Political Games

Mr. Timothy Noah of Slate.com recently channeled Kevin Bacon and

invited the public to connect, “six degrees”-style, one or more of the remaining three major presidential candidates to der Führer und Reichskanzler himself, Adolf Hitler (1889-1945).

The result was a veritable seminar in 20th-century American politicians, philanthropists, European royalty, and Nazis. As well as excellent pointers on efficient methodologies in degree-separation model building – including the renowned fortress-hub tactic!

Mr. Noah is joking, of course, but hopefully there will be no rigmarole like that about Mr. Obama’s middle name.

In other news: Chelsea Clinton was recently playing quite different games in Philadelphia and Portland. Like commenter John Curious from San Francisco, I am left wondering

…did somebody try to grab Ed Rendell’s ass, too?

Oh for the halcyon days when the pub was a scene of political discussion and action.