Billionaire Donald Trump is once again speculating that he might run for political office. Trump is apparently mulling a run for New York Governor against incumbent Democrat Andrew Cuomo. He portrays himself as a reluctant warrior riding a crest of public supporter, stating that he does not necessarily want to be Governor, but New York Republicans are urging him to run. Trump toyed with the idea of running for President in the 2012 election cycle, but eventually declined to run. In 2011, he even briefly enjoyed a lead in the polls for Republican nominee for President, and Trump continues to insist that he could have beaten Barack Obama, but that he wanted to keep his job in the private sector instead.

If Trump does decide to run, he would face long odds. A Marist Poll conducted in November showed Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo crushing all Republican candidates for Governor. Trump fared the worst out of the four candidates polled, losing a hypothetical match-up to Cuomo by a humiliating 70-24 margin. Given, his dim prospects for victory, it seems unlikely that Trump will actually enter the race. Instead he seems poised to ride the media wave of speculation about his intentions to draw attention to himself, before he once again decides not to run.

Like Sarah Palin, Donald Trump seems to enjoy being in the media limelight, but he is not all that capable or all that interested in governing. If he does run New York state will have an opportunity to elect a wealthy narcissistic megalomaniac for Governor. However, given Trump’s past history of pulling out of races he expresses interest in, voters of the Empire State probably need not hold their breaths in eager anticipation.

Megyn Kelly Says We Are a Bunch of Humorless Race Baiters for not Getting Her Joke
By: Hrafnkell Haraldsson

Megyn Kelly took a day off from her show "The Kelly File" to think about how she wanted to respond to the furor she had caused by saying Jesus and St. Nick were white guys.

After some no doubt weighty reflection, she decided, and came back Friday not to apologize for being a not-very-bright racist but to tell us all that because we did not recognize her "lighthearted" and "off-hand jest" Wednesday for what it was, we don't have a sense of humor – oh, and that we're just a bunch of race baiters taking cheap shots at "powerful" Fox News.

Yes, as you no doubt all suspected all along, it was us humorless "libruls" getting the black folks riled up, and you know how much cranky old conservative whitey hates and fears riled up black folks. They've tried for years to push Obama into this sort of "riled up" reaction so he can justify their fears, and Megyn Kelly didn't hesitate to blame the victim Friday night.

In kicking off the lighthearted segment, I offered a tongue-in-cheek message for any kids watching, saying that Santa, who I joked is a real person whose race is identifiable, is white.

I realize that the piece by Harris, that went on to argue that Santa should be a ‘penguin' was also tongue in cheek. That's part of why we covered the story in the first place — humor is a part of what we try to bring to this show, but sometimes that's lost on the humorless.

Cue the firestorm of controversy over my declaring Santa's skin color, many questioning whether I understand Santa is a mythical figure. Others suggesting I am a racist who is outraged at the idea of a white Santa.

(Cue Kelly presenting a bunch of black people daring to be offended by Kelly's little joke)

Well, this would be funny if it were not so telling about our society, in particular the knee-jerk instinct by so may to race bait and to assume the worst in people. Especially people employed by the very powerful Fox News channel.

Megyn Kelly's White Santa Betrays the Conservative's Fear of the Other
By: Hrafnkell Haraldsson

Fox News' Megyn Kelly said Wednesday night that both Jesus and Santa Claus are white guys. If you are as shocked as I am to hear this, well, you are not shocked at all.

The whole problem of Jesus' ethnicity came about because on Tuesday, Aisha Harris, who is black, dared to write in Slate about black Santa or even a penguin Santa, and that offended Megyn Kelly.

It makes you think, and I've written about this here before, that when conservatives say they want a "white" Christmas, they really mean they want a WHITE Christmas.

We are having this discussion because Megyn Kelly being made uncomfortable gives us insight into the conservative's fear of the Other. It all comes down to white people being made uncomfortable by "icky brown" people and by a challenge to their preconceptions. And when Megyn Kelly claims that what she says is a "verifiable fact" she is talking out of her indelicate end, to put it delicately. Few details of individuals from that long ago can be verified. They had no cameras. They left no paintings and certainly nobody made any statues of Jesus.

What IS a verifiable fact is that Fox News does not care about verifiable facts. Megyn Kelly has never been in close proximity to a verifiable fact. If she did, she would melt. As Black Liberal Boomer wrote here yesterday, "nothing spells Christmas spirit like a big fat white lie."

And what really happened Wednesday on Fox News is that if a white Jesus made Aisha Harris uncomfortable, a Jewish Jesus made Megyn Kelly uncomfortable, no less than the idea of a historical Jesus who championed the poor and condemned the rich makes any Republican uncomfortable. Facts are a violation of the neat little world Republicans have made to cocoon themselves from reality. No non-white Santa or non-white Jesus can get into that gated community.

The story behind "that selfie"
By Roberto Schmidt

So here’s the photo, my photo, which quickly lit up the world’s social networks and news websites. The “selfie” of three world leaders who, during South Africa’s farewell to Nelson Mandela, were messing about like kids instead of behaving with the mournful gravitas one might expect.

. . .

Obama took his place amid these leaders who’d gathered from all corners of the globe. Among them was British Prime Minister David Cameron, as well as a woman who I wasn’t able to immediately identify. I later learned it was the Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt. I’m a German-Colombian based in India, so I don’t feel too bad I didn’t recognize her! At the time, I thought it must have been one of Obama’s many staffers.

Anyway, suddenly this woman pulled out her mobile phone and took a photo of herself smiling with Cameron and the US president. I captured the scene reflexively. All around me in the stadium, South Africans were dancing, singing and laughing to honour their departed leader. It was more like a carnival atmosphere, not at all morbid. The ceremony had already gone on for two hours and would last another two. The atmosphere was totally relaxed – I didn’t see anything shocking in my viewfinder, president of the US or not. We are in Africa.

I later read on social media that Michelle Obama seemed to be rather peeved on seeing the Danish prime minister take the picture. But photos can lie. In reality, just a few seconds earlier the first lady was herself joking with those around her, Cameron and Schmidt included. Her stern look was captured by chance.

I took these photos totally spontaneously, without thinking about what impact they might have. At the time, I thought the world leaders were simply acting like human beings, like me and you. I doubt anyone could have remained totally stony faced for the duration of the ceremony, while tens of thousands of people were celebrating in the stadium. For me, the behaviour of these leaders in snapping a selfie seems perfectly natural. I see nothing to complain about, and probably would have done the same in their place. The AFP team worked hard to display the reaction that South African people had for the passing of someone they consider as a father. We moved about 500 pictures, trying to portray their true feelings, and this seemingly trivial image seems to have eclipsed much of this collective work.

(emphasis mine)