In a move stunning the fitness world, John Basedow is giving it all up. Basedow, made famous from his “Fitness Made Simple” (www.fitnessmadesimple.com) commercials, said he could no longer continue his strenuous fitness regimen. He said he was trading in his slogan “Anything is possible once you believe in yourself and have the knowledge and determination to accomplish your goals” for a new one: “Anything is possible, but ‘nothing’ is easier”.

Basedow said he was doing quite well, but the constant posing he had to do on his television commercials was detrimental to his health. He said his ribs constantly were in pain because the camera man always wanted him to twist at the waste to make him look bigger on the television. He also said he felt like the fitness world’s “Bob Villa”. He said he was tired of being a sellout.
Basedow said he is going to trade in his fitness training and selling of tapes and instead, he’s going to flip bugers at McDonald’s. When asked by one source, Basedow was quoted as saying “I was tired of raising the bar. It’s time to just be good enough to get by. It feels good not to have to worry anymore about being better than everyone else around me.”

It sounds like John Basedow is tired of having to deal with the rigors of self-improvement. It also sounds like he’s finally embracing mediocrity. Yay!

An MSNBC analyst says that the documents handed over by the New York Times, known as the “Cooper Documents”, reveal Carl Rove as the source in the Plame Case. If you don’t remember the history behind all this, Plame’s husband was critical to George W. Bush before the last election. Soon after, a report was published in the New York Times revealing Plame’s wife as an undercover CIA Operative. Her cover was effectively blown. The Democrats screamed, and Mr. Plame feared for the safety of his wife. I thought this was fairly serious. Who would leak the name of a CIA Operative to the press? I’m quite sure it’s illegal. Bob Novak is the one who wrote the article for the New York Times that leaked the name of Valerie Plame. I haven’t heard much press about Novak though, for some reason. That part of this whole story seems odd.


Back to the main point. If in fact Carl Rove is who leaked the name of Valerie Plame to the New York Times reporters, there could be serious implications for the Bush Administration on the scale of Watergate. I think revealing the names of undercover CIA operatives is a serious mis-step, and could probably prove to be an issue of national security.

Update: Lawrence O’Donnell cites Rove as leaker
Rove’s Lawyer responds!