You have to admire Art 'The Puppetmaster' Pope. He hedges his bets like crazy, always working to spin more plates in his circus just in case his ego starts flailing. One of his recent start-ups is the Civitas Institute, headed by his old buddy Jack Hawke. According to their 2005 filings, Civitas is running on chump change from the Puppetmaster, a mere $308,000 in annual contributions - which accounts for pretty much the entire Civitas operating budget. (See attachment.)

I won't embarrass Mr. Hawke and his Sideshow sidekick, Thomas Stith, by posting the piddling salaries they get for doing the Puppetmaster's dirty work. It's sad, though, to see grown men selling their souls for next to nothing to do nothing worth doing.

Like the man's politics or not, you've got to like the man's style:

Not long before his retirement, state Supreme Court Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr. complained about courts being “nickled and dimed” by legislators and said courts should quit hearing civil cases until prosecutors catch up with criminal cases — or until the General Assembly gives courts the funds to do the job.

Fayetteville Online - Current Article Page

With so much emphasis on local and Congressional races, it's easy to lose sight of the critically important judiciary. Many people I know don't really know how to evaluate the candidates, and sometimes make their choices based on the ubiquity of yard signs. Here's a better option: Take the endorsements of the Independent to heart. Being a local boy with a contrarian streak, I don't always agree with the Independent about endorsements, but I think they nail these races. And I hope they don't mind if I post some excerpts.

State Supreme Court: Five candidates are vying for an open seat on the state's highest court, and we support sitting N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Robin Hudson of Raleigh. N.C.

KAIT - Jonesboro, AR: This is just gross. In Charlotte:

The eruption lasted 55 minutes, leaving four inches of sludge in the house.

Go Check It Out.

It's his take on Shuler outraising Taylor.

A few weeks ago, you may have come across this snippet in a Kos diary by bajadudes about Chris 'Chameleon' Mintz running for office in Raleigh as a Democrat.

And it's where the term Bunkeycrat comes from. It specifically refers to Bunky Morgan and that whole sad saga. Bunkey a rich Republican carwash owner ran as a Dem for a Chatham County Board of Commissioners seat held by actual Democrat and Commissioners Chair Gary Phillips. Bob Geary from the Independent put it best this way...."Bunkey thus knocked Phillips out of office and paved the way (I think that's the right term) for the developers to take control in Chatham."

I had more fun with the following site. Just click on George and drag and then drop. You can click on his hiney and pull him arse-first through the bubbles.

Fun with Georgie

This is the last item I have for Saturday Morning Funnies. If someone else has anything....just add it in.

I'm not sure if these are funny.....or maybe pathetic. When you put them all together it certainly is scary to think this guy is in charge of anything more important than buttering toast.

Donald Rumsfeld

"I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was not predictable when it started."

"We do know of certain knowledge that he [Osama Bin Laden] is either in Afghanistan, or in some other country, or dead."

More incredibly witty Rumyisms below the fold...

Have You Ever Seen an A**hole Talk?

I'm The Decider...Koo Koo Kachoo

The above are really funny to watch and listen to. I wish I could be this creative. I have found some sites that I will be linking to today as part of our Saturday Morning Funnies. Enjoy them and turn the volume UP!

CQPolitics.com - NC 8: Dunn’s Drop Out Brightens Prospects for Hayes

But Dunn’s dropout was even better news for Hayes, whose chances for winning a fifth term in the potentially competitive 8th District greatly improved. With Kissell still unproven as a candidate and lacking the publicity draw of Dunn’s service in Iraq, CQPolitics.com has changed its rating on the race to Republican Favored from Leans Republican.

And here we thought Hayes would just roll over and play dead.