So there continues to be some blowback related to McCain’s gift of ordinance to John Stewart.

The whole thing is a little like W telling Gary Trudeau to “tread lightly” during Daddy’s term in office. People who can’t take a joke should acknowledge that before engaging in criticism of people who make jokes. It’s grim humor, but humor just the same, and I would point out (briefly – late for lunch) that the message is not a light one – he’s not making fun of death, he’s making it a reality for people at home. This just doesn’t seem like poor taste to me at all.

And before I start to sound like a McCainophile, I disagree with nearly everything he says about Iraq (and Iran, and probably health care). But the dude’s got spirit.

The Chronicle has an AP blurb about Senator McCain’s opinion of Alberto Gonzales’ current difficulty with those pesky Democratic attorneys that the DOJ sacked last year. It’s the first move regarding the current Administration debacle and a smart one on McCain’s part, methinks. He again is positioning himself in the “partisanship is stupid” camp without sacrificing principles. One need only look at his most recent showdown with John Stewart on The Daily Show to realize that this guy does not relent, will not soft-pedal, and generally speaking comports himself with more dignity than many of the buffoons in the capital.

One wonders whether that is enough. After all, straight shooting didn’t exactly get him anywhere in 2000, when he had substantially more chance of appearing to relate to younger generations. Still, it is a rare day when one gets to use the word statesman without cynicism.

Meanwhile, Barak Obama and Hil are getting ready for their first debate. Hmm? SIX others? Who are these people? Oh, right, VP contenders.

This is not a frequent occurence, but a quick (like, in the next day or so) peek at that link will reveal the Yankees in dead last in the AL East. Yes, that’s behind the Devil Rays. Bad beats.

Mr. Rodriguez appears to have settled into a New York state of mind, slapping homers this way and that with the sort of grace that one attributes to Tiger’s swing or the subtle bend of a reed in the wind. And YET. They struggle. Their closer inexplicably becomes useless. They get swept by the Sox.

All of this, of course, fills me with a quiet glee. It is not a sovereign specific for the abysmal start of the Giants, but it is some consolation.

Meanwhile, across the pond, another clash of the Titans is coming down to the final blows. England’s version of Yankees v. Red Sox has been incredible to watch, and culminates with a match between the two sides on May 9. Man Utd has the much easier way out, though, and barring some calamity should hold on. More’s the pity.

Okay, enough sports.

A new Mac OS X app called Coda may or may not be a godsend for people who aren’t particularly super-skilled when it comes to web design. It seems to me to be a pretty robust web development tool that has a lot of bells and whistles, but not enough to baffle (power users, of course, will suggest that it doesn’t have enough bells and whistles, but to have everything in one place seems pretty cool).

I’m going to download it and report back, but this seems good for folks like me who know enough code to get in trouble but not enough to fix it without reference to a manual. Being able to monitor the effects of your code at the same time is handy.

Compatible with Jaiku, Twitter, IRC, and probably other stuff. I’d download it but putting it on my work machine seems like a recipe for disaster:

Link.