Archive for July, 2008
It’s probably fair to call Barack Obama a celebrity, and his speeches certainly draw huge crowds. It is also true that Britney Spears and Paris Hilton are celebrities, and at one time, large audiences would pay to see Britney Spears in concert. But the 200,000 folks in Germany came to see an inspirational speaker they hoped would make the world a better place. When admiration turns to idolatry, that is a bad thing, but there is a substantive reason that Obama generates standing room only events.
If Britney Spears announced she was going to give a speech on America’s global role in the 21st century, fully clothed, I don’t think 200,000 people would show up to chant her name and hear what she had to say. So I’m not sure how convincing the “Obama is a celebrity and celebrities are bad” argument is. Sadly, the use of syllogisms by the McCain camp, even fallacious ones, is a more sophisticated line of attack than a lot of the stuff they’ve been doing recently. They’re still being dishonest, but it’s a more subtle dishonesty than saying “al-Maliki’s 16 month withdrawal timetable is nothing like Obama’s 16 month timetable, and who cares what ol Mal says, anyway.”
Incidentally, watching campaigns go nuclear on youtube turns out to be more fun than apartment hunting on craigslist.
July 31st, 2008
The press has universally covered Manny’s recent comments that the Sox don’t deserve him and that they treat their stars — like Pedro and Nomah — poorly as more evidence that he’s a Prima Donna and a pain-in-the-ass. Well, he may be a pain, but I’m pretty sure the Sox have turned the fans against a lot of their stars in the past. And maybe the new management doesn’t do that, I don’t really know.
I do know that the Red Sox aren’t going to find a left fielder who’s half as entertaining, half as honest, or half as good. No one else is going to high-five a fan after a catch and then double off a runner from first. To boot, Ramirez has a lot more character than the sports world is really capable of understanding.
Relations between Manny and the front office are probably irreparable at this point, and I’m sure he’s a headache to have on your team, so it seems inevitable he will be traded now (possibly to the Marlins) or at the end of the season. And fans and radio talk show hosts will cite his antics and various outbursts of candor as proof the Sox did the right thing. Thus, Manny will become the latest Sox star to be booed out of Boston. What do you do when you’re branded, and you know you’re a man?
P.S. Did you know he had a charity wine called Manny Being Merlot? The city won’t be the same.
July 31st, 2008
Your news in bagel bites:
All of the Dems on Obie’s short list for VP suck. For some perspective, I’ve also learned that all of McCain’s top choices suck as well. And in fact, McCain sucks quite a bit, himself.
Senator Stevens of Alaska was finally indicted, turning a close race there into a gimme for Democrats, putting them one step closer to 60. At least he’ll have a lot of legislative and lobbyist buddies to play with while he’s in the slammer.
Apparently, the democratically elected government in Iraq is often mistranslated by Der Liebermedia, and one should always rely on CentCom as interpreter.
Just as video killed the radio star, blogs killed the attention span. But most non-blog writing is longer than it needs to be. An excellent summary. More excellence.
This week, repeated skin cancer sufferer John McCain had some “mole like” skin removed from his head. Those moles can be deadly. Six years ago, Ginny Sack had a 95-pound mole removed from her posterior. And in related news, the United States has tentatively scheduled the removal of an eight-year cancerous growth for this January.
McCain dares Obama to go to Iraq. Obie goes. I think the trip can best be described by the monologue in the made-for-theatrical-release movie There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day Lewis: Senator McCain, I drink your milkshake!
July 29th, 2008
The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza notes that surprisingly enough for one of the youngest presidential aspirants ever, Obie is a fairly ambitious politician. When in Chicago, he often raised money from people with lots of it, and sometimes refused to drop out of political races when opponents kindly asked him to do so. Probably good for the kool-aid drinkers to rethink the idea of Obama as a saintly reformer, and there were some things in the article that disappointed me, but I’m not sure pissing off a few Chicago pols really amounts to the calculating, ruthless soul-selling Lizza implies.
In a weekly segment of the Campaign Trail, Lizza informed us that he thought Obama refusing to take matching funds after promising to do so was the biggest disappointment of the campaign. If Lizza was really that surprised by the decision, I have a bridge in Basra to sell him. God forbid Obama deny the Republicans’ divine right to superior funding in the general election. If we’re gonna talk about disappointments, how about John McCain’s complete ineptitude in articulating a coherent policy vision on almost any issue, including his supposed bread (Iraq) and butter (TERRORISM!) go-tos. Why, that guy is such a maverick he refuses to think before he speaks.
Lizza also said that while most Republican candidates would use Obama’s EuroTrip to beat the drum of nationalism, McCain isn’t that kinda guy. Right. Because saying Obama neglected to visit the troops and would lose the war to win an election is surely a more honorable line of attack. I will give the New Yorker kudos for changing the pretentious elevator jazz theme song for the Campaign Trail, but I’m less than impressed with what they say once the music stops.
I was going to title this post “we read the New Yorker so you don’t have to“, but they really do have some good stuff.
Rather than just beating up on Lizza — which I’m sure he had enough of as a kid — I want to tie my worries over his judgment into a broader theme of… worry. But more on that later.
July 29th, 2008
Hahaha. If our lawmakers are going to abdicate their duty as, you know, one of the checks in our government, then I’m all for less constitutionally-challenged folk stepping in to fill that role. I think even Steve Martin would approve.
July 27th, 2008
As satire goes, the Chappelle Show was a hilarious mockery of stupid things white people think and black people think, that may have reinforced certain stereotypes to viewers who didn’t get it, and saw it merely as black people acting outrageous like they do on those blacksploitation UPN WB CW sitcoms. However, that doesn’t mean Chappelle’s overall influence is a net minus for society. In fact, if I had to give out a person of the year award, I wouldn’t give it to Chappelle anymore, because I’d have named it after him long ago, so someone else could have a chance.
But in many cases, there are scarier ethical ramifications for a joke or a sketch — or a magazine cover.
Maybe in some perverse way, it is funny that a not-so-small number of Americans think Barack Obama is a Muslim because they read it in the same email that said send this to ten friends or you will have bad luck for the next seven years. Or perhaps it’s hilarious that Obie’s failure to adhere to the time-honored rituals of flag lapel-wearing and professing a dislike for all things foreign might make him just a little too different and terroristy to be president.
But really, these strike me as things that will be funny after he’s been in office for a few years and decided we’ll be spending our money at home — on healthcare and alternative energy — instead of paying Blackwater to Rambo Iraq into a Middle Eastern pulp. Of course, as someone I should probably source put it, “the New Yorker has spent years running cartoons that no one can understand. Why should this cover be any different?â€
July 15th, 2008
I remember reading about government propaganda in the Soviet Union and fascist Germany and wondering — much like many others have — how can millions and millions of people go along with this obvious deception and these terrible atrocities. But when you think about all the crime there is in every city, or even how many spouses secretly cheat, etc., you realize how hard it is to keep track of the world’s misdeeds. And we have bills to pay, careers to pursue, families to look after, we can’t be consumed with constant policing of ourselves and our neighbors, let alone wrongdoers everywhere.
When my friend from UCSC goes on about the chemtrails that will poison our bodies and how every despotic regime starts by taking away its citizens’ arms, I tend to roll my eyes. Not because all conspiracies are false, but because there are more than enough concrete problems to worry about, and personal interests to take care of, and all that. And because when you start carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain’t gonna make it with anyone anyhow.
But I do sometimes wonder when hearings on illegal torture or the mismanagement of an awful war get less coverage than Wes Clark saying perhaps being in the military isn’t the only presidential qualification that matters. Maybe the sky is falling. Or maybe I’m just upset because Baron Davis left the Warriors and the Red Sox were swept by an expansion team. At the very least, I hope someone out there is having fun with the Jekyll and Hype posts here on FTP: “Today’s story: Obama good. But stay tuned for tomorrow’s headline: Obama baaaad!”
In brighter news: Gail Collins ain’t half bad today. Happy Fourth.
July 3rd, 2008
Hope you all enjoyed the non-political posts. This week’s news:
Wes Clark says maybe John McCain’s war experiences from forever ago don’t qualify as experience making the wartime decisions the next president will have to make, while also noting that John McCain was a hero to him and hundreds of thousands of men in uniform. Obviously Wes Clark hates John McCain (swiftboated him, in fact). And he hates America, too. Obama, freed from the annoying tethers of conscience provided by the primary, promptly throws Wes (my VP pick) under the bus. Because everyone knows that a Republican Lite who eats apple pie and only sees the colors red, white and blue is what every Democrat must turn into once the general election is under way.
Here’s Wes defending himself.
Hillary and Obie were in Unity, NH to show they’ve kissed and made up. Clinton was relaxed and funny. Obie: a little tense and awkward. And “she does it in heels”? Not sure that is something you say about a senator. Or any woman who doesn’t like demeaning compliments. The Obama camp said he was referencing an Ann Richards quote about Ginger Rogers. Seems like a stretch to me, but it wouldn’t be the first time Obama’s told a joke that was too smart for the crowd. When Bryant Gumbel interviewed him, Obama jokingly said he would tear down Dick Nixon’s bowling alley in the White House to put in a basketball court. Of course, this was a reference to the fact that Tricky Dick — vengeful bastard that he was — filled in the swimming pool that JFK loved and had a bowling alley installed (though not on the same spot). Gumbel didn’t get it.
Obama-powered Dems come to important compromise on FISA, save telecoms and the office of the presidency from the annoying tethers of conscience provided by the Constitution, law of the land, et al.
Call me naive, but I thought “change we can believe in” would be, you know, a recurring theme throughout the next few months; not just some primary gimmick. I’m going a little overboard here — still excited about the possibility of having Dems all around — but last week sucked.
July 1st, 2008
