John Kass in Chicago Tribune.  Follow the link at the end to watch the SNL sketch.

As Barack Obama was applauded for blowing his nose during a stump speech in Texas the other day, Hillary Clinton should have realized something important:

Forget the “Saturday Night Live” references about media bias, Sen. Clinton. It’s over.

When a presidential candidate is applauded for nose-blowing, what’s left to discuss?

Clearly, the media fawning over Barack irritates the Clintons, who must remember Bill playing his saxophone, being asked by excited young people whether he preferred boxers or briefs, as old President George H.W. Bush was cast as the evil Mr. Burns who didn’t know the price of a gallon of milk and didn’t care.

Lest you think Barack’s nose-blowing is fantasy, it was reported in the Tribune’s political blog,The Swamp, and elsewhere, by responsible journalists.

Obama’s nasal passages clogged. He blew his nose with gusto. And received a round of applause.

What would this tell anthropologists from another planet if they were trying to understand us?

That after months and months of the American political media writing the Obama campaign narrative so it sounds like “The Song of Solomon,” the candidate has become inevitable.

He blows his nose, and somebody must say — “Look, he’s not afraid to blow his nose as a leader seeking change, transcending the old, bitter politics of the past, so we may work together as one nation, under Barack.”

Surely, his followers searched the ground for his tissue, ready to fight like dogs for the bits, and the lucky ones will no doubt press the torn pieces as mementos into scrapbooks, to gaze upon years from now, when they themselves become geezers, too weakened by unbridled taxation and socialized medicine to prevent their children from voting conservative.

And Clinton?

Asked the first question at their debate the other day, she dared to ridicule political media types, and unwittingly mimicked a nervous, angry caricature of herself from “Saturday Night Live.”

“In the last several debates, I seem to get the first question all the time — and I don’t mind,” Clinton admonished debate moderator Brian Williams of NBC. “… If you saw ‘Saturday Night Live’ last Saturday, maybe we should ask Barack if he’s comfortable and needs another pillow.”

If you haven’t seen the SNL bit, you can see part of it at least on the Web at chicagotribune.com/debate.