THE EARMARK

Politicians weather a lot of unflattering comparisons in the line of duty.  Any time you’re told you resemble Frankenstein (John Kerry), the Incredible Hulk (Bill Richardson) or a pig (Sarah Palin), it has to dent even the most bloated of egos.

Well apparently these comparisons continue even after a politician has left office.  We refer, of course, to the recent juxtaposition between former Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) and a gay celebrity penguin at the San Francisco city zoo.  For those who haven’t already been swept up in penguin fever, it appears that a previously gay magellanic penguin named Harry left his male lover for a female.  Complicating matters was the fact that Harry’s old flame, Pepper, felt spurned.

What happened next is so obvious we feel foolish even reporting it.  Clearly it was time for conservative columnist Matt Barber to compare Pepper, the slighted gay penguin, to Sen. Craig…

Still, it appears that Pepper has yet to hit rock bottom. In recent days he has reportedly been spotted waddling around the zoo’s public men’s room, skulking in stalls and inexplicably tapping his flipper. There’s even speculation that, as things continue to spiral, he may consider a run for political office.

Pretty harsh and yet, we’d contest Barber’s definition of “rock bottom.”  While trolling the men’s room for anonymous blow jobs is pretty darn low, even lower is being compared to a penguin — who, though down on his luck — has not resorted to this behavior.

And even sadder… the comparison was meant to be insulting to the penguin.

Tags: Bill Richardson, John Kerry, Larry Craig, Sarah Palin