You know, I thought one of the best lines that Barack Obama got in as he and John McCain roasted one another at last night's Alfred E. Smith charity dinner in New York, was the one where he sent up criticism of his popularity, even his perceived invincibility, in a supremely geeky way: “Contrary to the rumors you have heard, I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-El, to save the planet Earth.” To their credit, most of the black tie audience seemed to get the Superman reference… even McCain, who is two years older than Supes' first appearance in Action Comics in 1938. (Note to self: see if that's listed over on Things Younger Than McCain.) Today, however, I received a YouTube link from a dear friend who has expatriated to the UK but is still monitoring the elections with great interest… and it would appear from this clip from the old 1960s Batman series that Obama may well have pegged himself the wrong superhero:

“…there will be no MUD-SLINGING in this campaign!”

“…thugs, and thieves, and hobnobbing with CROOKS!”

“…who is undoubtedly a DESPERATE CRIMINAL himself!”

No wonder McCain seemed so ill at ease on his feet at that second, town hall-format debate; his waddle must have felt off-balance without his umbrella. (Also worth noting: This is uncanny enough being over 40 years old, but it was also uploaded to YouTube over a year and a half ago. Wow.)

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