...there's always former Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej of Thailand. Not only is he looking for work, but he was deposed by the country's Constitutional Court because of the payments he received for being a guest on a cooking show while in office! And he's a former cooking-show host himself!
This is, by far, the best story in the past six weeks, if not years. "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me..." could use this as fodder for a whole show. It's a real-life version of that mediocre movie "American Dreamz," where the president, a Bush 43 parody, appears on an "American Idol"-like show to boost his approval ratings. Why any sitting president would want to appear on a cooking show puzzles me, but why a constitution would ban receiving guest fees from it is also odd. Though, on second thought, allowing your president to receive a salary from another company/entity while she's in office certainly greases corruption's wheels, whether it's dicing at the cutting board or pushing for deregulation at the bank's board.
Reading farther into the Times' story, it turns out Mr. Sundaravej faces three separate charges of corruption and a two-year prison sentence for defamation. Um, maybe he shouldn't be allowed to be a guest judge. Oh, and he stands in for Thaksin Shinawatra, who's a billionaire, been ousted in a coup, fled to England to avoid corruption charges (his wife's already been convicted) and will soon be the former owner of Manchester City. Oh, and Sundaravej's party nominated him to replace himself as prime minister, which not only defies the Thai Constitution, but all logic. This is beautiful.
The name of that cooking show, "Tasting and Complaining," is also great. It reminds me of dinners at my family's house.
Post, like "Katie Lee," dedicated to Padma, that bewitching, drawling, stoned(?), puzzlingly unattractive host of my favorite TV show.
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