When I heard my friend Barry was going on vacation I thought, who does this guy remind me of?  Then it hit me like a toothache.  Barry has a lot in common with Kramer from Seinfeld.  He's full of s***, he doesn't work, and he mooches off of everyone else.

The Moocher

Why not start with the mooching, my favorite feature of Kramer and now my favorite quality of Barry's.  During the primaries Barry bashed Hillary Clinton's centrist policy ideas, insisting on the liberal-progressive approach.  Today, if you didn't know it was Barry speaking, you'd think you were listening to Hillary's primary campaign speeches.  It seems Barry's moved to the middle.  He lied to you, progressives.

More mooching this week.  Barry's position on Russia's aggression toward Georgia has changed now that papa has had his say.  McCain immediately scolded Russia, but Barry maintained a cool head and wanted to avoid directly talking to Russia (like Bush with Iran and Korea?  No, Barry wouldn't agree with a strategy of not speaking directly to our enemies, would he?).  Today, Barry is angry.  Barry is talking tough.  He lied to you again, progressives.

Full of s***

Now about being full of s***.  Well that's been well documented, in the above paragraphs and in every article I've written about him.  Like Kramer, Barry is a man of many faces.  In Seinfeld, Kramer would pose as a variety of personalities, the two most popular being Dr. Martin Van Nostrand, a pretend doctor, and H.E. Pennypacker, "a wealthy American industrialist looking to open a silver mine in the mountains of Peru."

How does that relate to Barry?  Well, it could relate to the fact that Barry's a habitual flip-flopper on nearly every important issue and it could relate to his many social faces that distinguish the local Barry from the national Barry that we all (think we) know and love.

I'm willing to bet that the Barry of Chicago was different from the current Barry of the U.S. Senate.  For one thing, his friends were much different and his faith and politics were nothing short of radical.  He was the man rallying against the war in Iraq who later voted happily (or politically) to fund it during his first (and only) Senate term.

I won't cover all of his flip-flops and different personalities, because I've already beaten that dead horse.  Nothing to see here, apparently.

Who needs a vacation?

Barry came to the Senate in 2005, and since he got there he's had a hard time doing his job.  I guess when you make as many promises as he has, it becomes exhausting to break all of them.  At the end of 2006, almost two years after joining the Senate, Barry announced that he was running for president.  On the campaign trail he almost completely neglected his responsibilities in the Senate.  But that's understandable.  When you work as hard as Barry does--- lying to your constituents and national voters, destroying your political allies, dividing your party, and flip-flopping like a fish--- I guess you deserve a vacation.

Like Kramer, Barry lives in Fantasy Camp.  In Seinfeld, Jerry tells George Costanza that Kramer went to a baseball fantasy camp, to which George replied, "his whole life is a fantasy camp!"  He went on to say people should pay to live Kramer's life for a week.  I'd love to live Barry's life for a week:  give great empty speeches, lie about my positions, and be nominated for president on day one by the national media, meaning I'd get all the GOOD coverage I wanted.

What a wonderful life.