Psst, Barack - Bono isn't actually an official part of US iconography

And more from the inbox: Barry S emails to point out that Barack took to the stage at Invesco Field last night to the strains of City Of Blinding Lights. Presumably a signal that - while he embraces Hope and Change, he doesn't intend to dismantle the US state's carefully constructed reliance on Bono to provide high office with a carapace of presumed cool.

Also, we'd have used Coors Field if it had been us. They've got fountains.

Polluting the body politic

Barack Obama - and with a slightly less straight face, John McCain - both pledged some time ago to reduce the presence of lobbyists in American politics.

That hasn't stopped the RIAA spending record company shareholder's cash turning up at Denver:

Cara Duckworth, a spokeswoman for the RIAA, said RIAA president Cary Sherman and others from the recording industry are in Denver "to be relevant to the political process. We'll be in Minnesota next week."

Mmm. Yes, since you ask, I did throw up a little in my mouth at that "relevant to the political process" - why should a business lobby group feel they need to be connected to the political process at all? Should they not just wait for democracy to run its course and then see if they're relevant any more?

Suddenly, McCain's closing of the gap is less of a surprise

As if Madonna's 'hey, isn't McCain like Hitler, huh?" wasn't enough to comfort the Republicans, there's this:



Dave Stewart - yes, the one out the Eurythmics, who was born deep in the US of Sunderland - has made the above, with help from Barry Manilow, Jason Alexander - the Seinfeld one, not the bloke who married Britney - and Whoopi Goldberg; it's five and a half minutes long, and we reckon two minutes in would make a poverty-stricken pensioner with a malfunctioning kidney decide that they'd be better off with McCain.

Hello, Hollywood. Please stop "helping". Thank you.

Biden: everything Obama isn't

Joe Biden - a wise choice for Obama, then - he's white, not black; experienced, not fresh faced; older, not younger. Oh, and something of a nightmare for tech libertarians.

CNet expands:

Last year, Biden sponsored an RIAA-backed bill called the Perform Act aimed at restricting Americans' ability to record and play back individual songs from satellite and Internet radio services. (The RIAA sued XM Satellite Radio over precisely this point.)

All of which meant that nobody in Washington was surprised when Biden was one of only four U.S. senators invited to a champagne reception in celebration of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act hosted by the MPAA's Jack Valenti, the RIAA, and the Business Software Alliance.

Ironic that a guy so obsessed with copyright blew his own chances of getting the nuclear strike codes when he publicly plagiarised Neil Kinnock.

Of course, there are more pressing matters ahead of us than simply what the RIAA want - but it's still alarming to think that Metallica-minded policy is now on the ticket.

Still, as Obama would be the first to point out: you can always hope for change, can't you?

[Thanks to Michael M for the tip]

The Republicans are running low on ideas

Last week's John McCain adverts - which basically were 'oh, you all love Obama, why don't you marry him if you love him so much' - seemed pretty weak.

But there was a further down to go. The latest Republican advert runs through the following logic:

Obama is really popular.

Britney Spears is really popular.

Therefore, voting Obama is like voting for Britney Spears to run the country.

Yes, that'll work. I now really believe that Obama will be sworn in wearing a skintight pleather catsuit.

Undead dead support Obama

As the US prepares itself for Super-Duper-Hyper Tuesday - Wolf Blitzer's been down at BestBuy this very afternoon, bulk-buying all the big screen TVs he can fit in the back of his car - more endorsements for Barack Obama, as what remains of the Grateful Dead announce a gig in his honour. There's to be a live stream on iclips; it's promised as a one-off reunion of the band's members.

Which, interestingly, suggests they see keeping Hillary off the ballot as a more significant cause than getting a Democrat into the White House.