HOVA'S A HYPOCRITE.
Hey, I'm not judging, just pointing out the obvious. If you're human it's bound to happen sooner or later. But then again, too few think of Jay Z as human, including himself.
The hip hop lord tells CNN that he backs President Barack Obama's support of marriage for gay couples, and he sounds resolute in his support.
Read the full post here.
A FEDERAL JUDGE HAS REFUSED TO THROW OUT CHARGES AGAINST JOHN EDWARDS FOR ALLEGEDLY accepting nearly a $1 million in campaign donations to hide his extramarital affair with Rielle Hunter.
The defense team for the North Carolina democrat asked the judge to dismiss the case against Edwards after prosecutors rested their case Thursday. Defense attorneys argued that the prosecution failed to prove Edwards violated federal campaign law funding laws. The motion to dismiss is routine in criminal trials, and it's no surprise that U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Eagles ruled that defense would begin presenting its case Monday.
Once testimony wraps up, it'll be interesting to see how the jury rules following the testimony by
Read the full post here.
HELLO REPORTERS COVERING THE JOHN EDWARDS' TRIAL IN GREENSBORO, N.C.! I don't mean to burden you, but there are so, so many questions remaining about Rielle Hunter's spiritual advisor and that troubling Reuben sandwich.
Read the full post here.
HEY KATY PERRY, NEXT TIME YOU PITCH THE U.S. MARINES IN A MUSIC VIDEO, CONSIDER DEPICTING THE HORRIFIC CRUELTIES PERPETRATED ON ANIMALS to "simulate" battlefield wounds.
Read the full post here.
AS "CAMPAIGN THEATRICS" GO, THIS WAS SPECTACULAR:
"Preezy" Barack Obama joined NBC's Jimmy Fallon onstage Wednesday to ostensibly "slow jam the news." But what he was really jamming were Congressional Republicans on negotiations to extend low interest rates on federal student loans.
Read the full post here.
KIM KARDASHIAN'S GOT A 5-YEAR-PLAN: TO RUN FOR MAYOR OF 'Armenian town', aka Glendale, California.
Kardashian announces her political ambitions as she's driving through Dallas on an unaired clip of Khole & Lamar.
Read the full post here.
I USED TO LOVE YOU, TED NUGENT!
Once upon a time, I used to go to your concerts and fight to the front row as I thought you were a great guitarist. I closed my eyes to your love of guns and hunting, and even years later, I still have an old framed picture of you on the wall.
Ted, what the hell are you thinking speaking like that about the President of the United States? Have you got some sort of Cat Scratch Fever?
Read the full post here.
APOLOGIES TO JULIAN ASSANGE FOR HIGHLIGHTING HIS NEW TALK SHOW immediately following a post on speculative celebrity sex in a porta potty, but this is America after all. Audiences here wanted to be entertained first.
The "world's chief whistleblower" debuted his new talk show today on RT and critics are already dissing him a "useful idiot" and the broadcast as a "letdown."
Read the full post here.
BIRTHERS ARE OBVIOUSLY GETTING BORED WITH OBAMA; now they're demanding Republican Presidental candidate Mitt Romney fork over a legitimate birth certificate.
Read the full post here.
SARAH PALIN'S ALMOST-SON-IN-LAW AND DADDY TO HER GRANDSON TRIPP has knocked up another single lady.
TMZ broke the news that Levi's girlfriend of a year is three months along with Johnston's second spawn. "The lucky woman is Sunny Oglesby, a 20-year-old school teacher from Wasilla, Alaska,'' the tab reports.
Read the full post here.
IT'S NO SURPRISE THAT A NATION FOUNDED BY RELIGIOUS ZEALOTS STILL ENTERTAINS THE RANTINGS OF half-wits and confidence men. But this year's Republican presidential candidates take the crazy cake.
Read the full post here.
In Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath, 69-year-old Mimi Alford documents her 18-month affair with the then-president that began when he seduced her in the First Lady's bed.
Read the full post here.
REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL MITT ROMNEY was glitter bombed in Eagan, Minn. Wednesday by a protester.
The bomber, identified as Robert Erickson, added sparkle to Romney's otherwise drab and heartless personality.
UPDATE: Erickson is also known as Nick Espinosa, who wrote Wednesday on his Facebook page: "Today was a good day for #glitter. Much [love] for all the support ya'll! Glitter on!"
Read the full post here.
STILL BITTER OVER HIS BRUISING PRIMARY LOSS IN SOUTH CAROLINA, ONCE-REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE STEPHEN COLBERT LAUNCHED AN ATTACK ON THE PARTY'S frontrunners last night on Twitter.
On his television show last night, Colbert showed a clip of the Massachusetts Republican insisting that "a competitive primary does not divide us, it prepares us." Then, using Mitt Romney's own words to cover his duplicitious scheme, he launched a plot to advance the party's internecine bloodbath.
Read the full post here.
IF YOU HAD ANY DOUBT THAT FOX NEWS WOULD PICK A FIGHT WITH ANYONE OR ANYTHING THEY CONSIDER LIBERAL, YOU GOT YOUR ANSWER when Fox Business News blasted the Muppets for being part of the left-wing conspiracy to destroy America.
The evidence: a puppet named "Tex Richman" depicting a greedy oilman in the the latest Muppets movie.
Read the full post here.
RERPTILIAN-BRAINED REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE NEWT GINGRICH wanted his exwife to share him with his mistress of six years, Callista Bisek, who's now his third wife, according to new claims ABC will broadcast tonight.
Read the full post here.
AT LAST, OCCUPY PROTESTERS HIT BULLSEYE IN TARGETING the main villains behind America's increasing wealth disparity: Washington pols, Congress and even the Supreme Court.
Read the full post here.
IF YOU STILL HARBOR DELUSIONS THAT CONGRESS works for "the people," let's dispense with those now after last night's 60 Minutes report detailing insider trading by members of Congress.
The granddaddy of investigative news shows aired a report exploring how politicians of both parties have financially benefited from access to financial information prior to public release.
Read the full post here.
ABOVE IS AN AWESOME POSTER FROM OCCUPY WALL STREET PROMOTING a citywide strike by students and workers in Oakland, Calif. for Wednesday, November 2.
Read the full post here.
A MASKED PROTESTER WALKS AWAY AS Oakland, Ca. police use tear gas to clear out demonstrators reacting to the city's dismantling of Occupy Oakland's Tent City Tuesday morning. More than 100 people were arrested during clashes with police.
Read the full post here.
AND TODAY WE HAVE THE FACE OF A NEW AMERICAN HERO: a U.S. Marine identified as Sergeant Shamar Thomas who during Saturday's night Occupy Wall Street protest in New York City loudly pointed out the ridiculousness of the NYPD's heavyhanded tactics.
Read the full post here.
OCCUPY PROTESTERS MARCHING WORLDWIDE ARE increasingly throwing their fury at banks they accuse of corporate greed.
Read the full post here.
THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA'S FINALLY GETTING THE PICTURE. In contrast to the New York Times' claim that Occupy Wall Street protesters were "pantomiming progressivism,'' the movement heralds real insurgency against America's coddled elites.
Read beyond the headlines about yesterday's massive arrests of protesters and you'll hear a cacophony of voices fed up with the paralysis of America's political and financial cultures.
"Where's Barack?,'' a Brooklynite commented at the NYTs. "Still shining Tim Geithner's shoes?
Read the full post here.
THE LAUDED NEW YORK TIMES RAN A SNEERING PIECE ON THE PROTESTERS OF OCCUPY WALL STREET headlined "Gunning for Wall Street, With Faulty Aim." In doing so, the paper of record proves to have pathetic aim in its own right.
Read the full post here.
IN A ROUSING SPEECH delivered at the 41st Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference, President Obama urged African Americans to keep the faith as African Americans struggle against a 17 percent unemployment rate and 40 percent poverty rate for their children.
Read the full post here.
Reason focuses on the case of Kelly Thomas, a 37-year-old homeless schizophrenic California man who was beaten and tasered so severely by Fullerton, Calif. police in July that he died a few days later. Orange County DA Tony Rackauckas announced today that two officers have been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in connection with Thomas' death.
Read the full post here.
FINGERS CROSSED THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA CAN KEEP THE STEEL IN HIS SPINE FOR THIS FIGHT.
"Nodrama" has finally called out the rich and Republicans on a topic that can motivate his Democratic constituents. This morning he announced plans to collect $1.5 trillion by taxing the wealthiest Americans and closing corporate loopholes.
Read the full post here.
TIME magazine poses the question "Can Rick Perry's Evangelical Appeal Reach Beyond Texas?" and seeks to answer its own query in a relatively concise 818 words. But if you don't have five minutes to read that, here's all you need to know in a word: No.
Read the full post here.
IN CASE you're confused about the real purpose of the U.S.'s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, here's a story to distill the answer: A wildlife biologist who co-wrote a report on dead polar bears that became ammunition for climate activists has been suspended while his "integrity" is investigated.
Read the full post here.
NUANCE MAY NOT BE U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER'S STRONG SUIT judging by his demand that David Simon make another season of his hit The Wire.
Read the full post here.
GET READY TO HEAR MORE DETAILS IN THE SORDID STORY BEHIND JOHN EDWARD'S EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIR.
A North Carolina grand jury today indicted the two-timing Democratic presidential candidate on charges that he misused campaign funds to hide his affair with Reille Hunter, the mother of his love child.
Read the full post here.
THE STRING THEORY THAT THREADS THROUGH RAHM EMANUEL'S BIOGRAPHY IS THAT the ballet lessons his mother forced upon him as a boy have gifted him with balance and discipline.
Mom may be a genius. Because Emanuel hasn't missed a step as he's danced his way into office as Chicago's new mayor.
Read the full post here.
LIGHTNING ROD JULIAN ASSANGE CALLS FACEBOOK A ''SPY MACHINE'' AND PEOPLE QUIVER AS THOUGH HE'S SAYING SOMETHING RADICAL. But any savvy citizen knows he speaks the obvious.
A database containing identifying information on an estimated 600,000 people is on its face a spy's ideal tool -- so much so that the Onion News Network spoofed the social network's relationship with the CIA. (Video embedded below.)
Read the full post here.
DING DONG, OSAMA'S DEAD, THE WICKED MAN, THE WICKED MAN IS DEAD!
Wake up! Sleepy heads, rub your eyes, get out of bed. Wake up, The Wicked Man is dead! He's gone where the goblins go, below -- below -- below. Yo-ho, sing it high, sing it low. Let them know The Wicked Man is dead!
Read the full post here.
PRESIDENT OBAMA ZINGED "BIRTHER" DONALD TRUMP WHO WAS A GUEST AT THIS YEAR'S WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS' DINNER.
Read the full post here.
NOT THAT IT'S WORTH WASTING OUR BREATH OVER, OR THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WE CAN DO, BUT BARACK OBAMA'S RECORD ON GOVERNMENT OPENNESS IS LAUGHABLE.
Read the full post here.
POLITICAL CHITCHAT AT THE DENTIST'S TOOK A STRANGE TWIST RECENTLY.
I casually asked the doc how he was feeling about the political scene. This is a guy who was buoyed by the last presidential election -- by the nation's collective ringing of its hands of George Bush Jr. and his cronies. He's a smart guy, a Chicago guy, who isn't doing too poorly for himself as evinced by his polished look, his vacations and sailboat. So I was surprised and amused when in response to my political fishing, he proffered, "I think we need a revolution."
Read the full post here.
JAPAN'S EMPEROR BESEECHES HIS COUNTRYMEN TO ''NEVER GIVE UP HOPE," but it's an empty plea when history keeps repeating itself.
How can any citizen believe in government officials when those paid to serve the public's best interests continuously enable lax industry oversight that culminate in such horrors as the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, last year's BP oil spill, and even the death earlier this year of a two-old Texas boy sickened by contaminated alcohol wipes.
Read the full post here.
THIS IS PART OF THE REPUBLICANS' PROBLEM: THEY WANT UNMARRIED 28-YEAR-OLD WOMEN TO EITHER BE VIRGINS, OR TO HAVE ABORTIONS IF THEY BECOME PREGNANT.
Now Republicans don't actually say either thing out loud. But that's the underlying message when you have buffoons like Mike Huckabee single out the very pregnant Harvard graduate and Academy Award winning actress Natalie Portman.
Read the full post here.
HE HAS YET TO TAKE OFFICE BUT RAHM EMANUEL KEPT A CAMPAIGN PROMISE WEDNESDAY: Chicago's mayor-elect donated $5,000 to the favorite charity of his foul-mouthed Twitter impostor.
Read the full post here.
CHICAGO'S MAYORAL ELECTION TODAY SIGNALS THE END OF THE DALEY DYNASTY. It's the first time since 1989 that outgoing mayor Richard Daley's name won't be on the ballot.
Voting was reported light at polling places across the city. "I'm really disappointed," one election judge told the Wall Street Journal. "We're electing a mayor and you'd think more people would come out."
Read the full post here.
"ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID?," Columbia Law School Professor Eben Moglen asks me during a brief conversation with him Wednesday.
Moglen's reaction comes in response to my question about whether punitive actions against WikiLeaks by PayPal, Amazon and other corporations was the type of collusion he hopes to prevent with the development of an Internet "Freedom Box."
Read the full post here.
CHICAGO'S FRONTRUNNER FOR MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL WAS KICKED OFF THE BALLOT BY AN ILLINOIS APPELLATE COURT MONDAY, no doubt provoking the notorious foul mouth to utter a litany of obscenities.
Read the full post here.
JUDITH MILLER MAY BE GONE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES, BUT THE SYSTEM THAT ENABLED HER IS STILL IN PLACE, as proven by an insidious story laying the government's groundwork promoting Jared L. Loughner as a radical instead of a deeply disturbed schizophrenic.
Citing unnamed government sources, and based on the odd ramblings about gold and grammar found on Loughner's YouTube site, Times' reporters deduce that Loughner "was strikingly similar in language and tone to the voices of the Internet's more paranoid, extremist corners."
Read the full post here.
WHAT IS BARACK OBAMA'S ROLE IN THE U.S. ASSAULT ON WIKILEAKS, the media nonprofit that's threatening the secrets of the world's lone surviving old world superpower?
About the only thing attributed to Obama himself about the whistleblowing media's release of U.S. diplomatic cables is that it was "deplorable." The president has uttered little else on the subject although U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has signaled the administration's intent to prosecute Julian Assange.
Read the full post here.
MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT: WAR HAS BROKEN OUT BETWEEN THE PEOPLE AND THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. Operation Payback is engaged.
At stake: the right of citizens to challenge those who hold power in our name but betray the democratic values for which they allege to risk our soldiers' lives.
Journalists keep reporting that Julian Assange is locked up in a British jail -- without bail -- for having sex in Sweden without condoms. But even on their face, those claims are absurd.
Read the full post here.
POOF, AND JUST LIKE THAT, CALIFORNIA'S PROPOSITION 19 GOES UP IN SMOKE.
You'll be hearing that cliche a lot today. The proposal to make recreational use of marijuana legal in California faltered, with more than half of voters rejecting the bid.
Proponents had argued that legalizing weed would generate jobs and income for the state as well as undermine illegal drug trade.
Read the full post here.
ELECTION DAY USA, AND THE PROMISED TUMULT AT THE POLLS IS STILL HOURS AWAY.
The nation's second revolt surrounding tea is threatening to undo the majority that the Democrats hold in both the House and Senate. In California, legalizing pot's on the ballot.
President Obama has been campaigning hard to save the electoral majority that enabled him to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the same legislation that ignited the boiling Tea Party.
Never mind that the legislation, albeit with pork, kept us from teetering into economic collapse.
Still, it's also stupid to ignore the Tea Party's fears over the nation's slow inevitable strangulation from its $13.7 trillion debt.
Read the full post here.
RAHM EMANUEL MIGHT BE WISE TO PICK UP POINTERS FROM New York's most populist gubernatorial candidate Jim McMillan, who became the man to watch after Monday night's debate between seven candidates.
Looking like a black Colonel Sanders with whiskers and beard, McMillan is apparently a man of the people.
Read the full post here.
SO IT'S OFFICIAL: OBAMA'S FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF RAHM EMANUEL wants Mayor Rich Daley's office. He's quit the White House and returned to Chicago where he's hit the ground running to collect the 12,500 signatures required to be on the primary election ballot. The deadline for collecting the signatures is Nov. 22.
Emanuel holds the highest profile in a race that some predict will have as many as 30 candidates. And though some also say that the upcoming fight will be steep in racial politics, the minority most likely to -- Jesse Jackson Jr. -- is walking on eggshells over charges that he used a liaison to offer $6 million to disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich for Obama's vacated Senate seat.
Read the full post here.
AMERICA'S SLEIGH OF HAND IN INDO-PAKISTANI RELATIONSHIPS 40 YEARS ago is revisited in a new book that has lessons for the Obama Administration in its war against WikiLeaks over classified documents.
The soon-to-be-published book, Poisoning the Press: Richard Nixon, Jack Anderson, and the Rise of Washington's Scandal Culture, details the disgraced president's obsession with the journalist who revealed that the U.S. was secretly providing weapons to Pakistan in its 1971 war against India despite claims of neutrality.
Read the full post here.
IF AMBITION WERE A CRIME, U.S. ATTORNEY PATRICK FITZGERALD MIGHT BE FACING indictment today. Read the full post here.
The day after being handed what Chicago journalist Carol Marin called a "stunning defeat" in the federal trial against Rod Blagojevich, the U.S. attorney faces scrutiny for the way he managed -- or mismanaged -- the high-profile corruption case.
Check out Welcome To The Circus: Blagojevich's Greatest Show.
Illinois' Depose Celebrity-Wannabe Guv Goes On Trial.
Chicago Conspiracy Theory Alert.
August 18, 2010
THE HIGH-STAKES GAME OF GOTCHA BETWEEN WIKILEAKS AND THE U.S. has given Americans an unvarnished glimpse into our military bureaucracy's killer instinct and the risks that comes with threatening its supremacy.
Barely four years old, the whistleblowing organization has proved a gallant David against earth's Goliath states, spilling secrets of nations engaged in war and of corrupt officials enriching themselves at the expense of unknowing populations.
Read 20 Quotes From Julian Assange, The "World's Most Dangerous Man."
New Psy Ops Name Illustrates Dark Art's Spin.
The Journalist & The Hacker: Wired's Kevin Poulsen Takes Heat For Enabling Adrian Lamo's Addiction To Press.
What Makes Bradley Manning Tick? The Psychology Of Whistleblowers.
Read the full post here.
HE MAY APPEAR PALE AND LANGUID ON THE TV SCREEN, but Julian Paul Assange is single-handedly reviving the Herculean idea that one man can change the world.
The founder of WikiLeaks has become both hero and outlaw in the span of three years as his whistleblowing organization has disclosed criminal behavior by bankers and government leaders, as well as release the private emails of Sarah Palin and internal documents of the Church of Scientology.
Most controversially, in April WikiLeaks released a classified video depicting the unprovoked shootings of a group of Iraqi men. And last weekend, in collaboration with three prestigious newspapers, the group published an estimated 90,000 internal U.S. military documents detailing the war in Afghanistan and propelling Assange into the crosshairs of the world's lens.
"I'm sure that Assange is now regarded as one of the very most dangerous men," says Daniel Ellsberg, an admirer of Assange who in 1971 leaked the Pentagon Papers, "and he should be proud of that."
With admiration, Ellsberg calls Assange "a danger to governments, to withholding wrongfully information..."
As the world grapples with the fallout of the weekend's revelations, here are some quotes to help discern what makes Assange tick:
Read New Psy Ops Name Illustrates Dark Art's Spin.
WikiLeaks' Julian Assange Gets Backing From Iceland's Parliament.
The Journalist & The Hacker: Wired's Kevin Poulsen Takes Heat For Enabling Adrian Lamo's Addiction To Press.
What Makes Bradley Manning Tick? The Psychology Of Whistleblowers.
WikiLeaks Tape Reveals Hint That US Ground Soldiers Were Troubled By Discovery.
Read the full post here.
HE SPELLS HIS NAME R O D B L A G O J E V I C H AND I doubt there's any Illinois citizen who couldn't tell you that today.
He's the poor man's Bill Clinton, all hugs and smiles and aw-shucks charm without the brilliance.
He may or may not be corrupt -- I'll leave that for 12 jurors deliberating in his federal corruption trial to decide.
But, win or lose, there's no disputing that the deposed Governor of Illinois seems destined for reality TV.
"Hey, you like my suit?," Blagojevich, 53, asks the supportive crowd greeting him outside the federal courthouse in downtown Chicago where he's being tried on 24 charges including extortion conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery conspiracy.
Read the full post here.
HE MAY BE A Roomba when it comes to the BP oil spill, but President Obama's clearly feels the privilege of being a father.
In comments he made on Father's Day and earlier today in Washington, D.C. -- Obama convinces us that he's no robo daddy.
"Without hesitation, the most challenging, most fulfilling, most important job I will have during my time on this Earth is to be Sasha and Malia's father," Obama told reporters earlier today.
And yesterday, while announcing a new federal mentoring program for families, Obama said he regretted missing important moments in his daughters' lives for the sake of his his political career.
Read the full post here.
THE CONVICTED HACKER WHO TURNED U.S. ARMY SPC. BRADLEY MANNING, 22, in to federal authorities for leaking classified documents to Wikileaks has made a career out of seeking his name in the headlines.
Adrian Lamo has spent his short life pulling off high-wire electronic break-ins and then notifying journalists to document his tracks.
"If he's part of a big story he wants it to be known," said Wired's Kevin Poulsen, himself a convicted hacker who once faced a charge of espionage for possessing a classified document.
Read the full post here.
DAY 50 AND THE OIL KEEPS SPILLING, KEEPS KILLING.
What's dying? A way of life along Louisiana bayous and Florida Panhandle resort towns. "I'm really scared," said Mel Miller, 52, the owner of a seafood market and a commercial fishing boat. "I've invested my life here."
Animals are dying, with 792 dead birds, sea turtles, dolphins and other wildlife so far counted, and probably thousands more that are unseen. "The deaths of dolphins and sea turtles are particularly tragic," said National Wildlife Federation senior scientist Dr. Doug Inkley. "Because we know we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg with those that have been washed up onshore and tested."
One contractor told the media that "there is a lot of cover-up for BP. They specifically informed us that they don't want these pictures of the dead animals.
Read the full post here.
IT'S SHOWTIME FOR BLAGO!
Illinois' impeached governor and celebrity wannabe Rod Blagojevich stars in the role of a lifetime as he tries to persuade a jury and the public that he's innocent of federal corruption charges.
"They're liars, they're liars," said Blago moments after he arrived at the Dirksen U.S. Federal Court House in downtown Chicago Thursday.
His wife Patti, best known in America for eating a bug on TV, said, "My husband is an honest man and I know that he's innocent."
Read the full post here.
I MET GOD IN THE MUSEUM OCEANIQUE DE MONACO IN THE SUMMER OF 1993.
If faith's a choice, I remember clearly stepping toward it while watching the teeming gorgeous diversity of life in the salt water tanks of the museum founded by legendary oceanographer Jacques Cousteau.
And though I've since fallen back to doubt, I was convinced that day that this underwater world was too spectacular, too wondrous, to be an accident.
Perhaps this is why I'm paying particular attention to what Cousteau's grandson told Bill Mayer on his TV show two days ago.
Philippe Cousteau Jr., cofounder of EarthEcho International, is setting off the panic button that our oceans cannot recover on their own from man's assault.
"I could cut my leg off, I could cut my arm off, I could gouge my eye out, I'd still probably survive, but not very well, and that's what we're doing to the ocean," Cousteau said during the interview.
Read the full post here.
AL GORE, WILL YOU PLEASE STAND UP?
As millions of gallons of oil continue to pollute the Gulf of Mexico -- wiping out sea life, ecosystems, fishing and tourist economies -- no single person has emerged as a credible leader in this fight against time.
The emotionally cool President Obama does not have the temper to react swiftly to the crisis, is accused of helping to obfuscate the facts, and provokes pundits and critics to label this man-made assault on nature his Katrina.
On Friday, the president traveled to the Louisiana Gulf Coast for the first time nearly six weeks after the explosion.
The consequences of America's unquenchable taste for oil now literally stains our shores.
Read the full post here.
THIRTY YEARS AFTER TORTURE CHARGES FIRST EMERGED AGAINST HIM, PROSECUTORS WILL FINALLY TRY TO WIPE THE SMILE OFF JOHN BURGE'S FACE.
The former Chicago Police Lt. goes on trial this week in federal court, accused of lying under oath about torturing black suspects in his custody. Jury selection began Monday and resumes today.
Burge was fired from the Chicago force in 1993 after Amnesty International and Chicago activists pressured officials to respond to overwhelming evidence that Burge beat, shocked, suffocated, played Russian roulette and coerced confessions from black men in his custody.
Burge's brutality was documented in a 1994 investigation by producers Peter Kuttner, Cyndi Moran and Eric Scholl.
"Borge said 'It's fun time,"' convicted cop killer Andrew Wilson is quoted saying on the tape.
Read the full post here.
IRANIAN CLERIC HOJATOLESLAM KAZEM SEDIGHI MUST NOT BE GETTING ENOUGH somethin' somethin' or else he experiences some of the earth's most powerful orgasms.
That hypothesis comes from hearing that Sedighi blames "immodestly" dressed women with increasing the likelihood of earthquakes in Iran.
"Many women who do not dress modestly …
lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes," Sedighi reportedly said.
The cleric's words come two weeks after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad predicted a quake will soon strike Tehran and suggested that 5 million of its 12 million residents should move. And, preferably, those reformists who think he stole last summer's election. (Kidding, he didn't actually say that, he just wished it.)
Iranian women are required to wear black robes but many of the country's young women skirt the law by wearing colorful scarves and showing their hair.
Maybe we should have a little sympathy for Sedighi: a man who thinks women are responsible for earthquakes must lead a life of fear.
SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE ONCE SANG A SONG SAYING WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER HERO, but that is so not true! We need all of them we can get.
And picking up the slack is Hayden Panettiere, who plays a hero not only on TV but in real life.
The 20-year-old looker who stars in the deliberately shamltzy series Heroes could spend her free time hitting L.A.'s nightclubs or New York's fashion shows. But does she? Nooo!
Rather, she devotes herself to trying to avert the slaughter of whales and dolphins by Japanese fishermen.
Two years ago, the actress was attacked as she tried to prevent the slaughter of dolphins along the coast of Taiji, Japan.
Read the full post here.
YOUR LADY GAGA ALARM GOES OFF AT 6:05 A.M. sharp.
You hop out of bed, make a piping hot cup of coffee, fire up the laptop and begin reading the news. An article on the rise of The Oath Keepers catches your attention. They are a loosely-knit national group armed to the teeth -- often with advanced military and police training -- who have dedicated themselves to protecting their freedoms and the consititution itself. "They sound nutty and dangerous," you mutter to yourself.
Sip.
But you begin to wonder: "With all this business about Homeland Security and the suspension of individual rights in America, maybe they have a point?"
Read the full post here.
"I AM QUINN'S FATHER," Former presidential candidate John Edwards said today in what is surely one of the most anticlimactic public pronouncements ever made.
Finally, after three years of lying, cheating, denying, conspiring, obfuscating and hiding in hotel bathrooms, Edwards admitted to fathering an illegitimate child who is the spitting image of himself. As if we all didn't know already.
In a written statement to NBC about the daughter he fathered with videographer Rielle Hunter, Edwards said, "I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves…It was wrong for me to ever deny she was my daughter."
The Associated Press reported that Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, who tirelessly avoided the truth about the girl's paternity for two years, said of the revelation: "Our whole family feels relieved."
Last May, Mrs. Edwards told Oprah that she had "no idea" if Frances Quinn Hunter, now 2, was her husband's child. "It doesn't look like my children, but I don't have any idea,'' she said.
The recently published book Game Change quotes Mrs. Edwards as saying of her husband's denial: "I have to believe it. Because if I don't, it means I'm married to a monster."
Read the full post here.
SPECULATING WHY CHICAGO LOST ITS OLYMPIC BID WAS THE DOMINANT SPORT FRIDAY, but it's too soon to know the real reasons.
Theories range from racism, anti-Americanism, the IOC's testy relationship with the United States Olympic Committee, the hubrus of Chicago's Gang of Three, the "savagery" of a Chicago student's murder, to Rio's superior campaign.
All sound plausible but I'll wait for the first-hand reports.
What's more obvious is the joy that a presumed 47 percent of Chicagoans get from the defeat.
"Greed denied. Hubris deflated. I'm glad we lost,'' Chuck K. writes at Chicagobusiness.com. "It brought us down a few notches and made us realize the world looks a lot differently at us than we perceive ourselves. I for one am sick of well-connected insiders in Chicago who profit at the expense of Cook County taxpayers."
The divide has embroiled Chicago web comment boards, with pro Olympic supporters dissing the anti as "negative nabobs." Some even suggested that opponents were really circumcision-obsessed anti-Obamaites, a logic that at least to my mind FAILS.
Even before the vote, WGN's Garry Meier on Thursday accurately connected the venom to Daley backlash. Finally, voters are outraged at Daley's costly clout, strong-armed tactics, and shady deals that enrich friends and political supporters.
"Do you not know that Chicago is not a democracy,'' wrote ejhickey at the Chicago Tribune. "Here power is handed from father to son. The closest model is North Korea."
Read the full post here.
THE DEATH OF CHICAGO TEEN DERRION ALBERT COULD NOT COME AT A MORE INOPPORTUNE TIME FOR MAYOR DALEY AND CRONIES WHO ARE OFF TO COPENHAGEN TO BRING THE 2016 OLYMPICS TO THE CITY.
That sounds cold, doesn't it? It's also the truth.
Violence among the Chicago's high schoolers has become a constant in Chicago's media. But you can read headlines all day long and still not be aggrieved in the same way that witnessing a murder on tape will unsettle you.
Derrion Albert was the sixth Chicago child to die in three weeks. There's been a lot of din on Chicago chat boards about the horror of showing this video, how rude and exploitive it is. Yet none of last school year's 36 murders of Chicago students has brought the calvary like this one.
"This isn't the first time a child has gotten killed around here, but this is the first time all of these people have come out," Marquita McAlister told a Chicago columnist.
Read the full post here.
I SMELL PRODUCTION! AND PREDICT ORGASMIC JOY throughout Chicago's ruling class when the official word comes down that the city has won the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Signs are suggesting that the ruler of the Western world and the Queen of all media will rendevous in Copenhagen this week. And bookies are favoring Chicago to wins the games.
The White House confirms that the President's advanced ''security'' team traveled to Denmark just about the same time that news leaked that Oprah would make the trek.
Yes, yes, we know that Mayor Daley's fingernails have been chewed down to the nubs while awaiting news of whether the games would be awarded to his fiefdom. But this is also what's known as a 'tease,' the 'cliffhanger.' And when the U.S. chief lobbyist shows up in Copenhagen to get the good word, that will be the shocking 'reveal.' It's a common tactic in daytime and reality TV.
Read the full post here.
HERE'S AN ANIMATED SHORT ABOUT FAT CATS AND THEIR RULE OVER MICE posted on YouTube's ProperTidy channel.
According to ProperTidy, this short was shown at the "Committee for a Workers' International Summer School 2009 as an amusing tool to motivate a renewed fight for "mass workers parties" in Europe.
The film was made by the Canadian New Democratic Party (NDP) and is based on a speech by Tommy Douglas, a NDP founder.
But the short just as easily applies to Washington's political reality where Republicans and Democrats vie over how to spend trillions borrowed from China.
A couple of truisms, at least to my mind: just like fame, the act of winning election is a corrupting influence: once you're in the club the perks multiply and the rules are flouted.
Read the full post here.
LET'S IMAGINE THAT THE BLOGGER WHO GOES BY THE NAME CYXYMU goes the shrink and confides, ''Doc, I think Soviet-style spies are messing with me. They've hacked into my computer and it's affecting hundreds of millions of Internet users worldwide."
The most likely response from the shrink? That the blogger, a 34-year-old economics professor from the republic of Georgia, certainly is suffering from paranoid personality disorder, "characterized by an extreme level of distrust'' with "unfounded suspicion that others are exploiting, harming, or deceiving him or her."
Poor Cyxymu. The doc would write him up as some delusional nut and slap with one or more of the many disorders that include "paranoia" on the checklists of the psychiatric community.
Meanwhile, the maligned Mr. Cyxymus really IS being targeted by unknown agents who are bombarding "millions of spam e-mail messages" to social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and other services with junk messages."
Unbeknowst to the shrink and even Mr. Cyxymus, the "blitz was an attempt to block the professor's Web pages, where he was revisiting the events leading up to the brief territorial war between Russia and Georgia that began a year ago."
The moral of the story? Yes, sometimes people are mentally ill and delusional about some imaginary private war against them. And then sometimes, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you.
AS THEY SAY DOWN SOUTH, I DON'T HAVE A DOG IN THE FIGHT BETWEEN BETWEEN HARVARD'S ESTEEMED PROFESSOR Henry Louis Gates Jr. and the Cambridge Police Department.
I am suspicious of police and their lording ways over the populace: driving through red lights, talking on telephones while driving, sneakily entrapping people at their favorite obscured intersections.
Why, just the other day, I got a ticket for driving through a cemetery, and the short squat officer with the Napoleonic sneer seemed utterly giddy about his 'gotcha' moment.
Read the full post here.
GREETINGS FROM HONDURAS, hot spot of the earth!
I flew to San Pedro Sula last Monday from Chicago, and boy are my arms tired! Okay, enough lame jokes, nyuk nyuk.
I traveled to Honduras -- with my mom, bro, and friend -- at a pretty turbulent time for me, personally. I was expecting a bit of peace, some scuba diving, and ample time to geek out with Joan Didion and Elizabeth Smart. Little did I know, there would be a coup. A fuckin' coup!
Though I was on the mainland (in cities such as San Pedro Sula, Copan, La Ceiba, and Sambo Creek) from last Monday to Friday, I came to Utila, a small island off the northern coast, on Saturday morning, June 27. When former president Manuel Zelaya was ousted on Sunday morning, I was safe and snug at the Mango Inn, preparing for my first underwater experience (SCUBA certifications in Utila are cheap, cheap, cheap).
The stunning island of Utila remained wholly unaffected until Monday evening. Around 8:45 that evening, I was sitting at the restaurant at the hotel, savoring my cold Salva Vida and listening to falling mangoes crashing against the tin roof above my head.
Read the full post here.
THE WORLD WATCHES THE TUMULT IN IRAN and awaits the outcome.
It's true that the next revolution will be televised, and now, Twittered.
Nothing's more invigorating than witnessing the indomitable human spirit assert itself against fraud and tyranny.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may remain in power in the short term, but we are witnessing the beginning of Iran's political transformation.
I DISLIKE SARAH PALIN AS MUCH AS ANY OTHER self-respecting young woman would, and should, but I actually can agree with her here. (For the first and probably last time.)
It is not cool, nor is it funny, to joke about statutory rape, Dave.
A simple solution would be for comedians and media figures to keep a line between fair game and prey in their commentary.
During the elections, it really bothered me when Palin would cry-the-blues about everyone "attacking" her family. Sorry lady, you're running for the second most important seat in our country. Obama is being accused of being a fucking terrorist; everything is fair game.
Now, however, at what feels like so long since the election, err'one should get off her family's nuts.
Frankly, her family doesn't matter. They have nothing to do with her politically. While there are certainly pertinent aspects of her family life that are contradictory to her political views (i.e. preg daughter while simultaneously defaming any sexual education that is not abstinence-only), in the grand scheme, nothing about her career hinges on her personal life. What would be more interesting -- as a Jezebel commenter noted --would be hearing how she feels about the recent murder of an abortion doctor, or perhaps North Korea, the environment, the economy, etc.
Why does anyone give a flying fuck about Sarah Palin's litter of children? They're kids, not public figures, and they don't deserve to be joked about. Everyone's missing the point: Sarah Palin is a politician. She's also a mother and wife, but who cares about that? I'm more concerned about this bimbo running my country than I am about her teenage daughter's baby photos.
It makes my skin crawl to finally agree with her on an issue, ut at least I can admit it. She's right; Dave would never make a joke about Obama's girls in that manner. It would be a fucking outrage, and rightfully so. Statutory rape isn't funny!
I can get on board with the Mama-Grizzly mentality Palin has here: Don't fuck with someone's kids! I'd be pissed too!
If Letterman does owe anyone an apology for something he said on his show during his airtime in front of his fans, it's not Sarah Palin, not -- as she claims in her grossly hyperbolic statement -- young women everywhere, but to the girl at whom the comments were directed. I love you Dave, but shit, man. Get some taste.
And the REALLY pressing issue here is this: when will Sarah Palin exit my life forever?
Sophia Ulmer, a creative writing major at Columbia College in Chicago, will write on weddings every Saturday through June. When she's not writing for CrabbyGolightly, she's stirring things up at her cooking blog, feckinfranchtoast.blogspot.com
NOTHING IS MORE EVINCING OF ONE'S CHARM AND POWER THAN THE KNACK FOR SELF-EFFACEMENT.
President Obama proved he's got stockpiles of charm and cheek at the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner Saturday night.
No one escapes his zingers, least of all himself as he mocks his dependence on the teleprompter, the First Lady's flaunting of her buff arms, Hillary Clinton's primary loss, Dick Cheney's shooting accident, former Harvard President Larry Summers' impolitic comment about women in science, Rahm Emmanuel's salty language.
I could go on but why when you can watch it for yourself.
He keeps this up and even I, who took great offense at the runaway Obama idolatry during the presidential campaign, may keep the Kool-Aid handy.
I'VE ALWAYS FELT THAT IF SMOKING MARIJUANA WERE LEGAL, I'd stop drinking completely. Munchies aside, the calories I'd save from not consuming Guinness when out with friends would confine the six-pack to my abs.
Facing massive budget deficits, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has muscled his way into the debate over legalizing pot.
"I think that we ought to study very carefully what other countries are doing that have legalized marijuana and other drugs," the Republican Governor said Tuesday, "and what effect it had on those countries."
Read the full post here.
WHIPLASH NEVER FELT SO GOOD, nor was it ever so welcomed.
Of course we're speaking in the political sense: During President Obama's first 100 hours in office, I could feel the Earth's rightward tilt reverse itself with a quick jolt back in balance.
With a dance across paper, Obama has already junked Bush policies that had transformed America from human rights' sentinel to scourge. To wit, he:
* Signed executive orders setting new ethics restrictions for political appointees and limiting "executive privilege" to only the president, and required executive staff to sign a pledge "restricting their interactions with lobbyists and their ability to rotate employment between goverment and industry."
* Implemented a salary freeze for White House staff earning more than $100K annually, saying that "in these austere times, everyone must do more with less, and the White House is no exception."
* Ordered the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, closed within a year. The center has become a purgatory for mostly Muslims men rounded up during America's reaction to 9/11, with those imprisoned having no rights to criminal trials. The center became a worldwide symbol of the Bush administration's blithe disregard for the ideals upon which America was founded.
* Signed Executive Order 13440 prohibiting government officials from relying on legal advice on interrogation (code for 'torture') issued between September 11, 2001 and January 20, 2009. He also forbade the CIA to operate detention facilities in the future. "This is the right thing to do morally, diplomatically, militarily and Constitutionally,'' said John D. Hutson, a retired admiral and law school dean who witnessed the signing.
* Repealed limits on funding for international organizations that promote or provide abortions, reversing one of the first orders that Bush implemented when he took office. (The restriction has see-sawed in and out of favor, depending on the political party in office, dating back to Ronald Reagan's order in 1984.) “For the past eight years, they have undermined efforts to promote safe and effective voluntary family planning in developing countries,'' Obama said. "For these reasons, it is right for us to rescind this policy and restore critical efforts to protect and empower women and promote global economic development.”
* Released a memorandum dictating more "transparency" from governmental agencies, with the first line reading, "A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency. As Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, "sunlight is said
to be the best of disinfectants."
Among the memo's other edicts: "All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure"; "Agencies should take affirmative steps to make information public. They should not wait for specific requests from the public. All agencies should use modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their Government": and "Disclosure should be timely."
And that's not all! The icing on this party's cupcake is Obama dissing Rush Limbaugh by telling Republicans they need to stop listening to the Hatemeister if they want to get things done.
Finally, in a study measuring blacks' performance on a standardized test, "Researchers pinpointed that Black Americans who did not watch Obama's nomination acceptance speech lagged behind their White peers, while those who did view the speech successfully closed the gap."
I'm still finding my equilibrium with the plate tectonic shift in the country's direction. But there's been an immediate change for the better: my frown has turned upside down and is now a smile.
January 24, 2009
I'VE SEEN A LOT OF INTERVIEWS WITH MICHELLE AND BARACK OBAMA. They love each other, she's his rock, blah, blah.
But I think I got some real insight into that relationship on Inauguration Day. It was my favorite moment of the day.
As the president was being sworn in, Chief Justice Roberts flubbed the oath, making Obama trip over the words. Meanwhile you see Michelle... smirk. She seems to swallow a chuckle.
If millions around the world weren't watching I'm sure she would've let out a hearty "Ha!"
That tells me a little more about their relationship than any of the interviews they've given so far. It suggests equality and a true friendship. And I loved it.
Oh, some days she may feel like throwing a shoe at him, and he may deserve it. But you can see that she's got his back, and serves as his equilibrium. And he'll need that kind of support in the challenging years ahead.
SexyChattyCatty comments at CrabbyGolightly.com on TV, America's favorite snack food.
WORDS ARE INSUFFICIENT TO CAPTURE THE EUPHORIA AND HOPE that sweep America and much of the world today as Barack Obama gets sworn in as the U.S’s 44th president. I am not going to even try; I’ll leave that task to the reporters-of-record.
Rather, my mind is on two little girls who move into the White House today under the shadow of their father.
Can Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, comprehend at their tender ages that the first lines of their obituaries are already written? “Daughter of the first African-American president.”
The spotlight will put immense pressure on them to acquiesce to our projections. Already the pundits posit them as “fashion icons,” toy trendsetters and “new heights of cuteness" among Presidents’ children. And they haven’t even moved in yet!
Fame has a way of reflecting what we want to see in celebrities, forgetting the complexity of the persons behind the images, exalting but also imprisoning.
Yet in a column in the Wall Street Journal today, Jenna and Barbara Bush, twin daughters of George W. and Barbara Bush, give advice to the Obama girls, recount their own times as the daughters and granddaughters of Presidents, and said of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., “there is no doubt that it is a magical place at any age.”
Susan Eisenhower, daughter of President Dwight Eisenhower concurs. “It’s like a dream," Eisenhauer told SKYNews. Malia and Sasha’s lives “will never, ever be the same again. There are very few presidential families in the country so it comes with a great deal of ongoing responsibility, and I don't think those young girls have any idea of what is going to happen to them."
Here’s my wish that they grow up to become whom they choose to be, free from our demands that they fulfill our fantasies.
By Crabby Golightly
WHAT A FIX WE'RE IN. With the economy in a free-fall, and HOPE's Washington arrival only days away, I've got an uneasy feeling about the latest $775 bailout being readied for President-elect Barack Obama to sign into law.
Okay, something's got to be done. But this RX seems frighteningly reminiscent of what was once derisively termed "voodoo economics" when the same economic logic was practiced by none other than Ronald Reagan.
As Reuters reports, "Despite such challenges as the ailing economy, two wars and an estimated 46 million Americans without health insurance, the opening day of Congress promised to be something of a victory party for the Democrats who expanded their control of the Senate and House of Representatives in the November election."
Surely it won't be hard to get the Dems to sign-off on more spending; ditto the Republicans' on a reported $310 billion in tax cuts for businesses and the middle class.
Obama has already shown on the campaign trail that he can win support from both sides of the aisle; what he hasn't proven is that he can hold Congress' accountable.
It's easy to print more money and throw a welcoming party, but so far there's a lack of evidence that the country has the discipline to wean itself off oil and endless credit.
I'm ready for the celebration of new leadership in Washington. Heck, I may even buy some commemorative Obama stamps from QVC come inaugural weekend. But the clock is ticking, the bill is ballooning, and I can't help but ask: where's our finacial fix if we forever refuse to pay up?
I'll try to be patient but someone needs to remind Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid not to get giddy yet. Washington needs to implement legislative and systemic changes to our economy -- i.e. more business oversight, increased ethics legislation, a reward system for improved efficiencies and better products -- and not just a thumb in the dyke.
By Crabby Golightly
IT SNOWED LAST WEEK IN CHICAGO, AND I HAVE YET SEE A CITY TRUCK OUT SALTING THE STREETS. In any other city in the nation, residents could come up with some logical rationale for the lack of service. But in Chicago, everything is suspect.
As local pundits report breathlessly on the indictment of Governor Rod Blagojevich and his alleged "political corruption crime spree, what's missing from the debate is the timing of his arrest.
Blagojevich was imminently expected to name a successor to President-elect Barack Obama's former Senate seat (the one he pledged to hold at least for one term before he sought to run for president, but that's another story). Blagojevich has been accused of offering the seat up to the highest bidder, and the list of Senate wannabes is long: Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Rep. Danny Davis, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan among others. It was state AG Madigan who conveniently petitioned the state's Supreme Court to remove Blagojevich from office on Friday, thus yanking his privilege to appoint the next winner in the "Win-For-Life" lottery known as the U.S. Senate.
Here's why I'm scratching my head and siding with Jim Lehrer, who asks, ''what's the big deal here?"
Do not construe my indifference to the dealmaking as acceptance, but more as the resignation that comes with knowing that this is how the game plays. And anyone in government who pretends otherwise is either deluded or lying.
We need look no further than to the new appointees of President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet to find examples of this quid-pro-quo schema.
Read the complete post here.
By Crabby Golightly
GEORGE BUSH IS SET TO DELIVER A A PEP TALK TO THE NATION ABOUT THE ECONOMY TODAY. Has he not yet figured out that the best thing he can do is lie low and quietly exit through the back door? Bush demanding the national stage just reminds us all why we're in this mess, and probably costs his party's candidate McCain points in the election. Mr. President, you did too little, too late. If you want to help the nation, say as little as possible. And save your explanations for your memoir.
Proving that these two men are the best the nation has to offer, Barack Obama and John McCain traded comedic riffs at the 63rd annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, a New York charity that benefits deprived children. The candidates poked fun at themselves and each other while helping to raise $4 million dollars.
McCain joked of Joe The Plumber, "What they don't know is that Joe the Plumber recently signed a very lucrative contract with a wealthy couple to handle all the work on all seven of their houses," in a reference to he and Cindy McCain. And Obama mocked himself when he said, "Could somebody tell me what happened to the Greek columns that I requested?"
The competitors praised each other, with McCain complimenting Obama for his "great skill, energy, and determination, and Obama thanking McCain for the "honor and distinction" with which he's served America. Regardless of who wins the race, something tells me that these two will end up being great friends.
And while in New York, McCain delivered his mea culpas to David Letterman for canceling on his show when the Dow took a nosedive two weeks ago. Then Letterman proceeded to grill the Republican like no media figure has done yet during this political season, leading McCain to crack, "I haven't had so much fun since my last interrogation." Dave, Dave, you used to be such a hero of mine, especially when you aimed your zingers at Oprah. Now you cow to the Queen but pick on the weaker, showing once again your streak of bully.
It's official: Madonna and Guy Ritchie are getting divorced. Seems the only person surprised is Madge. Back in June, in regard to rumors of a break-up, she told Vanity Fair, "You have to get to a point where you care as little about getting smoke blown up your ass as you do when you become a whipping boy in the press. Because, ultimately, they both add up to shit." My advice at that time? "Just get off the shit-spewing merry-go-round when you're selling something so we know who to believe." But Madge can't help herself: she just loves the carnival and going around and around in circles.
And Oliver Stone's "W" opens this weekend. The San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle says the movie "will put off viewers who approve of the president" and amuse those who consider him a disaster." With those numbers at 17 percent and 78 percent respectively, we predict -- duh -- Stone's flick has a chance at appealing to the majority. But, and it's a big but, do we want to be reminded of the last eight years at all?
And so to come full circle, if you started this post from the top, you know my answer.
By MzEll
SINCE BARACK OBAMA’S ELECTION WIN, I’ve had strangers speak with such sincerity to me and my children that it makes my heart swell. There’s been an overwhelming surge of goodwill in our country since Obama’s victory.
Despite the far right’s love of war games. and Sexy Sarah’s media blitz, even conservatives are bowing to their forthcoming commander-in-chief. A new Gallup poll shows an increase in the number of conservatives who believe Obama will make an effective president
We all listened on that momentous night, as John McCain shushed his booing supporters and challenged them to accept Barack Obama as their president. But his comments to Jay Leno are the ones that gave me the most optimism for the future. “You know, one thing I think Americans don't want is a sore loser.” It was that calm surrender that finally won John McCain my respect.
Elizabeth Hasselback is also working hard to be a team player. The graciousness from The View’s token Republican comes as great surprise. On the morning after the election, I tuned in to hear what Elizabeth had to say now that her candidate had lost. She talked about watching Obama’s acceptance speech that morning with her daughter Grace on her lap. When Grace asked who’d lost the election, Elizabeth told her no one had, and I agree. No one loses when millions of people rise together to speak with their votes. There are no losers when an African American breaks the race barriers man and ascends to the White House.
It appears even Mrs. Palin is willing to set aside her differences with Obama. Just a few days ago she told Wolf Blitzer she’d be glad to assist the Obama administration any way she could, especially when it came to energy policy and special-needs children. I appreciate her helpful offers, even in they’re superficial in nature.
Collectively, our country is embracing the decision its majority made. And though there are reports that hate has reared its ugly horns the wounds to our national psyche inflicted by the last sad eight years have begun to mend. The good-will flows, and my face is sore from my exercising atrophied muscles: I can’t stop wearing a smile.
MzEll is a stay-at-home mom who writes, reads, knits, and tries to maintain sanity on a regular basis. You can read her blog at Cookiemonks.
By Danielle Cadet 
TEARS UNCONTROLLABLY ROLL DOWN MY FACE as I think of the Americans who fought and gave their lives just to gain the right to vote. I am basking in the glory and celebration that is this monumental day.
Never in a million years did any of those individuals dream of a black man in the White House. They just wanted -- at the very least -- the chance to choose the white man that would end up there.
I was overcome with emotion when I saw Sasha and Malia playing on stage with Joe Biden’s daughters --Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream materialized in those little girls. Black people just generations from slavery are alive to see a black president. For the first time in my life, I have faith in this country.
At 10:01 I heard the words “Barack Obama will be the 44th president of the United States of America.” I cried. I took pictures. Hell, I may just write a letter to my unborn children.
But although we voted for change, we still need to work toward it. There are so many strides to make. I would love to believe that black people can now change the words from “we shall overcome” to “we HAVE overcome.”
Unfortunately, we have not. I am so proud to be alive to see this day of change, to witness where this country has come. But I look forward to the progress to come. The next four years may be harder than the last 21 months. But I’m strapping my seatbelt and getting ready for the ride.
Throughout the last couple months I’ve always been that black person that has tried to look past the color of Barack Obama’s skin. Sure I loved him because he’s black. But I loved him even more because he was the right man for the job. Regardless of his ethnicity, I always felt like Obama was the better candidate—and I wanted every white person I talked to to know that.
But as Election Day came closer and closer I realized how much this election really was about race. My email was constantly being stuffed with chain mail begging black people to maintain appropriate etiquette on November 5th if Obama actually won. Although I chuckled at so many of the emails advising us not to bring chicken and watermelon to work, or give each other high fives on the street, or (worst case scenario) not show up to work at all, the humor was veiling the more important issue.
Now that Barack Obama has become the 44th president all eyes will be on black people. And while it is a huge victory, I fear that others will expect us to shut up. “You got the damn president, what else do you people want?”
Americans may forget that there’s still A LOT of work that needs to be done -- this became even more evident to me as I skimmed the facebook statuses of dear friends who happened to support McCain.
Danielle Cadet is a Danielle is a journalism student Northwestern University who likes to write about fashion and popular culture catastrophes.
By Crabby Golightly
A LIFETIME AGO, THIS WRITER DID A FEATURE STORY exploring the consequences of growing up “biracial.” What always comes back to me is when one biracial woman said that she had come to see herself as an “ambassador” to the world.
This, she said, was the gift of growing up biracial.
On this eve of history, when America appears poised to elect the first man of color as president, even if we can’t agree on taxes or global warming or international strategy, let us agree that the rise of Senator Barack Obama is a turning point in America’s race relations, when all things became possible to all men. (The women will have to wait.)
The excitement, and, of course, hope, that this candidate generates among people and in particular, African Americans, awakens potential for our entire nation. It is impossible to read about the joy and engagement that Obama’s candidacy has created among blacks in particular without getting goose bumps.
• To the New York Times, 20-year-old Bianca Williams says she returned to college after seeing Obama in the first debate. “I started thinking maybe I could help my community like he did. If he could do it then I could do it. It woke me up, careerwise. It just gave me the willpower to go on.”
• In Kenya, 22-year-old Ida Atieno tells the Associated Press, "Obama represents hope. I see myself gaining from an Obama victory because of the inspiration he gives me."
• In France, Kama Des-Gachons, a 28-year-old Frenchwoman whose parents came from Mali, says, “He makes me dream. I even bought a T-shirt with the American flag. America is the country where you can make it."
Barack Obama, a biracial man born to a Kenyan father and a white mother, is indeed America's ambassador to the world.
"With Obama, a certain idea of America is back: that of a generous society where equality of opportunity is not an empty promise,'' said an editorial in France's Le Figaro newspaper last summer. "Hope and change, key words of his campaign, reinforce this rediscovered ideal, which resonates as much inside the country as beyond."
And even if he achieves nothing as president -- an unlikely possibility from one so smart and tempered – Obama will have forever change how blacks see themselves, and how whites and blacks regard each other. And no matter what your politics, surely this is change you can believe in.
By MzEll and Crabby Golightly
WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A FEW BAD HAIR JOKES, I don’t recall any male politicians’ sartorial splendor or lack thereof making headlines. But the detailed review of the physical and style attributes of the women on this year's campaign trail have been some of the sexist -- and regressive -- politics I've witnessed.
Hillary Clinton has always received a good amount of attention for her perfunctory personal style, but the fashion police jumped the shark when they forced her to eschew the diamond ring Bill gave her to cut down on the bling, as though carat size presaged political platform.
There was also the harrumphing about the cost of the outfits that Cindy McCain and Laura Bush wore to the Republican National Convention. Mrs. McCain's allegedly cost $300,000! (Thanks largely to three-carat earrings estimated to be worth $280,000.) Joe the Plumber would have to unclog a whole lot of pipes to afford his wife a similar outfit. Mrs. Bush's ensemble was more modest, costing about $4,000, a tasteful sum considering the event.
Then there was the hue and cry over the $150,000 the RNC apparently spent morphing Sarah Palin from hockey mom into VP contender. But the brouhaha was muffled when Hillary Clinton's own stylist was quoted as saying that she was surprised any candidate would pay for designer clothing. She found it "strange" that Palin hadn't been gifted the clothing outright. That expectation was even more shocking to me than the GOP’s campaign clothing budget.
The amount these Republicans spent on clothing seemed to illustrate the differences between the two parties, the so-called haves and have-nots. But even Michelle Obama was not safe from having her style deconstructed, with some wondering aloud whether Oprah was behind her polished first-lady look. And the New York Times went so far as to suggest that Michelle had undergone the “Oprah-fication” of her public persona. All the talk just makes me wonder if Jackie O's style was really her own or something cultivated by a team of high paid stylists.
There is a crisis of vanity in America, and the women of the 2008 Presidential campaign have not escaped its (we suppose “Prada alligator”) clutches. These women on the political frontlines deserve to enjoy the experience that the travel to the White House brings, but not at the expense of their humanity. As our economy falters, America’s obsession over what a politician’s wife ought to look like sends the wrong message about beauty and financial pragmatism.
I too am guilty, as I found myself commenting aloud how Sarah Palin needed to wear her hair down. And my guilt was not assuaged when the next day I read that she'd been advised to do exactly that . Really, should the length and subtleness of Palin’s hair win votes?
It's sickened me when the GOP made such a stink about Palin's lack of retouching on her Newsweek cover . I don't want any of these women – Democrat or Republican -- to be "retouched." Who they really are as mothers, citizens, and females, is drastically more important to them, and to me.
Making the calculated decision to shape them into grandiose projections of perfection belies what this election is supposed to be all about: making changes we can believe in, and protecting our freedom to be you and me.
MzEll is a stay-at-home mom who writes, reads, knits, and tries to maintain sanity on a regular basis. You can read her blog at Cookiemonks.
By Crabby Golightly
AS OBAMAMANIA REACHES FEVER PITCH, talk now turns to who will serve in his cabinet. One name on everybody’s list: queen of all media Oprah (sorry, Perez), because she anointed him early as “the one,” risking her brand with the very people who made her one.
Yesterday’s The Daily Beast suggests that Senator Obama create a post specifically for Miss Winfrey. Crabby suggests that it’s always media folk who have probably never watched an hour of Oprah (the one exception being when they appeared), and who have read more of her press releases than her show scripts, who make such suggestions. So, with a special warning to Michelle to keep Her Highness away from the family quarters (because she does not play second fiddle to anyone), Crabby has come up with several potential titles she could wear in the new administration:
Minister of Divine Vibrations -- Devotees of Oprah know that she is gifted with the power of special personal communication from on high. Along the way she has had the help of seers such as Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, James Redfield, Iyanla Vanzant, Gary Zukav, Rhonda Byrne,Eckhart Tolle, Nate Berkus, Bob Greene, and Dr. Phil. As MDV she could be placed in charged of NASA, directing them to listen closely to those parts of heaven from which the latest messages are being signaled.
Chief Stimulant Spending Advisor -- As one of the economic machines that feeds America’s fevered consumerist appetite, let’s put the business titan in charge of advising Americans how they should spend any future stimulant checks. America is in desperate need of an influx of spending, and O could advocate for the purchase of the many luxurious items on her annual “Favorite Things” list. Opraphiles, eager to please and look wealthier beyond their means, will rush out and max out their credit cards to feed their inner hunger while getting the economy chugging again. I can hear Oprah now: CHAAARRRGGGEE IT!
Public Image Director -- This job usually falls to Machiavellian types like Karl Rove, David Axelrod, Lee Atwater, a group that Oprah would fit in nicely. All of them worked their magic as image makers to persuade the public that their man was the man for the job. But Oprah can teach these masters new tricks: she can introduce her ironclad confidentiality agreement to these political operatives, making sure that no insider ever authors a book to challenge the authorized word. Unless, of course, they start a snarky blog and poke good fun!
All of this talk flies out the window in the off-chance that Senator McCain -- who adamantly claimed yesterday that he was "going to win it," -- actually goes all the way. But even then Oprah will win, as she can say, "See? I told you! The Secret really works!
By SexyChattyCatty
AS SENATOR MCCAIN SURELY CRINGES FROM THE LATEST RANTS OF HIS RUNNING MATE SARAH PALIN, I'LL POSIT THAT HE'D be much better off in the race if he had chosen Judge Judith Sheindlin as his running mate.
No joking! She’s an experienced jurist, is whip-smart, and has a great New York accent that could help "balance the ticket." Her "tough broad persona" is no joke, and people like her anyway!
What else could a president want in a glass-ceiling-busting partner? Can you imagine Judge Judy in a debate with Joe Biden? He’d be toast. Judy wouldn’t need no stinking talking points cue cards, either. You think she doesn’t know the issues? You're crazy! And as she'll tell you in a minute, she didn’t get where she is because she’s cute.
She cows nor bows to no one. Judge Judy would not allow herself to be fed "code" words, would not be “intimidated” into incoherence by Katie Couric. And she’s no Kool-Aid drinker for partisans. A recent article in The Guardian quoted her as a friend of McCain -- whom she calls a "a real meat-and-potatoes guy" -- but nevertheless says she likes Obama.
Diplomatic! Smart! I have never heard Palin say one nice thing about Obama, ever.
John McCain, I’m sorry you’ve tried for the presidency so many times and failed. This could’ve been your year! If only you had chosen the right running mate. Judge Judy for VP!
SexyChattyCatty periodically comments at CrabbyGolightly.com on TV, America's favorite snack food.
By Crabby Golightly
SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN IS ONCE AGAIN IMPRISONED, THIS time by his presidential gambit going nowhere. It ended abruptly last night during the final presidential debate when Senator Barack Obama delivered a preternaturally calm perform while explaining why he ought to be the next president of the United States. And my guess is that even Joe the Plumber can't rescue McCain from the can.
Senator McCain tried to change the inevitable, but all night it looked as though he was boxing at shadows. In one of his best lines, he told Obama, "I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against Bush, you should have run four years ago." The line caused some titters from an audience sworn to silence.
The Arizonan even dared to mention former 60s radical Bill Ayers, one of the cast of questionable characters that have littered Obama's campaign. Very calmly, Obama explained that he had served with Ayers on an education reform board financed by a former ambassador to Ronald Reagan, adding his own footnote to Republicans' favorite hagiography. And without any evidence to the contrary, America has little reason to doubt him. He then flicked the topic away with the remark that McCain's focus on Ayers "says more about your campaign than it says about me."
In short, the night's overall picture was of that an outsized fighter bobbing and weaving around the taller heavyweight champ.
Unlike the first debate, when Obama felt the need to address every debate point McCain made, Obama oozed confidence and control. He discarded soundbites and opted for a heartfelt conversational tone while admonishing McCain that America's youth aren't a "special interest'' but our future. He also said he "didn't mind being attacked for the next three weeks," but that the public can't afford four more years of bankrupt government.
In short, Obama ended the night without a scratch. And he didn't gloat or flinch when, during his closing comments, he looked straight in the camera and delivered his knock-out blow:
"The policies of the last eight years, and Washington's unwillingless to tackle the tough problems for decades, has left us in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. And that's why the biggest risk we could take right now is to adopt the same failed policies and the same failed politics, that we' ve seen over the last eight years and somehow expect a different result. We need fundamental change in this country and that's what I'd like to bring...His competitor congratulated him, saying, "Good job, good job, good job,'' with a vigorous handshake. Which made McCain himself look forward to being sprung from his self-imposed sentence three weeks from now.
It's not going to be easy, it's not going to be quick. It's going to require all of us, Democratics, Republicans, independents to come together and to renew a spirit of sacrifice and service and responsibility. I'm absolutely convinced we can do it. I would ask for your vote. And I promise you, if you give me the extraordinary honor of serving as your President, I will work every single day tirelessly on your behalf and on the behalf of the future of our children.
By MzEll
IF YOU ASK MY TODDLER ABOUT GEORGE W. BUSH, he'll tell you that he lives on a refrigerator magnet, and that he is a "yocky man!," his two-year-old's Texas twang turning the 'U' into an 'O.' But in Texas, it's not that simple.
I grew up in Midland, TX, from where Bush hails, and called it my home until I had my own family. I was also raised in the same Methodist traditions as President Bush, and am in essence a member of his extended congregation. So it’s hard for me not to feel sympathy for the man, if not for the "President," behind the public's scorn. In the newsletter of the church I attend in South Texas, there is a permanent entry to pray for President Bush, and I do so almost every night.
Yet I’m ambivalent about Bush, as many Texans are. Four years ago while attending the local community college, I was stopped by a smart female student because I was wearing a ‘Democrat’ pin. My schoolmate’s reaction? Basically all Texans should vote for Bush because he ‘s Texan, and that Afghanistan and Iraq should just be blown up. I was aghast, embarrassed that someone so smart had such a childish response.
That down-home pride has all but disappeared for Bush. Last week I talked to a few students on that same college campus, and all were either angry or chagrinned about Bush's job performance.
Salon’s Bill Sasser wrote about the turn against Bush in the Lone Star State. “Back in the day you couldn't swing a dead cat around here without hitting one of those 'W' stickers,'' he wrote. "But feelings around here started to change about a year ago, when guys started going back to Iraq for their third deployment.”
Sasser points out that more Texans have served in Bush’s wars than any other war, and that only California has sent home more dead soldiers. Even the editor of Texas Monthly, Paul Burka, who's covered politics for 30 years and voted twice for Bush, is embarrassed by his past votes. And James Henson, a University of Texas public policy professor, said in the same article that finding Texans who admit to voting for Bush “is like trying to find people who voted for Nixon in his 1972 landslide."
My mother-in-law has voted Republican in every election since Goldwater ran for President. Even she is disappointed by Bush’s last term; she shakes her head and covers her eyes when talking about it. Last week she confessed that she just might sit this election out.
As my husband says, George W. like Coca-Cola to Texans: We still prefer Coke to Pepsi (Democrats?), it's just this case the Coke has gone flat and rancid.
MzEll is a stay-at-home mom who writes, reads, knits, and tries to maintain sanity on a regular basis. You can read her blog at Cookiemonks.
THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN IS GETTING EVERYBODY'S HACKLES UP, EVEN THE LADIES OF THE VIEW.
Full disclosure: I've never watched a complete episode of The View. I will not wear that one. But the firestorms that erupt between the five hosts sometimes break through the headlines, and so I got to see Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd's "passionate" exchange about Barack Obama's eyebrow-raising ties and John McCain's disloyalty to his first wife. My reaction? "Wow! A real conversation on TV!"
The sentiments expressed by Hasselbeck and Shepherd are spilling out all over America, so why shouldn't they raise the same questions? It does a nation good to clear the air.
The media acts as though America is divided into two camps: liberal or conservative, racists or not, but the truth is far more complicated, nuanced and ephemeral.
The only comment out of line was Joy Behar's flippant remark, "You're listening to Sean Hannity too much!" after Elisabeth rightly pointed out the Democrats' hand in bolstering up a shaky Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
That was below the belt, Joy. And, FYI, brush up on your facts.
Even the Washington Post, a media outlet with some of the best liberal cred, reported the Dems' involvement as fact. So does Tina Brown's latest media creation, The Daily Beast, which labeled Congressional Dems as "enablers" in the country's finacial fiasco.
So here's my plea to the ladies, as well as to the nation. Can you stop ganging up on Elisabeth? There's a whole lot of people like her out there, even in Barack territory, except they only say privately what Hasselbeck said publicly.
Geesh, used to be Republicans were the vicious bomb-throwers who thrilled at sowing contempt. This campaign the Dems' have borrowed a page from that playbook. Can we bring some civility back to the debate?
By Crabby Golightly
CAN WE GET THIS THING OVER WITH?
This "thing" being the interminable Presidential campaign and Tuesday night's "town hall" debate during which few words from either candidate caused an uptick in active listening.
At the end of the world as we know it, Senator Barack Obama seemed fine: unflappable and cool and ready for whatever the afterlife delivers. And Senator John McCain showed he is ready to go out with figurative guns blazing.
Today, I'll not participate in partisan hair-pulling. Last night I saw both men as honorable and disciplined and well-intentioned, but with different world views. Unlike during the first debate, when McCain played offense with his can-do comments and attacks on Obama, last night he paced like a hungry lion waiting for prey.
Obama wasn't in danger; he was the elephant on the horizon.
The race is near over, and political fortunes can change with the wind. But this year the economic gales are foretelling a long winter. Stock up on food, conserve fuel, bring your rosary and batten down the hatches.
Change is arriving at the station.
By Crabby Golightly
WHAT THE HELL DID THEY FIND SO FUNNY?
Here they were, Congressional Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barney Frank and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson sharing a laugh while announcing to the media that they reached an accord on the repulsive $700 billion bailout of Wall Street’s Masters of the Universe at the expense of ordinary Americans.
But the self-congratulations were premature and the pictures taken Monday showed grimmer expressions on the dealmakers’ faces.
While partisans threw pot-shots at each other – the Dems blamed the Republicans for the failure of the bailout plan and vice versa -- the reality is both political parties’ got us into this quicksand. And Congressional leaders who face November elections weren’t willing to absorb the voters’ anticipated zings and arrows.
When the votes were tallied, there were 228 nays versus 205 yeas against the biggest market intervention since the Great Depression. Of Dems, 95 opposed the bill while 140 voted in favor; 133 Republicans nixed the plan while 65 supported it.
Meanwhile, back at the race, the Obama and McCain camps pointed fingers at each other.
During a presidential campaign with lots of talk about chickens coming home to roost, this story was the foulest. We are all complicit in this mess; the media for spoonfeeding us stories about Jesus’ face in cat fur stories while ignoring real crises. Or for dismissing what they surely thought shrill complaints from Ralph Nader about lax governmental regulation and corporate welfare for the likes of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Today’s reporters seems to do little more than yap like little dogs at bigger dogs; but as usual their bark is bigger than their bite. The sleaze-fest that Congress has become can be directly traced back to the money from wealthy individuals and corporations who want to a piece of America’s pie when legislation is written, and candidates’ open palms.
Count me among the millions who are glad that they issue hasn’t been resolved quite so quickly to Congress’ satisfaction. Yes, yes, I’m aware that something must be done to avert another Depression. Americans rely on ol’ Uncle Sam to play both mommy and daddy.
But there’s lots more work to do to ensure that all of those who contributed to this fiasco are forced to sweat before the final tally is deducted from the next generation’s future.
Here’s where they can begin: Bush, Pelosi, Reid, Paulsen, et.al – stop laughing at our expense.
By MzEll
I am slightly addicted to Celebrity Baby Blog. I first visited there to find out what Elizabeth Hasselbeck was naming her baby. If it weren’t for that odd inquiry, my ear would never have been tuned in to the name Sarah Palin. The pregnancy and birth of the VP contender's fifth child, Trig, were both reported there, and since then my original impressions about Mrs. Palin have completely changed.
At first I thought, “Wow, what an inspiring woman! To conceive another child with so many other responsibilities, and then return to them so completely, even with her son’s disability.” I didn’t know anything about Sarah Palin except what I read at the CBB and her general appearance. Her decisions then seemed to be those of a modern, working mom making good choices for her family.
Then John McCain nominated her for VP, and I noticed she was a Republican. Almost immediately afterwards, there was speculation that her baby was really her daughter’s. That’s a lot of Mama drama! Next, was the news that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. Up until this point, she had the benefit of my doubt. Being a mother is challenging, and you can’t be with your children all the time.
Another confession: I also frequent Perez Hilton, where I drank up alleged pictures of Bristol Palin posing with a bottle of "Captain Morgan" and a scantily clad friend. (Although the girl doesn't look a thing like Bristol to my eyes.) Then there were rampant rumors all over the internet about Track Palin vandalizing a school bus. My faith in Palin as a mother was lost. Sarah Palin’s views on sexual education, evolution, and religion as a whole didn’t improve her standing as a mother.
How do the church-going kids of an American governor have the space to drink, vandalize buses and and get pregnant? Where was Sarah Palin when all of this was happening?
The lack of communication and understanding required for that much family drama is astounding. Devotion to your day job should never outweigh dedication to raising competent adults.
I feel bad that her children have been forced into the spotlight. I also remember from my own teen years that your parents cannot control you, or even know you completely. But I feel a mother who represents America has a responsibility to have done a better job.
You can preach abstinence and promise rings, but when your child is old enough to have sex, there needs to be something more than talk.
I don't doubt that Sarah Palin loves her children more than her own life. For the sake of her younger children, I hope that she has done and continues to do the best she can. For this mom, however, she hasn't done good enough.
MzEll is a stay-at-home mom who writes, reads, knits, and tries to maintain sanity on a regular basis. She blogs at Cookiemonks.
By Crabby Golightly
The crash of America's economic markets is a timely reminder of the importance of the upcoming presidential election.
The American Dream is deferred for millions teetering under higher gas, electric, housing, medical costs and overextended credit cards.
While thousands of Americans lose their homes to foreclosure, corporate welfare continues unabated, with the government's $85 billion bailout of insurance giant AIG.
As admirable as both presidential candidates are -- Barack Obama with his charm, intellect and swagger, John McCain for what Time calls his twin conflictions of ambition and honor -- neither man has the righteous indignation necessary to change the status quo. And to suddenly aspire to it would mean eschewing the political machines that have brought them to the top of the presidential heap.
Like every campaign before it, this presidential race is turning out to be the most expensive to date, with more than $1 billion raised so far, much from "bundlers" who have an economic interest in influencing legislators. The largest piece of that pie will be spent on television and internet advertising, estimated to exceed $3 billion, thus enriching broadcasters who are the primary source of news and information for Americans. So it should be no surprise that what passes for news coverage can at best be described as a "pig wearing lipstick."
Barack Obama, the people's messianic hopes aside, is unlikely to turn this corrupt tide. To date his campaign has raised $390 million-- more than any single presidential candidate in history. He's also now part of the Richard Daley Chicago machine, which runs the City of Clout like a family of sanctioned mobsters. The system is so broken here that elections don't matter so much as political appointments. Residents, distracted by the Cubs or their Wiis or their car payments or by television's somnambulistic influence, routinely re-elect incumbents, who then quit and hand their seat to a family member or political operative. Those who think Obama will deliver the promised land have ignored his lack of reform in Illinois and Congress.
McCain, who has to date raised $174 million for the campaign, has a longer history of falling on his sword on behalf of change. Caught in the Keating Five scandal, political pundits say that McCain's dutiful reaction to that embarassment was to become a bipartisan reformer, leading to his stewardship of the McCain-Feingold Act, which limited the impact of "soft money" and "issue ads" in presidential campaigns. As moderate as his record is compared to Republicans in the Senate, McCain is handicapped for being from the party that has enabled big oil and business to gorge themselves at the public's expense. And up until this week, McCain had little to say about re-regulating an out-of-control and collapsing marketplace.
All of which brings home former presidential candidate Ron Paul's point that made last week while calling on voters to support a third-party candidate.
"I've come to the conclusion, after having spent many years in politics, is that our presidential elections turn out to be more of a charade than anything else, and I think that is true today,'' Paul said. "It is a charade."
According to CNN, Paul said the "two major parties and media had 'colluded' to avoid discussing issues and falsely presenting the difference between McCain and Obama as real."
What -- other than the dismantling of civil rights, consumer protections and regulation -- has been accomplished by Bush and Congress during the last eight years? Do we really want to perpetuate financial practices that devalue our economic system? Play world cop by enforcing "pre-emptive" hegemony? Spend billions on an unwinnable war on drugs?
When hundreds of thousands turned out in Berlin to hear Obama speak, pundits chalked it yet again to his charismatic pull. But in a 2002 report comparing elections around the globe, Germany ranked 33rd for voter turnout while America ranked 120th. Germans are in general more politically engaged.
This year we saw several examples of populations turning out in force to pressure their governments for change. More than 40,000 South Koreans marched to protest their country's renewed imports of U.S. beef. And hundreds of thousands of Colombians marched to protest abductions by leftist guerrillas in the South American country. What America needs is a good, old-fashioned revolution.
Ron Paul is right; the two-party system is a fixed-game for those on the inside. And until Americans shake off their apathy and turn out enmasse at the polls, nothing's really going to change.
By Crabby Golightly
NO BULLDOG EVER LOOKED SO GOOD IN LIPSTICK, nor roused a crowd to such a clamor.
In a reversal of political winds, Republican VP nominee Alaska Governor Sarah Palin powered through her televised introduction to the nation Wednesday, wowing Republicans and Independents with the idea that Mrs. Smith was heading to Washington.
After a weekend of character assaults by the media and blogosphere, and flanked by her picture-perfect family, soccer-mom-turned-Governor proved she was up to the fight of the national presidential campaign, taking some of the best swipes yet at Barack Obama with the sincerest of smiles.
"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities,'' said Palin in a sly dig at Obama.
"I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.
"We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco."
The Alaskan hunter had hit her target with a bullseye! In fact, all night long Mrs. Palin proved herself of steely aim.
"And though both Senator Obama and Senator Biden have been going on lately about how they are always, quote, "fighting for you," let us face the matter squarely. There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you." Bang!
"I've noticed a pattern with our opponent,'' she said. "...We've all heard his dramatic speeches before devoted followers. And there is much to like and admire about our opponent.But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate." Pow!
Palin went on, "But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed, when the roar of the crowd fades away,when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot, what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet?
"The answer is to make government bigger, take more of your money ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world."
Well, actually Sarah, no one has succeeded at that quite like Republican George Bush, which is the big problem for your ticket. But you did cleverly remind us of the messianic complex of Obama and his followers.
I had begun to lament the off-the-deep-end partisan punditry increasingly practiced by both sides of the political divide. I was peeved at the sexism used like a baton against Hillary and Sarah. I don't agree with Sarah Palin on a lot, but to my mind that doesn't mean I can cast vile insinuations about her daughter's baby's father. (Who turns out to be a hottie, hence a political plus for Sarah!)
Now do I worry? Not so much.
Ladies and gentlemen, have at her. The Governor will take your questions now.
THE LATEST AND MOST REVEALING NEWS ABOUT SARAH PALIN might just prove she's the worst choice for America right now, but the best choice for McCain’s campaign.
Bristol Palin reportedly plans to marry her baby’s father and make family dinners super awkward for years to come. The McCain campaign announced Monday the seventeen year-old daughter of Republican vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin is five months pregnant.
Sarah Palin is an old school politician in a girl’s body. Her cocky, unwavering close-mindedness is directly proportional to the number of skeletons in her closet. A look at her impressively ass-backwards political history shows she doesn’t have a place in her heart for sissy, forward-thinking “trends” like equality or ecology. McCain’s unlikely candidate:
~ Is pro-life, even in circumstances of rape and incest (and wayward daughters).With all this said, I am glad to see that Palin has embraced at least one popular trend in America. Nothing says “I’m so 2008” like a knocked-up, underaged daughter.
~ Supports “abstinence only education,” which means when students ask about STD’s, the health teacher shrugs and mutters something about marriage. (It’s literally the opposite of “education,” which leads to the opposite of “abstinence.”)
~ Opposed gay marriage or health care for gay couples (which I guess is OK, because gays aren’t technically people).
~ Opposes the legalization of marijuana (because Republicans are still having issues admitting they smoked their way through college).
~ Supported Bush’s fight against terrorism (which I think means she supports the war in Iraq).
~ Has stated she doesn’t believe people caused global warming. (Really?)
~ Supports oil drilling in Alaska. (That makes sense, nature’s gay anyway.)
By Crabby Golightly
IF WE NEVER HEAR ANOTHER WORD ABOUT ALASKA'S GOVERNOR SARAH PALIN, IF SHE FALLS OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH TODAY, HISTORY will record her as the only would-be VP accused of faking the birth of her daughter's Down Syndrome baby.
Surely this is the most ludicrous slander that any candidate has ever faced? This abysmal excuse for political engagement is even more ridiculous than news stories about Oprah crying her fake eyelashes off during Barack Obama's powerful speech at the Democratic National Convention.
But what we've learned during this presidential campaign is that female candidates engender a particularly virulent strain of evil from some males who labor in the new and old media.
Most recent case in point: someone with the nom de plume "ArcXIX" wrote on the Daily Kos, the left-wing's looney response to Matt Drudge: "Sarah, I'm calling you a liar....Trig Paxson Van Palin is not your son. He is your grandson. The sooner you come forward with this revelation to the public, the better."
The rationale for the accusation that Palin was pretending her daughter's illegitimate child was her own? Palin only announced seven months into her pregnancy that she was expecting and those around her were shocked, shocked! because of her size. (Palin revealed over the weekend that her 17-year-old daughter Bristol is in fact five months pregnant, making it unlikely that mother delivered her love child last April.)
Speculating on the innards of wombs has become a favorite pastime among bloggers and low-brow media during the last two years. What looks an awful lot like bloating to the rest of America passes as "baby bump" when it shows up on the frames of Paris Hilton, Kate Moss, Jessica Biel, Lindsay Lohan and Jessica Simpson. And many might consider this a mindless, sinless distraction.
But I'm betting that the ideologues at the Kos might have done more damage than good with their bizarre conspiracy theory.
Any politically astute person can see that while Palin is a conservative Republican, she is the only populist on the presidential political scene, and that archetype holds great appeal in the public's imagination. She is smart, charming and from "salt-of-the-earth" ilk. In addition, she challenges Obama for the "charisma" vote.
I doubt that a McCain-Palin ticket derails Obama's ascension to president. But the ideologues at Kos have tread on dangerous ground. Many women rightly feel that Hillary Clinton was forced out of the race by sexism in the media. If some of these women, particularly those Reagan Democrats who reside in the western hills of Pennsylvania, decide that one of their kind has been dissed again, it's possible that there'll be hell to pay in November for Democrats' who made the same mistake twice.
By Crabby Golightly
IF IT WAS STRATEGY THAT ALL THOSE WHO SPOKE BEFORE HER WOULD SOUND LIKE THE FARAWAY WHISTLE INSIDE A SEASHELL, IT WORKED.
For Michelle Obama, Chicago South Side Girl, Ivy-Leaguer, likely-future-first-lady, stole the show at the Democratic National Convention's opening night in Denver.
Opening the prime-time hour, Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi sung the praises of the party's nominee Barack Obama and, more notably, Hillary Clinton. "All Democrats salute Hillary Clinton for her excellent campaign,'' the Lady Speaker of the House said one minute into her address. "Our party and our country has been strengthened by her candidacy." She pooh-poohed John McCain's record as "experience of being wrong on the failed Bush policies that have weakened our economy and taken us from the Clinton surpluses to the reckless Bush deficits."
Soon afterward, Camelot survivor Caroline Kennedy took the stage and waxed romantic about Obama inspiring millions to have hope. Although she delivered her words clearly, Caroline proved she doesn't have her protege's gift for soaring rhetoric. People listened out of respect for her name, and to the man she came here to honor: her "Uncle Teddy," Sen. Edward Kennedy. A mawkish videotape served as premature obituary for the Massachusettes Senator, followed by a surprise but predictable address by Kennedy himself. C-SPAN's cameras kept cutting to Caroline and Maria Shriver in the audience looking grim or tearful as their uncle spoke. "Uncle Kennedy," being treated for a brain tumor, pledged that he would be on the floor of the U.S.Senate come next January.
There were some comments by unknowns like Miguel Del Valle, the Chicago City Clerk, and Candi Schmieder, an Iowa delegate, college dropout and mother of three who was inspired to hope once again by Mr. Obama. Jesse Jackson Jr. also spoke, but all I heard was more seashell whistles.
My ears suddenly cleared when former Senator Jim Leach, a Republican from Iowa, took the stage and excoriated George Bush's record. What was this? A Republican dissing his party leader? This was no white noise.
"As a Republican I stand before you with deep respect for the history and the traditions of my political party,'' Leach said. "But it's clear to all Americans that something is akilter in our great republic. In less than a decade America's political and economic standings in the world have been diminished...Seldom has the case for an inspiring new political ethic been more compelling, And seldom has an emerging leader matched the needs of the moment."
Leach ended his speech by saying he supported a "transcending candidate who I am convinced will recapture the American Dream and be a truly great president." Holy Cow! This was news!
Finally, the night's keynote speaker arrived, introduced with a schmaltzy video that humanized Michelle. Gone were the rumored horns substituted by a halo.
And then she was in the flesh, wearing blue V-neck sweater dress and a radiant smile. She gave the performance of her lifetime, with more passion and feeling than anyone who had come before her that evening. It wasn't what she said so much as how she said it. She appeared sincere and classy and likeable; she had practiced hard and it showed. We also met her mother and now-deceased father, good folks you'd be proud to know, and a brother-turned-best-friend. And, of course, we got to hear Obama say during a live feed from Kansas that his wife looked awfully cute too. On the count of three, now: Awww, isn't that sweet?
I couldn't find the ''perfect bite" from her 17-minute speech, so check her performance out in its entirety here, and then make your own call.
By Crabby Golightly
RUSH LIMBAUGH KNOWS SOMETHING ABOUT ORAL FIXATIONS.
The $400 million dollar man just can't help himself. A quick glance backwards reveals Rush's compulsion to stuff his mouth. The first piece of evidence is that he was a "big fat idiot," emphasis on the big and fat for just this minute.
Read the full post here.
By Crabby Golightly
According to the American Psychiatric Association’s “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders", the Narcissistic Personality Disorder is the mental disorder of people who need admiration, lack empathy and have a grandiose sense of their self-importance.
Narcissists display "a pervasive pattern" of grandiosity in fantasy and behavior, with symptoms usually emerging by early adulthood and presenting in a variety of symptoms. To achieve this diagnosis, a person must exhibit five or more of the following:
(1) Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements).
(2) Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.
(3) Believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people or institutions.
(4) Requires excessive admiration.
(5) Has a sense of entitlement--unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations.
(6) Is interpersonally exploitative--takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends.
(7) Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.
(8) Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.
(9) Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.
By Crabby Golightly
LOOK! OVER THERE! No, no, not at the man behind the curtain. Look at this magazine, the one that portrays me and my wife as Muslim terrorists! How Dare They? Who Do They Think They Are?
That would be The New Yorker, just the oldest, most prestigious literary magazine of which the U.S. can boast. With much, much, more gravitas than Barack Obama can claim at this baby stage in his career.
Yes, we realize he will be the next president. And though Crabby still suffers from, oh -- what do you call it? -- bitterness over how the Democratic primary campaign went, she also has adopted an "How can he be worse than what we've had for eight years?" attitude about the junior Senator from Illinois. I'll just vote for Ralph Nader or write in HRC and won't wear any of the dirt when he produces 'more of the same.' And why should this year be any different than those that came before? When Crabby could not vote for either party's orthodox candidate (Bill Clinton excepted.) But Crabby digresses.
So now we have a faux furor over a magazine cover that mocks "the politics of fear." Listen up, folks, if the New Yorker really meant to feed conspiracies, the cartoonist would not have drawn Barack and Michelle wearing satisfied smiles. Instead, they would be all scowls, snarling lips and furrowed brows. But these are not angry blacks on the cover. That would have been stereotype. And if the two had been portrayed as mad, that would have been the insult.
But let's throw attention to the cover! Let's say it's an insult to American Muslims! Because if we say that enough, it will distract attention away from the Obama campaign moving American Muslims off-stage at campaign events. Wouldn't want the American general public to get the wrong ideas now, would we? Wouldn't want them to think that Obama, the candidate of "change," operates a big tent? Wouldn't want them to think he was really "different," wink, wink. No, no, let's pander to that great white wave of American voters as seen through the black hole called TV.
Who's Obama hired as his event coordinators? The Oprah Winfrey Show audience department?
As the Los Angeles Times asks, "Can't anyone take a joke?
Well, yes, at least one person: When Crabby saw the cover, she laughed! My recommended prescription for those who see conspiracy.
TO QUOTE GERALD FORD, “MY FELLOW AMERICANS, OUR LONG NATIONAL NIGHTMARE IS OVER." (Sorry, Crabby.)Barack Obama is the Democratic presidential nominee and Hillary Clinton continues her good works, this time by endorsing her competitor. It’s been an exhilarating time for our nation and SexyChattyCatty’s been fists of fury on more than one occasion. Now for the real fight.
I must admit John McCain makes me chuckle when he said his VP was going to be The Office's Dwight Schrute. But he scares me when he backs President Bush’s policy of of wiretapping without warrants. And you wonder why I distract myself with mindless television?
Read the full post here.
S THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY TRIES TO CLOSE RANKS AROUND ITS HISTORY-BREAKING CANDIDATE, Hillary Clinton supporters try to make sense of why her candidacy was undermined so overwhelmingly by men in the media.
Salon's Joan Walsh tackled sexism's role during the primary season and linked to this YouTube call to arms by a group calling itself "Shut The Freud Up. In her article she pointed out how Jesse Jackson continued his fight for his candidacy up the way up to the Democratic convention in 1988 with little resistance from the party.
In her column today, Walsh argues that it is Barack Obama who needs to woo Hillary's 18 million voters. "Winning without overwhelming support from white Democratic women wouldn't be easy for Obama.'' she writes. "I have no doubt Obama and his supporters can reach these women, but first he has to try. I'll start with a few simple pointers for how to do it: Don't call them racist. Or old and irrelevant. And don't say Hillary Clinton has to do all the work to heal the breach; Obama has plenty he can do himself."
Thank God there is one high-profile woman journalist who can counter the poison pen of the New York Times' Maureen Dowd.
Here's what I suggest to Hillary supporters: let's not make it easy for the mainstream media to rewrite their role in this campaign so quickly. Already missing from the postmortems on Clinton's campaign is the hidden wire the media used to trip her up. Geraldine Ferraro is right to ask for an investigation. But the bitter white women who largely supported Hillary don't need further evidence. Just activate the YouTube prompt above and even listen a few minutes and you'll get a taste of the invective against Hillary specifically and women generally.
Clinton's candidacy may be vanquished, but women can still vote, call and write. So I say let's work actively to shudder the voices of the men -- and women -- whose misogyny dripped every time they opened their mouths. Obama promises "change." How about a clean sweeping of the media when the new administration takes office? The regimes of Glenn Beck, Maureen Dowd, Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Tim Russert, Jonathan Alter and Howard Fineman have lasted too long and have a vested interest in making the future president look good. After all, they'll have had a large hand in putting him in office. And if they don't go away, turn off your TVs and cancel your subscriptions.
WE ARE USED TO SEEING HIS EXAGGERATED SMIRK AS THE JOKER, familiar with his contemptous sneer in A Few Good Men, have recoiled at the flat mask of a man in About Schmidt. We know him best as the Jack seated in the front row at the Academy Awards, dark glasses intact, wearing the air of a randy king holding court.
But the public is now seeing actor Jack Nicholson in a new role, that of political ambassador. The legendary Jack Nickolson has released his most surprising performance in a "virtual video" endorsing Hillary Clinton as our next president. The video is a montage of quips from Jack's past movies interspersed with questions, an endorsement, and finally with a wiry-haired Nicholson saying, "I approve this message."
But Jack moves beyond the gimmicky campaign ad in an interview with MTV that proves an even stronger endorsement of Clinton, and portrays him as a serious and intelligent student of politics.
Among the more pointed comments he gives:
"It's only now that people are seeing that [the media has] been harsh to her. It's disturbing to me how gleeful they are at her imagined demise or any setbacks she has.''
"I'm not looking for so-called followers. I'm not that crazy about being interviewed. I don't like the sound of my own voice after 20 minutes. On the other hand, I am Irish. I like being involved in the community. As they say, if you don't educate yourself about the political system you're doomed to be led by inferior people. That's one of my fears."
Of Obama, he says, "Believe me, the Republicans are not going to let him slide. MTV doesn't want to hear this, but he seems youthful. His small mistakes do not get amplified. I love the inspiration of Senator Obama, but we have a representative republic for this very reason...These superdelegates are there to make democracy more thoughtful."
And, finally, "The only thing I can say is, it's obvious one person is more experienced."
Tough, honest commentary from a man who makes his living pretending on the screen.
The fact that Hitchen's column was published January 7, the day before Obama's loss in the New Hampshire primary, may well be significant. For it's only the day after the nation's first primary that Obama's race actually became a part of the public dialogue, and small wonder. Despite polls show Obama leading with double digits, Hillary won Tuesday, Obama lost, and the nation's pollsters imploded. Up until then, few in the media had actually openly posed the question of whether America would vote for a black man (or woman, for that matter) as President of the United States, perhaps fearing that the question itself was archaic, that the nation had advanced so much in just 50 years that the point was moot.
May I suggest there was also fear, for the issue of race in America is one of -- if not the -- most complex and intractable problems that the country faces, and one that the media perpetually avoids. The post-game quarterbacking over what went wrong with the polls started immediately, and among the issues raised was whether white America suppresses the truth about how race plays into its voting. Historically, this has been known as "the Bradley effect", the phenomenon in which black candidates have polled to win but ultimately lose the election, ostensibly because white voters have hidden their true biases from questioners. But already comes denial in the media that race could have been a factor in Obama's loss. No matter that the contest occurred just days after Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman suggested that opponents of golf great Tiger Woods "might have to lynch him in a back alley." Or that it was a brief few months ago that TV and radio provocateur Don Imus was kicked off the air for referring to the Rutgers University's basketball team as "nappy-head hos." Or that the U.S. Supreme Court last summer ruled that "race cannot be a factor in the assignment of children to public schools", vexing both black and white public school parents, and confounding the issue of racial preference in competitive schools. Or that performer and comedian Bill Cosby and Harvard Professor Alvin F. Poussaint have ignited controversy in black communities for daring to suggest that African Americans must eschew a victim mindset. Pardon the pun, but I'm only going skin deep on the rehashing of racial controversies.
It's about time that the issue of race is dealt with honestly in this presidential race, and in America at-large. Hitchen's mock impatience with the idea that race still matters on both sides of the color line belies our nation's reality. The media should not do us the disservice of pretending it isn't.
But the day before the New Hampshire primary, when the prize seemed to be slipping away to a handsome Senator from Illinois with a storied upbringing, Hillary dared to show feeling. She did not spill what I would characterize as tears, but for the first time the tough public face fell to show a vulnerable side. And while Tuesday night's talking heads said that glimpse beneath the mask made no difference in Tuesday's outcome, that in fact Democratic loyalists had their minds made up for weeks, here's my bet that it will serve her well in upcoming primaries.
In Candidates' Post-Primary Speeches, the Music was the Message E
VEN THROUGH THEIR CHOICES FOR CAMPAIGN MUSIC, the candidates reveal their divide. HILLARY DECLARED that there "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" to keep her from the race with the help of the old Supremes' song, and that she was an "American Girl," at least so far as how Tom Petty describes one.
BARACK OBAMA told supporters that they looked "beautiful" last night through the music of U2's "City of Blinding Lights."
JOHN EDWARDS invited everyone to come up for "The Rising," with the help of Bruce Springsteen's spiritual.
And BILL RICHARDSON alluded to tearing down walls through the words in U2's "Where The Streets Have No Name."
On the Republican side, JOHN MCCAIN, who gave a heartfelt victory speech, pulled no punches and let voters know that he was "Gonna Fly Now," the Rocky theme song.
MITT ROMNEY played it close to his heart invoking the "Dirty Water" of the Charles river, a song played by several artists.
And MIKE HUCKABEE borrowed glitz from Elvis's "C.C. Rider".
Even through music, the Dems showed their progressiveness; the Republicans their penchant for traditional standbys.
Despite Dowd's labeling Obama's win a "revolution," if you read the same paper the previous day you would have been reminded that only one previous winner of the Iowa caucuses has ever gone on to win the presidency -- George Bush in 2000. And the Times' sister paper, the International Herald Tribune pointedly asks voters and the media for perspective. "Watching the campaign in cold, snowy and mostly empty Iowa, we were hoping...that this year's Iowa-New Hampshire rush to judgment will be the last...Keeping this race alive so significant numbers of Americans in more populated states can participate would begin to make up for the ludicrous spectacle of the past year, which enriched the television networks and the political consultants (some $300 million already spent) far more than it enriched the political dialogue. We hope both parties will wake up and end the undemocratic system in which the choice of a new president rests far too heavily on nonbinding votes in January by voters who don't necessarily represent the rest of the country." Crabby could not have said it better.
A year into this premature ejacu-lection, many voters still don't know what's inside the suit known as Mitt Romney; they yearn to see the robotic Hillary spill some crocodile tears, a la Oprah, as proof that she really is human; they want time to figure out if Huckabee is Bush-lite in a Barber Quintet's outfit; they wait to see if the real McCain or the panderer will please stand up. On another note, I think it's too bad for us all that Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich and Texas Republican Ron Paul weren't allowed to debate on Fox Sunday night. Whoever said the revolution will not be televised was right. When it happens, we'll all be watching reruns of The Simpsons..
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