What Would Simon Say?

[[O D D M E N T S]] * Most discouraging news of the week: Far more Americans (63.4 million) voted for the latest American Idol winner, 29-year-old soul singer Taylor Hicks, than have ever voted for a U.S. president. Maybe future White House contests should be turned into reality-TV series, just to get more people involved. Frankly, though, I wouldn’t want to watch Hillary Clinton trying to belt out “Lady Marmalade,” or Al Gore’s rendition of “Bohemian Rhapsody”; nor could I face George Allen butchering “Mandy,” or John McCain trying once again to suck up to Christianist conservatives by wrapping his aged vocal chords around “Hallelujah.”