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What Hillary Forgot to Say

Is it just me, or did Hillary keep a bargaining chip for herself in her speech? For all the positive coverage, what she didnt say tells me so much more than what she did.

She DID talk about herself, using the first person 64 times. She DID endorse Sen Obama, though only mentioning him 2 times. How many times did she mention Sen McCain?

0. Nada. Not once.

This from the woman who can turn a phrase and throw a dagger with a smile on her face.

So why didnt she address Sen McCain? Isnt that what this is all about? Arent her supporters closer ideologically to Obama than McCain? Isnt that really the last bit of capitol she has to spend on this election? Her last bargaining chip?

Tells me she is holding out for something. Not VP. AG? SCOTUS? Sec of State? There's no way she's going back to the Senate without something, cause they aren't waiting with open arms there, either.

So was she running for the country or for herself? Seems like an obvious answer to me.

Sorry Clintons. Your way of doing politics is what we voted against. Now please go home and think about what you've done - and have yet to do.

One of these things is not like the others

Sen McCain is currently holding what I consider a very disingenuous VP vetting process. Its just for the cameras and show the complete racism and pandering the right will gladly undertake, if it helps.

The 3 candidates for VP are Mitt (nee Willard Romney), Gov. Charlie Crist and Gov. Bobby Jindal. Of course Willard is going to be the candiadate, as McCain needs to sell his soul to the radical right. Charlie Crist who bills himself as "The People's Governor," as if this was some dust bowl flashback, scares the bejesus out of me, but McCain cant win without Florida. So that's the politics and the pandering. 

As for the racism, enter Gov. Piyush "Bobby" Jindal of Louisiana. I mean come on. Willard is so white as to be nearly translucent and McCain hates him. But Reagan didnt like GHW Bush, having called him the kind of guy who would get out of the shower to pee.

Crist, while only 52, has snow white hair and the scariest fake tan I have ever seen east of the Olly Girls. Without seeming too cruel, visually it just doesnt work. They look like the Grumpy Old Men ticket and the tan vs the skin cancer guy, would never work in a million years.

 

Gov. Jindal has only been governor for 5 months. 5 months! He's only 37, meaning he is only able to be president by 2 years. His previous experience? 3 years in the House of Representatives. What does he have? He's not white. If the only candidates for VP were white and whiter, how would that look?
Does he have a chance? Not even. Dan Quayle is an elder statesman comparatively. Sen Obama's VP is sure to be a heavy-hitter who will mop the floor with Gov Jindal. But since Condi cant run without making the election about Iraq, Gen Powell wont run that leaves only Alan Keyes - and he's just too crazy.

Footnote: watch Crist's tan. If he starts to dial down the bronzer, that might be a clue. But its still going to be Romney. Thats who the radical right wanted in the first place and he is the embodiment of their unholy money and religion alliance. If only the religious people would wake up and see how they have been used.

Drive By PR

Oh, Kevin James. I love you, you know. But now you know why all press isn't good press.

I will say thank you, though. You showed the absolute core of the rights strategy - conflation fueled by ignorance of those who listen to it. Dana Parino and he should start a School House Rock history course for the right. Watch as she admits to not knowing anything about it, but only days after having shot down the comparison of it with Putin's threats about the missile shield (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49ZUx4KuP5c). What else did she not understand but speak authoritatively about, anyway?



That said, he is good to watch because he does not give up or in, even after he is humiliated by his own admission of ignorance of his own point. I love him yelling from the get-go that Sen. Obama and Neville Chamberlain are exactly the same, then admitting he doesn't know what Chamberlain did after being asked 24 times on live television.

Kevin, I do love you and know that's how your overlords and listeners want you to act, but aren't we Americans first? Political parties should come as a result of researched, reviewed or principled stands on real issues. When you start with all the answers and try to frame all the problems accordingly, you don't possess the truth at all. You just show your real intent - hold on to power for powers sake.

I blame the right for starting this - recall the Reagan 11th commandment, speak no ill of fellow Republicans. Can you imagine if a Democrat had tried to equate religion and politics like say, Anne Coulter (who must be so jealous right now) did? The news media swallowed it whole and now equates disloyalty to a political party as some sort of moral weakness.

The elected representatives of the people swear an oath to their constituents, not their party.

And Republicans, your party is over. I will be going back to entertainment speak for a while cause there is going to be just flailing from the right for the next several months and why bother?

Prediction Time

Last December I went out on a limb and endorsed Sen. Obama and predicted Sen. McCain as the Republican candidate. Its time to look again and read the tea leaves.

Who are the VP candidates going to be?

Sen. McCain needs money, youth and religious right appeal. Enter Mitt Romney.

Romney has the connections to the financial establishment (who are going to panic at the prospect of having to stop raping the country) and a resume on Wall Street, though he mostly sold off what others had built. McCain has said he doesn't know that much about economics, so this seems like a no-brainer. The religious right think he is one of them, though oddly. And lets face it, he's decades younger than McCain and there have been plenty of whispers about a shortened or single McCain administration.

Besides, who else is morally bankrupt enough to be a pit bull for McCain and shamelessly pander? Mitt is their man.

The Obama decision is a bit tougher, IMHO. The traditional thinking is out the window. Hillary? Seems like a natural choice ordinarily, but how do you stand for change and then go back to the very era we are trying to move past? At best it would look like a political calculation. At worst, it looks hypocritical and that could ultimately be the deciding factor.

So who?

My votes are going to either Sen Webb or Gov Richardson. Webb has strong military credentials and comes from the South, though also relatively new to Washington. Richardson brings an appeal that has eluded Sen Obama - the Latin Vote - with the added bonus of very strong foreign policy and diplomatic experience.

I wake up smiling at the prospect of Sen. Edwards, but I just don't see it happening. He seems too easy a target for the right smears, but God help me, I love him.

My friend Pat thinks Gen Wesley Clark has a shot and I agree. His success in Bosnia could go a long way to addressing the Iraq problem and many of us forget how opposed the right was to go to Bosnia. This is the guy who made it work. My take is he is too close to Hillary and Bill Clinton.

And to go off on a tangent for a moment, RIP my respect for President Bill Clinton. After Hillary injected race into a primary (WV) she was going to win big, he would have pounced on her had she been anyone else. So long big dog. I will keep my fond memories, though they are pretty much clouded by Don't Ask, Don't Tell and DOMA.

So final thought? Here is the 08 race:
McCain/Romney V Obama/Richardson

NB: Forgot to throw in my wild card prediction: Obama/Hagel
I have this sneaking suspicion that the former Republican Senator from Nebraska (as white and white collar as you can get), outspoken Bush/War critic, respected militarily, environmentally sensitive and reformer Chuck Hagel is going to be the VP candidate for Sen. Obama. Would throw the process completely off its track and send a very strong signal that he means change for real.

Watch this story and remember who predicted it.

Eerily familiar?

Consider this exchange from the end of Primary Colors. Couldnt this be the transcript between Sen Clinton and the electorate? Its been 16 years. We need to move on. This game has corrupted.

Clinton: This is it, Henry. This is the price you pay to lead. You don't think Lincoln was a whore before he was president? He had to tell his stories and smile his back-country grin. He did that so one day he'd have the opportunity to stand before the nation and appeal to our better nature. That's where the bullshit stops. That's what it's all about. Making the most of it, doing it the right way.

You know that there are plenty of people in this game who don't think that way. They'll sell their souls, lie to people, divide them, play on their fears, for nothing. Just for the prize.

Henry: I don't care. I'm sorry, but I'm not comparing the players. I don't like the game.

Clinton: Who can do this better than me? Is there anyone else who can win this election. . . .

Media Bias

Don't think the media has a bias towards ridiculous issues? Watch John Edwards connect with the audience on ISSUES like healthcare, poverty and Jet Skis. If only the media covered issues the 2 man race might be a two man race for the Dems, with Hillary and her tactics long left behind.

And, he's funny! Wish he had stronger foreign policy experience cause he and Sen Obama would be an amazing, uniting team.

Kvetch

Last nights ABC debate? Shameful and the perfect metaphor for this election. I am dying to see the new polls and ultimately results in Pennsylvania. As we have seen in the last few days, Hillary's numbers drop (while her negatives grow) the more negative she becomes and thats all she has left in her bag of tricks. So ABC might have done Sen Obama a favor, ultimately.

How long before the Chris Matthews', Fox News, ABC News, etc. get it? We the people don't want anymore of this unproductive, destructive, petty personality stuff. 45 minutes before Sen Obama was asked a substantive question on an issue about which people care/vote.

And while I am just complaining today, FX's The Riches, which I grew to love last season is really losing me this season. This entire season seems to contrived, Im just not enjoying it at all. Apparently, their writers are still on strike. There is no nuance to the stories and I think I could lie better than Dahlia has been able, so far.

But I love Minnie Driver and Eddie Izzard (the lovable lush - we used to buy him shots on Sunset), the son (Noel Fosher - who's kinda hot to me, even though toe headed white trash types are usually my friend Ron's type) and the incredibly brave Aiden Mitchell who plays their yongest son who is most comfortable when dressed as a girl. Oh, and there is a daughter, but the part of a rebellious teenage girl in high school leaves me sort of bored from the get go.

Credit where credit is due

to SNL for finally finding some comedic fault with Hillary. They even swiped at McCain.

Hillary, you're getting to me (not in a good way).

My original headline was going to be: Hillary, You Digust Me. In response to the Obama Bitter non-troversy, she said the following while also winking at the on-going religion smear - a mud-slinging 2-fer:

I grew up in a church-going family, a family that believed in the importance of living out and expressing our faith (dry heave here). The people I know don't 'cling to' religion because they're bitter. People embrace faith not because they are materially poor, but because they are spiritually rich.

Full on heave here. Is there nothing she won't say? No tactic? No group to whom she won't pander or exploit?

Is it just me?

This non-story on Obama gaff reminds me of a scene in Mississippi Burning. Obama's one line from a thoughtful answer that has everyone going nuts:

And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

And Willam Defoe and Gene Hackman in the 1988 classic:

Mr Ward: Where does it come from, all this hatred?

Mr. Anderson: You know, when I was a little boy there was an old Negro farmer lived down the road from us, name of Monroe. And he was, well, I guess he was just a little luckier than my daddy was. He bought himself a mule. That was a big deal around that town. My daddy hated that mule. His friends kidded him that they saw Monroe ploughin' with his new mule and Monroe was gonna rent another field now that he had a mule.

One morning that mule just showed up dead. They poisoned the water. After that there was never any mention about that mule around my daddy. One time we were drivin' past Monroe's place and we saw it was empty. He'd just packed up and left, I guess. Gone up North or somethin'.

I looked over at my daddy's face and I knew he'd done it. And he saw that I knew. He was ashamed. I guess he was ashamed. He looked at me and he said “If you ain't better than a nigger, son, who are you better than?"

Mr Ward: Do you think that's an excuse?

Mr. Anderson: No, it's not an excuse. It's just a story about my daddy.

Mr Ward: Where does that leave you?

Mr. Anderson: With an old man who was so full of hate that he didn't know that bein' poor was what was killin' him.

Isnt the Senator saying roughly the same thing? People look for someone to blame for their lot in life which reminds me that President Shepard said the same thing in The American President:

We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections.

When will SNL stop shilling for Hillary?

Gee, who do the writers and producers of SNL support? Well, once again last night they lead off with an apologist spot for Hillary. This time brushing off the media reporting on their taxes, though they held them for years in some cases and released them without the Clinton Library supporter lists, which is where the real potential for hard news lurks. Since Hillary has been running for President for over a decade now, I have to assume that they weren't dumb enough to overtly have any suspect tax information. The library funding needs to be contrasted with the income and the public advocacy of both Clintons to have a true picture of their ethics and behavior since 1992.

I have no problem with them getting rich as can be. Owing their riches - current and future - to the public largesse, a true picture is required, IMHO.

From his lips to, um, who could do anything?

I dont like to just quote, but this piece from Salon needs to be read by everyone I know...

The U.S. establishment media in a nutshell
The U.S. government suspended the Fourth Amendment and expressly authorized torture. The attorney general lied about how the 9/11 attack happened. Barack Obama can't bowl well. Which revelations did the media cover?
Glenn Greenwald
Apr. 05, 2008 | (updated below - Update II)

In the past two weeks, the following events transpired. A Department of Justice memo, authored by John Yoo, was released which authorized torture and presidential lawbreaking. It was revealed that the Bush administration declared the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights to be inapplicable to "domestic military operations" within the U.S. The U.S. Attorney General appears to have fabricated a key event leading to the 9/11 attacks and made patently false statements about surveillance laws and related lawsuits. Barack Obama went bowling in Pennsylvania and had a low score.

Here are the number of times, according to NEXIS, that various topics have been mentioned in the media over the past thirty days:

"Yoo and torture" - 102

"Mukasey and 9/11" -- 73

"Yoo and Fourth Amendment" -- 16

"Obama and bowling" -- 1,043

"Obama and Wright" -- More than 3,000 (too many to be counted)

"Obama and patriotism" - 1,607

"Clinton and Lewinsky" -- 1,079

And as Eric Boehlert documents, even Iraq -- that little five-year U.S. occupation with no end in sight -- has been virtually written out of the media narrative in favor of mindless, stupid, vapid chatter of the type referenced above. "The Clintons are Rich!!!!" will undoubtedly soon be at the top of this heap within a matter of a day or two.

"Media critic" Howie Kurtz in the Washington Post today devoted pages of his column to Obama's bowling and eating habits and how that shows he's not a regular guy but an Arrogant Elitist, compiling an endless string of similar chatter about this from Karl Rove, Maureen Dowd, Walter Shapiro and Ann Althouse. Bloomberg's Margaret Carlson devoted her whole column this week to arguing that, along with Wright, Obama's bowling was his biggest mistake, a "real doozy."

Obama's bowling has provided almost a full week of programming on MSNBC. Gail Collins, in The New York Times, today observed that Obama went bowling "with disastrous consequences." And, as always, they take their personality-based fixations from the Right, who have been promoting the Obama is an Arrogant, Exotic, Elitist Freak narrative for some time. In a typically cliched and slimy article, Time's Joe Klein this week explored what the headline called Obama's "Patriotism Problem," where we learn that "this is a chronic disease among Democrats, who tend to talk more about what's wrong with America than what's right." He trotted it all out -- the bowling, the lapel pin, Obama's angry, America-hating wife, "his Islamic-sounding name."

Needless to say, these serious and accomplished political journalists are only focusing on these stupid and trivial matters because this is what the Regular Folk care about. They speak for the Regular People, and what the Regular People care about is not Iraq or the looming recession or health care or lobbyist control of our government or anything that would strain the brain of these reporters. What those nice little Regular Folk care about is whether Obama is Regular Folk just like them, whether he can bowl and wants to gorge himself with junk food.

Our nation's coddled, insulated journalist class reaches these conclusions about what Regular Folk think using the most self-referential, self-absorbed thought process imaginable. The proof that the Regular People are interested in these things is that . . . the journalists themselves chatter about it endlessly. In Great American Hypocrites, I described the process as follows in the context of examining the three-week-long media obsession with John Edwards' haircut (to the exclusion of a whole array of revelations about what the government was doing or planning to do) and how they justified that coverage:

Most certainly, the press will pretend to be above it all ("this is not something that we, the sophisticated political journalists, care about, of course"). But they yammer about Drudge-promoted gossip endlessly, and then insist that their own chattering is proof that it is an important story that people care about. And because they conclude that "people" (i.e., them) are concerned with the story, they keep chirping about it, which in turn fuels their belief that the story is important. It is an endless loop of self-referential narcissism -- whatever they endlessly sputter is what "the people" care about, and therefore they must keep harping on it, because their chatter is proof of its importance.

They don't need Drudge to rule their world any longer because they are Matt Drudge now.

Every day, it becomes more difficult to blame George Bush, Dick Cheney and comrades for their seven years (and counting) of crimes, corruption and destruction of our political values. Think about it this way: if you were a high government official and watched as -- all in a couple of weeks time -- it is revealed, right out in the open, that you suspended the Fourth Amendment, authorized torture, proclaimed yourself empowered to break the law, and sent the nation's top law enforcement officer to lie blatantly about how and why the 9/11 attacks happened so that you could acquire still more unchecked spying power and get rid of lawsuits that would expose what you did, and the political press in this country basically ignored all of that and blathered on about Obama's bowling score and how he eats chocolate, wouldn't you also conclude that you could do anything you want, without limits, and know there will be no consequences? What would be the incentive to stop doing all of that?

UPDATE: One other point to note about all of this is that these fixations are as skewed as they are vapid. Barack Obama is an exotic elitist freak because he went to Harvard Law School and made $1 million from his book. Hillary Clinton can't possibly have any connection to the Regular Folk because her husband, who grew up dirt poor, became quite wealthy after being President. John Kerry was completely removed from the concerns of the Regular People because his second wife was rich.

By contrast, George W. Bush was a down-home, salt-of-the-earth Man of the People despite being the grandson of a U.S. Senator, the son of a President (who greatly magnified his riches in his post-presidency), and the by-product of an extremely wealthy, coddled life. Ronald Reagan was pure Americana despite spending most of his adult life as a very wealthy Hollywood actor (and converting his post-presidency into far greater riches still). And John McCain is as Regular a Guy as it gets, even though he dumped his first wife (the mother of his three children) after she was disfigured and disabled by a near-fatal car accident so that he could marry his much younger, much prettier, and extremely wealthy heiress-mistress, whose family riches then launched his political career and sustained a life of luxury for almost three decades (that's how McCain's rustic "Sedona cabin" -- i.e., his sprawling compound -- came to be).

It would be bad enough if our political press were obsessed with such trivialities. The fact that they do so in such a Republican-leader-worshiping manner makes it only that much worse, particularly given that it's this dynamic, more than anything else, that determines the outcome of our elections.

UPDATE II: More of the same, and much worse, here.

Taking out the Garbage

TRCB is meant to give context to news and know what you're talking about on the carpet. Today Hillary Clinton showed why people don't like or trust them. After months of stalling, the Clinton campaign released their tax returns, but not the donor list of the Clinton Library.

Why is this an example? Because they employed a strategy they created called Taking out the Garbage - dump your unpleasant news late on a Friday to let the 2 1/2 days of the weekend deflate the story. And, by putting it out on a busy news day, like the anniversary of MLKs assassination, provides even less time to dissect publicly.

So if there is an issue by Monday, Sen Clinton can say, I addressed that already, though it was on a weekend and the general public wasn't paying attention.

Forget disenfranchisement by playing hard and fast with the campaign rules in Michigan and Florida. This kind of behavior makes hardcore political junkies like me feel like there is no hope for trusting my leaders.

Worth another look today (TRCB re-run)

Like anybody
I would like to live a long life
Longevity has its place
But I'm not concerned about that now
I just want to do God's will
And he has allowed me to go up to the mountian
And I've looked over
And I've seen the promise land
I may not get there with you
But I want you to know tonight
That we as a people
Will get to the promise land
So I'm happy tonight, I'm not worried about anything
I'm not fearing any man
Mine eyes have seen the glory of
the coming of the Lord.

Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr would be struck down by an assassins bullet the next day.

81%

From today's NY Times:

81% in Poll Say Nation Is on the Wrong Track

Americans are more dissatisfied with the country’s direction than at any time since the New York Times/CBS News poll began asking about the subject in the early 1990s, according to the latest poll. In the poll, 81 percent of respondents said they believed “things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track,” up from 69 percent a year ago and 35 percent in early 2002.

...Seventy-eight percent of respondents said the country was worse off than five years ago; just 4 percent said it was better off.

...The dissatisfaction is especially striking because public opinion usually hits its low point only in the months and years after an economic downturn, not at the beginning of one. Today, however, Americans report being deeply worried about the country even though many say their own personal finances are still in fairly good shape.

I think this clips represents the US today, with Tom Hanks as everyman (of course) and Dan Hedaya as the Republican Party, trying to have it both ways and exert power, when he is truly powerless.

I think his "I know he can get the job, but can he do the job" is the tell. Thats the lasting hallmark of the Bush WH. They trick, lie, obfuscate, twist and manipulate to get the job, but prove time and again they just cant do the job. No leadership. No interest in anything but their personal political gain. Used war as an attempt to create a permanent majority by appealing the absolute worst in Americans. As if that strategy hadnt already hot bottom in the elections themselves.



Its obscure, but one of my very favorite films.

Been away

Well, more like got busy working and felt a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of things to be annoyed with, versus things to get excited by. Thought Moby's new CD would help. Not so much. Election coverage is doing more harm than good. New study on high school graduations is mind-bogglingly depressing.

Reading Christopher Rice's new book. Maybe that will make me more chatty this week.

SNL - The Real Media Bias

Could SNL be anymore in favor of Sen Clinton? Last week we got an opening sketch based solely on the idea that Sen Obama gets softball questions or out right favoritism. OK. It was mildly amusing until Tina Fey went off and endorsed Sen Clinton during Weekend Update.

Fast forward to last night (or rewind - Im a little lost on this one). Once again same set up and premise - media favoritism to Sen Obama during debates. Not only did they mischaracterize Sen Obama's public financing pledge. The skit ended with the actual Sen Clinton interacting with Amy Poehler and laughing at herself - something she has not been know for and a chance to humanize herself prior to the primaries this week.

Then in the first half hour of the show SNL ran a cartoon that had him sending Jesse Jackson out of the country and putting a shocking dog collar on Al Sharpton. Apparently, SNL doesnt think Sen Obama is black enough, either.

Oh, but we're not done, yet. Seth Myers did a joke about the photos of Sen Obama in Kenya that appeared this week, but failed to mention that they were put out by the Clinton campaign. Oddly, Bill Maher did the exact same thing on his show Friday. Mahers new rules were half based on assertions from a guest on his show against Sen Obama the previous week that went unchallenged by him.

Talk about media bias! I had predicted that rap would be the first casualty of the new spirit of Hope. Maybe its actually cynical comedy.

Here is Sen Obamas actual response and the actual question to public financing of the presidential election in '08. As you can see, he proposed an entire structure which Sen McCain has yet to accept.

QUESTION: “If you are nominated for President in 2008 and your major opponents agree to forgo private funding in the general election campaign, will you participate in the presidential public financing system?”

OBAMA: “Yes. I have been a long-time advocate for public financing of campaigns combined with free television and radio time as a way to reduce the influence of moneyed special interests. I introduced public financing legislation in the Illinois State Senate, and am the only 2008 candidate to have sponsored Senator Russ Feingold’s (D-WI) bill to reform the presidential public financing system. In February 2007, I proposed a novel way to preserve the strength of the public financing system in the 2008 election. My plan requires both major party candidates to agree on a fundraising truce, return excess money from donors, and stay within the public financing system for the general election. My proposal followed announcements by some presidential candidates that they would forgo public financing so they could raise unlimited funds in the general election. The Federal Election Commission ruled the proposal legal, and Senator John McCain (r-AZ) has already pledged to accept this fundraising pledge. If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.” (Sen. Barack Obama, “Midwest Democracy Network Presidential Candidate Questionnaire: The Responses Of John Edwards And Barack Obama,” Midwest Democracy Network, Released 11/27/07)

Oscar 2

Some Oscar thoughts.
First from the E! coverage:
Miley Cyrus sounds like total traaaaaash – just missing some gum to chew on. When will the public learn that the dumber the celeb, the easier it is to get them to work?

Gary Bussey is full on nuts.

Jennifer Garner and Laura Linney were so cute! I adore LL and she made me like Garner for the first time. She looked less Praying Mantis than usual.

Ryan Seacrest was flirting with Clooney and Patrick Dempsey and giving Daniel Day Louis, perennial worst dressed, a run for his money. He practically pushed John Travolta out of the way to interview Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Did Keri Russell really tell a young E! Viewer that math wasn’t that important? YIKES!

New rule: Cameron Diaz doesn’t get to dress herself anymore.

Tilda Swinton I love, but is she human? She seems more like a Greek Goddess to me.

Kimora Lee wasn’t far enough away.

Note to the E! staff, reading the tabloids is not preparation. I felt bad for Ryan asking people to confirm fake tabloid stories.

From ABC Coverage:
Not much to say. What a waste of time. Regis called Javier Bardem Xavier, but other than that, it was the usual ABC Disney suck up. ITS A MOVIE THING, people, not a TV promo. But Reg had that, I’ll say it, glassy old man look that makes me think we might not be seeing too much more of him.

The Show:
Good to see they saved the sets from some bad 1970’s musical number and those introductory voice overs? Can we hire someone besides Gil Cates to produce this show? PLEASE?
Costume design and that Barbra interstitial to start? How anti-climactic. If I had only watched the ABC coverage, I'd be a little bored by now.
No complaining about the length of the show if the first 20 minutes is a near throw-away. 80 years of Oscar video and it seems to be have been the last 25 years with a few other other clips for good measure.
Katherine Heigl is GORGEOUS (and very sincere from my short time with her), but babe, dont take the gig if you cant speak in public!

OK, were 30 mins in and I havent found anything to not complain about. Jon Stewart and George Clooney? What could go wrong? What happened to giving the acting awards out right away to draw us in and draw it out?

OYE! A musical number? And surprise, its a Disney number. Might have to pause and DVR my way through this truly boring show. I thought the writers were back?

And we're back...
Jennifer Hudson proving that maybe you don't give Oscars to first timers who sang half their roles when she couldnt read the prompter believably.

Oh, thank God for Tilda Swintons win. Now I do think she's a goddess. That clip of Cate Blanchett made me wonder why she was nominated. She looked like a woman playing a man - self consciously at that. But Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton was a very nuanced performance all the way to her break down at the end that is hardly even shown. Good solid film.

ENOUGH Jack Nicholson. And did I miss the Heath Ledger love?

Even the Cohens were boring. Maybe they should start drinking before hand like the Globes.

So what I said earlier about the film industry not caring about women - with Marion Cotilliard win - had you even heard about her or this film? I live in LA and think Im a bit of a film nerd and couldnt find it to go see it.

I feel like all Im doing is bitching, but even the music is boring this year! LOVE Kristin Chenowith, but these songs dont seem to have any soul. Andrea Corr singing Time Enough for Tears. Bette Midler and The Rose. Even the old Disney songs like Be My Guest. Once had some soul, but August Rush seemed like manufactured soul. Once was a sleeper film people really should see.

Maybe this is what you get when you throw together a show in 3 weeks.

Renee Zellweger you have to love and looked amazing, but couldnt Nicole Kidman have accessorized BOTH her boobs?

Back to Once. Make art. Make art. Make art. Thats what this show needs to remember. Old people pandering to young people just makes no sense. Remember when the 'elite' thought it was their duty to raise standards and teach people, while entertaining them. Seems the first rule of making a show like this is out the window. What's your product? Its not the films or the art of films. Its ratings and promotion for ABC/Disney. Get back to your core and people will watch.

Kudos to whomever brought her back out to say that for Once. Clearly they are running short...

OMG, Im bored with this. Barring someone blowing up, literally, I think Im done tonight. To paraphrase Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons which Id prefer to watch right now, 'Worst Oscars Ever'.

That didn't take long. Diablo Coty! Now I really think Jon Stewart is out of line for stripper jokes. She might be the most honest person in that room!

Thats it. FIRE GIL CATES NOW. 2:45 of sheer boredom and jam everything into 15 mins and run over... And retire Bill Conte while you're at it.

Oscar

OK, I am late getting my picks on here, but want to go on the record before the show starts.

Supporting Actress: I have to admit, I just dont care about the actresses this year. But, only because I dont think the film business does. But buzz for Cate Blanchett, so ok.

Best Actress: Just for my friend John I see at Starbucks, whose wife won an Oscar for animated short, Marion Cotilliard for La Vie En Rose. But it has to be said, I love Laura Linney. If Cate Blanchett can play Bob Dylan, I want Laura Linney to play me. Her films lately have been about messed up families, so she has the experience already.

Supporting Actor: Hal Holbrook was my emotional favorite, but since the NYTimes seems to think there's no one else but Javier Bardem... I just dont get it. Economy in a performance, like heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain is amazing. This was a limp and haircut, IMHO.

Best Actor: Tommy Lee Jones got me with In the Valley Of Elah (now on DVD) and he carries No Country for Old Men. I dont think there is much of a race here. Though, Viggo Mortenson was amazing in Eastern Promises. Full on naked and fighting is courageous at a minimum.

Best Director: Joel and Ethan Coen, of course.

Best Picture: No Country for Old Men. To me, it channeled the culture this year. A country on the precipice and in danger of becoming what it says it is fighting against.

VOICE-OVER ... More than that, I don't want to know. A man would have to put his soul at hazard ... He would have to say, O.K., I'll be part of this world.

Obama Brand Blue (Texas version)

Just started on the debate recording and Im worried. Sen Obama is not wearing his trademark blue tie.

Im a true believer in branding, as cliche as it sounds. Those intangibles like the familiarity of a tie color helps to make the Senator seem more accepted, instead of having to re-introduce himself each time, especially when he is running against such a well known brand to the Latin community who puts a high premium on familiarity.

His red tie is throwing me off. His opening was too stump speech especially compared to the newly humanized Sen. Clinton.

Enough with the applause. Makes it seem like a competition and thats unprofessional and typical of CNN, lately.

I keep trying to picture Michelle Obama in Stockard Channings role here.

Maureen Dowd

Ok, we get it Maureen Dowd, you’re a cynic. Check. You’re not on anyone’s side. What you and the rest of the for-profit media seem to miss is that the rest of us are ready for answers, not just to complain about the problems, anymore. Standing on the sidelines lobbing one liners doesn’t do anything productive.

You and the Matt Taibbis of the world need to move on to other professions now. You can barely contain your own glee at your own clever turns of phrases, but the time for complaining is over and the time for participation has begun – regardless of which candidate you support.

So how about contributing to the national discussion instead of pretending you don’t want to be one of the cool kids and would rather be home on election night with your laptop figuring out the next engaged person to mumble snarky comments about for actually being involved and on the line.

To borrow a phrase from the fictional President Shepard in The American President, ‘How’s the view from the cheap seats?’ Seems easy to sit back and tell everyone else they’re wrong when you don’t stand for anything except self-aggrandizement.

Perhaps the two of you can be the political version of Statler and Woldorf from the Muppets Show from a box at the Ford’s Theatre while the rest of us try to put on an involved, representative government.

Sell Me

A friend asked today to be sold on which candidate to support (forgetting that his primary has passed already) based on their legislative accomplishments.

My response and yes, its a bit long. But Ive taken a bit of time off, perhaps youve noticed:

I don’t want my silence to be equated with being stumped for an answer to your question. I don’t accept the premise of the question.

If legislative accomplishment were the sole criteria, then by all means, vote for Sen McCain. To me leadership, character, thorough positions on meaningful issues are the reasons to vote for a President. But you need to have all three, not just a finger in the air at all times and polls on your desk.

Then Gov Bush had a record and made promises. His character, his leadership and issues were right there to see – but ignored by a majority in one election.

Gerald Ford was Majority Leader of the Senate. Nixon was long serving in Congress and former Vice President. Hell, Carter had the character and the experience and LBJ confounded everyone.

Senator McCain, while I had always felt was an honorable man with character, has sold himself out. In order to govern effectively and try to win a new Congress in 08 and 10, will run to the right of Atilla the Hun, have to give power to the establishment that has raped this country financially and morally for 7+ years now, name Supremes that make Alito, Roberts, Scalia and Thomas look like fence sitters and cover up the crimes of the previous administration.

Pres Hillary Clinton is certainly qualified and is on the right side of the issues, but will quickly, IMHO, be bogged down fighting the same fights of the last 16 years from cattle futures to Vince Clark to who cares anymore, while paying off all the political favors. I will support her if she is the nominee, of course, but her not showing for the Dodd amendment vote this week in the Senate to sell out our privacy was as political a calculation as it was pay back to her financial supporters.

A President Obama will immediately, overnight restore our standing in the world, if he can then follow through, and I believe he can – but not alone and that is the key to his strength, IMHO. When asked what book he would bring to the WH, he said Team of Rivals, a bio on the Lincoln cabinet, made up of rivals, political parties and constituencies. His ability to inspire people – including politicians and career government types like Colin Powell – to serve their country and not their parties, pockets and political ambitions is the strength we need to overcome real problems. We need to be in this together again to solve real problems. The political games which the electorate is over will look small, petty, self-serving when they stand in the way of a national movement.

I’m reminded of fictional President Shepards speech at the end of American President and I firmly believe he is the man to walk the walk with the rest of us doing our part. We have to be involved to make this work! That’s the beauty of this movement, people want to be involved and love their country, not go shopping while the fascists (the meeting of corporate and government interests) take care of things for us.

But WE THE PEOPLE have a responsibility, one man, NO MAN OR WOMAN, can do it alone. Sen McCain will try to divide and conquer. Sen Clinton will be divisive regardless. Sen Obama has the ability to give us what we say we want, if WE can make it work. The work of the electorate doesn’t end when they vote, it just begins.

(From the original script, which I think is better than the version that made the final cut - especially today. Substitute McCain for Rumson. And for the record, the real John McCain, he of ‘the agents of intolerance comment’, I like, not the one who kisses Pres. Bush.)

INT. THE PRESS BRIEFING ROOM - EARLY MORNING

ROBIN is on her last drops of energy and patience.

REPORTER #4

Robin, will the President ever

respond to Senator Rumson's

question about being a member of

the American Civil Liberties Union?

But instead of hands going up, the PRESS CORPS suddenly
stands. ROBIN turns to see SHEPHERD stride in and step up to
the podium.

SHEPHERD

Yes, he will. 'Morning.

ROBIN

Good morning, Mr. President.

SHEPHERD takes the podium. There's a palpable BUZZ in the
room as video operators adjust their equipment, etc. People
starts to stand.

SHEPHERD

That's all right, you can keep your

seats. For the last couple of

months, Senator Rumson has suggested

that being president of this country

was, to a certain extent, about

character and although I have not been

willing to engage in his attacks on

me, I've been here three years and

three days, and I can tell you

without hesitation: Being President

of this country is entirely about

character.

For the record: Yes, I am a card-

carrying member of the A.C.L.U. But

the more important question is why

aren't you, Bob? This is an

organization whose sole purpose is to

defend the Bill of Rights, so it

naturally begs the questions.

Why would a senator, his party's most

powerful spokesman and a candidate

for president, choose to reject

upholding the Constitution? If you

can answer that question, then,

folks, you're smarter than I am,

because I didn't understand it until

a couple of minutes ago. Everybody

knows American isn't easy. America is

advanced citizenship.

You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's

gonna put up a fight. It's gonna

say, "You want free speech? Let's

see you acknowledge a man whose words

make your blood boil, who's standing

center stage and advocating, at the

top of his lungs, that which you

would spend a lifetime opposing at the

top of yours. You want to claim

this land as the land of the free,

then the symbol of your country can't

just be a flag; the symbol also has

to be one of its citizens exercising

his right to burn that flag in

protest." Show me that, defend that,

celebrate that in your classrooms.

Then you can stand up and sing about

the land of the free. I've known Bob

Rumson for years. I've been operating

under the assumption that the reason

Bob devotes so much time and energy to

shouting at the rain was that he simply

didn't get it. Well, I was wrong.

Bob's problem isn't that he doesn't

get it. Bob's problem is that he

can't sell it. Nobody has ever won

an election by talking about what I

was just talking about.

This is a country made up of people

with hard jobs that they're terrified

of losing. The roots of freedom are

of little or no interest to them at

the moment. We are a nation afraid

to go out at night. We're a society

that has assigned low priority to

education and has looked the other

way while our public schools have

been decimated. We have serious

problems to solve, and we need

serious men to solve them. And

whatever your particular problem is,

friend, I promise you, Bob Rumson is

not the least bit interested in

solving it. He is interested in two

things and two things only: Making

you afraid of it and telling you

who's to blame for it. That, ladies

and gentlemen, is how you win

elections. You gather a group of

middle-aged, middle-class, middle-

income voters who remember with

longing an easier time, and you talk

to them about family and American

values and personal character. Then

you have an old photo of the

President's girlfriend. You scream

about patriotism and you tell them

she's to blame for their lot in life,

you go on television and you call her

a whore. Sydney Ellen Wade has done

nothing to you, Bob. She has done

nothing but put herself through law

school, prosecute criminals for five

years, represent the interests of

public school teachers for two years,

and lobby for the safety of our

natural resources.

You want a character debate? Fine,

but you better stick with me, 'cause

Sydney Ellen Wade is way out of your

league. I've loved two women in my

life. I lost one to cancer, and I

lost the other 'cause I was so busy

keeping my job I forgot to do my job.

Well that ends right now.

Tomorrow morning the White House is

sending a bill to Congress for its

consideration. It's White House

Resolution 455, an energy bill

requiring a 20 percent reduction of the

emission of fossil fuels over the

next ten years. It is by far the

most aggressive stride ever taken in

the fight to reverse the effects of

global warming. The other piece of

legislation is the crime bill. As of

today it no longer exists. I'm

throwing it out. I'm throwing it out

and writing a law that makes sense.

You cannot address crime prevention

without getting rid of assault

weapons and handguns.

I consider them a threat to national

security, and I will go door to door

if I have to, but I'm gonna convince

Americans that I'm right, and I'm

gonna get the guns. We've got

serous problems, and we need serious

men, and if you want to talk about

character, Bob, you'd better come at

me with more than a burning flag and

a membership card. If you want to

talk about character and American

values, fine. Just tell me where and

when, and I'll show up. This is a

time for serious men, Bob, and your

fifteen minutes are up. My name's

Andrew Shepherd, and I am the

President.

SHEPHERD exits the press room, leaving a stunned room in his

wake.

The MURMURS begin from the PRESS CORPS. They're talking

among themselves, confirming that they just saw what they

just saw. ROBIN steps to the podium.

ROBIN

Any questions?

And when that didnt quite land...

I didn’t say it very effectively, but what I was trying to say is, start with the proper question: What kind of government do you want?

We are not hiring a CEO and checking results quarterly while we go on vacation and spend our $600, nor hiring a caretaker and hoping they don’t have parties in our place for their friends while we’re gone.

We are electing a team captain to lead us in our shared work and goals.

If you want the disillusioned, post-Watergate, CEO President, vote McCain, but don’t be surprised at the results – outsourcing (of rights to Telecoms, KBR & Blackwater), attempts to stifle competition (politics in Justice Dept), promote homogeny and team playing (wedge issues rather than protection of the rights of the minority). Those are the hallmarks of business as well as China, Inc. and Russia, Inc.

If you want a caretaker, don’t be shocked that your meager compensation wasn’t enough to motivate them. They have their own agenda and plan to use your confidence as a base for their own benefit.

If you want a leader, then be prepared to be involved. That’s the country I always heard about growing up. Its the country I saw in Ken Burns war documentary. Its the characters I have admired in history devoted to public service and statesmanship, not permanent majority and triangulation. Its about a level playing field to allow for innovation in business, education and expression, not preservation of the status quo and protection for big business.

Start with the question and don't forget that YOU are part of the answer. Except if you're Maureen Dowd or Matt Taibbi.

A Lopes Pal

Dissing the dead
Posted Wed. Jan. 30, 2008 7:02am
by Page Six

FRIENDS of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who died in a car crash in Honduras in 2002, are fuming that the "Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency" reality show featured a photo shoot last week for Dragonfly clothing that used models dressed as dead rock stars — including Elvis, Kurt Cobain and Lopes, who was part of the TLC trio. "Imagine her family's surprise to hear that a model was impersonating Lisa for a catalog they never heard of," says a Lopes pal, who added that her family is currently working on a CD of her unreleased music. Show producers could not be reached.

They who would give up an essential liberty...

for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.
Benjamin Franklin

The AG just made the argument that the law is relative to the outcome and that since the admin isn’t breaking the law anymore or the law has been changed, it never really did. Good time to be reminded that Mukasey has 2 photos up in his office, GWB and George Orwell - and I am not making that up.

If I am tortured, its is only torture if I don't know anything. Ends justify the means became the law of the land, today.

Guilty until proven innocent, by any means necessary. This is vile and disgusting.

If this doesn't scare you, I honestly don't know what could. If this doesn’t start serious discussion of impeachment, I don't know what can.

If this doesn't shock the conscience of the nation (as it will the world), we have gone down a path from which there is no return and yes, the terrorists won. WON BIG.

As David Bowie said, This is not America. Or more apropos today, I'm Afraid of Americans.

TPMmuckraker reports:

Mukasey Shocks Biden's Conscience
By Paul Kiel - January 30, 2008, 12:12PM
Michael Mukasey finally got into the nitty gritty of how he thinks about torture, and he seemed to finally show his hand.

Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) said that he'd been getting the impression that Mukasey really thought about torture in relative terms, and wanted to know if that was so. Is it OK to waterboard someone if a nuclear weapon was hidden -- the Jack Bauer scenario -- but not OK to waterboard someone for more pedestrian information?

Mukasey responded that it was "not simply a relative issue," but there "is a statute where it is a relative issue," he added, citing the Detainee Treatment Act. That law engages the "shocks the conscience" standard, he explained, and you have to "balance the value of doing something against the cost of doing it."

What does "cost" mean, Biden wanted to know.

Mukasey said that was the wrong word. "I mean the heinousness of doing it, the cruelty of doing it, balanced against the value.... balanced against the information you might get." Information "that couldn't be used to save lives," he explained, would be of less value.

Marty Lederman blogs: "What this reveals is that DOJ and Mukasey have concluded that waterboarding is categorically not torture, and is not 'cruel treatment' under Common Article 3 (even though it is, by Mukasey's own lights, "cruel" -- go figure)."

Biden responded, "You're the first I've ever heard to say what you just said.... It shocks my conscience a little bit."

FISA

...when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

The Declaration of Independence
July 4, 1776

Keep this in mind in the weeks ahead. Pres. Bush wants immunity for Telecos so he will have immunity for his illegal activities. He has said repeatedly that the Telecos only cooperated with legal requests - so why the need for immunity? With torture tapes surfacing in Bangkok and this brewing, the administration is trying desperately to keep itself out of jail. Civil suits are moving forward that will expose this administration for the incompetence and arrogance, coupled with unprincipled illegality.

You will hear the President use a lot of scare tactics this week. Remember that the current law, though temporary and expiring this week, is effective until February of 2009. But don't expect to hear that.

The New York Times
Editorial
The FISA Follies, Redux

The Senate (reportedly still under Democratic control) seems determined to help President Bush violate Americans’ civil liberties and undermine the constitutional separation of powers. Majority Leader Harry Reid is supporting White House-backed legislation that would expand the administration’s ability to spy on Americans without court supervision and ensure that the country never learns the full extent of Mr. Bush’s illegal wiretapping program.

The 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA — which Mr. Bush decided to ignore after 9/11 — requires a warrant to intercept telephone calls and e-mail messages between people in the United States and people abroad.

It needed updating to keep pace with technology, and the technical fixes were included in a bill that Congress passed last summer. The problem was that Mr. Bush managed to add measures that sharply undercut the court’s role in monitoring eavesdropping. Fortunately, lawmakers gave them an expiration date of Feb. 1.

The House has passed a reasonable new bill — fixing FISA without further endangering civil liberties. But Mr. Bush wants to weaken FISA as much as he can. And the Senate leadership has been only too happy to oblige.

With the help of Republican senators and the misguided chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Jay Rockefeller, the White House got a bill that, once again, reduces court supervision of wiretapping. It also adds immunity for telecommunications companies that cooperated with the illegal spying.

Mr. Bush says without amnesty, the government won’t get cooperation in the future. We don’t buy it. The real aim is to make sure the full story of the illegal wiretapping never comes out in court.

Mr. Reid — who is still falling for the White House’s soft-on-terrorism bullying — set up deliberations in a way that ensured that a better Judiciary Committee version of the bill would die a procedural death and that the Intelligence Committee bill would pass.

The Judiciary bill died this week, with the help of other bullyable Democratic senators like Mr. Rockefeller, Claire McCaskill, Mary Landrieu and Ben Nelson. The Republicans repaid them by announcing they would block any further attempts to reach a compromise.

It is now up to the House to protect Americans’ rights. Mr. Bush has already started issuing the ritual claims that if his bill is not passed instantly, Osama bin Laden will be telephoning his agents in the United States and no one will know. Let us be clear, Mr. Bush has always had the authority to order emergency wiretaps — and get court approval after the fact. That has never been the problem with FISA.

The House should vote to extend last summer’s flawed rules for at least 30 days and go on recess, forcing the Senate to do the same thing, and then bring the whole matter to a conference committee. There will then be plenty of time for a real debate.

Lawmakers and the rest of the nation should bear this in mind: Mr. Bush’s version of this law does not make intelligence-gathering more robust. Opponents like Senators Christopher Dodd and Patrick Leahy want to spy on Al Qaeda, too. They’re just not willing to do it in a way that undermines the very democracy that the spies, Congress and the president are supposed to be protecting.

Obama Brand Blue

Might just end up being Democratic blue after all. 55% in South Carolina! He garnered more total votes than Sen. McCain and Gov. Hickabee combined.

PR Lesson 2

Double check your facts.
This from, thecarpetbaggerreport.com (hmm, has a ring to it) describing then Gov Bush's emotional connection to a painting he kept in his office entitled, A Charge To Keep:

In 1995, he issued a memo to his Texas staff, describing the painting, by W.H.D. Koerner in 1916, which he kept on his office wall. Bush told his aides:

The reason I bring this up is that the painting is based upon the Charles Wesley hymn “A Charge to Keep I Have”. I am particularly impressed by the second verse of this hymn. The second verse goes like this: “To serve the present age, my calling to fulfill; O may it all my powers engage to do my Master’s will”

...When you come into my office, please take a look at the beautiful painting of a horseman determinedly charging up what appears to be a steep and rough trail. This is us. What adds complete life to the painting for me is the message of Charles Wesley that we serve One greater than ourselves.

He liked all of this so much, Bush used the title for his autobiography (which he admittedly did not write). He even brought the picture with him to Washington upon taking office.

The funny part is the truth about the painting and what it represents. In his new book, “The Bush Tragedy,” Jacob Weisberg explains:

[Bush] came to believe that the picture depicted the circuit-riders who spread Methodism across the Alleghenies in the nineteenth century. In other words, the cowboy who looked like Bush was a missionary of his own denomination.

Only that is not the title, message, or meaning of the painting. The artist, W.H.D. Koerner, executed it to illustrate a Western short story entitled “The Slipper Tongue,” published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1916. The story is about a smooth-talking horse thief who is caught, and then escapes a lynch mob in the Sand Hills of Nebraska. The illustration depicts the thief fleeing his captors. In the magazine, the illustration bears the caption: “Had His Start Been Fifteen Minutes Longer He Would Not Have Been Caught.”

15 minutes? Saddle up! He's getting away.

PR Lesson 1

Get the facts straight.

This from Starpulse.com:

The family and friends of tragic TLC star Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes have threatened a trendy Los Angeles clothing company with legal action after learning bosses have used the late hip-hop star as an inspiration for new designs without permission.

Dragonfly designers staged a photo shoot with models posing as dead stars as part of reality show Janice Dickinson's Modeling Agency, which aired on Tuesday night - and Lopes' loved ones were horrified to see the singer's likeness created.

Lopes' stunned former best friend and publicist Jay Morose says, "They explicitly said they are portraying Elvis, Kurt Cobain and my friend, Lisa Lopes. The photos are now online as a catalogue for this company. They even identify the models by their rock star names."

Morose approached Dragonfly bosses after speaking with the late star's family - in an effort to have the upsetting images taken down.

He adds, "An assistant told me they can do whatever they want with the images. But it's tasteless - and also highly illegal. In California, tort law generally prohibits commercial use of a celebrity's likeness without consent. This matter has been passed on to the family's attorneys."

First, spell my name right. Second, the matter has been referred to her family's attorney, no legal action has been taken or threatened. Last, the legal opinion is actually TRCBs favorite entertainment blog, PopSquire.com.

Other than that, its right on, the shoot was tasteless. The Dragonfly people did tell me they could do whatever they wanted with the images and did hang up on me after calling me ignorant and refusing to even give me their address or names.

You cant expect much from people who would do such a thing in the first place, but Janice Dickinson, Oxygen and Freemantle Media should not have been a party to such a tasteless stunt in the first place.

That didnt take long

AP reports that the signs point to an accidental death for Heath Ledger. Even the White House cancelled a prescription drug abuse ad campaign kick off today for the President, not wanting to seem 'opportunistic'. Not so for the lunatic right. Apparently, you can be a drug addict (Rush Limbaugh) if you are also a lunatic. I'm too disgusted to write about it, so Think Progress can say it:

John Gibson Mocks ‘Weirdo’ Heath Ledger’s Death: ‘He Found Out How To Quit You’

Opening his radio show with funeral music yesterday, Fox News host John Gibson callously mocked the death of actor Heath Ledger, calling him a “weirdo” with a “serious drug problem.”

Playing an audio clip of the iconic quote, “I wish I knew how to quit you” from Ledger’s gay romance movie Brokeback Mountain, Gibson disdainfully quipped, “Well, he found out how to quit you.” Laughing, Gibson then played another clip from Brokeback Mountain in which Ledger said, “We’re dead,” followed by his own, mocking “We’re dead” before playing the clip again.

Throughout the course of the show, Gibson continued to bring up Ledger’s death while discussing current events, jokingly claiming that current events may have caused him to commit suicide.

On yesterday’s drop in the stock market:

GIBSON: Maybe he had a serious position in the market.

TOM SULLIVAN: And possibly today, he looked at the window and said…

GIBSON: “Oh my God.”

SULLIVAN: His name’s not Keith Bledger, right?

GIBSON: He was depressed about yesterday’s downturn in the world stock markets.

On the Democratic debate in South Carolina:

GIBSON: Apparently Heath Ledger was suicidal and his friends saw it coming. I think he watched the Clinton-Obama debate last night. I think he was an Edwards guy, cause he saw his Edwards guy was just completely irrelevant.

In reality, New York City Police spokesman Paul J. Browne told the New York Times that there was “no obvious indication of suicide.”

You stay classy, John Gibson.

Heath Ledger

So sad to see such a young talent gone. His performance in Brokeback Mountain was a masterpiece in minimalism.

Worse, SURPRISE, the tabloids in their rush to be first to tell it, In Touch reports:

"His mother and father heard of his death on the news. We are all devastated. The whole family is devastated over his death, and more so over having to learn of his death from the media."

Why doesn't someone ask Harvey Levin how he would like to hear that a loved one was dead. Oh, I assume he has human emotions. Sorry, ask him how much he wants to be paid to exploit the death of one of his loved ones.

As a publicist, getting calls that your clients (friends) had died is part of the job. In one month ABC reported that Sharon Osbourne had died, posting her obituary online, a phony AP report that Ozzy had died started my phone ringing at 4am and then the tsunami hit Phuket, Thailand where the Osbournes were staying.

Im perhaps a little more sensitive than most on this. These calls are so common, but one night, this call from JoJo Wright from KIIS-FM to tell me that Left Eye had died, wasn't a hoax. If you ever wonder why I dislike the tabloids so much, this is it.

I spent the next week negotiating with American Media's photographer editor to keep photos taken of my friend by photographers and videographers who broke into the morgue in Honduras out of the tabloids. After breaking in, they turned her coffin on its side in order to get better angles of the wounds that took her life.

After offering many things, like photos taken on the trip and clips from her journal to keep them from running here, he finally admitted to me, "Jay, you and I can decide anything we want, but we both know that whatever is going to sell best is what they are going to run."

Those photos ran on the front page of newspapers around the world and NBC ran the video internationally.

What if that was your sister/daughter/friend?

Let me say it, since all the people rushing to profit, wont. My sincere sympathy goes to Heath Ledger's family and friends, and especially his daughter, Matilda. Let's hope she has some measure of privacy in the years to come.

Oscar

The List (here). Yawn.

Who called Elah? Tommy Lee Jones for Elah, along with his work in No Country, could be the surprise winner, there.

Best Supporting actor race between Hal Holbrook and Philip Seymour Hoffman is the only race I'm interested in. Both stole their films. Into the Wild is one of my favorite books and Sean Penn made an amazing film that every teenager should see. Its a modern Wizard of Oz, sincerely.

Im disappointed that Emile Hirsch and Sean Penn werent rcognized for Wild. Hirsch really carries the entire film, appearing in almost every scene and appearing full frontal, repeatedly. Brave for a young actor, for sure. Sean Penn directed and wrote the screenplay from a tough source.

Otherwise, yawn. Oscar needs a Globes makeover. I think ABC is secretly hoping that the strike will kill this years telecast so they can revamp. I have no evidence to support this, just one TRCBs opinion.

I was kidding...

When I called her Amy Crackhouse. Now its officially sad, UK's The Sun reports: 

WILD AMY WINEHOUSE was filmed blitzed out of her skull and struggling to talk after sucking in crack fumes from a glass pipe. The tormented singing sensation took hit after hit of the deadly drug after a 19-minute binge in which she snorted powdered ECSTASY and COCAINE. And she admitted she had just popped six VALIUM pills to “bring myself down”.

The video on the site is just truly depressing. Britney, listen up! Except she will see this as challenge, I fear, to top.

April 3, 1968

Like anybody
I would like to live a long life
Longevity has its place
But I'm not concerned about that now
I just want to do God's will
And he has allowed me to go up to the mountian
And I've looked over
And I've seen the promise land
I may not get there with you
But I want you to know tonight
That we as a people
Will get to the promise land
So I'm happy tonight, I'm not worried about anything
I'm not fearing any man
Mine eyes have seen the glory of
the coming of the Lord.

Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr would be struck down by an assassins bullet the next day.

Prop 93

Im against term limits, I think its a silly idea. Vote out who needs to be voted out. But this guy might change my mind. I dont know what he wants me to do, but Im ready to do it.

MLK

What an where is America? America is a dream unfilled. A dream of opportunity of privilege and property widely distributed, a dream of a place where class is abolished and where a man is a man, a place where race, birth and color are transcended by the fact of a common brotherhood, a place where humanity as humanity can begin a fresh experiment in human brotherhood that will be a new beginning for the race as a whole a place where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity - that is the dream.

E. Stanley Jones

PLAY THIS LOUD AND THINK, WHAT PART OF 'WE' ARE YOU?

OMD's Southern (1985), with fan video. Go full screen for full effect.

Mark your calendars!

Jan 28, Blender cover on Britney hits the stands by the amazing Michael Joseph Gross. You dont want to miss it. Also, check out MJG's book, Starstruck: When A Fan Gets Close to Fame and his current story in Vanity Fair.

TRCB is a tough customer to most media, but MJG is one of the good guys. Tells it for real. You can be open and let him experience the story himself, without concern. His seeming only bias is for relevant truth.

That's refreshing. Can't wait for the Brit Back Story.

Run, Mayor Bloomberg, Run!

With Kang and Kodos winning in NV (but a very high uncommitted number), here is my own cobbled together news items on my favorite candidate (pending his social agenda):

Last week Gerald Rafshoon, a former media adviser to President Carter, and Doug Bailey, a former consultant to moderate Republicans, quit Unity08, a group dedicated to electing an independent presidential candidate. The move came amid reports the two planned to announce the creation of a “Draft Bloomberg” committee sometime this week.

Next month, Bloomberg pollster and close adviser Doug Schoen will be publishing his new book, on how an independent candidate can win the presidency.

While still insisting he is not running for president, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg signaled his seriousness about a possible independent campaign by meeting with the ballot access expert and campaign manager for H. Ross Perot's third-party presidential bid, Clay Mulford, who is well-versed in third-party ballot access.

If Bloomberg wants a chance at winning the state's large slice of electoral votes — 34 — he would need to collect about 74,100 signatures by May 12, and he could not begin circulating petitions in Texas until March 5. Not only does he have a short window to petition — the signatures need to be from Texas residents who did not vote in a party primary.

Earlier in the day, Bloomberg appeared at an Austin hospital to talk health care with Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor and seven-time Tour de France champion cyclist. Armstrong is an emerging political power in Texas, and any hint that he's supporting Bloomberg would lend credence to the mayor's prospective campaign and signature-gathering efforts.

Hey, eHarmony, listen up!

From the WSJ blogs:

Why Gay Couples Might Be More Likely to Split
Posted By topeditor On January 18, 2008

Researchers have found that gay and lesbian couples split up more often than straight pairs, a tendency that Time’s John Cloud suggests has roots partly in the unique struggles gay people face in childhood.

Though studies have long been conducted on heterosexual couples, psychologists only recently began examining how gays and lesbians interact in relationships, Mr. Cloud reports in Time. What researchers have discovered is that gays and lesbians tend to be nicer to one another during arguments with partners, being less likely to be belligerent during fights and more apt to use humor.

At the same time, the gay and lesbian couples who reported being happiest about their relationships exhibited the most tension during disagreements. Straight couples, by contrast, tended to be more satisfied when tension levels were lower. And gay men in particular fare worse than straight or lesbian couples when it comes to repairing the damage after an argument.

The preference for heart-racing interaction could stem from the stigma and confusion that gays and lesbians confront as kids, Mr. Cloud says. Childhood pain tears as adult relationships in the gay community. A lack of legal sanction for gay relationships in most places also might raise the odds that gays and lesbians will call it quits. Lawrence Kurdek, a psychology professor at Wright State University in Ohio, has found that while straight marriages deteriorate just as fast as homosexual relationships, straight couples are more likely to avoid breaking up. – Wendy Pollack

Seems to me the answer to why gays walk away is, unfortunately, because we can. We have no support from family, friends, work, church, etc. to take greater care before we get committed and before we walk away. Lot easier if no one knows about it. When is the last time you saw a gay man put up or take down a photo of his significant other at work?

Gotta love the Navy. This will get your heart racing...

Think about this tonight

Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, speaking about homeless veterans:

"...the VA [U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs] says that there are approximately 200,000 of all generations. We know that there are at least 1,500 that have served in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Cost of caring for them? Say, the cost for each vet for a year?

"... For one veteran. About $15,000 for room, board, supportive servicing, and a staff that can take care of them."

Besides the fact that we owe them everything and more, take a look at this from this weeks NYT report. A real life In the Valley of Elah.

The New Currency

Brilliant!

UKs Britney

Amy Crackhouse shows up in court yesterday and seems to be taking career advice from Britney and fashion tips from Alexis Arquette. Thats Lex on the right in case you were confused. How did following the mentally ill and drug addicts become sport?