Pun Salad

When I notice an AP headline:

Edwards questions Clinton's sincerity

You find all kinds of interesting stuff by chasing down the links provided by the Google.

• For example, one of the Ron Paul links went to—I am not making this up—an article by Lance Selfa in the Socialist Worker Online cautioning "progressives" not to be sucked into the Paulian orbit. I believe a fair summary would be: "Don't vote for him just because he's a wacko; he's not our kind of wacko."

• What's with Rudy's big increase? Here's one: this blogger refers to "Giuliani's phony fans"; it turns out his campaign released a list of NH supporters, not all of whom had officially committed their fealty. Tsk! (Maybe I should check to see if I made the list.)

• Here is an article claiming that Barack Obama has taken up a "Sister Souljah" strategy by telling all kinds of interest groups things they don't want to hear. The writer recalls where that term comes from, back when candidate Bill Clinton "criticized the hip-hop singer before a black audience in 1992." (Ms. Souljah had said in an interview: "I mean, if black people kill black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people?")

  What makes it turn up in our Googling is the following:

  In his 2004 autobiography, ``My Life,'' Clinton wrote: ``After challenging white voters all across America to abandon racism, if I kept silent on Sister Souljah I might look weak or phony.''

  Leave it to Bill to have a calculated strategy about exactly what he needs to say in order not to look phony. He took Jean Giraudoux's advice to heart: "The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made."