It’s been a good year for purging at CNN: first Rick Sanchez got sacked, and now Harris will soon be on his way. With that, the two most annoying guys at that network are history.

Unlike Sanchez, though, Harris didn’t get fired for being an anti-Semite, so at least he has that going for him. He’ll no doubt find another gig somewhere (if he hasn’t already got one lined up).

CNN has seen its ratings plummet lately, and while Sanchez/Harris are not solely responsible, I do know that they forced me to switch the channel whenever I saw them at the news desk. I reckon millions of others out there did the same.

ryan@roadtostarrdom.com

PITY PRESIDENT

Obama received 12 stitches Friday after he was hit in the face by another player’s elbow during a pick-up basketball game with family and friends.

I’m sure Obama will have a speedy recovery, but you just know his adversaries will take full advantage of this vulnerable moment and kick the prez when he’s down.

Some possible talking points I predict right-wing pundits will be all over in the wake of Obama’s mishap:

• If the president can’t protect himself during a basketball game, how can we be confident he can protect America?
• What was he doing playing basketball with his family and friends on Thanksgiving weekend when there are two wars going on and the economy is in tatters?
• This is just another example of how reckless Obama can be in pursuit of his goals – in this case, making a basket. Just like he did with the health care bill, the guy relentlessly presses on despite the costs and consequences.
• The fact that he got hit by an opposing player shows that Obama isn’t serious about working with those who oppose him.
• Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said doctors gave the president a “smaller filament than typically used, which increases the number of stitches but makes a tighter stitch and results in a smaller scar.” So Obama gets better treatment than everyday average folks? Further evidence of his elitism.
• The money spent to stitch him up could have gone toward paying down the country’s $13-trillion debt.
• Obama didn’t kill the guy who elbowed him – this proves he’s weak on terror.

ryan@roadtostarrdom.com

Not the most pleasant creature, but it's ours.

CANADA GEESE are a complete and utter nuisance.

They happen to bear this country’s name, and, as such, have come to be seen as a national symbol of sorts, along with Mounties, beavers and maple syrup. But our default national bird can also be quite a pain, particularly beyond our borders.

Recall Canada geese were responsible for bringing down Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s US Airways Flight 1549 in January 2009 (to be fair, though, they could also be credited with helping him become an American hero, at least for a few weeks, until another one came along.)

Sadly, last week 400 geese in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park were rounded up and gassed over concerns they were endangering airplane flights.

Canada geese also shit a ton and always seem to leave piles of poo in their wake. And so in Oregon recently, another 109 of them were gassed, because “the birds had become a pest in local parks, and many people were disgusted by the goose droppings,” the Canadian Press reports.

I don’t like to hear about any animals being gassed, even if it’s a cull carried out by civic authorities in an effort to mitigate a problem. But I understand that it sometimes has to be done, and I suppose that’s the most humane way to do it. It happens here in Canada, too.

What baffles me, though, is what happened in New Jersey earlier this week when police discovered 18 geese that had been beaten and shot in the head in a parking lot near a pond. I realize we’re talking about New Jersey, the a-hole of America, but still, who does that?

Not surprisingly, the matter has sparked outrage here in the Great White North — Goosegate, it’s being called.

The controversy is for good reason — can you imagine if a Canadian were to slaughter a bunch of bald eagles, the national bird and quintessential symbol of the United States? Methinks the long-predicted American invasion of this ”freedom-hating” nation would be imminent.

ryan@roadtostarrdom.com

Related: Honk if you love the Canada Goose