The post-Iraqi Election gloating dominates the news this morning. I'm also pleased to hear that the turnout was high, even though everyone's couching the fact that Sunni turnout was definitely low and we won't have a real tally for about 10 days. The neo-Cons are surely hoping this period will be a respite, the terrorists are surely hoping to take the shine off this success for the occupiers. So everyone - critics of the Bushies' policies included - will have a new sort of chance to gauge what the voice of Iraqis sounds like. Hopefully, that voice will be strong and committed to getting us outta there. Because the problems if we stay will only get worse.
Take, for instance, this story about how $9B has gone missing in terms of reconstruction money from American taxpayers. $9 Fricking Billion.Yet another example of how miserably bad Paul Bremer was at running the CPA. Medal of Freedom winner Bremer. Brooks Brothers and Timberland boots Bremer. De-Baathification Bremer. Yes, that Bremer - this Enron-esque mess also is attributable to the work done on his watch.
The WashingtonPost is among the first to report that a federal judge has ruled that the standards for Guantanamo Bay tribunals thrown together by the Pentagon are illegal. Add this to the increasingly gross claims coming out of Gitmo (Maureen Dowd's column yesterday about female interregators hit harder on this than most). And throw in the expanding questions about Homeland Security nominee Michael Chertoff's involvement at Justice helping the CIA to protect themselves from prosecution for war crimes. I can only expect that much more will come down the pike on the entire mix of torturous actions committed by this Administration's policy directives.
In much less important news, Mike Piazza seems to have taken the "I'm NOT GAY!" argument to a new extreme by marrying a Playboy Playmate over the weekend. Over one third of America's high school students when surveyed responded that newspapers should get “government approval” of stories before printing them, supporting the general opinion among many that kids is sure stupid. Jon Stewart's out of the running to replace Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News (thank gawd - Stewart's too important as a fake newsman to sell out to the dark side). The race for the DNC just got a little more interesting when the powerful group of Dems (no pun intended) announced they're supporting Donnie Fowler Jr. in the election for a new Chair. "Time" smacks Dean around a little more in a web-exclusive published today. And all the SuperDuper Bowl pre-game shtick enters Week 2. Now that the Iraqi Election is over, the content vacuum out there is surely glad to have some not-really-fresh hot air to pump freely.
Anyhoo, hope the end of January thaws out your collective hometown, if such actions are necessary. Send me a comment (on the link below) if you want to tell me I'm an idiot or otherwise.
Monday, January 31, 2005
Saturday, January 29, 2005
"With Any Luck"
David Brooks is nuts. I've always danced around being that complete in my derision, but his column in today's NYTimes is the tipping point for me. Read it, I most wholeheartedly suggest, no matter where you fall on the political spectrum. And then if you've got a few moments more to waste, I hope you'll come back to what I have to say in reaction.
Much of what Brooks is saying relates to the desperate desire by the Bushies to change the subject. Ignore the upcoming budget battles, ignore what may well go wrong with the Iraqi election tomorrow, ignore the battles over Dubya's cronies being put further into the trenches of this Country's bureaucracy. Brooks, in unusually obvious praise of the Bushies, wants you to ignore those and any other legitimate criticisms the entire American populace may have to present currently or previously. Because this is a "new beginning" and "(t)here's an almost springlike, postwar mood" in your President's Administration, according to Brooks. He couldn't be more hard to believe if he tried to say that Bill Clinton, JFK and FDR wanted us to put all the ugliness of the past decades behind us and embrace our internationalist saviors in the new GOP.
I sincerely believe that Brooks wants to assume the mantle left empty by the departure of William Safire. As far back as I can remember being interested in the media, I've watched the "Newshour" on PBS on Fridays to see Gergen v. Shields or Brooks v. Shields or any of the multitudes of those talking-heads pairings meant to put a kinder, gentler face on the deep divisions between the polarities of the American political debate. So I've come to understand that when the Right tells me that we're facing a "new beginning," I'm meant to dispute the timing entirely because there is absolutely no agreement on that fact. Brooks isn't especially controversial as a columnist, at least in terms of making people think differently about the political atmosphere beneath the events of the Day we all face. Using that measure, however, maybe today's was his best column ever - I leave that up to those self-flaggelators that care to advance the argument I've put forth. But I think, quite honestly, all he's done is lay bare the empty hopes of those that continue to insist in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence that "freedom is on the march."
Some might say that content means everything in news. Analysis, in my un-academic opinion, is about almost entirely "context." So let me be one to mention Brooks' "content" while parsing his "context."
BROOKS: "The Bush administration has started its second act, and it is striking how different this one feels. When you ask senior officials to remember the first term, they remember it as a time of war. There was the attack of Sept. 11. There were invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. There was the political war of the 2004 campaign."
ME: Why are so-called, unnamed "senior officials" trying to deny that this is a "time of war?" Isn't that what they insist we believe whenever political debates turn against them and they want to quiet the static? And isn't it wholly unhelpful to call the 2004 election a "political war" when our men and women are still dying almost every day in Iraq? That seems like an especially callous misuse of the war metaphor. Even if the characterization Brooks uses was that of "senior officials," the families of the 1400+ troops lost in Iraq I'm sure would be deeply hurt by trying to put Iraq behind us by using the so-called past battles for Ohio and Florida.
BROOKS: "(Senior Officials') favorite kinds of institutions are the kinds they created in response to the tsunami disaster: the kind with no permanent offices and no permanent staff, the kind that is (sic?...) created to address a discrete problem and then disappear when the problem is over. The phrase for this is coalitions of the willing. If you think the Iraq situation soured the Bush team on these sorts of coalitions, you're wrong."
ME: Just what "institutions" were actually created to deal with disaster relief? Seriously - I'm asking, because I've never seen anything about such new inititatives, and I can assure you that I read the stuffing out of the daily news on an obsessive basis. Isn't tsunami relief reimbursement to the DoD included in the $80B requested this past week with little or no details in a supplemental bill largely meant to mask the insane amount of that funding that will go to our Iraqi occupation? Oh, and if anyone wants to dispute my use of the term "occupation," I suggest you actually read or watch Bush's latest interviews. And just exactly why am "I" wrong to observe that the Bushies have soured on coalitions? If you want to say that giving money via your military budget to a disaster relief effort where close to 200,000 people died is similar to promoting the "coalition of the willing" that is dwindling in our Iraq occupation, you're the one parsing the living breath out of the world's willingness to help out.
BROOKS: "The foreign policy of the Bush officials is beginning to sound more like compassionate conservatism all the time. To win the war of ideology against radical Islam, they want to put much more emphasis on global trade. This strikes me as unpromising; if trade could loosen up radical regimes, Saudi Arabia would be Switzerland. But they really mean it."
ME: "Compassionate conservatism" is an increasingly-dated chestnut that only the most hopeful and brainwashed will ever dare to continue bringing up with regard to the still-misnamed "War on Terrorism." Someday, Mr. Brooks, you and your compatriots will be forced to admit that you never really showed any compassion in this metaphorical equation. Please, please try again and again to replace "war" with "trade" without causing the rest of us to laugh at that oxymoron. It's fun to see how that equation works for those that support your rhetorical contortionisms.
BROOKS: " There's so much soft-power talk in the Bush administration these days it would make Kofi Annan queasy."
ME: This one deserves to stand on its own. If you really believe Brooks here, I think you should look no further than Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher and Mike McManus' table in the cafeteria when you're hoping not to be ostercized for being so alone as an unrealistic apologist in the larger culture's melting pot.
I'm going to send Mr. Brooks this posting. I'm unrecognized, without even any real responses to my new blog (as of yet...please let me know what you think, if you've got a moment). But I'm just as legit sitting in my living room in San Francisco as he is wandering the corridors of power in DC, offering wildly off-center opinions. Sure, I've never seen an unnamed "senior Pentagon official coming out of the State Department building - a metaphor for the reduced hostilities between those two agencies." But I'm nobody's shill.
Much of what Brooks is saying relates to the desperate desire by the Bushies to change the subject. Ignore the upcoming budget battles, ignore what may well go wrong with the Iraqi election tomorrow, ignore the battles over Dubya's cronies being put further into the trenches of this Country's bureaucracy. Brooks, in unusually obvious praise of the Bushies, wants you to ignore those and any other legitimate criticisms the entire American populace may have to present currently or previously. Because this is a "new beginning" and "(t)here's an almost springlike, postwar mood" in your President's Administration, according to Brooks. He couldn't be more hard to believe if he tried to say that Bill Clinton, JFK and FDR wanted us to put all the ugliness of the past decades behind us and embrace our internationalist saviors in the new GOP.
I sincerely believe that Brooks wants to assume the mantle left empty by the departure of William Safire. As far back as I can remember being interested in the media, I've watched the "Newshour" on PBS on Fridays to see Gergen v. Shields or Brooks v. Shields or any of the multitudes of those talking-heads pairings meant to put a kinder, gentler face on the deep divisions between the polarities of the American political debate. So I've come to understand that when the Right tells me that we're facing a "new beginning," I'm meant to dispute the timing entirely because there is absolutely no agreement on that fact. Brooks isn't especially controversial as a columnist, at least in terms of making people think differently about the political atmosphere beneath the events of the Day we all face. Using that measure, however, maybe today's was his best column ever - I leave that up to those self-flaggelators that care to advance the argument I've put forth. But I think, quite honestly, all he's done is lay bare the empty hopes of those that continue to insist in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence that "freedom is on the march."
Some might say that content means everything in news. Analysis, in my un-academic opinion, is about almost entirely "context." So let me be one to mention Brooks' "content" while parsing his "context."
BROOKS: "The Bush administration has started its second act, and it is striking how different this one feels. When you ask senior officials to remember the first term, they remember it as a time of war. There was the attack of Sept. 11. There were invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. There was the political war of the 2004 campaign."
ME: Why are so-called, unnamed "senior officials" trying to deny that this is a "time of war?" Isn't that what they insist we believe whenever political debates turn against them and they want to quiet the static? And isn't it wholly unhelpful to call the 2004 election a "political war" when our men and women are still dying almost every day in Iraq? That seems like an especially callous misuse of the war metaphor. Even if the characterization Brooks uses was that of "senior officials," the families of the 1400+ troops lost in Iraq I'm sure would be deeply hurt by trying to put Iraq behind us by using the so-called past battles for Ohio and Florida.
BROOKS: "(Senior Officials') favorite kinds of institutions are the kinds they created in response to the tsunami disaster: the kind with no permanent offices and no permanent staff, the kind that is (sic?...) created to address a discrete problem and then disappear when the problem is over. The phrase for this is coalitions of the willing. If you think the Iraq situation soured the Bush team on these sorts of coalitions, you're wrong."
ME: Just what "institutions" were actually created to deal with disaster relief? Seriously - I'm asking, because I've never seen anything about such new inititatives, and I can assure you that I read the stuffing out of the daily news on an obsessive basis. Isn't tsunami relief reimbursement to the DoD included in the $80B requested this past week with little or no details in a supplemental bill largely meant to mask the insane amount of that funding that will go to our Iraqi occupation? Oh, and if anyone wants to dispute my use of the term "occupation," I suggest you actually read or watch Bush's latest interviews. And just exactly why am "I" wrong to observe that the Bushies have soured on coalitions? If you want to say that giving money via your military budget to a disaster relief effort where close to 200,000 people died is similar to promoting the "coalition of the willing" that is dwindling in our Iraq occupation, you're the one parsing the living breath out of the world's willingness to help out.
BROOKS: "The foreign policy of the Bush officials is beginning to sound more like compassionate conservatism all the time. To win the war of ideology against radical Islam, they want to put much more emphasis on global trade. This strikes me as unpromising; if trade could loosen up radical regimes, Saudi Arabia would be Switzerland. But they really mean it."
ME: "Compassionate conservatism" is an increasingly-dated chestnut that only the most hopeful and brainwashed will ever dare to continue bringing up with regard to the still-misnamed "War on Terrorism." Someday, Mr. Brooks, you and your compatriots will be forced to admit that you never really showed any compassion in this metaphorical equation. Please, please try again and again to replace "war" with "trade" without causing the rest of us to laugh at that oxymoron. It's fun to see how that equation works for those that support your rhetorical contortionisms.
BROOKS: " There's so much soft-power talk in the Bush administration these days it would make Kofi Annan queasy."
ME: This one deserves to stand on its own. If you really believe Brooks here, I think you should look no further than Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher and Mike McManus' table in the cafeteria when you're hoping not to be ostercized for being so alone as an unrealistic apologist in the larger culture's melting pot.
I'm going to send Mr. Brooks this posting. I'm unrecognized, without even any real responses to my new blog (as of yet...please let me know what you think, if you've got a moment). But I'm just as legit sitting in my living room in San Francisco as he is wandering the corridors of power in DC, offering wildly off-center opinions. Sure, I've never seen an unnamed "senior Pentagon official coming out of the State Department building - a metaphor for the reduced hostilities between those two agencies." But I'm nobody's shill.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Payroll Roll-outs Roll-on
Cheney certainly did look like a dick in Poland yesterday. Can't wait to hear the spin on this one.
PayolaGate identifications continue this morning. According to Salon, Michael McManus took $10K from HHS to promote Dubya's marriage initiative. McManus is yet another second-rate "marriage expert" with a syndicated column (how does one get that gig, anyways?). This all helps to flesh out some of the grander reporting done in the USAToday earlier in the week - the Bushies have spent $250M during their first term on PR activities. Not Iraq-level wasted money, but more than almost any American can stomach hearing about repeatedly. I'm still waiting for Robert Novak and Tucker Carlson's paycheck stubs to be found. You heard it here first.
In yet another attempt to drive the debate his direction, Bush gave the NYTimes an interview. Boilerplate, mainly. But he did have one hilariously condescending response to a question about his news conference admission that he'd not read Condi's "Foreign Affairs" article in 2000 outlining HIS foreign policy. "I don't know what you think the world is like, but a lot of people don't just sit around reading Foreign Affairs," he said, chuckling. "I know this is shocking to you." Yea, well maybe the sort of people that should be reading "Foreign Affairs" are exactly the people that aren't these days. What a goober.
PayolaGate identifications continue this morning. According to Salon, Michael McManus took $10K from HHS to promote Dubya's marriage initiative. McManus is yet another second-rate "marriage expert" with a syndicated column (how does one get that gig, anyways?). This all helps to flesh out some of the grander reporting done in the USAToday earlier in the week - the Bushies have spent $250M during their first term on PR activities. Not Iraq-level wasted money, but more than almost any American can stomach hearing about repeatedly. I'm still waiting for Robert Novak and Tucker Carlson's paycheck stubs to be found. You heard it here first.
In yet another attempt to drive the debate his direction, Bush gave the NYTimes an interview. Boilerplate, mainly. But he did have one hilariously condescending response to a question about his news conference admission that he'd not read Condi's "Foreign Affairs" article in 2000 outlining HIS foreign policy. "I don't know what you think the world is like, but a lot of people don't just sit around reading Foreign Affairs," he said, chuckling. "I know this is shocking to you." Yea, well maybe the sort of people that should be reading "Foreign Affairs" are exactly the people that aren't these days. What a goober.
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Dubya, Buster and Sundance...just to name a few
Loads of stories have presented large distractions over the past few days. Some important, some insidious. But what struck me in particular?
- Bush's surprise news conference was a blatent attempt to hijack the rapidly increasing drumbeat of badness yesterday. Many of the things he said got no coverage whatsoever. Almost all of his reponses deserved some sort of follow-up question to clarify. None received such clarifications. And his jokey-while-still-pissy demeanor was vintage Dubya. This was truly Must-Re-SeeTV.
- Max Boot in the LATimes tries to trash Sy Hersh as a journalistic equivalent of Oliver Stone. Totally out-of-bounds insults, especially when you balance that assessment with what a disaster "Alexander" turned out to be. Boot does, however, provide good background on some of Hersh's less-inspiring work. I only wish someone would do the same when it comes to filling in Boot's own blanks. His bio for the Council on Foreign Relations hits his conservative with a big "c" high points. I'm more interested in the lowly truths of his past positions ("mirror, mirror, on the wall...").
- To take the heat off the insult of Armstrong Williams' defense of his illegal propagandizing, Howard Kurtz's payola outing of Maggie Gallagher gives the almost-always-entertaining Maureen Dowd the chance to joke about changing teams this morning. Count me in too, Mo. With a baby on the way in a matter of days, I can use the scratch.
- Speaking of kids, I don't know if I'll be able to see to the Vermont episode of "Postcards From Buster" but you can bet the lesbian-run-farm that I'll be trying. In an act of inspired triviality for HER FIRST WEEK ON THE JOB, new Secretary of Education Margaret "Karl Rove Asked Me Out and I Had the Good Sense to Turn Him Down" Showing that she's ready to be a good lit'l soldier almost immediately, Spellings attacked the PBS program for having Buster go to Vermont on an upcoming episode. Apparently, it isn't the high fat-content desserts that worry her. Good to see the New Bushies are keeping the eye on the ball in the first inning. James Dobson must be very satisfied.
- My new favorite TV show of the moment is the Sundance Channel's "Festival Dailies" - a tour de force navel-gazing shmooze-arama. I feel like a cheeseball watching it, but eat it like candy. I went to Park City once when I was a kid. In the summer. Boy, did I beat the crowds on that particular occasion (it was 1981, after all). And to add heft to the anecdote, that visit was actually a particularly movie-centric period in my life. While there, I saw "Stripes" twice with my older brother while our parents shmoozed with their fur farmer friends. Seriously. Two nights in a row. I was 12 years old and I never was the same again. So I feel somewhat in sync with the current Sundance cinemaphilic buzz. Or so I claim at the more glamourous parties I regularly attend.
- Bush's surprise news conference was a blatent attempt to hijack the rapidly increasing drumbeat of badness yesterday. Many of the things he said got no coverage whatsoever. Almost all of his reponses deserved some sort of follow-up question to clarify. None received such clarifications. And his jokey-while-still-pissy demeanor was vintage Dubya. This was truly Must-Re-SeeTV.
- Max Boot in the LATimes tries to trash Sy Hersh as a journalistic equivalent of Oliver Stone. Totally out-of-bounds insults, especially when you balance that assessment with what a disaster "Alexander" turned out to be. Boot does, however, provide good background on some of Hersh's less-inspiring work. I only wish someone would do the same when it comes to filling in Boot's own blanks. His bio for the Council on Foreign Relations hits his conservative with a big "c" high points. I'm more interested in the lowly truths of his past positions ("mirror, mirror, on the wall...").
- To take the heat off the insult of Armstrong Williams' defense of his illegal propagandizing, Howard Kurtz's payola outing of Maggie Gallagher gives the almost-always-entertaining Maureen Dowd the chance to joke about changing teams this morning. Count me in too, Mo. With a baby on the way in a matter of days, I can use the scratch.
- Speaking of kids, I don't know if I'll be able to see to the Vermont episode of "Postcards From Buster" but you can bet the lesbian-run-farm that I'll be trying. In an act of inspired triviality for HER FIRST WEEK ON THE JOB, new Secretary of Education Margaret "Karl Rove Asked Me Out and I Had the Good Sense to Turn Him Down" Showing that she's ready to be a good lit'l soldier almost immediately, Spellings attacked the PBS program for having Buster go to Vermont on an upcoming episode. Apparently, it isn't the high fat-content desserts that worry her. Good to see the New Bushies are keeping the eye on the ball in the first inning. James Dobson must be very satisfied.
- My new favorite TV show of the moment is the Sundance Channel's "Festival Dailies" - a tour de force navel-gazing shmooze-arama. I feel like a cheeseball watching it, but eat it like candy. I went to Park City once when I was a kid. In the summer. Boy, did I beat the crowds on that particular occasion (it was 1981, after all). And to add heft to the anecdote, that visit was actually a particularly movie-centric period in my life. While there, I saw "Stripes" twice with my older brother while our parents shmoozed with their fur farmer friends. Seriously. Two nights in a row. I was 12 years old and I never was the same again. So I feel somewhat in sync with the current Sundance cinemaphilic buzz. Or so I claim at the more glamourous parties I regularly attend.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
The Beginning of The End of This Moron
Armstrong Williams believes he's at "the beginning" of his career. To add insult to injury, he also believes that he's a victim of a "witch hunt" and not bound by any sort of rules when it comes to broadcasted advocacy. Isn't he just the cutest lit'l thing?! I'm sorry to be the umpteenth lowly truth-teller to bring this up, Armstrong...but you're so ENTIRELY wrong I hope you keep up the protestations. The only thing more fun to watch than your futile defensiveness is Jenna Bush on the dance floor (with a former aide to Karl Rove, no less). You go, grrrls!
Monday, January 24, 2005
The Upcoming Tuesday Blues
Looks like the Bushies are getting ready to drop a budget bomb on Tuesday. $80B for Iraq and Afghanistan. Add that to the $25B already pledged this fiscal year, and we're talking over a hundred billion since the beginning of October '04 (we're only in the beginning of the second quarter of this federal fiscal cycle). Funny how this was held until a few days after the Inauguration but is being dropped just a few days before those oh-so-essential Iraqi elections. Priorities, priorities.
Friday, January 21, 2005
Dobson On The Aisle
I just happened upon a great resource for those of you that adore movie reviews. Go there - you will not be disappointed, I swear. James Dobson's cult...er, group Focus on the Family (scary
"Assault on Precint 13" reviewed by Tom Neven
Spiritual Content: A scene is set during a Roman Catholic Mass; the priest’s homily is about the power of moral choice and the importance of thinking through consequences before acting. The dirty cops use that church service to rendezvous with Bishop to try to extort more money out of him. One cop mocks, “You think you’d tell the truth with God watching.” Bishop states that he doesn’t believe in God: “Many times I’ve seen men staring death in the face and pleading for their lives. Since God never saved them, I’ve concluded he doesn’t exist.”
Realizing he’s being set up, Bishop stabs the cop in the neck with a pen just as the congregation begins singing “Amazing Grace.” A shoot-out ensues.
"Alexander" reviewed by Tom Neven
Sexual Content: Before Alexander's release, The online news world was abuzz with rumors that it contained heavy homosexual and/or bisexual content. And history pretty much confirms that Alexander had a voracious appetite for both sexes. In the final print, however, much of the bisexual content is confined to innuendo and assumption. Significant glances and whispers of affection are exchanged between Alexander and Hephaistion, his lifelong friend and probable homosexual lover. Alexander hugs Hephaistion lingeringly, says to him, “Stay with me tonight,” expresses a longing for growing old together, and assures him, "It's you I love." Olympias tells Alexander, “You love Hephaistion more. I understand. It’s natural for a young man.” Alexander also kisses a very effeminate male dancer full on the mouth—in front of his wife. (Interestingly, a group of Greek lawyers is threatening to sue director Oliver Stone and Warner Bros. over this portrayal of Alexander. In true Seinfeldian manner, they say they have no problem with homosexuality; they just don’t want to see their cultural hero portrayed that way.)
King Philip, in a drunken rage, attempts to rape Olympias. He slaps her, chokes her and throws her upon the bed that young Alexander lies in, ripping at her clothing. (Palace guards eventually pull him off as Alexander pleads with him to stop.) In a like-father, like-son echo, Alexander later violently attempts to force his "rights" on his wife, Roxane. (During the struggle, she's seen nude from the front; shadows obscure the lower portion of her body.) After he has beat her and wrestled her down, she seizes a knife and puts it to his throat. Then, the two turn their anger and acts of violence into a means of summoning sexual attraction. What follows includes explicit motion and sounds, seen in flashes of flesh and in silhouette. Elsewhere, in low light, we see Alexander briefly expose part of his sexual anatomy to the camera.
During one of Philip's drunken orgies, men drag women off, apparently to have their way with them. Upon viewing King Darius’ harem in captured
"Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" reviewed by Rhonda Handlon
Violent Content: Bridget’s physical foibles include no fewer than three face plants, leaving her countenance covered in everything from sand to snow to pig manure. Mark and Daniel chase each other, push each other and come to blows over Bridget.
"Fat Albert" reviewed by Steven Isaac
Spiritual Content: Bill Cosby explains to Albert that he came through the TV because he "felt her spirit."
"Kinsey" reviewed by Tom Neven
Spiritual Content: The movie is not two minutes old when it begins mocking Christianity. It shows a stern preacher denouncing modernity, and it implicitly equates disapproval of sexual deviancy with disapproval of all that makes up the “modern” world (e.g., electricity and automobiles). In an interview, Kinsey says he was raised a Methodist but, since age 19, has never attended church.
A professor comments that a student’s search for the gall wasp “Garden of Eden” has managed to bridge the Bible and Darwin in one stroke. Kinsey’s “freethinking” wife at first finds him too “churchy.” At one point Kinsey asks, “What would our country look like if the Puritans had stayed home?”
"Million Dollar Baby" reviewed by Christopher Lyon
Sexual Content: An aggressive fighter at the gym mocks Maggie, making fun of the size of her “t-tties.” She responds by using the same sexual terms against him. Another boxer acts out her insult by making sexual motions on the ring's canvas. Two or three “card girls” are briefly seen in revealing clothing as they parade the ring between rounds. Frankie tells Maggie to hit another female boxer "in the t-tties" until they "turn blue and fall off."
There's too much else there to be denied it's full reading by my thumbnail cut-and-pasting. Go there now. You'll thank me for it later, as you make your MovieFone choices this evening.
Another Powell Hits the Bricks
As one must expect in this media-saturated world, post-Inauguration analysis is pouring in from all over. Much of the world has taken to mocking the "End of Tyranny" claims repeated throughout Bush's speech. And some conservatives on this Continent are even saying Bush over-reached. For example, Peggy Noonan (who knows a little something about speech-writing) writes in today's WSJ:
"The inaugural address itself was startling. It left me with a bad feeling, and reluctant dislike. Rhetorically, it veered from high-class boilerplate to strong and simple sentences, but it was not pedestrian. George W. Bush's second inaugural will no doubt prove historic because it carried a punch, asserting an agenda so sweeping that an observer quipped that by the end he would not have been surprised if the president had announced we were going to colonize Mars."
Noonan later wrote, "Ending tyranny in the world? Well that's an ambition, and if you're going to have an ambition it might as well be a big one. But this declaration, which is not wrong by any means, seemed to me to land somewhere between dreamy and disturbing. Tyranny is a very bad thing and quite wicked, but one doesn't expect we're going to eradicate it any time soon. Again, this is not heaven, it's earth."
Of course, the Brits smacked the speech upside the head much more harshly. Drudge tries painting them all with the same brush in one of his classic over-simplifications. I suggest reading a bit more into their reporting that just reprinting the headlines.
My favorite Michael Moore-worthy shot is in the slideshow of the Inauguration put up by the WashingtonPost. Near the end, before all the obligatory goofy-protesters shots, there's one of Cheney waving from inside his limo as a snowball melts on the car's exterior. Classic.
Amidst the din of talking head blather, most people run the risk of missing FCC Chair Michael Powell's resignation announcement. The WSJ broke the story which feels like a plant just before the Friday newscycle garbage dump, but now everyone's running with it. I suggest that Howard Stern's reaction to the news will be the most entertaining and relevant. Stories of the infighting on the FCC are coming out, too. According to the NYTimes:
"Mr. Powell faced criticism from conservatives as well for not being even tougher, including from another Republican member of the commission, Kevin J. Martin. Mr. Martin was also behind a rare defeat for Mr. Powell, when the commission turned down his proposal in 2003 to deregulate the local telephone market."
I predict that a smoother pro-deregulation biznocrat will be nominated sometime before the Super Bowl (with Paul McCartney as the halftime show bigname this year, wardrobe malfunction distractions seem like a longshot). But as they say in cheesier parts of the news bidness, stay tuned...
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Those Magic Moments
Even though I'm slightly delayed by TiVo and the need to make a few notes as I watch things, I'm gonna try to offer observations as they spill out. Hate me if you want - I'm just another American Liberal who won't avoid admitting it, that nonetheless loves the traditions associated with our Inaugural ceremonies. And so this is what I saw...
___________________________________________________
Nothing in the early coverage of the dignitaries milling about surpasses the not-so-subtle irony of Elaine Chao showing up looking fabulous in a mink coat. Now THAT's the sort of message the Bushies want to send to Labor. Power to the people. The powerful people, that is.
Guy Hovis (wearing the worst toupee in DC, which is saying a great deal) sang "Let the Eagle Soar." Please, please someone find out how much Ashcroft gets in royalties for forcing the nation to live through that melodic bludgeoning yet again. Hillary bobbed her head along - now THAT's a bipartisan sharing/doubling of the pain.
Bill Frist's red TN scarf (with the Titans' insignia) is WAY too much. Tom Delay appears to be carrying something between his ass cheeks. "BigTime" Cheney sublty-offered a wink caught on camera before descending to his seat - oh so chilling.
So many fur coats in the crowd. Having grown up in one of the few hundred American families still raising fur-bearing critters, it is an encouraging sign for my relatives. But I'm sure many of those that oppose such trappings (pun intended) of wealth feel it hurts us as nation. Or a species. Either way, I'm sure designers targeting the Elaine Chaos of the world couldn't care less.
Rehnquist descends the stairs to the dais after everyone else. Wow. I think we've all just seen a ghost.
"Richard Bruce Cheney." Who knew he was a Bruce? Not that it matters now, but they should've used that on the campaign trail.
Is Dennis Hastert dsylexic? Given the number of mistakes he made reading the oath to Cheney, one can't help but ponder otherwise. And how many Christian Conservatives out there do you think minded that Cheney's gay daughter, Mary, held the Bible on which he swore his oath? Enquiring minds want to know.
WAIT a minute...Rehnquist is on a VENTILATOR?!! The automated wheezes were a dead giveaway (no pun intended, I think). Still, how can this man deign to remain on the Court with what is so obviously terribly limiting health issues? And then he hobbled from the cold as soon as his duties were done. Rehnquist was a committed and honorable Justice. And we all wish you a complete recovery. But this is the Country's Judicial System you're holding in the balance by trying to feign a command of your faculties. I implore you, kind Sir, think of your legacy.
And so Dubya's speech begins. No going back now. So I'll try my selective best to annotate some of the phraseology, from my thankfully-TiVo'd and underlying-meaning-minded perspective.
- Bush starts in almost immediately with all sorts of hooey, trying to bolster his moment's historical importance. He decries "the shipwreck of communism,""years of repose," and "years of sabbatical." But he completes the shtick with "and then there came a day of fire" - OK, is it just me or was this speechwriter drinking a bit too much merlot while putting the lipgloss on this pig?
- Bush (somewhat threateningly) draws our attention to "the survival of liberty in our land." As in here - the frickin' U.S. of A. Was that "survival" ever really in question until the Bushies began threatening it? Sorry, don't answer that. It's a not entirely rhetorical moment of self-exposure.
- "Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty." One name, please, Mr. President. Just one. Name for me one person who presented that question. I bet you a ham sandwich you can't come up with even one.
- Talk of "permanent tyranny" and "permanent slavery" follows. Flourishes are part of the game, but who really, honestly, in even the most evil chambers of the world's ugliest gangs has ever talked of either of these insults to humanity as being "permanent." All you linguists out there, please parse the crap out these sections in this speech - I'm a mere amateur. But it almost sounds like a political MadLib to me.
- Crazy segway at a blank moment in Dubya's speech. C-SPAN showed live footage of Jim Jeffords. Then - and I'm completely serious here as a dead-on professional-face-recognizer - Stephen Baldwin (who never got better than his throwaway role in "The Usual Suspects). His brother, Alec, was surely pissed, but Stephen's a not-so-famous-but famously-nutso Bushie. As far as I can tell, Jeffords and Baldwin were nowhere near one another in the seating arrangement. But I sure would've loved to hear the control room coversation leading up to that camera transistion.
- "And one day, this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of the world." Um, so that's supposed to be good imagery? This is a bit premature, but this speech produced some of the clunkiest wordsmithing I've ever heard on such a widely-viewed stage.
- "In deaths that honored their whole lives" - referring to American soldiers killed in Iraq. An absolutely, abhorrently, yucky claim of honorable ends.
- "I ask our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your own eyes." Hard to tell in retrospect what that's supposed to mean. It was unintentionally bad grammar, one should hope, even if taken in context. But it's still horrendous.
- Bush mentioned the Homestead Act, to which I largely credit my own American ancestry. My great-grandfather came here from Sweden/Norway (a disputed border region near Lillehammer, Norway) and naturalized in the early 1880s. Thanks to the 160 acres the U.S. Government gave him to do so under that Act, my ancesters settled on the farthest-northern slice of Wisconsin at that point settled-by and offered-to immigrants. Yet, to bring it around to the current reference, how the MOTH**FU** does that history justify privatizing Social Security? Bush talks about an "Ownership Society." Here's a thought - try owning up to our $7+Trillion National Debt and the systemic deficits produced as far as the eye can see by cutting income taxes before addressing any other newly-designated "national goals." Lofty historical references are an American tradition, no doubt. But trying to sell a possibly ruinous plan on the well-worn backs of 19th Century immigrants - that's pushing the envelope like I've never seen before in American political gamesmanship or class-warfare. Bush sure does have some balls.
- Not-so Hidden Pro-Life Message O' the Day
"Even the unwanted have worth." OK, you moralist posturers. I implore you - apply that empty sentiment to convicted criminals, the homeless, the poor, or all manner of other less-desirables in our society. The "unwanted" are most emphatically not ONLY the unborn. Just look around you everywhere on a daily basis.
- C-SPAN offered an amazing transistion-camera view over Dubya's shoulder, showing his speech in its 3-ring binder. Seriously-HUGE type with lots of underlining. No cartoons, at least that I could see. But that's not a comment meant to impune his intelligence. It's just amazing to actually see the words laid out as they are before becoming history.
- C-SPAN then showed the first protesters being led away. Three normalish-looking people, nothing overly-rebellious or ready for network re-broadcast. In the background you could hear some echoing chants of dissent. Somewhere out there, Michael Moore's salivating over the footage he (quite probably) alone will present to the American people showing what really happened.
- "Not because history moves forward on the wheels of inevitability. It is human history that move events." Huh? I only wish I'd incorrectly dictated that terrible passage. In this, as in all other sins of this Administration, I think their words should speak for themselves.
- "History has an ebb and flow of Justice." As Bush read that unintentionally ironic line, C-SPAN cut to a shot of DC Police tearing an anti-war banner away from a few vocal protestors. And then an awkward applause break initiated by the pro-Bush crowd forced him to stop. The standard Pro-Bush chant of "Four More Years" began, even though he's already into that term as of yesterday, according to the Constitution. So where might those folks put us on that cycle - ebb or flow? I'm pretty sure of where I think we're headed, but I'd like to hear your opinion when you stop chanting...
- "We are ready for the greatest achievements in freedom." As if. So we're to believe that the world ain't seen nothing yet? Please stop the overaggrandizements, Dubya. That dog just won't hunt.
__________________________________
And so the speech itself came to an end...I'm left thinking that it's been more than a generation since the words of a major American politician sounded lofty (no offense, Bubba, but you were pretty hollow-sounding with alarming regularity). But this took a newly-sized slice of cake, unparallelled in its audacity. Lofty, yes. Meaningful, hell no. Interesting, no. Imag-erific-ish, not even. Explain-ism-ish, still no. Worth my time, um...yes (I'm a slut for such American moments). Worth anyone's praise, absolutely not. In totality, empty political calories with no taste or panache. Easily digested, immediately passable, completely beneath the moment. Obviously, I've never supported Dubya and probably won't ever do so. I watched this as a sort of political Super Bowl - all hype, no game. I walked away from my TiVo unimpressed and discordant. Not one single element of that inaugural speech did anything to "unite, not divide." But what do I know. I voted for LaRouche.
Much will be written about this moment in our Nation's history - of that we can all be assured, like it or not. We live in a country facing some of the most daunting debates in our history, much less the coming century. Let anything that is written hereafter concerning this speech loop back around on one central principle - the only political poetry America has shown itself to care for is the easily-digestible kind. Limericks, really. Stupid, poetry-lite stuff, the kind appreciated by the already convinced. Still, I believe that America is ready for some REAL poetry again. I'm not a snob (or so I choose to believe), but I'm not afraid of a literary metaphor from time to time. As such, I believe that our best work is yet to come.
With that, I sign off. Last time I checked, protesters seemed to be minorly messing with the Inaugural Parade. That will pass, with little eventual effect, I'm sure. But even those displays appear decidedly civil, even when anarchic. Regardless, bless you all, Americans and otherwise.
___________________________________________________
Nothing in the early coverage of the dignitaries milling about surpasses the not-so-subtle irony of Elaine Chao showing up looking fabulous in a mink coat. Now THAT's the sort of message the Bushies want to send to Labor. Power to the people. The powerful people, that is.
Guy Hovis (wearing the worst toupee in DC, which is saying a great deal) sang "Let the Eagle Soar." Please, please someone find out how much Ashcroft gets in royalties for forcing the nation to live through that melodic bludgeoning yet again. Hillary bobbed her head along - now THAT's a bipartisan sharing/doubling of the pain.
Bill Frist's red TN scarf (with the Titans' insignia) is WAY too much. Tom Delay appears to be carrying something between his ass cheeks. "BigTime" Cheney sublty-offered a wink caught on camera before descending to his seat - oh so chilling.
So many fur coats in the crowd. Having grown up in one of the few hundred American families still raising fur-bearing critters, it is an encouraging sign for my relatives. But I'm sure many of those that oppose such trappings (pun intended) of wealth feel it hurts us as nation. Or a species. Either way, I'm sure designers targeting the Elaine Chaos of the world couldn't care less.
Rehnquist descends the stairs to the dais after everyone else. Wow. I think we've all just seen a ghost.
"Richard Bruce Cheney." Who knew he was a Bruce? Not that it matters now, but they should've used that on the campaign trail.
Is Dennis Hastert dsylexic? Given the number of mistakes he made reading the oath to Cheney, one can't help but ponder otherwise. And how many Christian Conservatives out there do you think minded that Cheney's gay daughter, Mary, held the Bible on which he swore his oath? Enquiring minds want to know.
WAIT a minute...Rehnquist is on a VENTILATOR?!! The automated wheezes were a dead giveaway (no pun intended, I think). Still, how can this man deign to remain on the Court with what is so obviously terribly limiting health issues? And then he hobbled from the cold as soon as his duties were done. Rehnquist was a committed and honorable Justice. And we all wish you a complete recovery. But this is the Country's Judicial System you're holding in the balance by trying to feign a command of your faculties. I implore you, kind Sir, think of your legacy.
And so Dubya's speech begins. No going back now. So I'll try my selective best to annotate some of the phraseology, from my thankfully-TiVo'd and underlying-meaning-minded perspective.
- Bush starts in almost immediately with all sorts of hooey, trying to bolster his moment's historical importance. He decries "the shipwreck of communism,""years of repose," and "years of sabbatical." But he completes the shtick with "and then there came a day of fire" - OK, is it just me or was this speechwriter drinking a bit too much merlot while putting the lipgloss on this pig?
- Bush (somewhat threateningly) draws our attention to "the survival of liberty in our land." As in here - the frickin' U.S. of A. Was that "survival" ever really in question until the Bushies began threatening it? Sorry, don't answer that. It's a not entirely rhetorical moment of self-exposure.
- "Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty." One name, please, Mr. President. Just one. Name for me one person who presented that question. I bet you a ham sandwich you can't come up with even one.
- Talk of "permanent tyranny" and "permanent slavery" follows. Flourishes are part of the game, but who really, honestly, in even the most evil chambers of the world's ugliest gangs has ever talked of either of these insults to humanity as being "permanent." All you linguists out there, please parse the crap out these sections in this speech - I'm a mere amateur. But it almost sounds like a political MadLib to me.
- Crazy segway at a blank moment in Dubya's speech. C-SPAN showed live footage of Jim Jeffords. Then - and I'm completely serious here as a dead-on professional-face-recognizer - Stephen Baldwin (who never got better than his throwaway role in "The Usual Suspects). His brother, Alec, was surely pissed, but Stephen's a not-so-famous-but famously-nutso Bushie. As far as I can tell, Jeffords and Baldwin were nowhere near one another in the seating arrangement. But I sure would've loved to hear the control room coversation leading up to that camera transistion.
- "And one day, this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of the world." Um, so that's supposed to be good imagery? This is a bit premature, but this speech produced some of the clunkiest wordsmithing I've ever heard on such a widely-viewed stage.
- "In deaths that honored their whole lives" - referring to American soldiers killed in Iraq. An absolutely, abhorrently, yucky claim of honorable ends.
- "I ask our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your own eyes." Hard to tell in retrospect what that's supposed to mean. It was unintentionally bad grammar, one should hope, even if taken in context. But it's still horrendous.
- Bush mentioned the Homestead Act, to which I largely credit my own American ancestry. My great-grandfather came here from Sweden/Norway (a disputed border region near Lillehammer, Norway) and naturalized in the early 1880s. Thanks to the 160 acres the U.S. Government gave him to do so under that Act, my ancesters settled on the farthest-northern slice of Wisconsin at that point settled-by and offered-to immigrants. Yet, to bring it around to the current reference, how the MOTH**FU** does that history justify privatizing Social Security? Bush talks about an "Ownership Society." Here's a thought - try owning up to our $7+Trillion National Debt and the systemic deficits produced as far as the eye can see by cutting income taxes before addressing any other newly-designated "national goals." Lofty historical references are an American tradition, no doubt. But trying to sell a possibly ruinous plan on the well-worn backs of 19th Century immigrants - that's pushing the envelope like I've never seen before in American political gamesmanship or class-warfare. Bush sure does have some balls.
- Not-so Hidden Pro-Life Message O' the Day
"Even the unwanted have worth." OK, you moralist posturers. I implore you - apply that empty sentiment to convicted criminals, the homeless, the poor, or all manner of other less-desirables in our society. The "unwanted" are most emphatically not ONLY the unborn. Just look around you everywhere on a daily basis.
- C-SPAN offered an amazing transistion-camera view over Dubya's shoulder, showing his speech in its 3-ring binder. Seriously-HUGE type with lots of underlining. No cartoons, at least that I could see. But that's not a comment meant to impune his intelligence. It's just amazing to actually see the words laid out as they are before becoming history.
- C-SPAN then showed the first protesters being led away. Three normalish-looking people, nothing overly-rebellious or ready for network re-broadcast. In the background you could hear some echoing chants of dissent. Somewhere out there, Michael Moore's salivating over the footage he (quite probably) alone will present to the American people showing what really happened.
- "Not because history moves forward on the wheels of inevitability. It is human history that move events." Huh? I only wish I'd incorrectly dictated that terrible passage. In this, as in all other sins of this Administration, I think their words should speak for themselves.
- "History has an ebb and flow of Justice." As Bush read that unintentionally ironic line, C-SPAN cut to a shot of DC Police tearing an anti-war banner away from a few vocal protestors. And then an awkward applause break initiated by the pro-Bush crowd forced him to stop. The standard Pro-Bush chant of "Four More Years" began, even though he's already into that term as of yesterday, according to the Constitution. So where might those folks put us on that cycle - ebb or flow? I'm pretty sure of where I think we're headed, but I'd like to hear your opinion when you stop chanting...
- "We are ready for the greatest achievements in freedom." As if. So we're to believe that the world ain't seen nothing yet? Please stop the overaggrandizements, Dubya. That dog just won't hunt.
__________________________________
And so the speech itself came to an end...I'm left thinking that it's been more than a generation since the words of a major American politician sounded lofty (no offense, Bubba, but you were pretty hollow-sounding with alarming regularity). But this took a newly-sized slice of cake, unparallelled in its audacity. Lofty, yes. Meaningful, hell no. Interesting, no. Imag-erific-ish, not even. Explain-ism-ish, still no. Worth my time, um...yes (I'm a slut for such American moments). Worth anyone's praise, absolutely not. In totality, empty political calories with no taste or panache. Easily digested, immediately passable, completely beneath the moment. Obviously, I've never supported Dubya and probably won't ever do so. I watched this as a sort of political Super Bowl - all hype, no game. I walked away from my TiVo unimpressed and discordant. Not one single element of that inaugural speech did anything to "unite, not divide." But what do I know. I voted for LaRouche.
Much will be written about this moment in our Nation's history - of that we can all be assured, like it or not. We live in a country facing some of the most daunting debates in our history, much less the coming century. Let anything that is written hereafter concerning this speech loop back around on one central principle - the only political poetry America has shown itself to care for is the easily-digestible kind. Limericks, really. Stupid, poetry-lite stuff, the kind appreciated by the already convinced. Still, I believe that America is ready for some REAL poetry again. I'm not a snob (or so I choose to believe), but I'm not afraid of a literary metaphor from time to time. As such, I believe that our best work is yet to come.
With that, I sign off. Last time I checked, protesters seemed to be minorly messing with the Inaugural Parade. That will pass, with little eventual effect, I'm sure. But even those displays appear decidedly civil, even when anarchic. Regardless, bless you all, Americans and otherwise.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Condi Wins 16-2, and the GOP Decries the Safety
Not much of a surprise out of the Condi as Secretary of State hearings. Sure, she responded with ridiculously defensive snarls when questioned by Barbara Boxer yesterday. But in the overall view, everyone gave her a pass. Well, everyone except Boxer, John Kerry and the subsequently expected capitulation on the Dems part when it came to a floor vote. As a result, her coronation, er...confirmation, will be delayed until next week. Sorry, Dubya - yer just gonna need to wait to beat down those non-believers at State. This changes little, I will be the first to observe. Still, putting up a false barrier to the steam-rollers of the NeoCons provides some empty hope for us all.
Honestly, Condi will be an absolutely terrible Secretary of State. If not the worst, surely the most ineffectual and dangerously stilted. Call your victories what you will, my rhetorical opponents. But you're fighting a game of legitimacy that I most assuredly believe you will not win. Good luck - tomorrow's Inauguration will give all of us much to comment upon. Unfortunately, I fear I will only see the ugly and decidedly not-regal. That's how she works when you won't pay $250K for a seat. But C-SPAN is my best friend, when it comes to this crap. I will watch it all and hope any of you reading this do the same. America needs our sincere interest. And I, above all wish DC the best. Rock on.
Honestly, Condi will be an absolutely terrible Secretary of State. If not the worst, surely the most ineffectual and dangerously stilted. Call your victories what you will, my rhetorical opponents. But you're fighting a game of legitimacy that I most assuredly believe you will not win. Good luck - tomorrow's Inauguration will give all of us much to comment upon. Unfortunately, I fear I will only see the ugly and decidedly not-regal. That's how she works when you won't pay $250K for a seat. But C-SPAN is my best friend, when it comes to this crap. I will watch it all and hope any of you reading this do the same. America needs our sincere interest. And I, above all wish DC the best. Rock on.
Monday, January 17, 2005
They're Really Only Off by One Letter
The Bushies are in full-on damage-control mode given the revelations being presented in Seymour Hersh's latest shocker in this week's "New Yorker." For those of you already months behind on un-read "New Yorkers" piled in your bathroom, Hersh scoops how since the Summer of 2004 the Pentagon has been coordinating a series of covert missions into Iran (yes, IRAN) to map and catalog nuclear and tactical sites for future possible attacks. There's plenty of details on where our Special Forces are getting their intelligence (Pakistan, who deny a link) and how this is intended to circumvent Congressional oversight on the CIA by using the newly-strengthened Rumsfeldian forces in Defense (the overall premise of the article). I'm sure you can imagine where this is headed. After all, Bush feels he has a mandate after his re-election, and that doesn't only mean moving forward with his plans on Social Security. But if anyone can take the heat, it's Sy Hersh. Which raises the point for me yet again - while we must appreciate this man's resilience, are there NO OTHER investigative journalists out there on the case? If only Geraldo had taken a slightly different road in his development...
Friday, January 14, 2005
A Needed Crack at Zephyr (follow-up)
Kos sets the record straight with regard to my earlier post. Check it out - he calls it from the inside, as it must be called to counter the dookie currently complicating the discussion.
The Pack Gets a Good Fella...
Or so Packer Nation is led to believe after his introduction in Wisconsin. For the Green Bay Packers, having knowledgable people with NFL experience is essential. Ted Thompson, our new General Manager who thankfully takes that role away from the previously underperforming Mike Sherman, has all the background we need. For the time being. But can he prompt a mooning (or much more graphic displays) from Randy Moss? In all seriousness, this is a guy to do a serious job in a serious football town. I wish Ted all the best and the mightiest of brat feeds to welcome him in the weeks and months ahead.
That's a CounterPunch?
Armstrong Williams took cash to promote the Bushies' "No Child Left Behind" program. No one disputes that. The contract recently scooped by the USAToday itemizes exactly what he was supposed to do as a surrepitious promoter. As revealed, it should be enough to ruin his reputation, albeit a minor and not-especially interesting one. So, as a matter of payback to fuel the conservative commentators out there deperately trying to rebut this criticism of Armstrong, a WSJ piece today reports that the Dean Campaign paid two liberal bloggers ("Jerome Armstrong, who publishes the blog MyDD, and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, who publishes DailyKos"). Actually according to the WSJ's story, they got their story from none other than:
"Zephyr Teachout, the former head of Internet outreach for Mr. Dean's campaign, made the disclosure earlier this week in her own Web log, Zonkette. She said "to be very clear, they never committed to supporting Dean for the payment -- but it was very clearly, internally, our goal." The hiring of the consultants was noted in several publications at the time."
Is there a story here? Absol-phucking-lutely not. But you can be damn sure that the Drudges and the FOXes and their brethern will shout it from the hilltops as a counterpunch in upcoming newscycles to take the heat off of the illegal Department of Education contract with Armstrong Williams. Here's the difference, as noted even WITHIN the WSJ story:
"Mr. Moulitsas said they were paid $3,000 a month for four months and he noted that he had posted a disclosure near the top of his daily blog that he worked for the Dean campaign doing "technical consulting." Mr. Armstrong said he shut down his site when he went to work for the campaign, then resumed posting after his contract ended."
Gee, just imagine the scandal of an announced $12K contract with two young bloggers? Did Armstrong Williams present anything close to this sort of disclosure? Pul-leeze. And even though the blogosphere is commanding an impressively escalating number of eyeballs, no one will yet be so bold as to compare our audiences with those seen by CNN or other broadcast channels. Yet. If this is the way the Bushies protect their right to blatently, covertly propagandize, they're in for a fight they simply cannot win forever. That's my stance and you can quote me on it.
Oh, in case you missed it, Bush regrets his "Bring 'em on" taunt that has since led to an additional 1200 dead American troops (approximate estimate based on Bush making the gaffe in July 2003 and statistics pulled from the most current totals). I'll try to say so every day possible, but how these sorts of admissions coupled with those that WMDs were a hollow excuse for invading a nation can be buried in even the scrupulous media escapes me entirely. Such denial won't last forever.
"Zephyr Teachout, the former head of Internet outreach for Mr. Dean's campaign, made the disclosure earlier this week in her own Web log, Zonkette. She said "to be very clear, they never committed to supporting Dean for the payment -- but it was very clearly, internally, our goal." The hiring of the consultants was noted in several publications at the time."
Is there a story here? Absol-phucking-lutely not. But you can be damn sure that the Drudges and the FOXes and their brethern will shout it from the hilltops as a counterpunch in upcoming newscycles to take the heat off of the illegal Department of Education contract with Armstrong Williams. Here's the difference, as noted even WITHIN the WSJ story:
"Mr. Moulitsas said they were paid $3,000 a month for four months and he noted that he had posted a disclosure near the top of his daily blog that he worked for the Dean campaign doing "technical consulting." Mr. Armstrong said he shut down his site when he went to work for the campaign, then resumed posting after his contract ended."
Gee, just imagine the scandal of an announced $12K contract with two young bloggers? Did Armstrong Williams present anything close to this sort of disclosure? Pul-leeze. And even though the blogosphere is commanding an impressively escalating number of eyeballs, no one will yet be so bold as to compare our audiences with those seen by CNN or other broadcast channels. Yet. If this is the way the Bushies protect their right to blatently, covertly propagandize, they're in for a fight they simply cannot win forever. That's my stance and you can quote me on it.
Oh, in case you missed it, Bush regrets his "Bring 'em on" taunt that has since led to an additional 1200 dead American troops (approximate estimate based on Bush making the gaffe in July 2003 and statistics pulled from the most current totals). I'll try to say so every day possible, but how these sorts of admissions coupled with those that WMDs were a hollow excuse for invading a nation can be buried in even the scrupulous media escapes me entirely. Such denial won't last forever.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
A Breeding Ground Uncovered
Bury the story of announcing "no WMDs will ever be found in Iraq" all you want (today's NYTimes had it on the alley AND at the bottom of page A18, FOR CHRISSAKES!!!). But the stinker the WashingtonPost serves up for the Friday freaky-mix before the inaugural is a whopper. Read it yourself because I can't do justice to Dana Priest's professional assessment in summation. Still, in a nutshell, Iraq is exactly what the Bushies said it was...but only after they invaded and threw $250B+ down the toilet. Translation: our biggest concern in the so-called "War On Terrorism" as a future problem. We've found the training ground for future terrorists. Hell, we told 'em where to go to get the training. Check your emergency kits, folks, 'cause we don't have the slightest idea where the next Bin Laden originally hails from. But we know where he or she cut her chops. Crazy, crazy analysis, prepared by your very own CIA. Read it and hate the fact that you may well be tragically weeping in the years to come when reflecting on the folly that was/is this mess.
Sarah & I just saw "Million Dollar Baby." To cut through all the crap - the accollades are entirely worth it. Clint Eastwood is brilliant. Hillary Swank shows more range than any actor my (or, for that matter, any current sentient) age. Morgan Freeman should be carved onto Mount Rushmore. Sadly, the kid who plays "Danger" should be kicked to the curb. I didn't care for him in "Almost Famous" but I really hated him herein. I won't fixate on that, though. It's a masterstroke in a career of stunning surprises from Mr. Eastwood. We had the dumbest people in California sharing our matinee (inside joke for the benefit of my gorgeous, WAY-pregnant wife - check for pics over the weekend). But you'll probably do better wherever it is that you may live. See this movie or expect that you will be told to do so repeatedly in the many months ahead. And cry. That's what all the cool kids are doing these days.
Sarah & I just saw "Million Dollar Baby." To cut through all the crap - the accollades are entirely worth it. Clint Eastwood is brilliant. Hillary Swank shows more range than any actor my (or, for that matter, any current sentient) age. Morgan Freeman should be carved onto Mount Rushmore. Sadly, the kid who plays "Danger" should be kicked to the curb. I didn't care for him in "Almost Famous" but I really hated him herein. I won't fixate on that, though. It's a masterstroke in a career of stunning surprises from Mr. Eastwood. We had the dumbest people in California sharing our matinee (inside joke for the benefit of my gorgeous, WAY-pregnant wife - check for pics over the weekend). But you'll probably do better wherever it is that you may live. See this movie or expect that you will be told to do so repeatedly in the many months ahead. And cry. That's what all the cool kids are doing these days.
Red McCombs and Prince Harry Show Their Versions of Humor
So let me get this straight - according to Vikings' Owner Red "I Was a Used-Car Dealer Before I Bought This Team" McCombs, the REACTION that Joe Buck had to Randy Moss' ass dance in the end zone at Lambeau was out of line? Not the actual fake-mooning? Wow. I defer to the fact that when FOX gives you the cold shoulder on the grounds of illegitimate moral posturing, you know you're really stretching it. Just sell the damn team, Red. You've been threatening to do so for the handful of years you've been running that franchise into the ground. Or maybe you should just trade it in for a slightly newer, hardly road-tested sweetie like the Columbus BlueJackets. All sporty posturing aside, I must say that you, sir, are a disgrace!
But still not nearly as much as Prince Harry. Boy is that a pisser of an entitled asswipe. Can't get much more insensitive than showing up for a fancy masquerade party in a Nazi costume. If only he'd dressed up in something tasteful. Like a clubbed seal. Or a vagina. Please, someone, yank his presence off the stage of more or less Royal Folk and exile him already.
But still not nearly as much as Prince Harry. Boy is that a pisser of an entitled asswipe. Can't get much more insensitive than showing up for a fancy masquerade party in a Nazi costume. If only he'd dressed up in something tasteful. Like a clubbed seal. Or a vagina. Please, someone, yank his presence off the stage of more or less Royal Folk and exile him already.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Dean's Dream Gathers Steam?
OK, no surprise here - Howard Dean's thrown his hat formally into the ring to be head of the DNC. Will he win? My opinion is an emphatic, nuh-uh. Smart guy, that Ho-Ho. Great cut-through-the-shitter, too. But as DNC Chair, he would suck big-time. The job requires a party operative to be all about pulling together disparate factions and raising money. Dean was, instead, all about causing disparate factions and spending money. I'll admit it openly - I love the fella. But he's the worst possible candidate at this point in time. Hopefully, the "Anyone But Dean" coalition will truly coalesce. Given the Dems recent history, though, I certainly expect that Dean's acceptance speech will be an interesting moment to behold in the New Century of the Party.
According to one of the funnier (intentionally?) misinformed stories I've read in years, Sasha Cohen appears to have one-upped his insulting persona recently at a rodeo in Virginia. For those of you unfamiliar with Da Ali G's show, Borat almost always steals the show. In this case, it appears as though he barely escaped with his life. Can't wait for that episode next season.
According to one of the funnier (intentionally?) misinformed stories I've read in years, Sasha Cohen appears to have one-upped his insulting persona recently at a rodeo in Virginia. For those of you unfamiliar with Da Ali G's show, Borat almost always steals the show. In this case, it appears as though he barely escaped with his life. Can't wait for that episode next season.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Dubya the Philosopher
Today's WSJ interview (subscription required) is the first given by Bush to a newspaper since he won re-election. It revolves around his vision of Social Security reform, and he sounds more delusional about his own history than I've ever heard from him. This quote pretty much sums it up:
"I understand there are many who say, 'Bush is wrong,' " the president said, flanked by incoming National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and other senior aides. "I assume I'm right. It's exciting to be part of stimulating a debate of such significance," he went on. "It really is the philosophical argument of the age."
Lookout people. When Bush starts in with that lofty shtick, something ends up getting attacked. In this case, however, that something is here in the Homeland (gawd, I hate that word).
"I understand there are many who say, 'Bush is wrong,' " the president said, flanked by incoming National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and other senior aides. "I assume I'm right. It's exciting to be part of stimulating a debate of such significance," he went on. "It really is the philosophical argument of the age."
Lookout people. When Bush starts in with that lofty shtick, something ends up getting attacked. In this case, however, that something is here in the Homeland (gawd, I hate that word).
Monday, January 10, 2005
Moss Is Our Collective Loss
I'd like to think that I'm not your normal Green Bay Packers fan. Sure, I pride myself on knowing the sport well, but when something like the debacle in Lambeau yesterday comes down the pike, I try to not to take it too personally. For those of you that don't care about the NFL or professional sports, let's just say the Pack lost an important game to end their season. But for those of you that care about such things, this one was the biggest stinkbomb in a fusillade of such season-enders since Favre got his one (and probably only) ring in '97. Does it matter? In Wisconsin and with Packer Nation folks everywhere, overwhelmingly. Otherwise, assuredly not much. Nonetheless, one aspect of yesterday's performance will live on, quite unfortunately, for all sports fans and especially those that care about the NFL. Randy Moss insulted all of us, hurt the game by escalating the insults brash players can get away with, and pretty much guaranteed that he'll never have a legitimate career after football.
All the networks are running away from re-broadcasts of this footage, which just solidifies how violence is perfectly fine for ad nauseum play (remember the Indiana Pacers taking on the entire crowd in Detroit rather recently?) but the slightest suggestion of nudity cannot be tolerated in the Bush Century (look to this fake mooning or the fake towel drop by Nicollete Sheridan on MNF earlier this fall). I've got this game saved on my TiVo with both the actual footage and his even-more tone-deaf arrogance in being interviewed by Chris Meyer of FOX on the field after the game. When Randy Moss gets his due, I'll be sure to fire that footage up again. I haven't yet found a good internet video log link. Yet. Check back on this one.
Now, my point. If the Boston Red Sox went to Yankee Stadium and Curt Schilling fake-mooned home plate after throwing the final pitch in a complete-game shut-out, the Five Boroughs would be littered with Red Sox heads on pikes. Home field is not always sacred, but you still need to think about getting to the team bus once the TV crews have packed up their gear. Such extreme audacity simply denegrates the entire exercise of sports in this country. Were the fans shouting despicable things at Moss on the sideline during the game? Yes, I would expect that to be so having scrutinized his ridiculous reactions in the coverage during the game ("flipping the bird" inside a glove, pointing at the "moth**fu***** scoreboard," accompanied by his easily lip-readable televised taunts). But Lambeau, in the sense of being a surly crowd, is a world away from the four-letter-flurries coating the field in Yankee Stadium or, much less prestigiously, in NBA arenas throughout the country. What sort of noise do you think the Vikings will now endure in Philly next weekend and everywhere thereafter next season and beyond? Or, more importantly, how much of that tasteless uptick throughout the League will be directly due to Randy Moss? It's gonna be brutal. And that hurts the entire panoply of "Sport" today. I call it the Deion Rule - when one player ups the ante to allow for more disgusting self-focus, the entire game suffers, there's certainly no going back to a simpler time before such displays, yet we as fans are meant to stomach this as just part of the post-modern state of such public events. Is Randy Moss the only example of this phenomenon? Of course not (as my Rule name signifies, the many-years-old example of Deion Sanders' antics pushed the envelope outward beyond repair). But to quote the ridiculous NYGiants' fan meathead who lives across the street from me and often comes out on his balcony to smoke cigarettes and see if I'm within "Yo!"-range for a chat, "we should put Moss, T.O., Keyshawn and the bunch of 'em in a bag and throw it in the river." I'm completely serious - he yelled that at me last night from across the street. My entirely-freaked-out, anti-social, old-hippie-upstairs-neighbor simply has to be walking on eggshells today.
But that's a story for another day. Thanks for reading. Flip me a comment if you've got a thought or two.
All the networks are running away from re-broadcasts of this footage, which just solidifies how violence is perfectly fine for ad nauseum play (remember the Indiana Pacers taking on the entire crowd in Detroit rather recently?) but the slightest suggestion of nudity cannot be tolerated in the Bush Century (look to this fake mooning or the fake towel drop by Nicollete Sheridan on MNF earlier this fall). I've got this game saved on my TiVo with both the actual footage and his even-more tone-deaf arrogance in being interviewed by Chris Meyer of FOX on the field after the game. When Randy Moss gets his due, I'll be sure to fire that footage up again. I haven't yet found a good internet video log link. Yet. Check back on this one.
Now, my point. If the Boston Red Sox went to Yankee Stadium and Curt Schilling fake-mooned home plate after throwing the final pitch in a complete-game shut-out, the Five Boroughs would be littered with Red Sox heads on pikes. Home field is not always sacred, but you still need to think about getting to the team bus once the TV crews have packed up their gear. Such extreme audacity simply denegrates the entire exercise of sports in this country. Were the fans shouting despicable things at Moss on the sideline during the game? Yes, I would expect that to be so having scrutinized his ridiculous reactions in the coverage during the game ("flipping the bird" inside a glove, pointing at the "moth**fu***** scoreboard," accompanied by his easily lip-readable televised taunts). But Lambeau, in the sense of being a surly crowd, is a world away from the four-letter-flurries coating the field in Yankee Stadium or, much less prestigiously, in NBA arenas throughout the country. What sort of noise do you think the Vikings will now endure in Philly next weekend and everywhere thereafter next season and beyond? Or, more importantly, how much of that tasteless uptick throughout the League will be directly due to Randy Moss? It's gonna be brutal. And that hurts the entire panoply of "Sport" today. I call it the Deion Rule - when one player ups the ante to allow for more disgusting self-focus, the entire game suffers, there's certainly no going back to a simpler time before such displays, yet we as fans are meant to stomach this as just part of the post-modern state of such public events. Is Randy Moss the only example of this phenomenon? Of course not (as my Rule name signifies, the many-years-old example of Deion Sanders' antics pushed the envelope outward beyond repair). But to quote the ridiculous NYGiants' fan meathead who lives across the street from me and often comes out on his balcony to smoke cigarettes and see if I'm within "Yo!"-range for a chat, "we should put Moss, T.O., Keyshawn and the bunch of 'em in a bag and throw it in the river." I'm completely serious - he yelled that at me last night from across the street. My entirely-freaked-out, anti-social, old-hippie-upstairs-neighbor simply has to be walking on eggshells today.
But that's a story for another day. Thanks for reading. Flip me a comment if you've got a thought or two.
Saturday, January 08, 2005
Paris Squared
In today's Paris Hilton update, it has been reported that she's currently dating someone else with that magically pretentious name. He is Paris Latsis, a Greek shipping heir. A Greek shipping heir...how many of those fellas are there out there in the world? Aristotle Onassis, Paris Latsis...OK, the answer is two. Regardless, I wish them the best of luck throughout the remaining weeks of their relationship.
Friday, January 07, 2005
Frist Shows His Heart
Best example of the political blindness seen thus far in the wake of the Tsunami disaster? Bill Frist's comment to an aide trying to take a picture of His Excellency, as reported by the AP and CBS (scroll down to read, after all the complaints about the overall nature of the U.S.'s efforts thus far).
"Get some devastation in the back."
Doctors. Why do they care so much?
"Get some devastation in the back."
Doctors. Why do they care so much?
Great Work! (if you can get it)
The USAToday has a scoop today resulting from a rather standard Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) filing. It seems that in paying to promote the No Child Left Behind Act, the Bushies hired a wellish-known talking head to espouse their claims. You've seen him before on CNN, Fox, MSNBC and otherwise. He's not especially smart, not especially concise, but he is especially bald and quite well paid, as it turns out. Not exactly small potatoes - $240K. As Greg Toppo wrote, the contract he got from his FOIA request "required commentator Armstrong Williams 'to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts,' and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that aired during (his show) in 2004." Big story? Probably not, especially given the past payola scams the Bushies have been excused for endorsing. But this goofball's off most cable networks' speed dials, one should hope. If you're looking for a quick rundown of his career before it's officially over, I quote once again from Toppo's piece: "Williams, 45, a former aide to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, is one of the top black conservative voices in the nation. He hosts The Right Side on TV and radio, and writes op-ed pieces for newspapers, including USA TODAY, while running a public relations firm, Graham Williams Group."
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Eeewwww..."Rendition" is Ugly
The WashingtonPost ups the ante on the prisoner abuse allegations out in the public forum. This poor bastard got his ass kicked for 6 months. Allegedly. But just yesterday, his case became public thanks to one of those "activist judges." Wherever you stand on the so-called War On Terrorism, read this case's rundown. Even if some of this is overblown by a disgruntled (wouldn't you be?) detainee, this simply can't continue. I feel sick after reading this rather sedate, edited listing of abuses. Just imagine how it would make you feel to read the whole story.
Boxer Comes Out Swinging
For those of you outraged by the scene in "Fahrenheit 9/11" showing no Senator willing to endorse the 2000 Election objections by Representatives, you've got a new hero. Recently re-elected California Senator Barbra Boxer. She's endorsed the House challenge to the Electoral College's results, based on perceived irregularities in Ohio. As a result, two hours of Senate debate is mandated. Fire up the TiVo, Michael Moore. This could get greasy.
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Buh-bye, Tucker - you F*****
Wonkette and many others are tipping the hand many have forecasted for weeks. "Crossfire" on CNN is being recycled and Tucker Carlson is being denied the new show he feels he's earned. And so, for the first discernible time, Jon Stewart sticks a fork in someone's career (deny it all you wish, but Stewart's historic deflating of Tucker's standing was the beginning of the end). Good riddance, Tucker. The only thing you ever did that I appreciated was your introductory piece on Dubya in Tina Brown's failed "Talk" magazine's first issue. Since then, you've been a most irritating talking head. Quite possibly THE most. Not that your co-hosts will be missed either. Good luck finding that prime-time slot. Word is Boise has an opening they're holding for you.
Wow, do We Look Out of Touch...
Does the fact that 150,000+ people died at the hands of the Tsunami disaster last week damage the credibility of the Bushies claim that 3000+ dead Americans on 9/11/01 was a world-shifting event? You bet your ass it does. Especially when you consider that the most-populous Muslim nation on the planet (Indonesia) was hardest hit and the pathetic response we've thus far offered. Call our sacrifice on 9/11 whatever you might think it was - I still consider it a massive human tragedy - but Americans can in no way deny the trump card played by the Planet over the Holidaze. And on a more trivial level, having Jeb Bush and Colin Powell show up there was a foreign policy disgrace. Feel free to hate me for the strength of my comments, but we as a nation are immensely underserved in the court of international opinion when we look so intensely self-focused. I'm mean, seriously - Jeb Bush as our humanitarian embassador?! Outside of the most singularly partisan Republicans inside this insular nation's plutocracy, does anyone honestly believe he provides anything other than second-hand face-value credit for Dubya? Out of all the bad PR choices made in response to this tragedy, I forecast that this "assessment team" will damage us the most. Face it, people - Bush is a tone-deaf leader when it comes to perceptions of his actions outside this country. Read any foreign paper if you think I'm being unfair. Seriously, ANY PAPER, ANYWHERE in the world. We're getting worked over. And while Iraq is being ravaged by internal attacks, we couldn't do worse when it comes to the timing of our misguided approaches to tragedies scattered 'round the globe. Such events often come at the most unfortunate, most unfair times. But the responses our leaders fashion are, in all likelihood, what history will remember. At present, we're screwed.
The Field Narrows for DNC Chair
With a few high level folks pulling out of the running, the options left on the table for Dems look pretty limited. As it stands currently (according to the WashingtonPost), you've got Martin Frost, former Denver mayor Wellington E. Webb, New Democrat Network founder Simon B. Rosenberg and party strategist Donnie Fowler. Howard Dean's not officially in the race, but is still exploring his options. And according to the Post, "(s)ome Democrats continue to talk about trying to entice (Terry "It's Not My Fault") McAuliffe to extend his tenure, particularly if no current candidate catches fire." In short, no knight on that mythical white horse has entered the fray as of yet. Hell, at this point party loyalists I'd expect would be willing to expect a pawn in a Prius. If there's a true indication of the lack of ideological heft in the Party, this most surely cuts to that chase.
Now THAT's a Crowd Reaction
For the 17 people out there that actually sat through the halftime show broadcast from last night's Orange Bowl (USC killed the Okies, 55-19, in what was a horribly one-sided affair), Ashlee Simpson's performance was a stunning moment of humiliation. Quite like her "Saturday Night Live" shaming, only this time out she actually made it through the whole song. Never mind the completely contrived punkish posing - the kicker is the way in which the crowd booed her mercilessly when she finally finished this jig. I hate to pour salt on the wound, but she's just such a disgrace. 72,000 drunken football fans can't be wrong.
Although, in all fairness Ashlee is being disproportionately mocked when you actually watch Lindsey Lohan's "Good Morning America" mess (scroll down to the Dec. 11th posting, and click to watch). Performances like these make me yearn for the days of "Wham!" and "New Kids on the Block." At least those saccharine-popsters seemed to know their own songs well enough to sing them on cue.
Although, in all fairness Ashlee is being disproportionately mocked when you actually watch Lindsey Lohan's "Good Morning America" mess (scroll down to the Dec. 11th posting, and click to watch). Performances like these make me yearn for the days of "Wham!" and "New Kids on the Block." At least those saccharine-popsters seemed to know their own songs well enough to sing them on cue.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
SSI Privatization - The Opposition Heats Up
The Krug takes an entirely foreseeable first-of-many shots at the Bushies' Social Security privatization plan in today's column. In short, there's no real crisis looming unless you're talking about the critical need to throw massive amounts of investment dough at the major investment houses. And then the WashingtonPost has a front-pager that will get heavy play inside the Beltway all day. For the first day of the 109th Congress to begin their Session, this ain't exactly a strong endorsement of the issue. But I'll wait for the response from the media forces on the other side before I indicate anything like momentum for the stop-Dubya crowd.
Monday, January 03, 2005
"DeeJayKay" - the Worst Nickname EVER
For those of you wondering what Dennis Kucinich has been up to since last year's Dem Primaries, you've got a means by which to find out. On a daily basis. Yup, you guessed it - he's started a blog. Using one of the cheesiest Blogger templates available and obviously not worrying about any sort of self-discipline in what he publishes, Special K is back in da house. I actually met this funny fellow in New Hampshire last year at an event on Dartmouth's campus on the Eve of the Primary - totally chilled-out lit'l fella with a bad suit and an available grin. Mock him at your own peril, though, because I believe he's a genuinely fine Congressman. And a damn good vegan.
Clarence the Clothes Horse
It seems as though Clarence Thomas loves the freebies. A few days ago the LATimes ran a rundown (free registration may be required to view) of his willingness to accept gifts from just about everyone. Scary taste, as evidenced by the NASCAR jacket. Not that it was ever going to be a legitimate hope on the Bushies part, but Dubya certainly won't be able to push for Thomas as Chief Justice given this sort of laundry on the line. In all fairness, Chuckles only "claims" $42K over 6 years. But the next closest Justice in terms of gifts accepted totals less than $6K. It is what it is, folks.
Sunday, January 02, 2005
Don't Judge a Mnookin by its Cover
I saw Seth Mnookin (what's with the name, by the way - I'd love to know what country his ancestors came from) on "The Daily Show" and immediately thought there was something rather askew in his shtick. According to the piece he wrote for Slate, that's pretty well explainable. Funny addict, that Seth. Hardly seems ready to steal your stereo and sell it for a fix. Oh, but he was...
On the last Sunday of the NFL Regular Season...
The rain in The City continues. Seems like a perfect morning to start in on my new platform. I intend this random sampling of writing and media clipping to be a bit of everything. My past efforts have largely focused on the political. But with the disaster that was the political scene in '04, I've decided to shoot a bit more toward enjoyable observations. After all, my wife and I have our first baby on the way. Speaking of which, this first published shot from our Holidaze visit to Santa Barbara at Sarah's parents' house is my new fave. Becca (Sarah's older sis) asked me to take a shot of her "kissing the baby." I'm glad she did. Maybe a bit cutesy, but the emotion there was all real.
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