COTV - Episode 106: Here on Gilligan's Isle
[Welcome Instapundit readers... Thank you Glenn.]

When I need to just chill out for a while, I watch game shows and old sitcoms. Gilligan has always been one of my favorites. The idea of being shipwrecked on a desert island has always appealed to me and the image rather fits my state of mind tonight after being on the road for so long. And since I'm thus adrift in my personal sea of madness, I'm afraid you're all marooned here with me. I have however, thought up a game to pass the time.

It's our personal Wheel of Fortune and here's how it works. I've broken up the theme song of Gilligan's Island into couplets to head the carnival categories. I have about forty entries in my inbox that I'm going to read now in the order they arrived, and make my comments without looking at the song. Then I'll merge the documents by assigning the posts in a rotating order with the combined document being an answer to the cosmic query. It's either going to be amusing or a disaster. Either way, I'm going with it so put some rum in your coconut and let's mix it all together.

Welcome fellow castaways to my carnival where we will answer the question, (and I've loved the guy since Maynard G. Krebs) what if Bob Denver was running for president?

sitcomsonline.com


Everybody sing

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip

Tim Worstall is destined for an appointment as village planner on our island and has some very sensible thoughts on population and taxation.

Of course, we'll be blogging and Peter at PseudoPsalms is looking ahead at The Blogosphere and the Debates. He reminds the candidates this is not your father's debate.

There's no shortage of diversion on this Isle, Josh at Quibbles and Bits is moving the story line along with Part V of The Great Dismal.



That started from this tropic port,
Aboard this tiny Ship.

Pieter at PeakTalk is mediating the dialogue with a post examining the man behind the mangled media preformance and tells us that Bush has a job to do.

Aunty Goob at Goobage (statisticulating with the best, fact-checking the rest), has an illuminating post on Infinite Sales Taxes. I'm not much for number crunching but it made sense to me.



The mate was a mighty sailin' man,
The Skipper brave and sure,

Every ship wreck suffers some losses and Brian Noggle offers up a stirring eulogy for an old friend.

La Shawn Barber's Corner tells us how to get over Blog envy and find our own niche in the blogosphere.



Five passengers set sail that day
For a three hour tour.

A three hour tour. [ sound of thunder: crack! ]

Nick from Conservative Dialysis leads us all in prayer with Helen Thomas: Please God, Make Her Stop!



The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed.

Annie at AmbivaBlog has a theory about "Why we love hurricanes". I think she's right. "Like a destructive toddler secretly relieved to be stopped by a godlike parent, we're appalled by our own power and grateful to have it dwarfed."

Eric at The Resistant Womanwrote his own intro and the post speaks for itself. What Eric of Taken In Hand wants is not a docile submissive woman but a resistant and worthy sparring partner in the battle of life!



If not for the courage of the fearless crew,
The Minnow would be lost.
The Minnow would be lost.

Trudy at DesertLight Journal wants us to find True Awareness for Domestic Violence Month at the DesertLight Journal. She is launching a campaign to combat distortions in an effort to promote full awareness of the issue of domestic violence.

Jeremy the Parableman checks in with a well reasoned argument on Affirmative Action, Part V: Reparations.



The ship's aground on the shore of this
Uncharted desert isle
With Gilligan,

Andrew Ian-Dodge says, I don’t do drugs…I am a Lib-Dem but I don't think he means it.

Abnu at Wordlab rightfully says, "This can't be a good thing."



the Skipper too,

Freeven at mental hiccups wants to know what John Kerry is hiding? He has a long list of suspect items.

The SmarterCop is not impressed that Florida Not Up to Carter's Standards. Another undecided for Bob I think.



The Millionaire and his wife,

Ken Summers at Second Breakfast delivers a double dose of posts on Estate Tax. He pretty well sums it up by noting, " It's tacky to tax death."

The Key Monk has numbers on his mind, he thinks the sky is not falling on the economy and he doesn't believe The Democrats' talk on Voter Fraud. I'm hoping he'll come over and balance my checkbook.



A movie star,

I keep wanting to add her to my sidebar. The ever amusing super sleuth Mad Kane, thanks to a DC insider known only as Debate Throat, has a copy of the Secret Debate Contract Addendum signed by President Bush and Senator Kerry.

Meanwhile, Ashish's Niti explains the checks and balances of the marketplace with Consumers have an upper hand in free markets.




the Professor

Joe Gandelman at the Moderate Voice wants to know why Reuters is in such a snit over the meaning of words. Joe also speaks on Russia's President Vladmir Putin who says he's cracking down on terrorism -- but others believe he's short-circuiting Russia's young democracy. They complain of a laundry list of measures to curtail freedoms proudly held up years ago as an examples of Russia's seemingly-miraculous conversion to democracy. Hmmm sounds somewhat familiar.

Ah, a debate among the castaways. Josh Cohen at d-42.com responds to an INCITE piece about the UN. He points out a world government CANNOT be viable unless we're all self-actualized. Glad I don't have to judge the winner of this one.



and Mary Ann,

In a surprise move, democrats give conservatives indigestion forgoes politics to talk about man's best friend with a little dog-blogging.




Here on Gilligan's Isle!

QandO Blog said they sent a post on Neolibertarianism and Foreign Policy but as I always say, the universe gives you what you need and the link turned up a list of Things You’d Love to Say at Work, but Can’t which really does work better with the theme.

Message in a bottle: I heard from QandO this morning and they really want you to know about this so here's the link to Neolibertarianism and Foreign Policy. Jon Henke tells us he makes a case for a bit more Hobbesian libertarianism in foreign policy because rigidly ideological Libertarian foreign policy principles are lovely.....less so, if you’re dead.






So this is the tale of our castways,
They're here for a long, long time

Robert of Let's Try Freedom sends an interesting take on getting the judiciary out of the same sex marriage debate.

Asparagus Pee, Gooblek & Other Neat Stuff, (try fitting that on business card) has some timely advice on getting out of debt "the Christian Way.




They'll have to make the best of things,
It's an uphill climb.

You can count on that sly minstrel, Watcher of Weasels to spark up any party of Democrats. He arrives to tell us about A Mythology Wrapped in Ritalin Inside an Enema. Kerry is no threat to his vote for Bob.

Jerome du Bois at The Tears of Things finds Anti-Bush Art Is Puerile.



The first mate and the Skipper too,
Will do their very best,

John Beck at Incite keeps hearing the word, "Disingenuous," used to describe John Kerry & his campaign. He thinks they couldn't have picked a better word but he offers up a lot of synomyms just in case you have a favorite. I'm marking him down as an undecided for Bob.

Interested Participant noticed that Russia Wants Help Fighting Terrorism but the dark and mysterious forces Putin referred to are those of the United States.



To make the others comfortable,
In their tropic island nest.

Jack the bard behind The People's Republic of Seabrook (who couldn't have a more perfect graphic for our theme) warns us that Niccolo Machiavelli lives and counts the ways an election can be "lost".

Tex the Pontificator is a student of human nature and believes if we are seen as being strong, we are less likely to be attacked again. Yet another good reason to vote for Bob.



No phone! No lights! No motor cars!
Not a single luxury,

The delightfully stylish Spirit Fingers has some pithy suggestions for the politicians on how to dress for campaign success.

THE BIG PICTURE, still fitting in our theme has a roundup of pix reminding the candidates of the importance of being photogenic.



Like Robinson C-ru-soe, it's primitive as can be.

Eric at Classical Values makes some observations on violence. He advises: People who think murder is cool should watch a beheading video. Yuck. I think I'll pass on that one myself. Never could stand the sight of blood.



So join us here each week my friends,
You're sure to get a smile,

I'm a pushover for naturalists, so I love Rogue Pundit, who has discovered Morphine-less Opium Poppies and Pain Relief. Australian farmers call the mutant poppy "Norman" (for no morphine) and it bleeds pink instead of white. This could mean a breakthrough for non-addictive pain relief.

Funny how this theme is working out. The candidates might want to break out the sunscreen. Bill at Idler Yet has an analysis on the Immense political significance of Kerry's sun-tan.



From forty-seven stranded castways,
Here on "Gilligan's Isle."
[Lyrics thanks to rickanddarvagossip"]
[Graphics gilligansisle.com]


Life Raft Award: Vik the Prolific is the last one in and we give him special dispensation for being late since in he sent in posts from three different blogs. Posted without review:
Dissecting Leftism shows that the neo-Nazis of modern Germany are just as socialist as Hitler was.

Socialized Medicine tells how a botched diagnosis led to a public hospital patient having her leg amputated.

Political Correctness watch discusses the politics of the Atkins diet.

So what do think folks? I admit handpicking the first five entries but after that I let them fall at random. I thought it answered the question and I'll be staying right here to ponder the meaning of all this but for those of you who want to make a run for the rescue ship, the carnival will be moving on to:

October 6th - Incite
October 13th - Conservative Dialysis
October 20th - The People's Republic of Seabrook
October 27th - The Twins Tell the Truth
November 3rd - Quibbles & Bits
November 10th - D-42
November 17th - Food Basics
November 24th - blogborigmi
December 1st - Ashish's Niti