Anyone who loves satire and is familiar with the ABC afterschool specials of the 1980s will probably like Strangers with Candy, Comedy Central’s first original series starring Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, and Paul Dinello. It also helps if you have a truly twisted sense of humor. I score 3/3 on all counts so count me among the series’ biggest fans.

The series centers on the life of Jerri Blank, a 46 year old “teenage runaway” and ex-junkie whore, who heads back to high school (9th grade). She’s incredibly ugly, fat, street-smart in some ways, naive in others, and just about everyone hates her except her friend Orlando (the target of her racist jibes). That’s because she’s mean, selfish and very, very stupid.

Here are 3 clips legally available through CC’s clip syndication service (CC’s parent, Viacom, is incredibly vigilant over YouTube, so you won’t find clips there). Enjoy. (Ignore the “this clip is missing” warning – just hit the play button)