How's this for publicity-seeking? In the wee hours of the morning President Obama flew out to Dover Air Force Base to witness the return of the bodies of 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan, and as usual with this guy ("Paris Hilton"), the whole thing was a massively choreographed media spectacle…

The overnight trip was not announced in advance. The president, wearing a dark suit and long overcoat, left the White House at 11:44 p.m. A small contingent of reporters and photographers accompanied Mr. Obama to Dover, where he arrived at 12:34 a.m. aboard Marine One.

As the Commander-in-chief stood on the darkened tarmac and saluted, the flag-draped case was unloaded from the cargo plane in what the military calls a "dignified transfer," as six soldiers in white gloves and camouflage fatigues carried the remains in precision. Mr. Obama and uniformed officers stood at attention as the case was placed in a white mortuary van parked nearby.

The transfer of the bodies — a solemn, 15-minute proceeding — took place after Mr. Obama spent nearly two hours meeting privately with several family members in the chapel of the Air Force base.

What a disgraceful circus.

Say what you will about George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, but none of them would have done such a thing.

The Onion pretty much sums up everything there is to sum up here. I think we can all go home now…

Claiming that the president was preying on the public's fear of contracting a fatal disease last week when he declared the H1N1 virus a national emergency, Republican leaders announced Wednesday that they were officially endorsing the swine flu…

Other prominent Republicans opposing Obama's declaration of emergency include Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, who urged residents of his state to continue not washing their hands, and radio host Rush Limbaugh, who made a point of dying of the virus during his show on Wednesday.

I don't think there's anything to add to that. We can probably all just go home now.

See also: U.S. Continues Quagmire-Building Effort In Afghanistan

Taken separately, John Kerry and Dick Cheney can be difficult to handle. But as a combo, they're sort of a balanced political yin and yang. Kerry bores you into a brain-dead slumber, but just before you fall completely into a coma, Cheney says something infuriating that jolts you awake and gets your blood boiling, but just before you have a stroke, along comes Kerry… The resulting inner-harmony is similar to the technology behind Segways.

The Daily Show airs Monday through Thursday at 11pm / 10c.

Wow. We seem right now to be in a modern Golden Age of voter fraud allegations, don't we? And for good reason. It's so much less gory and blood-splattered than military coups. Well, usually.

So, while we're all waiting for everything in the world to get better and political power to be doled out fairly according to those who have earned it, let's watch some Daily Show clips…

September 17, 2009: Voter Fraud in Afghanistan

The Daily Show airs Monday through Thursday at 11pm / 10c.

Read more »

In just a few short months, the US war in Afghanistan will becomes the longest running war in American history. Some say it jumped the shark years ago, but I personally think it's still better than most other wars these days, even if it's not up to the same quality it was six or seven years ago. All I'm saying is, this McChrystal character seems like he could breath new life into it, and I still look forward to the Treehouse of Horror episode every year.

The Daily Show airs Monday through Thursday at 11pm / 10c.

I have to be honest, until people started talking about it again recently, I'd completely forgotten the war in Afghanistan was still going on. It makes me wonder which other wars haven't ended yet that I don't know about. For all I know, we've still got troops fighting in Vietnam or Korea or 1812.

The Colbert Report airs Monday through Thursday at 11:30pm / 10:30c.