We all know it's tough being an Ivy League conservative, what with elites and communists and feminists at every step, and tougher still to stand up tall and proud and confess your love for that be-lipsticked pitbull from the North, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (doncha know hahaha *wink* hahaha). Enter Harvard Men For Palin, who are not afraid to sing from every corner of campus, YES! I love this woman! with "A Summer Surprise," now on the YouTube.

(Harvard Men For Palin are actually the Harvard Democrats, but the concept and execution is pretty believable if you don't listen too closely -- after all, Obama Girl was real.)

Like all great power ballads, the chorus tugs at one's heartstrings: Read the rest of this entry »

Folks have apparently known for awhile that Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal participated in, ahem, an exorcism while a student at Brown. Now that Jindal has been increasingly mentioned as a potential vice presidential candidate for John McCain's ticket, it seems like a good time to go over the details again. As TPM's comprehensive roundup reminds us, Jindal wrote extensively about this experience, in which he and his prayer meeting buddies exorcised the demon out of his friend "Susan" and cured her cancer to boot.

More Satan-rific details after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Looks like the Iranian president himself, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, will be speaking at Columbia this Friday, the Spectator reports. Gotta love that First Amendment, huh? If his remarks at the United Nations yesterday were any indication, he plans a rousing disquisition on how the Holocaust never happened. (You wanna handle this one, Mazower?) No word yet on whether the president's popped collar (see above) will make an appearance.

But here's the weirdest part: Columbia President Lee Bollinger doesn't seem to know who invited him! "I happen to find many of President Ahmadinejad's stated beliefs to be repugnant, a view that I'm sure is widely shared within our university community," Bollinger told Spec.

Bollinger also said he wasn't sure the university could accomodate him on such short notice. Gotta love them First Amendment loopholes, huh?

UPDATE 8:48 a.m.: A new version of the story says the dean of the international relations school sent the invite, apparently without consulting her boss. Love it!

Princeton's resident hackers have not only figured out how to swing the elections this fall, they've also provided a handy instructional video so you can too! The video's kinda long, but stick with it. Because now when the Republicans take Massachusetts, you know who to blame.

In the student government universe -- a realm that is equal parts absurd, amusing, and unflinchingly self-serious -- Yale College Council has always served as the Platonic ideal. This year's race has already perfected the form.

Sam Heller, Yale '08 and former editor of campus tabloid Rumpus, submitted the following candidacy statement for Pierson residential college council: 

"What is the YCC?  I don't really know, but I plan on finding out - pronto.  It'll be an exciting adventure for all of us, and we'll really grow as people.

"With this statement of hope and fabulous dreams, I hereby announce my candidacy for Pierson YCC representative.  I hope all of you will get up out of your chairs and put your hands together, 'cause when I say "Sam", you say "Heller"!  

"Sam!

"Heller!

"Sam!

"Heller!

"With your help, I can make this the rock 'n rollinest year evar! Hooray!"

Council rep Steve Engler, '07, doing a spot-on angry dean impression, responded:

"Sam- You know I can't accept that. Write a legitimate statement and then I can enter you."

The rest of the conversation, in which Heller cc'ed the Rumpus discussion list, is inappropriate for a family blog. So we included it after the jump. Short story: Heller is back on the ballot. Score one for Dadaist, faux-anti-establishment student council campaigns.

*UPDATE 10:22 p.m.: See Heller's campaign poster here.

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When George W. Rootin'-Tootin' Bush was elected in 2000, Ivy Leaguers got a little nervous. Would this folksy Texan smoke all the elites out of the executive branch?

Then we breathed a big, brandy-perfumed sigh of relief. The U.S. government can't function without elitism! First there's the pecking order of offices: Bush beats Rumsfeld beats Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. Then there's seniority: Rumsfeld and Cheney were helping run the country back when Bush was still doing lines off Andover china. Even though W.'s Yale and Harvard roots were kept on the hush-hush, we knew: Ivy League snobbery just might have a chance in this administration!

And so, almost six years into Bush's tenure, we bring you the second installment of the IvyGate Index, measuring Ivy influence in our government's executive branch. Our crackerjack statisticians have once again inhaled reams of data, using patented hegemony formulae to produce another set of cutting-edge visual representations. Duck down, clown: the pie charts are back.

Verdict: Mild dominance!

To be precise, the executive branch's IvyGate Index Quotient (IGIQ) is 52.9 percent. Color us shocked, shocked -- we had no idea our plainspoken president was such an elitist at heart! After the jump, we've included the raw data for your statmongering perusal.

EARLIER: The IvyGate Index: Calibrating Hegemony Since 2006 (the media)

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If you want to feed the former president of Iran a good ol' knuckle sandwich when he comes to speak at Harvard next week, Mitt Romney ain't gonna stop you.

Romney, the Republican governor who wants to be president when he grows up, won't be providing state security to protect Mohammad Khatami during his visit on Monday, Sept. 11. Romney doesn't want tax dollars being spent on protecting a "terrorist," he said. Wise man. Not only is he not letting the terrorists win, he's letting our terrorists win instead! With knuckle sandwiches!

Never mind that Khatami ran as a reform candidate and fought, albeit unsuccessfully, to curb the power of Iran's Gaurdian Council and expand press freedoms. Is it possible Romney was thinking of someone else? Mohammad, Mahmoud -- what's the difference, right Mitt?

Afterthought: Why a lecture? If Harvard knew its audience, they'd stage a steel cage match between Prof. Samuel P. "Clash of Civilizations" Huntington and Mohammad "Dialogue Among Civilizations" Khatami. We're betting on the guy with the centrifuges.