Ever since Karl Rove did his subpeona-dodge to Fox News, the Republican party has lost control of the message. Witness this scenario - the president does extrordianary bi-partisan outreach, the stimulus bill is revised with Republican input in mind even though their votes really weren't needed. Republicans vote in lock-step against the bill. Even some Democrats vote against it. It still passes.
Message: no matter what concessions you make to us, we're taking our tiny ball and going home.
That'll teach those Democrats! Specifically, it'll teach them to stop making concessions. Which is too bad because I happen to prefer bi-partisan input into governing. I like compromise - it leads to better, fairer laws.
Republicans have to realize that they can't keep bluffing while they are holding a pair of 2s. Otherwise, they can just expect more bad hands for a long, long time to come. Maybe we'll wind up with a 3 party system - Democrats, Republicans and Far - Right Republicans, who think those plain Repblicans are terrorist crypto-socialists and won't even speak to them. Democrats, who'll include any weirdo at the drop of a hat, won't split up like that. So maybe it'll be a 40/20/20 distribution. And one of those 20's is going to insist on Palin-Bolton for 2012.
Count on me for a contribution!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Opening Gambit
Gotcha!
John McCain, September, calling on Rush Limbaugh to apologize for his "phony soldiers" comment:
If Mr. Limbaugh made the remark he is reported to have made, it reflects very poorly on him and not the objects of his offensive comment. I expect most Americans, whatever their political views, will have the same reaction. He would be well advised to retract it and apologize.John McCain, this morning, talking about Obama's single criticism about Rush Limbaugh last week:
Mr. Limbaugh is a voice of a significant portion of our conservative movement in America. He has a very wide viewing audience. He is entitled to his views, and he has a lot of people who listen very carefully to him. I don’t know why that the President would take him on. He’s part of the political landscape, and he plays a role.So taking McCain's most recent comments as the ones he believes, Rush should not be excoriated: if the thinks soldiers who speak out against the war should be excoriated, Rush is right.
My thinking is Rush shouldn't be censored, just listened to with the attitude that he is an extremist. Calibrate accordingly. Between McCain and that GOP spokesman who apologized after saying Rush didn't have that much influence on the party, I'm beginning to be reminded of Harry, the dude that Dick Cheney shot in the face. He publicly apologized, you'll recall, for getting the in the way of Dick's gun.
Why do you guys keep picking bullies to be your leaders?
The Map That Makes The Most Sense
Courtesy PURPLE AMERICA, h/t Adam Nash. It depicts the percentages of county results in the 2006 Congressional election. Few places are entirely red or entirely blue. In fact, none of them are.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
How A Center-Right Nation Looks ** Update **
According to the Gallup organization, it graphs like this:
Quote of The Day
"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." - Steven Weinberg
Proof Of Global Warming
Here it is the end of January, and the Santa Ana winds are howling outside. We're expecting a high of 74 degrees. Therefore, using logic I've frequently seen around the net, global warming must exist.
I'm glad that's settled!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Republicans Do Something I Like!
This, I think, is pretty cool. And I know Obama was for it, but I don't care. Enough delays!
House Republicans Reject TV Delay Bill
By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 1/28/2009 1:45:00 PM
The bill, which had passed the Senate by unanimous vote on Monday, failed to get the required two-thirds majority vote after U.S. Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) called for the measure, which would have moved the deadline from Feb. 17 to June 12, to be denied.
The legislators called for the analog TV spectrum to be turned over as planned for use by emergency first responders and wireless services carries that had purchased the vacated spectrum at auction.
More Signs That the Honeymoon is Already Over
Resolution Congratulating Obama Rejected in Committee
By Mark Carter 1/28/2009 11:00:01 AM
A resolution congratulating President Obama on his election was killed in the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Wednesday.
These kinds of resolutions are considered standard operating procedure. But hey, whatever. You can't mandate good sportsmanship.
*update* See comments for more on this shocking bill!
Real Americans Love Gridlock
The talk on the hill is that most Republicans are going to take Rush Limbaugh's advice and oppose the latest stimulus package. Is it the best thing for the country? Whatever. The important thing is if it works, then Obama doesn't fail. And a successful Obama presidency is, by Limbaughian definition, bad for America. A worldwide economic depression, on the other hand: Good for America.
The thing that is bothersome about this... well actually there is little that isn't bothersome about it. But here's what's annoying to me. Republicans are opposing this plan and claiming that their input is being ignored, but they aren't offering alternatives. More tax cuts will save us! is the best they can cough up. We've had quite a few of them leading up to the meltdown. I'm not saying they caused it, but tax cuts haven't done anything to prevent it either. Similarly more deregulation isn't going to be any help. Not enforcing the financial regulations appears to be exactly what got us into this mess.
Why do they think this will help their brand? Digging their heels AND burying their heads in the sand at the same time, the Republican leadership is basically doing everything it can to keep out of power for another few years. And that, by my definition, is GOOD for America
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Good For the World, Bad For the Right
They say when you take office, the "firsts" you pick need to be well-chosen because they carry a lot of weight. Here's one that will freak out a few of my blogger pals: Obama has given his first formal interview as President with Hisham Melhem of al Arabiya television.
Among the more interesting pull quotes:
Now, my job is to communicate the fact that the United States has a stake in the well-being of the Muslim world...even as we are decisive in going after terrorist organizations that would kill innocent civilians, that we're going to do so on our terms, and we're going to do so respecting the rule of law that I think makes America great. ... I cannot respect terrorist organizations that would kill innocent civilians and we will hunt them down. But to the broader Muslim world what we are going to be offering is a hand of friendship.This is going to anger a lot of people on the right, if Malkin or Limbaugh get their hands on it. It amounts to "nuance", this distinguishing of Muslim Terrorists from Muslims. Most Muslims have no interest in killing Americans. But if you insist that all Muslims are terrorists who must be killed, then what incentive do they have to behave differently? And yeah, I've heard that viewpoint expressed more than once, though if you try to pin 'em down they'll say only the majority of muslims are terrorists. If you think this, you are mistaken.
Look, if you imprisoned a few hundred Americans without trial, you could expect a little retaliation from America. If Iran posted soldiers around Boston, local Bostonians would try to remove them. These are not unreasonable responses.
The hand of friendship is going to make us a hell of a lot safer, if it's accepted at this late date, than all the bombs and rhetoric we can throw out there.
(h/t THINK PROGRESS)
We ARE Listening, Now Shut Up
I've been hearing a lot of whining from Congressional Republicans that they're not being allowed to participate in the lawmaking process by those mean Democrats. Here's a sign that perhaps they're mistaken.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are likely to jettison family planning funds for the low-income from an $825 billion economic stimulus bill, officials said late Monday, following a personal appeal from President Barack Obama at a time the administration is courting Republican critics of the legislation.Mr. Boehner's point is well taken, that this legislation doesn't belong in the stimulus package. However, it belongs somewhere. If you want to shrink government spending, it's just a fact that contraceptives cost less than poor people. Since they most likely won't buy them on their own, it behooves us as a nation to pass them out.
Several officials said a final decision was expected on Tuesday, coinciding with Obama's scheduled visit to the Capitol for separate meetings with House and Senate Republicans.
...Under the provision, states no longer would be required to obtain federal permission to offer family planning services — including contraceptives — under Medicaid, the health program for the low-income.
..."How you can spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives how does that stimulate the economy?" House Republican Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio said on Friday after congressional leaders met with Obama at the White House. "You can go through a whole host of issues that have nothing to do with growing jobs in America and helping people keep their jobs."
The acceptable alternative from a Republican standpoint is abstinence education, but that's not exactly 100% effective with the teens. It's a lot like locking cocaine addicts in a meth lab and telling them all they have to do is not touch the cocaine. So by itself, abstinence education just results in more kids on welfare. So let's eliminate welfare! That will stop poor people from breeding!
No it won't. It's just make America better resemble a third world country. If you like flies, let the poor fend for themselves.
Getting back to the stimulus package: enough with the tax cuts! We've had plenty of tax cuts over the last 8 years and I don't know if you've looked at the economy lately, but it doesn't seem to have helped much. Besides a third of the package IS tax cuts. That's probably as bipartisan as we need to be this month.
Monday, January 26, 2009
25 Random Things About Me
This is kind of a crosspost, but recently I was encouraged by my Facebook buddies to jot down 25 things of interest about myself. The fact that a man my age HAS Facebook buddies is a good place to start, but what I actually wrote follows.
1. At my heart, I worry that there aren't 25 things about me that are interesting.
2. On weekends, if I have the time, I bake my own bread. It doesn't save any money but the smell of fresh-baked bread is really appealing.
3. Since this time last year, I lost twenty pounds.
4. I made a video short in the nineties which won an award of some kind at SMOFI, a Polish film festival. They called to congratulate me at 4:00am. I have no idea what prize I took and googling the award now - well, as of 2002 they were accepting submissions in VHS only.
5. I was brought up Catholic but became an atheist at the age of 12 because the story just didn't hold together.
6. There's a scene in the first Star Wars movie (Han Solo and Chewie trying to hold down the prison detention center) that always seems fresh to me because when I saw it originally, I was making out with the girl I eventually lost my innocence to. It was great, but I still kind of regret missing a part of Star Wars.
7. Fear serves a purpose but for the most part it does more harm than good.
8. I have a younger brother and an older sister - you could conclude from conventional wisdom that I'm the stable one.
9. DARK MEAT: MUSIC FOR DEPRESSIVES is basically an extension of a thing I used to annoy my friends with. I have odd musical tastes and I was continually trying to get them to listen to the artists I like. It still isn't working, but at least I'm annoying strangers instead.
10. I have a fetish for cherry red appliances. Current inventory - a microwave oven, a toaster, a coffee ginder, a coffee maker, and a vacuum cleaner.
11. I've always looked younger than my age. At present the average guess is 10-15 years short.
12. My IQ is above-average.
13. I have written 13 (or so) screenplays and about 5 TV spec scripts. For a while I had an agent, though my career never quite took.
14. My SEINFELD spec, as I recall, was terrible. I had only seen one episode of Seinfeld and I just didn't get it at all.
15. There was a show on UPN called THEY CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, a goofy comedy. I wrote a pretty good script for them and even managed to get it into their production office, but they were canceled later the same day.
16. I don't need to spend as much time alone as I do. I suspect if I got out more, I might be quite popular.
17. Women who are too beautiful freak me out, the same way that people without limbs or disfigured people do. Try to keep to the center of the bell curve, people!
18. I'm not happy with most of my body, except my legs. The legs are golden.
19. When I got divorced and moved into my own apartment, I declined to get cable. Now it's over a year later and it just doesn't seem like a sensible investment. If I read about a good show, I'll just download it.
20. Numbers and statistics fascinate me. If I don't watch myself, I start to see everything in terms of ratios and percentages. It's not healthy.
21. Once I was on a cult radio show called SIMUL TREK, and this is the most famous I have ever been. It was ideal - there was praise from strangers, but you wouldn't recognize me on the street. If only there had been money also.
22. I hardly ever go to movies nowadays because I recognize the same six plots coming back over and over again.
23. Everything that is fun about photography - composition, subject, focus and exposure - is there if you shoot in black and white. Color is only an annoyance. Unfortunately, it's usually nicer to look at.
24. I prefer slow zombies to fast, or sprinting, zombies.
25. Damn, I was right.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
We Could Have Done Better
Geithner got confirmed by the Senate. I'm disappointed. He better do a particularly good job because he's walkin' around with a cloud over him.
Exifaith Cutefully
If you were following the inauguration (and you may not have been, the ratings were high but not historic) you probably noticed a little problem with the swearing-in ceremony.
ROBERTS: I, Barack Hussein Obama --See, the order of the words there? It's supposed to be "faithfully execute." If you're the kind of person who insists that a short-form birth certificate is no proof of citizenship, that kind of detail can be very comforting.
OBAMA: I, Barack --
ROBERTS: -- do solemnly swear --
OBAMA: I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear --
ROBERTS: -- that I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully.
OBAMA: -- that I will execute --
ROBERTS: -- the offi -- faithfully the pres -- the office of president of the United States.
OBAMA: -- the office of president of the United States faithfully.
My first paranoid thought is Justice Roberts was messing with Obama, or trying to lay the groundwork for some byzantine deal whereby Norm Coleman could get the Minnesota senate seat. But it's just as likely it was a mistake. Maybe Roberts didn't practice the night before.
It's a mostly moot point now, because a day later the two got together again and retook the oath. I'm saying "mostly" because obviously there are going to be some tinfoil hat types who will insist that the second time doesn't count and Obama isn't president until we have another election. I'm glad to let them have fresh material anyway, because the certificate thing was gettin' stale fast.
UPDATE: Speak of the devil in the details!
Today on his new Fox News show, Glenn Beck panicked about the re-do oath of office President Obama took last night, because Obama did not place his hand on a Bible. “I checked. We have never had a president sworn into office without a Bible,” he intoned dramatically.The posting points out, by the way, that Teddy Roosevelt and John Quincy Adams swore in on non-bibles; plus Lyndon Johnson is rumored to have sworn in on a catholic missel because it was an emergency. So Beck is excited about nothin'.
Memory Lane
Hey, Rush Limbaugh states the obvious on Sean Hannity's show last night:
You know racism in this country is the exclusive province of the left. (Italics mine) We're witnessing racism all this week that led up to the inauguration. We're being told that we have to hope he succeeds.He's absolutely right too. If it wasn't for those moonbats and their racism stuff like this wouldn't even have been controversial.
By the way, I don't have cable - what's the show called nowadays? HANNITY AND MORE HANNITY?
To be fair, it's possible to hope that Obama doesn't succeed but support the greater good of the nation. I'm not sure that's what is happening here. I think Rush is hoping for a big "I told you so" at the end of four years: he wants everything to go to hell so he can blame it on Obama. He wants the democracy in Iraq to collapse, he wants the economy to tank, he wants everyone investigated for sex crimes. If things don't go wrong, he wants to be able to make up figures that suggest they are anyway. Rush Limbaugh, american hero.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
A Kind Word For Cheney
I just found out that Dick Cheney attended the inauguration in a wheelchair. He pulled a back muscle or two moving boxes. I wish him well, and hope he gets better soon, if only because he needs the strength to fend off all those book deals.
Freedom Of Choice
So this morning I'm working, listening to the inauguration on the radio, and my boss' voice appeared on the intercom. "If anyone wants to see the inauguration, please come into the main conference room." I thought, that's pretty cool of him. Then a few minutes later there was a followup announcement. "If you're watching the inauguration on the Internet, please come to the conference room instead. We need the bandwidth."
I think this is still cool. It's something to celebrate about America: the idea that we can participate in Democracy but we don't have to. You know, Saddam Hussein was elected to his office several times, and each time it was with almost 100% participation and unanimous victories. In some other countries, conceivably my boss would have been required to marshall us all into the conference room, and perhaps pass out horns and flags. This system is better.
Also heartening is the incredible traffic jam of humanity in the national mall right now. Allowing that many people to show up for an event is an massive inconvenience, but DC is knuckling down and dealing with it because allowing people to participate if they want to is important too.
Perhaps the best thing about these United States is this: we can disagree about the flaws, the shortcomings, about how to fix them, about who will do the best job. And even if we disagree with the leaders of our nation, we won't be arrested for it. You can still be arrested for side issues, like throwing a SHOE at the president, but even then it's not like they'll beat you in prison and force you to sign a statement disavowing your actions. We don't do that here.
So good times. Best of luck to the new guy.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
How I Spent The Weekend
Well, let's see - I bought groceries, including a nice cut of salmon which I had for dinner. And I did some laundry and I watched a whole lotta TV. And I shaved off all my chest hair. Oh, and I was in the hospital for a couple of days.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
. . . - - - . . . They're Coming In Too Fast!
Look there in the bottom left corner - it's the Star Wars Logo... it's the STAR WARS TELEGRAPH! Brilliant, as in brilliantly wrong. It wasn't until Warner Brothers licensed THE MATRIX buggy whip that a worse idea came along.
h/t Boing Boing
Gadget Lust Update
I wound up buying both of them. The coffee maker works fine once I cleaned it very, very thoroughly and swiped a filter basket from the floor model. Freshly ground coffee: slightly more delicious than its pre-ground cousin, but that smell of beans - fantastic. My life is better.
The iMac is sleek, fast and just thinking about it is giving me little shivers of pleasure. I installed Windows 7 last night just for kicks, and it runs like a champ, so far doing all those cool graphic tricks that Vista is famous for without the annoying security popups. The only thing I haven't been able to manage yet is installing my all-in-one fax/printer, on either system. That's gonna take some tech support calls. Well, I love meeting foreigners.
Is it irresponsible to be spending like a sailor when the economy is sinking like a stone? Whatever, I got the cash this month. Or rather, I had it until this week. I'll recoup some when I sell off the old iMac. The rest, maybe I'll sell coffee and processor time.
Throw Timmy From The Train
Don't confirm him. Look, I know he has already paid the money back, and it probably was a mistake made in a 40-page tax document. However, we have RABID anti-Democrats out there (you can't really call 'em Republicans any more) and the last thing we need to do is give them material. Let's get Krugman or Reich for the job instead. Best of luck, Geith.WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Members of the Senate Finance Committee met Tuesday with treasury secretary nominee Tim Geithner over concerns involving his personal taxes and the immigration status of a former housekeeper, transition officials said.
Timothy Geithner has been nominated for the post of treasury secretary in the Obama administration.
The Geithners employed a housekeeper whose employment authorization document expired about three months before she stopped working for them in October 2005, according to a written statement from the Senate Finance Committee.
Later, the housekeeper, who is married to a U.S. citizen, was granted a green card, transition officials said.
The second concern involves Geithner's taxes while he worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF). According to a statement released by the committee, Geithner failed to pay self-employment taxes while the IMF paid him from 2001 to 2004.In 2006, the Internal Revenue Service audited Geithner for tax years 2003 and 2004, and he paid $16,732 for the taxes and interest for those years, the statement said. After Obama nominated him for treasury secretary, Geithner voluntarily amended his taxes for 2001 and 2002, paying $25,970 for those taxes and interest, the committee said.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Everywhere He Goes, He Stays A Stranger
To hell with politics - Patrick McGoohan is dead.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Gadget Lust
I did a little shopping last night, looking for post-holiday bargains. None to be had. And weird experiences in both cases.
Case one: A new iMac. My old iMac is starting to show its age. The internal hard drive is near maxed out, the processor is slower than I'd like. Newer iMacs are neater. So I took a l'il trip to the Apple Store to discuss options. Ideally, I wanted to trick out a model (maximum memory, maximum storage) and walk out that night. Only, they don't do that in store. The guy in the store recommended I buy it online instead. What the hell is that? Well, I'll probably do it this weekend.
Case two: A coffee maker. I have a nice cheap Black & Decker unit already, works great, even has a timer. But it lacks one important quality - it's not red. I was in Target looking for a coffee grinder (I want fresh beans!) and there it was - the red Mr. Coffee maker of my dreams. I took it home with a matching Red grinder.
But I opened the factory sealed box, and it was soaking wet! Seriously, water all over the inside of those plastic bags. And the filter basket was missing. I'm taking it back tonight, getting a refund on the grounds of sheer weirdness.
The consumer economy is going to have to meet me halfway if it wants MY stimulus.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
The Slippery Slope Stops Here
The latest industry to petition congress for a bailout? Porn.
Have A Seat
Welcome to the newest and most problematic member of the Senate, Roland Burris. Legally appointed by the shadiest character in recent political memory, Rod Blagojevich, Burris takes the seat vacated by Barack Obama, the one that Blago is so in trouble for putting up on eBay.
It's fortunate that Harry Reid doesn't favor the phrase "over my dead body!" because with all the stuff he's backed down on, we could legitimately build a footbridge over his grave. To be fair, there is little Reid could do legally to stop the appointment. In fact, after all the research they've been up to in the last few days, I bet they determined there is nothing.
I got nothing against Roland Burris, though I'm mighty uncomfortable with all the grandstanding he's done in the last few days. Here's looking a couple of years without scandal and legitimate election in 2010, and here's hoping the people of Chicago have the wisdom to break their streak and hire a Governer who just wants to serve the people.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Drudge Wins Pulitzer, Says Unnamed Source
Okay, I just noticed this one while arguing with GWK over at Where Are My Keys. Those guys are upset that Ann Coulter has been cut from NBC because they don't want people with an anti-Obama bias. How do they know that's why?
NBC CUTS COULTER; KEEPS PEREZAs usual when Drudge reports on the media, no one spoke for attribution. Presumably this is because the MSM would instantly fire anyone who admitted to a liberal bias, like the way Slate fired anyone who said they'd vote for Obama last year. On the other hand, it could be because Drudge is makin' this stuff up. After all, his track record is a little less than accurate on stories. Like Obama's $30k ring. Or Oprah's participation in the Obama Informercial. Or the couple of times he informed us that we've caught Osama Bin Laden.
Mon Jan 05 2009 17:50:57 ET
**Exclusive Details**
The nation's top selling conservative author has been banned from appearing on NBC, insiders tell the DRUDGE REPORT.
"We are just not going to have her on any more, it's over," a top network source explains.
But a second top suit strongly denies there is any "Coulter ban".
"Look for a re-invite, as soon as Wednesday," said the news executive, who asked not to be named.
NBC's TODAY show abruptly cut Ann Coulter from its planned Tuesday broadcast, claiming the schedule was overbooked.
Drudge does, for a change, cite another source:
Coulter was also to appear on the TODAY's fourth hour. A host even teased the segment saying the 'conservative pit bull and bestselling author' would be a guest.See that link? Here's the opening paragraph of the MediaBistro story he cites.
Drudge Report says Ann Coulter has been "banned for life" from NBC, quoting an anonymous NBC source saying, "We are just not going to have her on any more."
So somehow, Drudge manged to recursively source himself! Nice. Of course, the test here is whether the Today show re-books Ann Coulter. I'm putting my bets on yes. Of course, by Wednesday we'll all have forgotten this happened, and those who trust Drudge will have only a vague memory that the MSM doesn't allow conservatives on the airwaves. As the always do, 15 minutes after they see conservatives on the airwaves.
By the way, the MSM has failed to get organized again, and Coulter reportedly appeared on CBS's THE EARLY SHOW instead this morning.
Monday, January 05, 2009
At Least Lizard People Had The Grace to Step Aside
The Minnesota Recount results are officially in, and they favor Al Franken to the tune of 225 votes. You may recall at the beginning of the legally-mandated process (a requirement when the margin is within 1% of the population if I recall correctly) many convervatives called for Franken to concede, on the grounds that a long legally-mandated recount would hurt Minnesota. I wonder how they feel about this?
"Given our campaign’s unwavering commitment to ensuring that the vote of no Minnesotan is disenfranchised, today’s ruling by the Minnesota Supreme Court is both disappointing and disheartening,” Knaak said in a statement.I'm going to take a stab that NOW, conservatives will say further challenges to the result are the only way to ensure the people of Minnesota are served. For my part, it looks like there is a new Senator in Minnesota, and you can call him Al.
He also said: “Today’s ruling...ensures that an election contest is now inevitable. The Coleman campaign has consistently and continually fought to have every validly cast vote counted, and for the integrity of Minnesota’s election system, we will not stop now.”
Such a legal showdown could take weeks to resolve. In addition to the Coleman campaign’s request to have the absentee ballots reconsidered, a lawsuit also include claims by Coleman that some votes in Democratic-leaning areas were counted twice.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
A New Year's Wish
Happy New Year! (?)
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Keep Up the Good Work, (R)!
Look, free speech is important. Run with it, boys!
Four days after news broke that the former Tennessee GOP chairman had sent a CD including a song titled “Barack the Magic Negro” to the RNC members he is courting, some of those officials are rallying around the embattled Saltsman, with a few questioning whether the national media and his opponents are piling on.I gotta tell you, I have felt pretty restricted by not being able to tell my Jew and Chinaman jokes. I may be a liberal, but I'm secretly rooting for you guys. Maybe we could even effect change... I'd like to see those dizzy woman drivers taken off the road! Don't stop believin'!
“When I heard about the story, I had to figure out what was going on for myself,” said Mark Ellis, the chairman of the Maine Republican Party. “When I found out what this was about I had to ask, ‘Boy, what’s the big deal here?’ because there wasn’t any.”
Alabama Republican Committeeman Paul Reynolds said the fact the Saltsman sent him a CD with the song on it “didn’t bother me one bit.”
“Chip probably could have thought it through a bit more, but he was doing everyone a favor by giving us a gift,” he said. “This is just people looking for something to make an issue of.”
The Truth Isn't That Far Out There
I've often wondered why the American car industry has kept churning out enormous gas-guzzlers year after year. I've even entertained the notion that the oil companies influence auto design in some under-the-table, backroom, behind-the-green-door sort of way. I'm backing off from that theory.
Probably the truth is this: auto makers accurately read the market and supplied it. Look, gas is cheap in this country. Even during the summer it was cheap, compared t0 the rest of the world. In London gas was $4 a gallon when I was a kid. Given their narrow roads and easy access to the tube ("mind the gap!") there's less demand for your own car there, thus they sold less volume at higher prices and maintained profit margins.
Here, gas flows like water. We'd rather have our own transportation, and we'd rather have it big so we can see around the big cars in front of us.
Of course, we'd also rather have efficiency in our enormous vehicles. Foreign auto makers, who had to think that way to sell to the natives, were more easily able to supply it. American companies could do the R&D but making wholesale changes in design is expensive. You have to shut down factories and re-tool them. And sure they can do it, but they will tend to wait as long as possible because there's still enough demand for the old-style cars to make waiting a good option. Or at least, there was enough demand.
In the last six months, the market has radically changed. True story - in the early eighties IBM wanted to get into the personal computer business. They were the biggest company around and they wanted in on that action. They did a study and determined that, using proper channels, it would take them nine months from planning to execution... to produce the carton the computer ships in. Big companies tend to take a very long time to change course, the same way that big ships do. Speedboats turn on a dime.
Foreign auto makers are comparative speed boats, to boil it down for ya.
I bet when the smoke clears, GenaFord will be making cars the same size with slightly better milage, and they will continue to cede market share to the wiley Japanese. If we're really interested in efficiency we'll buy cars that are half the size. I don't think that's going to happen. We're Americans and consuming more than we need isn't just a tendency - it's a trademark. If we stop that, the global economy is toast. If that happens, who will we outsource to?
Monday, December 29, 2008
Politics/Movies
Washington is shut down this week so our leaders are unlikely to produce anything particularly outrageous. During the long holiday weekend I passed the time dodging presents and watching movies.
Two movies, mainly - FROST/NIXON and STUCK.
FROST/NIXON is a mighty rich stew. A backstage account of the big TV interview of the late seventies, it's as much about entertainment as it is about politics, and the interview is as much gladiator match as it is interview. The thing I took away from it is the notion that both of these men, Frost and Nixon, were depending on that 4 night series to save their reputations and ensure their future incomes. Nixon needed a forum to tell his side of the story, thus increasing his speaking fees and bookings, and Frost needed Nixon to admit wrongdoing or his tremendous personal investment would buy an unsalable white elephant of TV programming.
And both men almost fatally underestimated their opponents, though I have to admit I can't blame Nixon for underestimating Frost. For the most part he was right. Had Frost not been so backed into a corner he'd have never summoned the cajones to to deliver that fourth night coup de grace. Forgive the mixed languages. In any event, recommended viewing.
The other movie was an oddball DVD rental, STUCK. The latest project from REANIMATOR maestro Stuart Gordon, this is based on a much smaller true story, about a young rest home nurse who accidentally hits a homeless man as she drives home from a club. He goes head first through her windshield. In shock and a little high on Ecstasy, assuming he's dead, she takes the car home and parks in the garage, only to discover the next morning that he's alive, demanding help. Only she won't help because she fears jail time and the loss of her job.
So again, it's a contest. The man (Stephen Rea) struggles to separate himself from the car, the girl (Mena Suvari in mulatto-face) tries to figure out a way to kill him so he won't talk, then dispose of the body and put the whole incident behind her.
There possibly is a larger message here about how society feels about the homeless, but Gordon thankfully has other fish to fry. Metaphorical content is left to fend for itself as the situation plays itself out. This is a story that Hitchcock would have loved to make - a limited area to work with, opportunities for absurd comedy ("Why are you doing this to me?" the girl whines to her windshield prisoner at one point) and minute, suspenseful attempts to survive. The only thing missing was bizarre camera angles.
If you remember the news story this is based on, know that the movie ends differently. Good choices Stuart! Also casting a white woman as a light-skinned black woman. It seemed a little weird at first, but it took some of the curse off the situation. The last thing you'd want is black villains in this peice and no matter how she looks on screen, ain't nobody whiter than Mena Suvari.
Friday, December 26, 2008
30 Years Between Airings: Even The Kessel Run Took Less Than 12 Parsecs
With so many cable channels nowadays, there is almost no such thing as rare televsion. It seems that anything that ever aired has a channel devoted to its reruns, from game shows to reality shows to, well, shows. If it isn't on TV it's on Hulu, or A&E has a series of DVDs. If you are dying to see a commercial for Winson cigarettes that used Fred Flintstone as a spokesman, google it. It's there.
The New World is only so Brave though, and some things shall not see the light of day. I've been keeping my eye peeled for years now for THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL. It aired on CBS in 1978, featured the real cast of A NEW HOPE, and arguably drove the last nail in the coffin of variety shows. There is some demand for it but George Lucas, who is no stranger to revisionist history, has bought up the rights and locked the master in a vault in the Lucasfilm archives. Reportedly he told a convention of Australian fans "If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that show and smash it."
The two-hour video tells the story of Chewbacca's family and their tense wait for the big lug to make it home in time for Life Day, which is a familiar-seeming wookie holiday. The empire's evil forces conduct a thorough search of their tree-house for signs of rebel involvement. Variety segments (songs, sketches and the animated segment that introduced Boba Fett) are incorporated though the device of having wookies watch them on screens and other home entertainment devices. Guest stars include Harvey Korman, Bea Arthur, Dianne Carroll, Art Carney and a number by Jefferson Starship.
Yes, I'm serious.
This is the year when finally I was able to get my waldoes on a copy of this fabled special. I had it completely downloaded by Tuesday but I saved it until Christmas Day to watch, a little gift for myself and a kind of slow torture for my holiday companions. It's incredible. The first 15 minutes for example, introduce Chewie's family: his wife Malla, his son Lumpy and his irascable father Itchy. 15 minutes with no dialog, only Wookie noises. It's like watching a Chaplin movie in an insane asylum.
Meanwhile on the Millenium Falcon, Chewbacca and a surprisingly comitted Harrison Ford struggle to evade the forces of the empire, abandoning whatever presumably important mission they had been charged with so they can endanger the clan back home with Chewie's presence for Life Day.
The action, such as it is, is interrupted by the lame variety segments. On one hand you get an appearance by Diane Carroll singing a little song, on the other hand, in narrative terms you're watching a wookie watch television instead of doing something. And don't get me started on Harvey Korman. Three different characters and not one of them is even remotely amusing. It's as if he was struck comedy blind that week.
There is a real low-budget feel to the whole enterprise, though to be fair it's probably partially due to this being a VHS dub, and partially due to seeing characters who belong on film shot through the harsher gaze of video. Interestingly, Mark Hamill is so androgynous that he comes off closer to Dorothy Hamill. I think this was shot before the Camero accident that prompted Hamill's reconstructive surgery, which gave him a less boyish appearance.
The Boba Fett cartoon (Lumpy watches it to keep his mind off the Storm Troopers wrecking the house) is visual gold and narrative crap. It kind of reminded me of a few segments from eighties cult classic HEAVY METAL.
Anyway, other high points - Carrie Fisher sings an ode to Life Day which is kind of a mashup with the Star Wars theme; Bea Arthur sings a song which is a mashup with the Cantina Band song. Han Solo kills a storm trooper (no face mask either!) by causing him to plunge hundreds of feet to his death. Anything I haven't mentioned as a high point you can assume is a low point, the kind of thing which should have ruined the careers of everyone involved. Indeed, had Lucas not stepped in and sealed this thing up, that's exactly what might have happened. Shepard Smith puts it best when he describes the show as "a 70s train wreck, combining the worst of Star Wars with the utter worst of variety television."
It is, therefore, absolutely essential Christmas viewing. Next quest - a rough cut of THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED!
The Kind of People You Ally Yourself With
Church Members Dress Like Jesus to Protest Secularization of Christmas
"Members of a church in Kansas City, Ks., are protesting the secularization of Christmas by dressing like Jesus at their jobs, malls and restaurants.
"Pastor Kelly Lohrke advised parishioners of the Praise Chapel Christian Fellowship to wear at minimum a crown of thorns and a sash or robe during the week leading up to Christmas."
Waitress, I'll have the chicken soup and kosher... never mind.
The Kind of People I Ally Myself With
MAN IN SANTA SUIT KILLS AT LEAST 8 AT PARTY
"Authorities say Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, dressed in a Santa suit, opened fire at a Christmas Eve party and then set the house ablaze. He is later found dead of a gunshot wound."
See, THAT'S a war on Christmas.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
My Beef With the War On Christmas
This war on Christmas thing bugs the hell outta me because NOT EVERYBODY CELEBRATES CHRISTMAS. Why not use "Happy Holidays" as your greeting? It includes Christmas. It says "whoever you are, whatever you celebrate, I hope you enjoy it." "Merry Christmas" says "I wish you well if you're a Christian like me. Otherwise, you're on your own."
(h/t to Publius, whose thoughts about the orgins of Kwanzaa inspired me to quote my own comment here.)
A Brighter Tomorrow
Apologies for not writing my own version of this, but I'm struck breathless with Tom Tomorrow's snark. I'll try to come up with my own material around lunchtime.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The Five Worst Christmases Ever
I got nothing to complain about, because I'm not being killed as a direct result of the holidays.
So far.
3. Xmas Pageant Inferno.It was the climax of the 1924 Christmas Eve pageant at the Babb's Switch, Oklahoma one-room schoolhouse. The last recitation had ended, the last carol faded. Now Santa himself was handing out bags of candy to all the children. But oh no! Santa brushed against the candle-lit tree. Within minutes, the room was a seething inferno, with 200 men, women, and children trying to force their way out the only exit: a door that opened inward. Thirty-four people died. But thanks to the heroic efforts of Santa and the schoolteacher (both of whom were themselves incinerated), only five children were among the dead.(h/t Andrew Sullivan)
Re: Pastor Rick Warren
Having him speak at the inaguration is a nice guesture, but I doubt it's going to change any minds. Personally I'm hoping he says something extreme ("the gays control the banks and the media") but I don't think Rick rolls that way.
Look for few surprises in the next four years. I think, as a nation, we need less surprises for a while anyway.
Counting Down The Days 'Til 2012
Now available: The Sarah Palin Calendar!
It's a little late for a Christmas gift, but order now anyway, because you probably can't afford it by mid-January.
Clearing the Big Tent A Little
Republicans, bless their hearts. They're doing just fine. They don't need African Americans.
This has nothing to do with racism of course. It's simply an attempt to defend "Christmas" against other, non-european holiday traditions. It's just a way to keep the pagans in line by making sure they at least pay lip service to the one true God. Is that so wrong? Who'd object to that?
Ask your Jewish friends.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Selling Even Better Than Bruno Maglis
'Bush Shoe' Gets Firm Footing In the Market
ISTANBUL — When a pair of black leather oxfords hurled at President Bush in Baghdad produced a gasp heard around the world, a Turkish cobbler had a different reaction: They were his shoes.There's your free market for ya!
“We have been producing that specific style, which I personally designed, for 10 years, so I couldn’t have missed it, no way,” said Ramazan Baydan, a shoemaker in Istanbul. “As a shoemaker, you understand.”
Although his assertion has been impossible to verify — cobblers from Lebanon, China and Iraq have also staked claims to what is quickly becoming some of the most famous footwear in the world — orders for Mr. Baydan’s shoes, formerly known as Ducati Model 271 and since renamed “The Bush Shoe,” have poured in from around the world.
A new run of 15,000 pairs, destined for Iraq, went into production on Thursday, he said. A British distributor has asked to become the Baydan Shoe Company’s European sales representative, with a first order of 95,000 pairs, and an American company has placed an order for 18,000 pairs. Four distributors are competing to represent the company in Iraq, where Baydan sold 19,000 pairs of this model for about $40 each last year.
Five thousand posters advertising the shoes, on their way to the Middle East and Turkey, proclaim “Goodbye Bush, Welcome Democracy” in Turkish, English and Arabic.
Farewell, Beloved Dick
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday that Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, deserved it when Cheney launched the f-word at him in 2004.Re: the italics -- well, mission accomplished! And kudos to Cheney for alluding to wounds, considering the other thing he's famous for. Meanwhile:
In an interview with "Fox News Sunday," Cheney was asked if he had any second thoughts or embarrassment. "No. I thought he merited it at the time," Cheney said, laughing.
...The encounter during the 2004 presidential campaign, sources said then, was brought on by Leahy's criticism of the vice president over Halliburton Co. Cheney is the former chief executive officer of the oil field services company, and Democrats had suggested he helped win lucrative contracts for his former firm while serving in the Bush administration.
"It was partly that, it was partly also … it had to do with — he is the kind of individual who will make those kinds of charges and then come act as though he's your best friend, and I expressed in no uncertain terms my views of his conduct and walked away," Cheney said at the time.
..."And we've since, I think, patched over that wound and we're civil to one another now," Cheney said this Sunday.
WALLACE: According to the latest Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll — and I know how much you like polls — you now have the lowest approval rating of the last eight years. Twenty-nine percent have a favorable opinion, 61 percent unfavorable... does that bother you?Again, italics-wise, SOME administrations wear out their welcome. Nixon, Carter and Bush 1 for example. Reagan, Clinton and Eisenhower, not so much. And more introspective vice-presidents might pause to wonder if historical low approval ratings may mean you did something wrong. When they're out of office, perhaps Cheney and Bush will blame the antipathy on each other before insisting that we'll all praise them in fifty years time.
CHENEY: No. We didn't — if — we didn't set out to achieve the highest level of polls that we could during the course of this administration...— is 29 percent good enough for me? Well, we fought a tough reelection battle. We won by an adequate margin in 2004. We've been here for eight years now. Eventually, you wear out your welcome in this business.
But I've — I'm very comfortable with where we are and what we achieved substantively. And frankly, I would not want to be one of those guys who spends all his time reading the polls. I think people like that shouldn't serve in these jobs.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
My War On Christmas Continues
So today I rode my bike to the mall (ha ha, beat the traffic and parking, you piston jockies!) and bought a gift to myself, and you know what I was wearing? This sweatshirt!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Brett Favre Vs. Lizard People
One is real, one isn't. Ha ha Minnesota! You shoulda held on to Jesse Ventura; you'd look a lot less stupid now.
An Economic Paranoia Trap
Here's an interesting problem for social scientists over the coming month: the economy is driven, at least partly, by consumer confidence. Most news shows lately have run stories about the surprising downside of falling prices. Deflation is a sign of an ailing economy!
True enough, because it cuts into profit margins and encourages people to wait on their purchases until the price drops farther.
What I'm worried about though is the normal drop of price from after-christmas sales. Some people are going to factor it in, but won't it freak out a lot of consumers to see those deep discounts? Won't it look like a sign of the economic apocalypse, which therefore causes itself? Keep an eye out for that one.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
It's Too Cold For Politics
For God's sake, it snowed in LAS VEGAS last night!
Here on the left coast, it's a balmy 40 degrees today. We're not prepared for it. I have a friend who hasn't had to use her furnace in three years and didn't know it wasn't even lit. Nobody has the clothes for this kind of weather in this town. We'll all be dead by the end of the week.
To my right-leaning friends, I'll admit that this proves there's no such thing as global warming when you guys admit that gay marriage doesn't destroy marriage itself. Fair exchange! And send sterno.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
It's Impolite To Forget the Thank-You Note
Iraqis - you just can't win with those people.
Ha ha, seriously. After we've sacrificed 4,000 American lives to the cause of liberating their country from a brutal dictator, they side with the guy who threw shoes at the president? What the hell, muzzies! You wouldn't even have the freedom to demonstrate against the President if Saddam was still in charge! Well, maybe our president, but not yours!
If the shoe was on the other foot (sorry, was that too much?) things would be different. You can bet that if we were unhappy with our president, we'd be grateful for an outside country to come in, bomb the hell out of us, and hunt him like a dog, then install a new governement that they trusted. We'd greet them as liberators! I for one would be willing to forgo twenty hours of electricity a day in exchange for, say the Taliban, coming in and replacing the Bush administration with previously unknown taliban sympathizers. I wouldn't mind swapping out my fear of illegal wiretaps with fear of kidnapping or IEDs. I'd welcome the sight of Taliban troops keeping me safe.
Who wouldn't?
It's kind of an absurd scenario, obviously. For the Taliban, let's substitute an army hired by Columbian Drug Lords. Makes sense now, doesn't it?
No wonder Americans can't figure out why Iraqis hate us, after all we've done for them. Those people are nuts.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Kicking A Man When He's Down, By Proxy
The Bush Legacy project took another hit today when a democratized, liberated Iraqi reporter hurled shoes at the president during a press conference. If you like your hostile gestures half-full, at least it proves Bush was right about something: he never should have started giving all those press conferences!
"This is a gift from the Iraqis. This is the farewell kiss, you dog," the journalist shouted (in Arabic), Steven Lee Myers of The New York Times reported in a pool report to the White House press corps. Myers reported that the man threw the second shoe and added: "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."Hopefully this will the be the coda to the whole misbegotten enterprise - Bush blamed for it all and America's role in it ignored. After all, we're already spending good tax money to protect Bush for the rest of his life. Protecting the whole country from things that Iraq might want to fling (terrorists, 'cause they ain't got no weapons) is a much pricier job.
The trip to Iraq has been described as a "victory lap" by the White House. Running shoes are therefore an appropriate parting gift.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Competitive Disadvantage
MEET THE PRESS is a kind of wellspring of talking points, god bless 'em. I started watching towards the end of the election cycle and now I rarely sleep past 8:30am on Sundays. This morning I managed to catch David Gregory's first show as host, and he was good enough to keep out of the way, except when he was asking tough questions about Blagojevich.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Market Correction
Capitalism, unregulated, provides remedies to its own excesses. You charge too much for your goods, demand plummets and you're forced to lower prices to get customers back. A company gets too big and competitors can move in with nimble action, meeting demand for new products before the big company can.
Unfortunately, like the weather, the economy isn't concerned with our comfort. The greatest market correction in memory went by the nickname "The Great Depression." It was a reaction to the sales of exotic financial instruments such as margin selling, and it started by taking down the stock market. Then the world followed, and stayed that way for ten years. People starved for want of a job. People froze because they couldn't pay their bills. Your great grandparents are still freaked out by the depression; it changed the way they think about consuming.
And Republican senators, known for their love of free-market policies, are hell-bent on another Great Market Correction.
Here's what will happen when we fail to bail out the auto makers: It will punish greedy auto executives and union bosses. Great! They'll lose their jobs. So will assembly line workers, parts suppliers, car dealers across the country and their sales staffs. These people, without jobs, will fail to buy stuff the other stuff that Americans make, and the people who work for THOSE suppliers will get laid off. It will be good for the economy in the long run, because the market won't be artificially inflated. It will cut the fat, just as the unemployed individuals will lose weight because they can't afford to support American agriculture like before. So after ten years, perhaps another World War as a stimulus, we'll all be on our feet again. And hopefully we'll win this one too because I don't want to be forced to face Mecca twice a day.
The way it looks right now is we're going to get another great depression but at least we managed to save the bankers before the ship went down this time. Women and children last! If only the collapse had waited another 5 months when a Democrat was in charge.
(Since the big three are as good as screwed at this point, Robert X. Cringely has some excellent advice on ways to remake the American Auto Business, asking how would Steve Jobs fix the problem? I love the way Cringely thinks, and he's retiring next week. Just when we need you most, Cringe!)
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Blagojevich Already Stripped of Appoitnment Power!
The Senate position is up on E-Bay!
(h/t Swampland)
Happy Golden Unicorn Status: A Clarification
When I describe Barack Obama as a happy golden unicorn, understand I don't believe he is magical or above corruption. Rather he is closer to those things than MOST POLITICIANS. I'm grading on the curve. He is, for example, less corrupt and more magical than Bill Clinton. And he appears as uncorrupt as is possible to function in American politics nowadays. I hope I'm perceiving correctly.
I cannot cite specific examples of his magicalness.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
That's Not Change You Can Believe In!
I held off on Rod Blagojevich yesterday for two very sound reasons. The first, I figured that as a Democrat, right-wing bloggers would be doing the heavy lifting on it anyway; and two, I didn't want to keep looking up that damn last name. I have some Polish blood (Blagojevich isn't Polish, but close enough) and even I can't wrap my mind around those crazy consonants.
It's gratifying to see so much left-wing attention paid to the story though. Olberman devoted 15 minutes to it last night; Rachel Maddow put in what sounded like 40 to me. Stephanie Miller's show was all over it this morning. We want the guy out as much as the Republicans do, probably even more so. I admit that one reason that we're not hesitating is this, a recorded statement found among the many others:
Blagojevich was overheard complaining ...that Obama's people are "not going to give me anything except appreciation." He added: "(Expletive) them."You couldn't ask for a better incriminating statement. It leaves Obama's happy golden unicorn status untouched. Interestingly, a tip to Fox News viewers: the Fox News website doesn't think that one is newsworthy enough to include. Well, probably no one is that interested in Obama's role in all this. Who would be, right?
Another fun aspect of Blagejovich's fall is it's spearheaded by that far-left zealot Patrick Fitzgerald. Ha ha, Scooter Libby supporters! How you like Fitz now?
Well, it's all over except for Mr. B's resignation, which I hope happens soon so the criminal trial can proceed in relative peace. It's hard work throwing people under the bus, and we're hoping the weasel will jump under there on his own. Cross your fingers, and Merry Fitzmas.
Monday, December 08, 2008
I Eschew The Holiday Tree
It's kind of a charming joke: every year at this time, Bill O'Reilly trots out his "war on Christmas" rhetoric. And while it's increasingly obvious that it means little more than an extra revenue stream to him, it means a lot to me.
I have my own personal war with Christmas.
And I'm not just imposing my cultural correctness on people, requiring them to substitute the word "Holiday" so as not to offend your Jewish friends. Or Muslim friends. Or Atheists. Or Zoroastrians or Wiccans or people who have trouble pronouncing "s". That kind of thing endorses the holiday itself. As far as I'm concerned, the holiday itself is the problem.
Let this serve as your notice, friends of Daniel K: I'm not playin'. I don't want gifts or cards, but if you send them I'm not sending back. Consider me a giving Dead Zone. I will attend most holiday parties I'm invited to, if there are hot depressed chicks who are so frazzled by the season that they don't know WHAT they're doing. They're more vulnerable to my secular charms.
Christmas is a way of artificially jacking up goodwill and fellowship to a fever pitch. It doesn't increase either of those things. It just sucks them away from the surrounding months.
It's a thorny closet space problem too. In addition to finding a place to hide the gifts (as if they didn't know!) all through December, you have to set aside space the other 11 months for your useless decorations. What the hell do you need a box of colored lights on a string for anyway? And why do you need to jack up the power requirements for a city just at the dead of winter. Oh and whether you kill a tree or buy one made out of synthesized petroleum, you're still hurting the environment for nothing. If you pay any attention to your carbon footprint, it's anxiety you don't need.
Anxiety you don't need, actually, is the next 25 days in a nutshell. If you don't believe me, see how long it takes you to drive NEAR the mall this weekend.
If I were still Catholic, I could feel the way I do now and quietly respect the season for commemorating the birth of Our Lord, though apparently he wasn't born anywhere near December 25th. Still, I could simply turn out the lights and meditate all day.
Is it all good for the economy? Probably. Then again, maybe people who buy presents choose not to buy something else. Maybe it's like the goodwill and brotherhood thing.
So when A CHRISTMAS CAROL rears its ugly head again this year, I'm walking out just before dawn comes and Scrooge learns to love Xmas. As far as I'm concerned, Dickens dropped the ball on the perfect happy ending by going on so long.
Friday, December 05, 2008
Blues For the Big Three
Thinking further about those auto exces, I remembered a song from my youth. Lyrics courtesy Martin Mull, on an unrelated subject. Sing to the tune of any BB King song.
I woke up this afternoon - I saw both cars were gone
I woke up this afternoon (lord mommy!) saw both cars were gone
I felt so lowdown deep inside
I threw my drink across the lawn.
The Fall Of Detroit
I'm coming around to the idea that our bailout money could be put to better use than propping up the American Auto Industry. It's time to admit it: foreigners are better at designing and building cars than we are. I have no doubt that some Americans will be able to turn that around, but not the Americans who run GM and Ford. Letting those juggernauts grind to a halt is a free-market solution whose time has come.
The money they're asking for would be best applied to extending unemployment benefits to the auto workers. Obviously they're going to take a huge hit too (the union wages were artificially high for largely unskilled work) but if the industry goes down, it will be a while before those people can find other jobs, and that's a long dead zone in an economy that is driven by consumer spending.
Another benefit to allowing this collapse is it will hurt the oil industry. The Automakers have been very, very sympathetic to the idea that cars should use as much gasoline as possible. This really hurt them this last summer. Even American hybrids get about 20 MPG less than their European counterparts. It's a simple software fix involving when the gas engine kicks in; but if you alter the software you void the warranty. Foreign auto makers don't seem quite so accommodating.
Charles E. Wilson, former GM President and Secretary of Defense under Eisenhower, famously suggested "...(What's) good for the country is good for General Motors and vice versa." It may have been true then, but it ain't now. GM is trying to suck the life out of us. And we recognize it. Enjoy the drive home, auto executives!
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Another Cultural Landmark Threatened
I woke up, bleary-eyed, and turned on the local news; shocked I saw that THE BODY SHOP was on fire. Not the mall outlet for lotion and essential oils! This Body Shop is the strip club on Sunset near the House Of Blues.
This place has a history for me. When I was about to married, my improv colleage Debra and her boyfriend Steve asked me about my bachelor party plans. I had to admit I simply didn't have any. They would not let that stand. Debra had a few irons in the fire; in addition to doing improv, she was also a "scream queen" appearing in several low-budget horror movies, and a stripper. While I'm at it, she was also a snake-handler (literally, pervert) and a fire-eater. Anyway, they insisted I come out with them to the Body Shop that night, the first strip club I had ever thought to visit.
It was delightful. This is Hollywood, and you meet a better class of strippers here. Courtney Love, for example, rose from the ranks of Jumbo's Clown Room to win a clutch bag full of Grammys; Diablo Cody is proud of her stripper past and alluded to it when she accepted the Best Screenplay Oscar for JUNO. While I don't recall meeting any such luminaries that night, I did get to chat with all the strippers and they were all intelligent career women. Some had just been offered $500 for sex with a visiting Arab oil magnate, but they just laughed that one off. The line between showbiz and the world's oldest profession seems a little sharper at the Body Shop than most strip clubs.
It struck me then and still does today that these places are kind of theme parks for adults. Just as a roller coaster simulates the experience of plunging to your death with no real danger involved, a lap dance simulates the experience of adultery. I don't know if most wives would agree with me on this one, but ladies, you must know that it's the lesser of two evils. An expensive alternative to be sure, but less so than a hotel room across town.
Debra got out of the business a few years later, breaking up with Steve and marrying a more stable guy in the construction business, but I think of her often. She's the hottest naked chick I've ever called friend. As for the Body Shop, I assume it will rise from this obvious arson accidental fire stronger, better and with a real brass pole instead of chrome. Then again, brass tarnishes with too much skin contact. Screw that. I think I'll stop off at Xposed on the ride home for a drink. I'm single now. It's cool.
GWK Addendum
Can you spot the misused words in the following?
I'll start your Prop 8 post for you. What is your fantasy response to this factual article?The words are "factual" and "article". The NRO piece you cut and pasted is what the MSM calls an "editorial". It's an OPINION. So my previous post? That's a response in kind. People who confuse editorials and articles are the same ones who believe that The O'Reilly Factor and Countdown with Keith Olberman are newscasts. Or, I'll wager in GWK's case, they believe one is a newscast and the other isn't.
Legislating Immorality
By the Editors
Still thanks for the comments - I got two days worth of postings out of 'em so far! If I'm lucky I can spin a few more out comments to this.
Let's Outlaw Ann Coulter!
Okay, here's why "the will of the people" is not a terrific reason to let Prop 8 stand. I'll start with often overlooked fact - gay people are, in fact, people. People who would like the option of getting married. The fact that there are more people who were fooled into thinking that this would somehow lead to bestiality or the end of civilization is beside the point. They were granted the right to marry because California's constitution, as written, already gave them that right.
(By the way, in the several countries where Gay Marriage is allowed: no rise in bestiality, civilization still thrives. In fact, there isn't even more homosexuality! There is, however, a decrease in gay promiscuity. What's the opposite of a slippery slope? Gay Marriage is a sticky plain.)
I don't like the idea that a larger segment of the population can bully a smaller segment; and as a white guy I can say that by 2050 I'll probably be in the minority in this country. Certainly in California. What if someone convinces the majority of voters that white people can't be trusted to hold public office? It's illegal to ban us from being mayor, but if we amend the constitution to say it ISN'T illegal, well, no more Mayor Chad Smith.
I have decided that doggy style is a bad sexual position - let's outlaw that. Unenforceable? Not if we allow bedroom surveillance. Illegal? Doesn't have to be.
Hey, I like Obama as president. Let's amend the constitution so that he can serve 8 consecutive terms! He's pretty popular; I bet I can find enough people to get it on the ballot.
People are the worst people to put constitutional amendments into the hands of. The constitution is like the motherboard of a democracy - you want a trained geek (let's call them "judges") to upgrade it, not your brother-in-law who doesn't even own a computer but who thinks it would be cool if one could light up when you press the escape key.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Him, Al Franken
GWK is resorting to my old trick of whip-turning the comments section to different topics. In the Lieberman post, he somehow drags poor Al Franken into the mix.
In the matter of Franken/Coleman, GWK may not be aware that it's a LEGAL REQUIREMENT that a recount be performed when the election is that close; and that the challenged ballots are reviewed by both sides and disinterested bipartisan observers. See Nate Silver for details. I know I know, it's so frustrating when the Democrats don't simply concede; after all, anyone who votes for a Democrat obviously meant to vote for a Republican. Still, that's how the game is played in Mary Tyler Moore country. Suck it up. By the way, "Dimocrat?" What are you, in grade school?When extremely suspicious bags of ballots are 'found' days & weeks after the election - in an election official's car-trunk, no less (forgot they were there!) - and ALL of them are for Franken, after he already lost the race, so that he can scream for a re-count, that doesn't serve the will of the people.
When Franken's OWN attorney's publically admit that he LOST the race and should concede, but Franken has Dimocrat Reid state that the House will look into the matter, that doesn't serve the will of the people.
If I get the chance tonight I'll tackle Prop 8, which I mistakenly referred to as Prop 9. Sue me! Or better yet, sue the Mormons.
Timing is Everything When You're Making A Deal
Saxby Chambliss! Go Saxby! I wonder if that is short for something, like Sebastian. Hmmm.
Well, Chambliss has won the re-vote and taken with him the possibility of a Democratic supermajority in the Senate. You know what that means... we held on to Leiberman for nothin'. Oh sure, there is always the possibility that we'll talk a couple of Republicans over to our side for some specific vote, (Leiberman, for example - *rimshot*) but Alf's Dad has somehow managed to stay in our living room, raiding the fridge and hogging the remote, basically on the promise that he'll do a little yard work once in a while. And he won't do it if his conscience forbids.
The interesting thing about this situation is it's a real power struggle. Leiberman's motivation is the desire to chair a few committees, which he would never be able to do as an Independent. However, that position is dependent on remaining in the good graces of a skeptical but kindly Democratic leadership, so he has to bow to them and vote the way they want him to. Joe Leiberman IS Tantalus.
Well, he was smart to negotiate his position before the recounts and re-votes, obviously. Maybe he's actually Donald Trump.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Move On
As the magic date of January 20th approaches, the question on the minds of a lot of my more extreme left friends is this - when do we finally start impeachin' and jailin'? You know what I mean. And in the past I've said that if we learned anything from the Clinton years, its that impeachment is no big deal. That is snarky. Impeachment is a big deal.
As a nation, we just can't afford to investigate the alleged crimes of the Bush administration. First of all, who wants to relive that crap? We got plenty of fresh problems to deal with; one of them the epic fail of our economy. If we pour government resources into lawyers' offices for six years, we lose. Ironically, one of the reasons the Clinton impeachment flew is because we could AFFORD to be that frivolous then.
And ultimately, the reason to prosecute any crime is to prevent other people from committing it. If Clinton was impeached for lying to Congress and a grand jury, it didn't stop Bush from the former. Anyway Bush, hopefully, was a unique animal; he did things that Presidents haven't tried since the mid 19th century. I doubt that we're going to have these abuses of power again, unless Karl Rove goes back into that business. And the money is probably better at Fox News.
Bush's punishment, I suspect, is that he's not going to be doing a lot of international travelling from here on in. We're willing to forgive and forget, but Europe may not be so amnesiac. Any foreign soil he sets foot on is likely to have a warrant out for him. And don't get them started on Cheney. Thus, Bush is in a prison which comprises 50 states. It's roomy, sure, but it's still limiting. Plus also, by his own estimation he's unlikely to see the vindication of history unless he lives to be 105. Until then, he's surrounded by a country who think he was wrong.
One more thing, which I hate to bring up, is the blowback factor. Remember when all these stories started coming out about the Clinton impeachment team? Bob Barr had paid for an abortion once, Henry Hyde had committed the "youthful indiscretion" of an affair while in his mid-forties, and so on. The point is, there's always plenty of dirty politics to bring to light. When you out someones misdeeds, you better have your own misdeeds thoroughly vetted when the dude's defense team goes after you.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Positive Economic Indicators
NEW YORK, Nov 28 (Reuters) - A man working for Wal-Mart was killed on Friday when a throng of shoppers surged into a Long Island, New York, store and physically broke down the doors, a police spokesman said.Oh hell, we're all screwed.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Wall Street analysts seemed to breath a sigh of relief Monday on evidence that unusual price cuts by Apple Inc. helped boost sales of iPods and Macintosh computers over the Black Friday weekend.
LOS ANGELES (LA TIMES) - Bargain-hungry consumers gave the nation's retailers a much-needed early holiday boost with surprisingly healthy sales on Black Friday that tapered off Saturday and Sunday."It was a retail manager's dream," said Marissa Marks, store manager at the Beverly Center's L'Occitane boutique, which saw Black Friday sales double to $4,000 from last year. But, she added Sunday, "yesterday and today are not so good."
