Weird Politics

You all know this election year may snap my already thinly stretched sanity. Sometimes it's good to find weirdness outside the '08 US Presidential Campaign.

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's cabinet will soon lose one of its more colorful members who was notorious for sleeping in parliament, shouting at legislators, picking his nose in public and shoving a journalist.

Tu Cheng-sheng, education minister since 2004, will step down next month along with current President Chen Shui-bian.

"According to Eastern tradition and Taiwan culture, you could say that these actions were hard to accept," said Liu Chin-hsu, secretary-general of the National Teachers' Association.

(Is there a tradition or culture somewhere out there where this is easy to accept....The Jerry Springer Show excepted.)

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Senate lawmakers in Florida have voted to ban the fake bull testicles that dangle from the trailer hitches of many trucks and cars throughout the state. Republican Sen. Cary Baker, a gun shop owner from Eustis, Florida, called the adornments offensive and proposed the ban. Motorists would be fined $60 for displaying the novelty items, which are known by brand names like "Truck Nutz" and resemble the south end of a bull moving north.

(May I just say if you need to dangle a pair of these things off the hitch of a truck that's probably big enough to run over the average sedan you have some serious insecurities in life. I do have warped enough sense of humor to think it would be pretty funny to see a set applied to some old Yugo.)

The Florida Senate voted last week to add the measure to a broader transportation bill, but it is not included in the House version. In a spirited debate laced with double entendre, Senate lawmakers questioned whether the state should curtail freedom of expression in vehicle accessories.
(Aren't you Floridians glad to know your legislators are spending time on such an important issue? Let's see if they can also tack on some measures addressing the naked girls on mudflaps and the Calvin cartoons where he is peeing on various things. I want parental ratings on vehicle adornments! Bumper stickers! Fuzzy dice! Regulate it all! And magnetic ribbons for various causes..let's tax them each and generate revenue! Come on Florida, you've got work to do!)

Critics of the ban included the Senate Rules Chairman, Sen. Jim King, a Jacksonville Republican whose truck sported a pair until his wife protested.
(Anyone else wonder if she's walking around with his real set too?)

SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian political leader broke down at a news conference Tuesday as he admitted that he had sniffed the chair of a female colleague, local media reported.

The confession came from the leader of the conservative Liberal Party in Western Australia, Troy Buswell, who has previously owned up to snapping the bra strap of an opposition party staffer.

The incident took place in front of other staff and was done to get a laugh, she told the West Australian newspaper Tuesday after Buswell had refused to confirm the initial reports.

Buswell has previously admitted to snapping the bra of a staffer for the Labor Party, which governs the state, and has been accused by a retiring lawmaker of making sexist remarks to her.

The deputy leader of the state Liberal Party stood by Buswell, describing him as a "rough diamond with a robust sense of humour".

(I take comfort knowing the US has not cornered the market on political leaders who make disturbing gaffes when attempting humor with the opposite sex [Dubya meets the Queen, Dubya goes to Germany]. At least the Aussies haven't put this guy in charge of the whole country though. Good on ya, mates!)