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They Told Me If I Voted For John McCain
We'd get at least another four years of Clint Eastwood-inspired tough guy comparisons--and they were right! Truth? Fiction? Who Can Tell These Days
By Ed Driscoll · February 7, 2009 02:24 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Submitted for your approval--two opening paragraphs. First up, this is Iowahawk: WASHINGTON - U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu announced his resignation this morning amid new reports that Alameda County workers had unearthed more than a dozen additional dead hobo bodies at his former home in Berkeley, California. The Nobel Prize-winning physicist had been the subject of a week-long controversy after he amended his White House application form to declare "3 or 4" hobo corpses in his crawl space, but after this morning's discovery, Chu said he felt he could no longer serve as an effective spokesman for Administration energy policy.Next, this is Agence France Presse: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's office moved on Friday to quash claims he attended a mystery concert featuring ABBA lookalikes singing to him from behind a veil at a military-style compound.Which one is real and which one is satire? You make the call! (HT: SG) Only In The Sense Of Not Consummating Dan's Man Crush
By Ed Driscoll · February 7, 2009 11:10 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · War And Anti-War
"Did Saddam Hussein Bug Dan Rather Before the Iraq War?" Actually, The "Perfect Madness" Phrase Is A Good Tip Off
By Ed Driscoll · February 7, 2009 08:08 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
Judith Warner, the author of a book titled Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety begins her op-ed in the New York Times, still, despite its anemic stock price, one of the most influential spokes in the legacy media, thusly: The other night I dreamt of Barack Obama. He was taking a shower right when I needed to get into the bathroom to shave my legs, and then he was being yelled at by my husband, Max, for smoking in the house. It was not clear whether Max was feeling protective of the president's health or jealous because of the cigarette.Who dreams of having the President of the United States in their shower while their spouse is yelling at him for smoking? Worse, who admits to this in public? Warner herself provides a clue, here: "This is the first president I've known who looks, talks and acts like a peer," is how one Washington man explained it to me. "Notwithstanding his somewhat exotic life story, I feel like I understand what he's like and where he's coming from. And despite his incredible achievements, he still seems like a lot of people I know. If you stopped the clock in 2004, in fact, or maybe a couple of years earlier, he'd feel roughly like a peer in terms of accomplishments, too.Which means that if he had an (R) after his name instead of a (D) that Washington man would be calling him grossly unqualified for the White House, instead of admiring his rapid rise to power and vapid, chameleonic style. More from the "Washington man" Warner quotes: "Of course I know nobody with his political gifts, speaking skills and confidence, and he's also a gifted writer and thinker. But I feel like one or two different turns for Obama or me and he could have been someone my friends and I wouldn't think it extraordinary to have in our circle."Included in that category are people whose shame is so diminished, they begin op-eds in a newspaper read by millions with embarrassingly mawkish dreams of showering with the President of the United States while simultaneously reaming him out for having a Marlboro 100 in the house. Update: "Mind-sexing Obama??? File under Things I Could Happily Lived The Rest of My Life Without Thinking About." Frequently Losing To The Pleistocene Steelers Twice A Year
The Cincinnatus Bengalsaurus was the rarest of dinosaurs, roaming the earth 1,000,000 years Ocho Cinco. News You Can Use
By Ed Driscoll · February 6, 2009 01:12 AM · Muggeridge's Law
"How To Deal When You Want To Have Sex With A Client." 25% Of Obama's Original Cabinet Picks Have Tax Issues
By Ed Driscoll · February 5, 2009 12:50 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law
"Have we had a more incompetent vetting process in the White House over such a short period of time? When we criticized Barack Obama's lack of executive experience, even we didn't think it was going to be this bad." Update: "It's easier to list the Obama-nees who aren't tax cheats than those who are." More: "Two thoughts: (1) Don't any of these people pay their taxes? And (2) Is this, like, some kind of karmic payback for all the Joe-the-plumber tax business?" Putting Out The Fire With Gasoline
By Ed Driscoll · February 5, 2009 08:14 AM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Return of the Primitive
Burning Man Festival gets sued--after man attending festival gets burned. (And at the other extreme of Mother Nature's thermostat, "Buffalo State College hosts the national teach-in on Global Warming Situations today -- a day the local temperature bottomed out at minus 6 degrees.") And The Winner Of The Silver Sow Award Is...
By Ed Driscoll · February 4, 2009 03:40 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
At least once a season on TV's WKRP In Cincinnati, semi-competent news journalist Les Nessman would win Ohio's Silver Sow Award for his morning farm reports. Robert Kennedy Jr. sounds like he's definitely in the running for the fictitious award's next presentation ceremony, with this quote: Today during a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Congressman Steve King asked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to confirm a quote he made to the Des Moines Register in 2002: "Large-scale hog producers are a greater threat to the United States and U.S. democracy than Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network, says Robert F. Kennedy Jr., president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, a New York environmental group."He'd face stiff competition from fellow Democrat Joe Biden, who has his own equally unique priorities for what's more important than the War On Terror: (Oh to be a fly on the wall, if those two ever decided to compare notes on the topic.) The Circular Firing Squad Closes Ranks
By Ed Driscoll · February 4, 2009 03:08 AM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
Liberal blogger describe liberal legacy media as racist--for asking the president a question when he visited the White House press room. ("You can't ask questions in here! This is the press room!" Ann Althouse quipped with Strangelovian satire immediately after the incident.) Such blue-on-blue reactionary thinking was merely a matter of when, as it's far from the first time that left has formed its own circular firing squad on the issue of race. Greetings From The Asbury Park Wal-Mart
By Ed Driscoll · February 1, 2009 12:16 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Run To Daylight · The New Puritans
As I wrote in November about Bruce Springsteen: To borrow from the vernacular of The Boss's early '70s glory days (to coin a phrase), has any musician become more Establishment than Springsteen?Over at Andrew Breitbart's "Big Hollywood" salon, Nick Gillespie of Reason magazine (who, like myself, grew up in New Jersey in the middle of Springsteen mania) makes it official--and asks, "did Janet Jackson's nipple really condemn us to a lifetime of Super Sunday misery?" To be fair it's the Super Bowl halftime show--whether it's Up With People or a corporate dinosaur rock star, it's supposed to be miserable. But at least Up With People was honest in its own relentless polyester cheer. Springsteen will be singing to 66,000 people who have paid thousands of dollars to be in attendance, and tens of millions watching the game in their warm suburban homes in Dolby Digital Surround Sound on 52-inch rear projection HDTVs about how Dickensian the nihilistic purgatorial Hell the American existence is. Gillespie adds: I will say this much in anticipation of the composer of "Mary, Queen of Arkansas" performing this weekend: I grew up in Monmouth County, New Jersey, which contains both Springsteen's hometown (Freehold) and his early haunt (Asbury Park), so I can't stand him in the same way that only a New Yorker can really, really hate the Yankees. I think that even his biggest fans will admit that his output over the past 25 years or so would make even Beethoven nostalgic for the first few albums. Springsteen is in that elite group of rock stars who have objectively sucked two, three, or even four times longer than they were ever any good (are you listening Sting, David Bowie, R.E.M., Patti Smith?). That, and in the video for "Glory Days," he had the worst fake baseball throwing arm since Gary Cooper in Pride of the Yankees. Which is saying something.But then, as Mark Steyn notes, (quoting from another "Big Hollywood" essay), "for half-a-century now rock has very successfully been 'both establishment and anti-establishment'": In fact, "a rebellious underdog distributed by the status quo" is the very definition of rock: All those fellows calling for revolution while contracted to Capitol, Columbia, EMI., Warner Bros - the exact same companies running the music biz back in the days when Glenn Miller and Bing Crosby were where the big bucks were. A few years ago the Warner Megabehemoth Globocorp launched a rap label called "Maverick", and nobody laughed.Or apologizing to your fan base on the left for--gasp!--selling records in Wal-Mart. Not that there's anything wrong with that--though of course, as Billy Joel said to John Cougar Mellancamp when the latter man was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, "You're right, John, this is still our country and we'll always be victims of powerful people." No matter how many tens of millions they stuff into your bank account. Change You Can Believe In!
By Ed Driscoll · January 31, 2009 07:22 PM · Muggeridge's Law
It seems like the last inauguration was just a week ago, but already, change has apparently arrived to change the change that just arrived: "People Are Talking About 'President Pelosi' Now."Because people who need Pelosi are the luckiest people in the world! PETA's Sea Kitten Campaign Gets Pranked With Steak Ad
By Ed Driscoll · January 30, 2009 01:23 PM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · Run To Daylight · The New Puritans · The Return of the Primitive
(Meanwhile, Greg Pollowitz explains how PETA played NBC.) And It's Not Like The Bar Hadn't Been Set Low Enough, Already
By Ed Driscoll · January 29, 2009 05:42 PM · Muggeridge's Law
In one of the Associated Press's reports on Blagojevich's impeachment--which astonishingly enough actually names his party--there's this choice tidbit: After a four-day trial, the Illinois Senate voted 59-0 to convict him of abuse of power, automatically ousting the second-term Democrat. In a second, identical vote, lawmakers further barred Blagojevich from ever holding public office in the state again.And everyone knows that character is such an important component of politicians from Illinois. From the Land of Lincoln to the Trough for Blago in 150 years--now that's progressive politics in action. The Words Of The Profits Were Written On The Snuggie Shawls
By Ed Driscoll · January 29, 2009 01:13 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
Steve Green writes, "They Don't Like Profits Anyway": Via Melissa Clouthier comes this tasty little item from Gawker:Even as yet another east coast paper begs for a federal bailout, there's hope yet for another legacy media: "Snuggie Sales Prove TV isn't Dead"!...today the NYT runs an op-ed from Yale's hallowed money manager David Swensen, in which he recommends that newspapers turn themselves into non-profits with endowments (we agree, philosophically at least). "As long as newspapers remain for-profit enterprises, they will find no refuge from their financial problems." He's talking to you, NYT!The NYT is already headed towards zero profits for as far as the eye can see -- so why not make it official? Well, that's a relief. History, Thy Name Is Blagojevich
By Ed Driscoll · January 29, 2009 02:31 AM · Muggeridge's Law
Forget the Great Man Theory of History--Blago is every great man in history; he's the Peter Lemon Moodring of politics: (Via Unterekless Thoughts.) With Apologies To Alvy Singer
By Ed Driscoll · January 27, 2009 07:05 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Sure, it's a large egg. But does it vibrate? The View's Askew. What's New?
By Ed Driscoll · January 27, 2009 06:02 PM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
Gay Patriot writes, "Joy Behar Says Obama Too Perfect for Mockery": On Sunday night, while doing my cardio, I caught what appeared to be rebroadcast of an episode of Larry King LIve. King asked The View's Joy Behar why comedians didn't make fun of the new president. The comedienne replied that this prez was just too perfect.*As a former employee of ABC said in 2007 on Joy's show: I'm saying that in America we are fed propaganda and if you want to know what's happening in the world go outside of the U.S. media because it's owned by four corporations one of them is this one. And you know what, go outside of the country to find out what's going on in our country because it's frightening. It's frightening.Come back Rosie--all is forgiven! (H/T: IP) "Why Is It That The Leaves Die Wherever We Go?"
A few years ago, John Derbyshire reminisced about a vignette involving Arthur Koestler: When Arthur Koestler was a Communist in Weimar Germany, he used to have secret meetings with comrades in open public places where a police "tail" would be easy to spot. Once he met with a female comrade in a Berlin park. While discussing necessary business, the woman lost her attention and began staring at the surrounding trees. "Why is it," she suddenly blurted out, "that the leaves die wherever we go?"I wonder if Al asks why it is that a permanent frost seems to follow wherever he goes? Al Gore is scheduled before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday morning to once again testify on the 'urgent need' to combat global warming.But then, what isn't? Chutzpah Alert
Noel Sheppard writes: The Obama economic adviser who doesn't want infrastructure "stimulus" spending to only benefit "white male construction workers" is angry at Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Michelle Malkin for having the nerve to report his racist remarks the mainstream media compliantly boycotted for several weeks.The best response to that would be to say, "I claim no higher truth than my own perceptions. This is how I lived it." Trickle Down Tinglenomics
By Ed Driscoll · January 25, 2009 12:36 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies
When we last saw Chris Matthews, he was busy explaining to Al Roker which direction the Oba-tingle flowed: Are you sure Chris? Because the direction of Obaworshiping is beginning to follow a distinct southern migration pattern. The One has gone from being on your shoulder, to in your breast pocket. So is a race to the bottom next? (H/T for the Barack-pocket sized chrestobamathy: Charlie Martin.) The Changing Face of Change
By Ed Driscoll · January 24, 2009 03:03 PM · Muggeridge's Law
As Mark Steyn quips, "How dazzling is President Obama?" So dazzling that he didn't merely give a dazzling inaugural speech. Any old timeserving hack could do that. Instead, he had the sheer genius to give a flat dull speech full of the usual shopworn boilerplate. Brilliant! At a stroke, he not only gently lowered the expectations of those millions of Americans and billions around the world for whom his triumphant ascendancy is the only thing that gives their drab little lives any meaning, but he also emphasized continuity by placing his own unprecedented incandescent megastar cool squarely within the tradition of squaresville yawneroo white middle-aged plonking mediocrities who came before him.There's more than one? I think for most of the Obaboosters, the "President 2.0" phrase du jour is surprisingly close to the mark. There's Bush, there's Obama. History began on 9/11--which itself is rapidly plunging down the Memory Hole. But then, Mark is among the few of us contrarians who haven't drunk the Obakool-Aid. Another is Abe Greenwald of Commentary's "Contentions" blog. He mines the fawning legacy media coverage of those who have imbibed deeply for hidden gems, finds them, and then jokes, "Funny, I don't remember Obama running on a platform of refreshing ignorance, but I guess I'm just disoriented from being stuck in the age of Old Politics." Old Politics? That's so 2008. The Fickle Fisting Of Fate
Or, great moments in live TV! Scroll to about 1:55 into this clip (at least while it's still online) to hear a local television sex doctor completely stick her fist in her mouth, as Gawker.com writes: Dr. Terri Orbuch, the "Love Doctor" on a Detroit news station was talking about how lovey-dovey they are and then completely stuck her fist in her mouth. She was trying to reference last June's infamous terrorist fist jab moment, shared between the then-candidate and his wife when he won the Democratic nomination.Unfortunately, thanks to the potent mixture of live TV and flop sweat, Orbuch blurted out this: We also need to be affectionate, and you can see that with Barack and Michelle as well. They do a lot of a lot of touching, kissing, even fisting with one and other.As Gawker concludes: See, if we weren't talking quite so much about how awesome it is that they like to touch and kiss each other, we would never have had the Presidential Fisting image seared into our brains. Thanks, Detroit!Heh. From The Home Office In Cook County, Illinois
By Ed Driscoll · January 23, 2009 12:55 PM · Muggeridge's Law
The Top The Dichotomy Of Brave Obamacles
Victor Davis Hanson notes the dichotomy that is the newly crowned President Obama: For nearly three months since the election, we have been warned by President Obama, his staff, and the media not to burden him with unreal expectations that no mere mortal could meet.Would you settle for tales of brave Obamacles? Update: On the other hand, "Could President Obama really be Bill McKay?" Beware, The Purple Tunnel Of Doom!
By Ed Driscoll · January 23, 2009 10:33 AM · Muggeridge's Law
Kerry Picket writes: While the media talking heads are still gabbing about the greatness of President Obama's inauguration, few, if any, are mentioning the purple inauguration ticket holders, who were stuffed thru Washington D.C.'s 3rd street tunnel hoping to see the Obama inauguration.Click over for assorted horror stories. Every time I see that headline though, I can't help but think of this purple tunnel--it looks like Levitra may have missed a sure-fire sponsorship opportunity. Was It Over When Chicago Bombed Pearl Harbor?
"In an interview Thursday with The Associated Press, Gov. Rod Blagojevich compared his early morning December arrest by FBI agents to Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor." I get these two incidents confused all the time myself. Girl, You Know It's True
Wow, talk about phoning it in: the music by Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma for President Obama's inauguration was prerecorded, apparently because of the weather conditions: The players and the inauguration organizing committee said the arrangement was necessary because of the extreme cold and wind during Tuesday's ceremony. The conditions raised the possibility of broken piano strings, cracked instruments and wacky intonation minutes before the president's swearing in (which had problems of its own).No, of course not. Tom Blumer dubs it "Faked But Accurate"; Ann Althouse capsulizes the postmodern surrealism of the day: So we were listening to recorded music when the clock hit noon, the constitutional moment for the President to be sworn in! Then, he was sworn in and that might have been fake and there was a second of that too.Glenn Reynolds asks, "A Milli Vanilli Start To The Obama Presidency?" But Bob Owens notes that the Milli-ing--and even the Vanilli-ing--started quite some time ago. Still, You Can Never Be Too Careful
A little Oogedy-Boogedy from the left: "Ceremony purges White House of evil spirits." The Man Who Sold the World
By Ed Driscoll · January 22, 2009 04:31 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law
Someone on Fleet Street is a lad insane, as "Agent Bedhead" writes, if they think David Bowie(!) set in motion our current financial maelstrom. Personally, I blame these cracked actors. (Via Colorado's thin white vodka-swilling duke.) Update: Problem solved--evidently, "Kate Moss Will Fix That Dreadful 'David Bowie Recession'". Let's dance! Greatest. Headline. Ever
By Ed Driscoll · January 21, 2009 05:12 PM · Muggeridge's Law
In the UK Mail--and I'll bet the editor had lots of fun writing it: "Former French President Chirac hospitalised after mauling by his clinically depressed poodle." (Via Lileks on Twitter, who adds, "Now go away you silly person, or I shall maul you some more!" But just what are the commercial possibilities of canine aviation?) The Gus Grissom Defense
By Ed Driscoll · January 21, 2009 02:02 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive
Not quite the same as the Chewbacca Defense, but worth reading nonetheless, as Robert Stacy McCain lists the sordid details of, as he calls him, "Mayor NAMBLA"--whose party affiliation dare not speak its name in the MSM. Your Cat Wants Steak
I'm sure somebody on Fark has already said it about this Japanese device which PC World notes, "Aims to Translate Cat Talk ." Via the Professor, more pet gadgetry here. Country Joe Biden And The Sea Kittens
By Ed Driscoll · January 21, 2009 11:15 AM · All You Need Is Ears · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive
in his last week in power, in order to ensure that the nation's capital actually survive the transition process, President Bush had declared DC a disaster area. Between the inclement weather, the lack of indoor plumbing, the minimum of functional outdoor plumbing, and hundreds of thousands of pop music-loving anti-war protesters, last Thursday, I wrote that the inauguration sounded like "a repeat of Woodstock, except with Geritol the drug of choice instead of LSD, and many fewer cool bands." CNN's John Roberts, the architect of CNN's infamous "Wright-Free Zone" last year, agrees. As Newsbusters puts it, "CNN's John Roberts Dubs Inaugural Crowds 'Barack-stock'": CNN's CAROL COSTELLO: You know, usually, you have a little bit of a problem getting people to agree to be on television, but not yesterday. People were begging to be on TV. They wanted their thoughts recorded. They were very much aware that history was being made, and they wanted to be a part of it in whatever way they could.Well far out, man! The lead act was pretty amazing, but did you catch Country Joe Biden And The Sea Kittens? Crosby, Stills And Rahm? Clinton Clearwater Revival? And how 'bout that oldies act, Thomas Jefferson Airplane! Seriously though, it did seem like there was plenty of featherweight pop culture and more than a few bad trips yesterday as well. Hopefully the administration will recover from their dalliance with nostalgie de la boue and actually govern like grownups. The legacy media's long strange acid trip of the last election cycle may have been too much for them to overcome, though. Update: While CNN's Roberts declared yesterday to be "peace, love, and history", Michael Medved notes that "President Obama explicitly and forcefully distanced himself from the far-left 'peace activists' who provided his drive for the presidency with much of its initial energy and urgency." New Benchmark For MSM Established
By Ed Driscoll · January 20, 2009 01:51 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · War And Anti-War
Just when you thought that media out of Gaza wasn't surreal enough, comes this moment, courtesy of Charles Johnson, who writes: Al Arabiya reporter Hannan al-Masri is live on the air in Gaza when she is told that Hamas has just fired rockets from inside the Al Arabiya studio building, news which apparently strikes her as quite humorous. This clip casts a whole new light on the numerous American media scandals of the past decade. For example, give CBS credit--as bad as RatherGate was, they've never launched missiles off the roof of Black Rock at their competitors! And A Grateful Planet Says Thanks, Mrs. Biden
By Ed Driscoll · January 19, 2009 12:07 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
AP's ubiquitous Nedra Pickler writes, "Biden shushes wife after secretary of state slip": The wife of Vice President-elect Joe Biden let it slip to Oprah Winfrey Monday that her husband had a pick of two jobs in the Obama administration.Fortunately for the sake of the entire planet's survival, Mrs. Biden wisely chose the job where her husband could the least amount of international harm: "Hamas Agrees To Cease-Fire, Declares Victory"
Ed Morrissey writes: Note to Hamas: When the enemy has its army encamped in your territory and you have to make demands for them to leave when the fighting stops, you didn't win. They had a cease-fire in place in December, without Israeli soldiers all over Gaza, and Hamas ended it in a hail of missile and rocket fire. A month later, several of their top people are dead, Gaza has been heavily damaged, and they're isolated politically among other Arab nations, plus the IDF is now holding Gaza in a vise grip, and all Hamas has is another cease-fire. Yeah ... some victory.All right...we'll call it a draw. A Pinch Of Identity Theft
By Ed Driscoll · January 18, 2009 06:52 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The New, New Journalism
I've met Neo-Neocon in person a few times. Everyone knows she blogs anonymously (and man, is it hard talking to someone at a cocktail party when she holds an apple in front of her face the whole time), but who knew just how secret the life she was leading really was? For you see, Neo-Neocon is also, simultaneously, Meryl Yourish at the same time. With the Bush administration concluding this week, this could be the final closely held American secret blown wide-open for the next four to eight years by the intrepid New York Times--not to mention its layers and layers of ace fact checkers and editors. (H/T: Glenn Reynolds, who is also both Glenn Greenwald and Glenn Corbett. And maybe John Glenn, too. Who can say?) "Someday Your Putsch Will Come"
By Ed Driscoll · January 18, 2009 01:43 PM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · Radical Chic · The Return of the Primitive
In "A Manual for Left-Wing Living", his new article in the Wall Street Journal, Kyle Smith reads Nation magazine's Guide To The Nation so you don't have to. Here's a sample: In Monty Python's "Life of Brian," the People's Front of Judea was always prepared to respond to any crisis with an immediate burst of discussion. In "The Nation Guide to the Nation," praise is showered on the Brecht Forum cultural center in New York, which the editors note was recommended in 2000 by the Village Voice as the "Best place to start thinking about the revolution." Keep cogitating, revolutionistas. Someday your putsch will come.Read the rest--then stop by Kyle's fine blog. (Berets, turtlenecks, sunglasses and bongos optional, of course.) Hell Is Other Diners At Spago
By Ed Driscoll · January 17, 2009 10:43 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law
Newsbusters spots "Celebs Giddy for Obama's 'Magic Moment' After 'Hell' of Bush Years". Here's but one of them: Actress Gloria Reuben (IMDb page), now in TNT's Raising the Bar and formerly on NBC's ER, will be on hand Tuesday "to watch the magic moment happen" since she yearns for an end to the "hell" of the Bush years. (Screen capture is from Reuben on ABC's This Week in 2006 when she was promoting a play in which she played Condoleezza Rice):She looks fantastic. She's spent 13 years on a top-rated TV series making a high six figure if not seven figure annual salary. And "The last eight years have been such hell"? Why, lights on the set too bright? Wolfgang Puck didn't give you the first table at Spago? No, evidently, it's because the man in Washington who in the scope of things will be seen as governing in much the same fashion as his predecessor had an R after his name and not a D.It's a once-in-a-lifetime situation. The last eight years have been such hell. We're all so excited about the hope of things to come. I really think that's part of it. People are so ready to rejoice and celebrate what is hopefully the return of the foundation of the United States. And yet, somehow, in the photo of Reuben from 2006, she's smiling--good stiff upper lip and all that whilst trapped in Bushitler Hell. That's more than other celebrities can say about their decade in purgatory--Maura Tierney, another traumatized victim of ER is quoted as saying, "I'm calm for the first time in eight years." On the other hand, Tierney's IMDB profile notes this: Wrote an article in the spring 2001 issue of Flaunt titled, "'Rudy Giuliani': A Fascist? You Be The Judge."Ahh--now it all makes sense. Obviously a Buchananite crushed by his third party defeat in 2000 who's never recovered... Related: Hollywood East. The Final Countdown Du Jour
By Ed Driscoll · January 17, 2009 07:44 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Assault On Reason · The Future and its Enemies · The Memory Hole · The New Puritans
"Leading climate expert Jim Hansen" (no relation, as far as we can tell, to a deceased but global warmingly remembered Muppet expert) believes "Barack Obama has only four years to save the world." Of course he does. But we give Mr. Hanson bonus points for eschewing the leisurely and far overdone bourgeois pace of the ten year countdown--four isn't a number that's picked all that often from the proverbial hat for a doomsday countdown. But in any case, file this one way for election time in 2012 if--and we think the odds are somewhat reasonable here--Mr. Hanson is wrong. In any case, no final countdown is complete without... Funny Money
By Ed Driscoll · January 17, 2009 01:19 PM · From Bauhaus To Our House · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
"Prepare now for the coming post-stimulus hyperinflation with these million-dollar bills featuring Barack Obama's picture! Why wait until the government gets around to issuing them in 2011, when they'll buy a single measly gallon of gas?" I must say, hopefully our real million dollar notes will look as sharp as these Weimar Republic bills--which, with their Bauhaus designed at least looked cool, even if they were essentially worthless due to hyper-inflation. Pre-Transition Loin Girding Observed In Senate
By Ed Driscoll · January 16, 2009 01:29 AM · Muggeridge's Law
Warner Todd Huston writes, "Biden Leaves The Senate With A WHOPPER On His Lips"--but then, Joe really is the Master of Disaster, of course: More thoughts on Joe The Veep from...Joe The Veep. Chief O'Hara, Flash The Che-Signal!
By Ed Driscoll · January 15, 2009 01:22 AM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · Radical Chic · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
Headline on Contact Music.com: "Benicio Del Toro--'Che Guevara Was A Warrior, Like Batman.'" Which fits nicely alongside the riff Oliver Stone went off on immediately after 9/11 that terrorists are like Einstein. Both quotes speak volumes of the moral inversion that is modern (and by modern, I mean insanely regressive) Hollywood. (Found via "Big Hollywood", appropriately enough.) Bush Declares Disaster Area
By Ed Driscoll · January 15, 2009 12:21 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
Jules Crittenden writes, "Anxious not to be stuck with the blame for another Katrina, Bush puts the federal disaster response into motion ahead of time, mobilizing FEMA bucks." Jules has photographic evidence of the multiple survival mechanisms being put into place for those enduring the disaster region. He also links to an article which states that incoming volunteers are well aware of the grim conditions they'll be facing: Beginning this weekend, millions of people are expected to swarm into the Nation's Capital - many with the highest expectations of seeing history unfold around them.Most seem aware of the challenges they face, transportation difficulties at best, millions of charged up people in the same place, enduring the elements for long hours, and all with no access to indoor plumbing.Not to mention all of the anti-war protesters. In other words, a repeat of Woodstock, except with Geritol the drug of choice instead of LSD, and many fewer cool bands. Related: Not that the Washington establishment isn't itself quite a hallucinatory experience. First They Came For The Babies Named Hitler...
By Ed Driscoll · January 14, 2009 05:22 PM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
If you've named your kid Hitler (and one of his siblings "JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell"), you've already come out in favor of a leviathan all-encompassing state. So why act surprised when it works against you? The Unicorn Rider Still Has No Clothes
And it looks like his unicorn is ready to do the full Roman Polanski switchblade maneuver on the bear market's right nostril. If this makes no sense to you, you're not on the same wavelength--and/or medication--as this artist. Just Ask Any Kid At Finals Time
(Or at least me--it was guaranteed to happen like clockwork, particularly before Christmas break.) "Study: Lack of Sleep Increases Risk Of Obtaining Cold" OK, everybody say it with me: I need a study to tell me this? I Blame The Militant Wing Of The Salvation Army
By Ed Driscoll · January 13, 2009 07:41 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Memory Hole · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
Let he who is without sin cast the first anti-aircraft cannon. Quote Of The Day
"This is a federal building and he doesn't pay federal taxes so he can't come in." If only that worked for prospective treasury secretaries being vetted, in addition to cats. Nobody Toss Her The Keys To The Oldsmobile!
By Ed Driscoll · January 13, 2009 03:14 PM · Muggeridge's Law
"Like Uncle, Like Niece--Caroline Kennedy's candidacy mirrors Ted's 47 years ago." Dems Accept Burris Into Senate
By Ed Driscoll · January 12, 2009 03:48 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Details at Politico, link found via The American Spectator. Well played, Gov. Blago, well played. Stop Google Warming!
By Ed Driscoll · January 12, 2009 11:06 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The New Puritans · The Return of the Primitive
"Physicist Alex Wissner-Gross says that performing two Google searches uses up as much energy as boiling the kettle for a cup of tea." Of course, a handful of really greedy buggers triple that impact with each search--and don't even mention the even bigger carbon criminals who dare to perform Google searches on their private Boeing 767s. On the other hand, enough Google searches and private planes could prevent the new ice age--so have at it, boys and girls! (H/T: Lileks on Twitter) Great Moments In Headlines
By Ed Driscoll · January 12, 2009 02:51 AM · Muggeridge's Law
If this isn't "The Best Story, Ever" as its (re)-publisher advertises, it's certainly one of the best headlines ever. Update: Well, it's still a great headline--it's just not true. (HT: H/A) "Obama Says Recession Requires Scaling Back Promises"
By Ed Driscoll · January 11, 2009 10:26 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
Fortunately, The One was careful to under-promise during the campaign in the event of just such a contingency. Nature Versus Nurture Versus Xerox
Shocking news! "Owners of cloned dogs complain that the clone version doesn't behave exactly like the original." Mr. Burris Goes To Washington
By Ed Driscoll · January 9, 2009 01:43 PM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
![]() John Hinderaker writes, "The Illinois Supreme Court ruled today that Governor Rod Blagojevich's appointment of Roland Burris' to the Senate does not require the Secretary of State's signature to be valid": he unanimous ruling came as no surprise, but it stripped Senate Democrats of their principal excuse for barring Burris from taking the seat to which he has been appointed. It now appears that Mr. Burris will soon be Senator Burris after all.Meanwhile, "Dems Melt in the Heat of Burris Fiasco", Jonah Goldberg observes: Now, I certainly understand why Reid & Co. caved. For starters, Reid's not exactly the brightest crayon in the box.Finally, in the face of impeachment, Gov. Blagojevich stands tall: "A Blagojevich spokesman said the governor will not resign." Allahpundit asks, why would he? He just got done rolling Harry Reid, and Fitzgerald's indictment is still months away. I'm not even sure what the charges against him in the impeachment trial will be at this point. Supposedly he can no longer perform the duties of governor effectively. Really? He was effective enough to make the entire U.S. Senate choke on the Burris appointment.And if all this sounds surreal so far, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Update: "Following a decision by the Illinois Supreme Court, Jesse White, the Illinois secretary of state, has certified Roland Burris' appointment to the Senate, removing a major roadblock blocking Burris' ascension to the body." Does this make the headline above official? It seems likely that Harry Reid's not going to offer very much additional pushback. But hey, between DC and Illinois, anything's possible. Joe The Veep!
By Ed Driscoll · January 9, 2009 12:07 AM · Muggeridge's Law
If you enjoyed my "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy" video this week featuring our incoming vice president's top ten gaffes (no small chore culling them down to such a small number), you'll likely get a kick out of the new Joe The Veep blog. And who knows--maybe even vice versa. "Nixon Went To China--Bush Left It For The Next Guy"
Heh, indeed.™ As Kathy Shaidle writes, "Listen for weird smashing sounds coming from inside the White House on Inauguration night." Uh Oh--I Smell Another Cheap Cartoon Crossover
By Ed Driscoll · January 8, 2009 12:04 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · The Cartoon Kingdom
No sign of Jay Sherman or Bart Simpson (though I think we know where Homer stands), but Debbie Schlussel spots one of the world's biggest cartoon heroes in the tank for the world's biggest celebrity. No word yet on whether they'll be teaming up for a sequel to this Very Special Issue of Spider-Man. Back in 2004, Power Line's John Hinderaker wrote that comic books were "a medium in which the liberals will have a hard time competing", but the left's Long March Through The Institutions beginning in the 1960s and '70s also included a stop there, alas. That Was The Year That Will Be
By Ed Driscoll · January 7, 2009 10:32 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
John Hawkins has a bipartisan round-up of "The 40 Most Obnoxious Quotes For 2008"; meanwhile, Iowahawk, over at his swank UK gig, starts his 2009 Christmas vacation early, and looks back at the year to come. Of course, as always, the reality will be far stranger than the predictions. Didn't We Learn Anything From The 1960s?
By Ed Driscoll · January 7, 2009 03:15 PM · Muggeridge's Law
"Joe Biden Declares War"--like that worked out so great for Eric Burdon. More declarations from the veep who puts the d'oh into Delaware, here. Can Our Govenment Be Competent? Barack Obama Says Yes!
Roger Kimball on "Capgras Syndrome": Notwithstanding Inauguration Fever, there are signs of unhappiness in Obamaland. Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is just about to begin her tenure as the first-ever female head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is deeply distressed by Obama's pick of Leon Panetta, Bill Clinton's former chief of staff, to head the FBI [Oops: wrong acronym: as a reader points out it was Obama picked to head the CIA: "FBI, CIA, ONI. We're all in the same alphabet soup." --The Professor in North by NorthWest]. "I wasn't even consulted," sniffed Feinstein, dabbing her eyes (I paraphrase). And Obama's choice of the Rev. Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inaugural sent poor Frank Rich into orbit. Reaching for his most opprobrious epithet, Mr. Rich warned that he discerned "a faint tinge of Bush" creeping into the otherwise immaculate reverie that was his image of Barack Obama. Any moment now, I expect an outbreak of Capgras Syndrome to cascade through the ranks of the faithful.And once the Beatles records are played backwards, who will be revealed as the new Billy Shears, or Billy Campbell, or whoever it was who was supposed to have taken Paul McCartney's place? As Obama is having lunch today, he might look across the table and ponder this presidential cautionary tale:Behold, the will.i.am of the 1970s: Caroline Kennedy's Couture Identity Politics
Jennifer Rubin writes that "now, with the election safely behind us and Sarah Palin tucked away back in Alaska, the truth can be told. Identity politics is not, in itself, objectionable -- it just depends on the identity": Not okay: small town, funny accent, overt religiosity, non-tony education. Okay: Manhattan address, Ivy League, discreet attire, impeccable lineage. (In other words, just like Dowd's inner circle.)But brilliant poetry editing, as Mark Steyn recently observed: "Friends Say Kennedy Has Long Wanted Public Role," Anne Kornblut assured readers in an in-depth Washington Post tongue-bath. She hasn't "long wanted" it to the extent of, you know, running for dog catcher in Lackawanna and getting - what's the word? - "elected," but, if you have a spare Senate seat, she's graciously indicated that she'd be prepared to consider accepting it. As lady-in-waiting Anne Kornblut pointed out, Caroline is highly qualified, being "the author of several books." It's true! She's an experienced poetry editor. She edited "The Best-Loved Poems Of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis." Jackie Kennedy wrote poems? Of course! She wrote so many poems that some are better loved than others.Let's see Harry Reid try that. Related: "Does Maureen Dowd moonlight at MSNBC as Andrea Mitchell's writer?" More: "Insert Chappaquiddick Joke Here"; internecine dynastic struggle observed there. Jurassic Park Avenue
By Ed Driscoll · January 6, 2009 11:39 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
Blair's Law (named after the Bard Down Under, of course) refers to "the ongoing process by which the world's multiple idiocies are becoming one giant, useless force." See also this: "CBS Buys First Front-Page Ad On New York Times": An advertisement for CBS has become the first display ad ever to appear on the front page of the New York Times. In its own article about the appearance of the ad, the newspaper called it the "latest concession to the worst revenue slide since the Depression." It conceded that the move is "regarded by traditionalists as a commercial incursion into the most important news space in the paper." Oddly the newspaper indicated that it could not learn how much CBS had paid for the ad.Presumably it was more than this earlier sweetheart deal demonstrating yet another example of Blair's Law in action. But yes, it's amazing how quickly aphasia affects the media when reporting on itself. Man's Crisis Of Identity At The Dawn Of The New Millennium
(With apologies to Monty Python for the above headline) 21st century England's eventual demise due to postmodern moral uncertainty summed up in a single word: The archsceptic professor Richard Dawkins today launched Britain's first atheist campaign posting the message: "There's probably no God. So stop worrying and enjoy your life" on the side of 800 British buses.What would Nietzsche and H.L. Mencken say about wimping out like this? Even the atheists are unsure of themselves in England. Magical Thinking
By Ed Driscoll · January 5, 2009 12:37 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Newark, NJ is desperate to somehow change its image as a city rife with crime and to do so, they're banning...barbed wire? Some business owners in this crime-plagued city say recent enforcement of a decades-old ordinance prohibiting some types of barbed wire and razor wire is making Newark more attractive - to thieves.Gee, ya think? Also blogging on this: The Brothers Judd and Ace of Spades. Monty Python's Flying Terrorists
All right! All right! this is your captain speaking! Do not rush for the lifeboats... women, children, Red Indians, spacemen, doctors, nurses, and a sort of idealized version of complete Renaissance Men first! Related: Israel Matzav notes that IDF has taken over Hamas television: The IDF took over Hamas' al-Aqsa television Sunday morning, and broadcast what you're about to see (this broadcast was actually on Israel's Cable Channel 10, which explained to Israelis what had happened).Click over for the video clip--though as they wryly note, no sign of Farfour yet. Or his successor in the anthromorphized animal terrorist world, Nahoul the Killer Bee. Plan B From Outer Space
By Ed Driscoll · January 4, 2009 05:36 PM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Final Frontier
In 2007, it was giant sun shades orbiting the earth to block imaginary global warming. Today, as Tim Blair notes, it's giant mirrors in outer space to block carbon dioxide, as environmentally correct engineers dust off an old chestnut from Arthur C. Clarke. Meanwhile, here's a massive terraforming project that looks like much more fun. Poor Vetting from Team Obama Strikes Twice in One Day
By Ed Driscoll · January 4, 2009 05:06 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Actually, I'm pretty sure that this is the Hillary we've always known. Circling The Obamobius Loop
By Ed Driscoll · January 4, 2009 02:44 PM · Muggeridge's Law
The Washington Post reports that Bill Richardson is out as potential commerce secretary for the incoming Obama administration: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has withdrawn his name from consideration as commerce secretary for President-elect Barack Obama, citing an ongoing investigation about business dealings in his state.As with Blagojevich, Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers, Tony Rezko, etc., Team Obama claims that's not the Bill Richardson we thought we knew. Give It Away, Give It Away, Give It Away Now
By Ed Driscoll · January 3, 2009 04:49 PM · Muggeridge's Law
He's not even in office yet, but every day, it becomes increasingly easier to think of Joe Biden as Dan Quayle, but with far worse hair, and far more gaffes. (H/T: Don Surber, via the Professor.) Wonder Who Gave Him That Idea?
North Carolina's News & Observer observes that Mike Easley, the state's outgoing governor "said newspapers should be nice to him": In an interview with the Greensboro News & Record, Easley complained about how newspapers, particularly The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, have treated him. Both papers are owned by Sacramento, Calif.-based McClatchy Co.And the News & Observer is happy to oblige in one sense: there's no mention of Easley's party in the above linked article. It's the pact that President Elect Obama and the legacy media have--why shouldn't other Democratic politicians request the same agreement, particularly since their relationship with their media mouthpieces is likely to become even cozier in the coming months and years. (H/T: Betsy Newmark) About Face
By Ed Driscoll · January 1, 2009 10:40 AM · Muggeridge's Law
In the modest, puckish spirit of Glenn Greenwald, Jules Crittenden provides a brief and mild polish of his blog's "About" page. Juice Icons Band Together To Fight Juicephobia
By Ed Driscoll · January 1, 2009 10:30 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
The illiterate brute brandishing his cardboard "Death To All Juice" placard is unwittingly uniting previously divided factions, much to his chagrin: In what cynics dismissed as a ploy to inject life into his flagging career, Kool-Aid man had announced his homosexuality in 1996. Getting him in the same room as the famously anti-gay Bryant would prove challenging. But Tropic-Ana was able to break the impasse.Drink in the whole thing. Sustainable Growth Defined
By Ed Driscoll · December 30, 2008 08:33 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason
Is it better to give or to receive? Tim Blair spots Bank of America investing tens of billions of dollars in the summer "to make their operation sustainable [and] reduce greenhouse gas emissions"--before receiving $115 billion only a few months later from the ultimate source of gaseous emissions--Congress. Related: Definition of insanity defined, here. Death To Au Jus!
By Ed Driscoll · December 30, 2008 09:04 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
Maybe this spelling-challenged gentleman really, really hates roast beef... It Was 20 Years Ago Today...
By Ed Driscoll · December 29, 2008 08:02 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President · The Substance of Style
...That David Bernstein of the Volokh Conspiracy wore his baseball cap with the brim facing backwards: Who would have thought that twenty years after I, as a teenager, thought it looked cool to put my baseball cap on backwards (was it a Beastie Boys thing? Who remembers...), that youths, and even some adults (saw a guy in his 30s yesterday), would still be doing it (though there seemed to be a break for a time in the late '80s and mid '90s). Folks, the bill is on the front for reason, to shade your face from the sun. And it's soooo unclassy. Can you imagine Cary Grant wearing a backwards baseball cap? Please ladies, boycott the gents who wear the cap backwards, or at least tell them how silly it looks, and end this travesty for good. Perhaps a simple, "you know, David Bernstein had that look twenty years ago," will do.Too bad this unwitting celebrity fashion victim and his army of media handlers such as this Reuters journalist never got the memo: The president-elect, looking uber-cool with his White Sox baseball cap on backwards, flipped the shaka to a crowd of about 30 people as he left a gym on a Marine Corps base on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, where he is vacationing.As Jonah Goldberg noted last week, American society--let alone the rest of the world--is far too balkanized for such a blanket statement. And in such a diverse environment, news agencies such as Reuters need to mindful of such a wide range of readers. In other words, we all know that one man's uber-cool fashion plate is another man's uber-dork. To be frank, it adds little to the national dialogue to call the attack on the basketball courts by the president elect an uber-cool aesthetic experience. A Fish Called Recession
By Ed Driscoll · December 28, 2008 05:09 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law
John Hinderaker of Power Line asks: If you seriously believe that the Earth is threatened with destruction by global warming, then the current global economic slowdown is providential. Reduced economic activity equals less energy consumption equals less carbon emitted into the atmosphere. Environmentalists have been telling us we need to reduce our energy consumption, and live more modestly, for years. Now we're doing it. So where's the celebration of the world's sharp turn Greenward?For that, we turn to the renowned economist, Jamie Lee Curtis... Send Lawyers, Guns And Tailors
If you're looking to give Plaxico Burress a Christmas gift tomorrow, a pair of trousers wouldn't be amiss: "Weapons, ammo, pants seized at Burress' NJ home." England: Where Irony Goes To Die
By Ed Driscoll · December 24, 2008 03:46 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Holiday That Dare Not Speak Its Name · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
Fair is fair: Thanks to this "alternative Christmas message" and Channel's Four's choice of host to deliver it*, England, the birthplace of Muggeridge's Law, has now run smack dab into it like an out-of-control Prius on an unsalted Seattle street. Read More » The Slippery Slope Argument, Now Surprisingly Literal
By Ed Driscoll · December 24, 2008 03:38 PM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The New Puritans · The Return of the Primitive
I'm very happy to see that the Salt Nazis ("No salt for you--ever!") haven't banned sodium chloride from South Jersey's roads yet, unlike Seattle. In Rod We Trust
By Ed Driscoll · December 24, 2008 09:01 AM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies
Hey, glad to see that I wasn't the only one releasing previously unseen and all-too-brief material involving senatorial financial relations two days before Christmas... Scientific Insight Into The Evolution Of The Internet Universe
By Ed Driscoll · December 23, 2008 10:29 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Making of the President
Allahpundit has a holiday epiphany: "Christmas miracle: Traffic soars on 'shirtless Obama' Internet searches": Got an e-mail from Ed 20 minutes ago telling me to check SiteMeter. On one of the most gruesomely awful traffic days of the year, with blog readers tuning out in droves to prepare for the holiday, we're ... way above our daily average. Have a look at the referrals to see why. It's not just us, either. It's Internet-wide, per the AP and The One's current standing at Google Trends.Clearly, our incoming president is the leader of "the American League of Justice Dispensed Shirtlessly", to borrow a Lileksian riff. In an update to Allah's post, Ed Morrissey adds: I'm glad AP decided to post this instead of me. I'm above posting phrases like Obama six-pack, Obama shirtless, and especially Obama topless in a vain effort to get Google traffic. You'll never see that from me. No sir-ee.Ed was kind enough to link to us on Tuesday morning, shortly before I hopped on a cross-country flight from the relatively mild climate of San Jose into bitter wintry, hail-strewn Philadelphia, the latter city yet another victim of global warming at its worst. Pimp My Speed Camera!
By Ed Driscoll · December 21, 2008 08:39 PM · God And Man At Dupont University · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies
This is fiendishly brilliant: As a prank, students from local high schools have been taking advantage of the county's Speed Camera Program in order to exact revenge on people who they believe have wronged them in the past, including other students and even teachers.As Mark Hemingway writes, "Yes, it would be just awful if the speed camera program was called into question as a result of this." What A Difference A Day Makes
By Ed Driscoll · December 19, 2008 01:14 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Time magazine's "Person of the Year 2008" cover story, dated December 17th: President Elect Obama's "arrival on the scene feels like a step into the next century -- his genome is global, his mind is innovative, his world is networked, and his spirit is democratic." Time magazine, December 18th: "Obama has proven himself repeatedly to be a very tolerant, very rational-sounding sort of bigot." Casabaracka!
By Ed Driscoll · December 18, 2008 04:15 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
Really, "what can one man do to save the world?" (Click over if only for the terrific Photoshop.) (Via the Binkmeister.) The Fickle Florsheim Of Fate
By Ed Driscoll · December 18, 2008 12:31 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
Michael Graham has "The Shoe 'Nuff Truth": Now that you've heard the Partisan Press cackle and misreport the Shoe-Flingin' Iraqi "Journalist" story for 48 hours (did the press tell you, for example, he worked at a Pro-SADDAM newspaper in Egypt?), get the Natural Truth from military analyst and historian Ralph Peters:Glenn Reynolds places the attack into context with another event that occurred near the start of President Bush's administration.If an Arab journalist had thrown his shoes at Saddam Hussein or one of his guests, the tosser would've been beaten, then tortured, then killed. Today's Iraqi government is considering whether the man should be charged under the state's democratically validated Constitution.Charles Krauthammer made a similar point on Fox News yesterday, noting that while the Arab and American media are gleefully reporting this one man's actions as reflective of Iraq, the elected Iraqi parliament--which has to go home and answer to citizens--overwhelmingly passed the Bush-backed security plan that the president went to Iraq to sign. (Via Kathy Shaidle, exploring the Zapruder film and going back and to the left wingtip.) Strange Moments In Google Searches
By Ed Driscoll · December 17, 2008 03:55 PM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · The Newspeak Dictionary · The Return of the Primitive
Just found in my stats counter was this Google search (the abrupt cutoff is also in the original): hitler and national socialism are really nothing more than contemporary shibboleths in america. whether invoked by thoughtless neocons i.e. goldberg's obnoxious screed titled ''liberal fascism'' orLionel Chetwynd, call your office! World Ends, AP Correspondents Hardest Hit
By Ed Driscoll · December 17, 2008 02:27 AM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
We mentioned AP's "Byline Strike" on Tuesday, but Dan Riehl does a great job of reading between the bylines: The real kicker is that while the journalists are busy writing about the collapse of the Global economy, or the newspaper industry looking like it's going away, all in times so bad we need a new, New Deal - they went to the table asking for a 10% raise.As Dan writes, it's obvious that even AP doesn't believe the endlessly catastrophic news they've been reading via AP. Well, can't fault them there. Marion Barry Could Not Be Reached For Comment
By Ed Driscoll · December 16, 2008 05:19 PM · Muggeridge's Law
"They're setting me up. The bastards are setting me up!" (H/T: AP) "The Great Byline Strike Of '08"
By Ed Driscoll · December 16, 2008 02:23 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Future and its Enemies · The New, New Journalism
Even as newspapers are shedding staff and hemorrhaging money, Roger L. Simon spots "The Great Byline Strike Of '08" amongst journalists at the Associated Press: I read with amusement that reporters and photographers for the Associated Press are staging (via the Newspaper Guild) a 'byline strike.' Say what? To stage a such a strike people have to have heard of you, but practically no one is more anonymous than a writer for a news service. It almost comes with the job description. You are the "Associated Press," not yourself. The AP is not exactly where you find the next Norman Mailer. News service reporters are not even as well known as bloggers. I mean whose names are more famous to the general public at his point -- Glenn Reynolds, Michelle Malkin and (yikes) Markos Moulitsas or [insert any Associated Press writer here]?As that sage philosopher of Springfield, H. J. Simpson once told his daughter, "Lisa, if you don't like your job you don't strike. You just go in every day, and do it really half-assed. That's the American way." And from that perspective, the staff at AP have been doing an exceptional job of alerting readers of poor working conditions there for years. "Black Leaders See Senate Seat Being Hijacked"
By Ed Driscoll · December 16, 2008 01:27 PM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
Found via Newsbusters, this Chicago Sun-Times article begins thusly: Bye bye, black Senate seat! The political blackbirds are singing a swan song for the hopes of keeping a U.S. Senate seat in African-American hands. The Rod Blagojevich implosion may have dealt that cause a fatal blow.So much for post-racial America. Instinct's Just Another Word For Nothing Left To Lose
By Ed Driscoll · December 16, 2008 01:19 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole
Ed Morrissey posts an amusing clip of Joe Scarborough riffing on the instinctive legacy media. I Blame The Militant Wing Of The Salvation Army
By Ed Driscoll · December 14, 2008 09:08 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
Shocking foot-age (their pun, not mine--sorry, though) of who is behind the Iraq shoe attack. And on a more serious footnote (OK, I'll cop to that one), Roger L. Simon spots what this tells us about how far the nation has come--the idiot who perpetuated it isn't going to end up feet-first in the woodchipper, unlike if he had tried something similar to the man who was captured by the US five years ago this weekend. Meaty, Beaty, Big And Blago
By Ed Driscoll · December 13, 2008 04:37 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed toupee. (Via VodkaPundit.) To Be Fair, "Max Planck" Does Sound A Bit Dirty
The inadvertent Desperate Housewives edition of a German scientific publication. (Via Maggie's Farm.) Selling The Seat Was Only The Start
By Ed Driscoll · December 13, 2008 03:30 AM · Muggeridge's Law
Jennifer Rubin writes that the Cook County tactics that put Illinois' Gov. Blagojevich on the national radar in the first place may well be remedied by...more Cook County tactics: You can't beat those pols from Illinois. Faced with the most vivid display of lawlessness and base corruption in recent memory, they seek a solution that shows no regard for legality. The state's Attorney General (who may or may not have been one of the enumerated Senate Candidates in the criminal complaint) is heading to court to declare Blago "unfit" and get him removed immediately, without impeachment proceedings. Because impeachment takes so long - and will, by the way, increase calls in the interim for a special election (rather than appointment by Blago's eventual Democratic successor) to fill the empty Senate seat. So an end-around to get rid of the lawbreaker -- the "perfect" Illinois solution.Read the whole thing. Update: Via Instapundit, related thoughts from Ann Althouse. Transcendental Hypothermia
By Ed Driscoll · December 12, 2008 11:13 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Return of the Primitive
Great moments in awareness raising through pneumonia inducement: About 60 people took a frigid dip into Walden Pond on Dec. 6, 2008 as part of the Polar Bear Plunge. The event was planned to raise awareness on global warming.As Tim Blair writes, "Let's hope someone pays attention. The handful of previous awareness-raising efforts have barely been noticed." Wait, I Thought That Was The Goal
By Ed Driscoll · December 12, 2008 05:10 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
Welcome To The Blogosphere, Fellas
By Ed Driscoll · December 12, 2008 05:03 PM · An Army Of Davids · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Future and its Enemies
The traditional conventional wisdom (and by "traditional conventional wisdom", I mean about as far back as 2002), Bloggers are one-man bands, guys in their pajamas (to coin a phrase) producing material without the traditional infrastructure and interpersonal cooperation found in mass media. The new conventional wisdom from mass media? Where do we sign up: Under a new agreement reached this week with its labor unions, WUSA, Channel 9, will become the first station in Washington to replace its crews with one-person "multimedia journalists" who will shoot and edit news stories single-handedly.Gosh--there's a shocking new development. Welcome to the 21st century, guys--we'll be glad to show you around. Wow, It Really Is Like Capone's Chicago
An editor at the The Hill claims that "death threats" are keeping Rahm Emanuel from attending press conferences to discuss the Blagojevich meltdown. As Mark Finkelstein writes: Which would be the safer place to be for a political figure who's received death threats?:Presumably "The Office of the President Elect" has amongst it perks a phalanx of Secret Service agents at every press conference, in addition to dozens of journalists eager to take a bullet for either man. Meanwhile, a possible reason (or maybe not) why Rahm's been remiss. I'll Take Hammer Time For $1000, Alex
As Jim Geraghty notes, President Elect Obama is currently floating a "Nuclear Umbrella for Israel" proposal. As Jim writes, the left will have kittens when they find out who first proposed it. (H/T: FM) Senator McCain, Viagra's Ad Rep Is On Line #1
By Ed Driscoll · December 12, 2008 01:44 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Having aided in his defeat for the White House, the media are now allowing John McCain to safely inherit the role of inoffensive elder GOP statesman-as-lovable-loser role last worn comfortably in the late 1990s by Bob Dole. Meanwhile even with McCain's campaign concluded, the incompetence wears on. In contrast, "The Other McCain" offers a roadmap for GOP recovery, here. Newsweek Shrugs
By Ed Driscoll · December 12, 2008 01:04 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
Or, "Journalism--The Unknown Ideal", to paraphrase a lesser known, but equally appropriate title. Curiously, The Fellow On The Right Has The More Realistic Hair
By Ed Driscoll · December 11, 2008 01:51 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Leggo my Bla-lego-vich! The Seat Of Power
By Ed Driscoll · December 11, 2008 01:26 AM · Muggeridge's Law
BREAKING!--and entirely Photoshopped!--"news" at Iowhawk.com: Feds Seize Blagojevich eBay Account. Just In Time For Christmas
By Ed Driscoll · December 10, 2008 04:28 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
"Engraved in beautiful Helvetica!" Really, doesn't everyone on your list deserve one of these? Situational Outrage
Before concluding with the perfect epitaph for the 42nd president, Don Surber writes that for Dee Dee Myers, Bill Clinton's first press secretary, "Groping a cardboard cutout is worse than cheating on your wife for 30+ years." Bobbi Flekman: Tanned, Rested And Ready!
By Ed Driscoll · December 9, 2008 06:52 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law
While Rod Blagojevich's pay to play scandal involving Obama's soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat in Illinois has just broken, Ross Douthat does a nifty demolition job on the Washington Post's Ruth Marcus' case for Caroline Kennedy to replace Hillary's New York Senate Seat: I don't know about Jesse Ventura, but I find Schwarzenegger and Sonny Bono's pre-political careers as self-made showbiz entrepreneurs - to say nothing of Jon Corzine's career in finance - much more impressive than anything Caroline Kennedy has ever done. Her life has been dedicated to worthy pursuits, by and large, but most of her accomplishments (fundraising for New York public schools, editing essay collections in honor of her father, etc.) are classic "born on third base" endeavors - laudable enough without being terribly impressive. And all of the names on Marcus's list actually submitted themselves to the democratic process on their way to the Senate, the House, and the California's Governor's Mansion; for an appointment to fill a vacant seat (especially a safe vacant seat), the bar ought to be set a bit higher than "she's more qualified than Sonny Bono."But Caroline's case is easily made with the just four simple words: She's not Fran Dresher. 'Cause Baby, It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
By Ed Driscoll · December 9, 2008 01:14 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Bobos In Paradise · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
Wow, I really wish I had seen this 2007 clip from McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt, before I shot my "Red Queen's Race" video over the weekend. As P.J. Gladnick of Newsbusters notes, Pruitt does a terrific Baghdad Bob impersonation--but only before invoking his heartfelt commitment to "philosophers and rock 'n' roll songs. Sometimes it's one and the same as with Lenny Kravitz's song from a few years ago, 'Dig In.'" Build-A-Germ
By Ed Driscoll · December 9, 2008 12:50 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Holiday That Dare Not Speak Its Name · The Substance of Style
Just in time for Christmas, giant stuffed microbes--it's fun, educational, contagious and plush! (Besides, any wet smack from Miskatonic University can give a Cthulu plush for Christmas--why not be original this year, huh?) Life Imitates Robert Altman's M*A*S*H
By Ed Driscoll · December 9, 2008 11:02 AM · Muggeridge's Law
"Hasselbeck said dryly, 'I'm not a natural blond.'" Life Imitates Saturday Night Live
By Ed Driscoll · December 9, 2008 10:59 AM · Muggeridge's Law
Back in the earlier, funnier days of the show, a recurring sketch was "What If"--one of the more memorable occurred when Kirk Douglas hosted the show, and the writers asked, "What if Spartacus Had a Piper Cub." This may be taking the concept to extremes, though. Life Imitates Animal House, Part II
By Ed Driscoll · December 9, 2008 10:56 AM · Muggeridge's Law
Partying with Obama's 27-year-old speech writer. Life Imitates Animal House, Part I
By Ed Driscoll · December 9, 2008 10:54 AM · Muggeridge's Law
December 7th? Hiroshima? Forget it, he's rolling. The Unicorn Rider Has No Clothes
By Ed Driscoll · December 6, 2008 12:43 PM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive
The Rosetta Stone of humor is here--and the punchlines are endless. Update: Found via STACLU, here's a bottomless well of bad (and needless to say reverential) Obama art. What would the response be if the ideologies were reversed, and it was a Website full of worshipful Reagan or Dubya art? What Comes Next After CNN's Holograms?
By Ed Driscoll · December 6, 2008 03:13 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
And you thought Olbermann and Matthews bit people's heads off at MSNBC: Life Imitates The Onion
By Ed Driscoll · December 5, 2008 10:33 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
"How Can We Make The Iraq War More Handicap Accessible?" "Berkeley Grandma Sues Over Canceled Iraq Embed" Which headline is real and which is satire? You make the call! (H/T: NB) Schizophrenic Dan Rather
By Ed Driscoll · December 3, 2008 02:21 PM · An Army Of Davids · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
Dan Rather on the dangers of Big Media: Investigative reporting, finding out what people in power don't want the public at large to know and disseminating it, is one of the most important roles of journalism in its role as the so-called Fourth Estate. And investigative reporting has gone badly out of fashion. The trend line is against it.But when an army of independent journalists investigated one of Dan's stories, Rather accused them of being on Karl Rove's payroll. (Dan doesn't know the half of it!) And his producer questioned their authenticity, merely because she had never heard of them as late of September of 2004, near the end of the election year. But all of a sudden, Dan's not a fan of corporate journalism--wonder why? To Be Fair, They Do Have To Be Canadian-Compliant
By Ed Driscoll · December 3, 2008 12:37 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Run To Daylight · The Future and its Enemies · The New Puritans · The Newspeak Dictionary · The Return of the Primitive
One of Ace's co-bloggers writes that "The NHL Is No Longer Ace of Spades Lifestyle Compliant", because Dallas Stars player Sean Avery was suspended for--gasp!--using the phrase "sloppy seconds" to describe his former girlfriends? (And you thought that the NFL was the No Fun League!) But given that the NHL is the national sport of Canada, and that Canada is a nation where the "Human Rights" Commission will take up the case of an aging stripper suing her boss for being fired, is it all that surprising that the NHL would want to stick the boot that's on the cover of The Tyranny of Nice deeply into Avery's backside? Its Origin And Purpose Still A Total Mystery
By Ed Driscoll · December 2, 2008 03:19 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Memory Hole · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
The self-lobotomizing effects of political correctness on the media continues, as Patterico explores "An Ongoing Mystery to Our Journalistic Betters:" Over at The Jury Talks Back, aunursa says that CNN can't figure out why the terrorists attacked a Jewish center.Of course, it's not just the media who are slow on the uptake these days--with dark satire to spare, Iowahawk writes that Bombay is all just a case of Too Late The Terrorist: "Apologetic Mumbai Killers: 'We Didn't Get the Memo About Obama.'" Harry Reid's History Of The World Part I
By Ed Driscoll · December 2, 2008 10:24 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The New Puritans
In Mel Brook's History of the World Part I, there's a scene in which Mel, playing the King of France, has this memorable exchange: Count de Monet: It is said that the people are revolting.France lost its Ancien Regime in 1789, but Harry Reid (D-NV) sounds like he's been drinking in a little too much from the House of Bourbon for his own good: As AllahPundit writes, "Comedy gold from the unerring political instinct that brought us a Congressional approval rating lower than Bush's. Behold, the ultimate Kinsleyan gaffe:" "My staff tells me not to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway," said Reid in his remarks. "In the summer because of the heat and high humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but it's true."Allah asks, "What did the Senate chamber smell like before A/C?" I have no idea, but it is a reminder that Big Government needs Big Air Conditioning to prosper, as Jonah Goldberg wrote a few years ago: In the 18th and 19th centuries a congressman wouldn't be caught dead in Washington during July. Well, actually, they might be caught dead, because they wore all those clothes and were so fat that they might have died while trying to get out. The British Embassy, for example, moved the entire kit and caboodle to Maine every summer.For such a powerful guy, Harry's an awfully delicate soul. Before he was getting the vapors from having to smell the peasants, he was having other health issues: Come 2010 when he's up for reelection, the voters of Nevada might want to consider replacing Reid with another senator--if only to give Harry's delicate sinuses a chance to heal up. Update: Welcome Corner readers! Won't Get Fooled Again
By Ed Driscoll · December 1, 2008 03:11 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
Back in December of 1979, 11 people died when attempting to rush into Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium to see the rock group The Who. The following week, Time magazine surprised many by running a cover story that absolved the group of virtually all blame in the incident. The cover dubbed the band "Rock's Outer Limits", and the accompanying story focused on their success as musical artists, rather than the tragedy in Ohio. (And I'd be the last person to argue that in 1979, near the height of their power as musicians, they weren't an awesome group, especially live.) But unlike a rock group beloved in the eyes of most boomers, the discount chain Wal-Mart doesn't garner the same sort of good will amongst journalists. Responding to the incident on Black Friday when one of their employees died when the doors were opened to allow the first mob of shoppers into the Long Island store at 5:00 AM, a New York Times went out with the following absurd headline: "A Shopping Guernica Captures the Moment." Evidently, New York Times economics reporter Peter Goodman (or perhaps his editor, depending upon who wrote the headline) fancies himself as the next Picasso. So who are the Nazis in his mind? The management at Wal-Mart who, somewhat like Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium 30 years ago failed to have adequate security and preparations for the onslaught of a crowd, or the shoppers who crushed the unfortunate sales clerk? The article, found via Newsbusters doesn't say. I'd excuse a high school or sophomoric college newspaper journalist making such an overwrought analogy. But if the New York Times and its writers and editors can't see the difference between an unfortunate shopping incident and the Spanish Civil War, one wonders what what value the newspaper has as an information source to be trusted by their readers. Update 12/2/08: Wow--who knew this little post would receive so much traffic? Welcome Instapundit and Five Feet Of Fury readers, and even those die-hard defenders of the establishment at Sadly No. One Cincinnati-based reader emailed in: The New York Times has become the WKRP of journalism. The hyperbole you noted in your blog is symmetrical to Les Nessman's comparison of the eternally hilarious turkey drop to the Hindenburg disaster. Except WKRP was supposed to be funny.Eric McErlain of the Off Wing Opinion sports blog noted that I may have mixed my Queen City stadium names: Just a short note -- the Who concert was held at Riverfront Coliseum, not Riverfront Stadium. It's a big difference, as the former is an indoor arena with a much smaller capacity, while the latter was an open air baseball stadium.Fair enough. More: Another reader emails in: The article's author does not use the word Guernica in the article. It was apparently the brainchild of one of their brilliant editors who does not know the difference between Guernica and Pamplona, which is what he was obviously trying to refer to.So perhaps the Gray Lady was trying to run with the bulls, rather than attempting a Homage To Catalonia. It's The New Hutt-Sized Hot Pocket
By Ed Driscoll · December 1, 2008 02:02 PM · Muggeridge's Law
I don't know about you, but can't everyone relate to this headline? "A Giant Rubber Space Pillow Is Eating My French Villa." Count de Monet could not be reached for comment. Wasn't Saint Hubbins The Patron Saint Of Quality Footwear?
By Ed Driscoll · November 28, 2008 02:16 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The Return of the Primitive
For over a decade, the good Dr. Dalrymple has written about England's out-of-control binge drinking problem; Mark Steyn explores a pair of size 12D unintended consequences: "Britain has clearly decided it has a golden future as one vast theme-park for The Onion. From The Daily Mail, a woman's right to shoes": Drunk women who stagger about in high heels are to be protected--at public expense--from twisting their ankles.Mark adds that it's "It's worth a click just for the picture of Police Superintendent Chris Singer posing with two pairs of 'safe footwear'". But how safe are they, really? Clearly, this is a story benchmade like a pair of John Lobb wingtips for one man to comment on. Black Armband History
By Ed Driscoll · November 28, 2008 11:11 AM · God And Man At Dupont University · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · The Holiday That Dare Not Speak Its Name · The New Puritans · The Return of the Primitive
Headline via the Derb; it perfectly fits this example of what hopefully is a one-off leftwinger's meltdown, and not a trend, transforming Thanksgiving into yet another holiday that Dare Not Speak Its Name. Related: Heard through the Grapevine, Greg Gutfeld rounds up his Thanksiving Turkey list. Sucking In The Seventies
By Ed Driscoll · November 26, 2008 10:11 PM · From Bauhaus To Our House · Muggeridge's Law · The Substance of Style
The perfect place to watch the videos we linked to in the previous post: James Lileks gives thanks to the hotel that defined the 1970s--and sadly, vice versa: the Gobbler. Help Me Obi-Don Osmond, You're My Only Hope!
For decades, America's leading cultural anthropologists pondered the question: were we as a nation doomed to believe that nothing could be as dreadful, as craptacular in that Sid and Marty Krofft 1970s polystyrene primary colors video look as the Star Wars Holiday Special? No. There is another. And its name is The Donny And Marie Star Wars Special. If that doesn't sound frightening enough, because it truly is from the 1970s, there's the inevitable appearance by...but of course!...Paul Lynde! When Harrison Ford shouted that he'd see you in Hell in The Empire Strikes Back, this is truly what he was referring to. The Imploding Plastic Inevitable
By Ed Driscoll · November 26, 2008 03:36 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Return of the Primitive
The celebratory party surrounding the annual anemically rated Oscar awards must go on, even in these trying economic times: Vanity Fair will hold its annual Oscar Night party at the Sunset Tower Hotel on February 22, 2009, it was announced today by editor Graydon Carter.Wardrobe recycling certainly appears to be in vogue with these two ultra-glamorous Hollywood superstars; meanwhile, a veteran television actress is forced to wear what appears to be a Hefty recycling bin liner at her recent photo-op. Update: I shouldn't be too hard on Judith Light--she attended the same prep school I did, though a few years before me--and the Swedish Chef. Life (As Always) Imitates P.J. O'Rourke
By Ed Driscoll · November 26, 2008 02:56 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
In the latest Weekly Standard, P.J. O'Rourke says, show me the money: The government is bailing out Wall Street for being evil and the car companies for being stupid. But print journalism brings you Paul Krugman and Anna Quindlen. Also, in 1898 Joseph Pulitzer of the New York World and William Randolph Hearst of the New York Journal started the Spanish-American War. All of the Lehman Brothers put together couldn't cause as much evil stupidity as that.And right on cue, "Connecticut Legislators Want State To Subsidize Newspapers." As the Great One (Reagan, not Jackie Gleason) said in 1986, "Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." Last Train To Barackville
Well, now we know what happened to Mike Nesmith's wool hat from The Monkees. Related: Another cheerful furry friend from a bygone era makes his own wistfully nostalgic federal bailout-related appearance here. Life (As Always) Imitates Iowahawk
Iowahawk, November 24th: "Obama Names Bill Clinton to Presidential Post": Ending weeks of speculation and rumors, President-Elect Barack Obama today named Bill Clinton to join his incoming administration as President of the United States, where he will head the federal government's executive branch.The Washington Post today: "Send Bill Clinton to the Senate": Amid the blizzard of resumes blanketing Washington as the Obama era dawns, there is a superbly qualified candidate for full employment whose name has been overlooked. We refer, of course, to William Jefferson Clinton, America's 42nd chief executive and commander in chief. Yet now, by a wonderful combination of circumstances, comes an opportunity to harness his unquestioned political talents to benefit his country, the Democratic Party, New York state and his spouse. If, as is expected, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes secretary of state, New York Gov. David Paterson could send her husband to the U.S. Senate.Shortly before the election, Jack Murtha (D-PA) said, "A carpetbagger from Virginia is going to represent a heavily Democratic district? No way. No Goddamn way." Sadly, the voters agreed with him; so I guess amongst the left, it's Virginia carpetbaggers in Pennsylvania No!, Arkansas carpetbaggers in NY, Si! Hey, Fair Is Fair
if Teddy Kennedy can look back fondly to the halcyon days of the Goldwater Administration in the mid-1960s, surely we can't fault the Philadelphia Inquirer for reminiscing about AU-H20's legendary successor, President RFK. Who Killed The Electric Car?
By Ed Driscoll · November 22, 2008 06:04 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The New, New Journalism
Scroll down to the bottom of IowaHawk's recent "Lemon" post for an unlikely six degrees of environmental separation, as two great Blogospheric satirists exchange notes over one of the first electric cars. To Serve Man
By Ed Driscoll · November 22, 2008 10:02 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Holiday That Dare Not Speak Its Name · The Return of the Primitive
"Today We Learned Something Horrible About Liberals." A Clockwork Rodham
By Ed Driscoll · November 21, 2008 02:42 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · War And Anti-War
Jim Geraghty asks, "Just What Has Obama Gotten Hillary Into?": Every Secretary of State enters office as "a breath of fresh air" and with great vigor and enthusiasm, and year by year, we see that energy and enthusiasm beaten back by geopolitical realities and a massive bureaucracy. Maybe Hillary will break the trend.This time, it's sure to work! Yes She Can!
By Ed Driscoll · November 21, 2008 01:37 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Memory Hole · War And Anti-War
According to the New York Times, (needless to say, take the news with a Pinch of salt), Hillary has accepted the Secretary of State position. In a way, it's the least she can do. Because let's face it: when you've got a lifetime of experience, and all the boss has a speech that he gave in 2002, he'll need all the help you can deliver! (Suha Arafat could not be reached for comment.) I Got Your Future Right Here, Pal!
By Ed Driscoll · November 21, 2008 10:59 AM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies
While those toffee noses at the Daily Mail are busy bitching about when their futuristic cars will arrive, Iowahawk delivers. But does the Congressional Motors Pelosi GTxi SS/Rt Sport Edition come in Ackerman blue? "A Contractual Promise For Positive Coverage"
By Ed Driscoll · November 21, 2008 12:29 AM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Matt Drudge links to this New York Times article and notes, "REPORT: TIME INC. in 'contractual promise' with Angelina Jolie for 'positive coverage'...". The Times piece begins: When Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt negotiated with People and other celebrity magazines this summer for photos of their newborn twins and an interview, the stars were seeking more than the estimated $14 million they received from the deal. They also wanted a hefty slice of journalistic input -- a promise that the winning magazine's coverage would be positive, not merely in that instance but into the future.Hey, as Victor Davis Hanson recently noted, "Sometime in 2008, journalism as we knew it died, and advocacy media took its place." Can't fault Brangelina for asking for the print version of what Chris Matthews has promised Barack. The Obamedia Dials Down The Expectations
By Ed Driscoll · November 20, 2008 11:28 PM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole
As highlighted by the latest Time and Newsweek covers, the incoming Obama administration and its media cheerleaders are attempting to dial back expectations a tad. Obama's no longer God (of course, as Mort Sahl once said, if you're going to identify, identify), he's merely the second coming of Abe Lincoln and FDR. Jonah Goldberg writes, "It's a step down from divine redeemer, but you have to start somewhere": Lincoln was Lincoln because he fought and won the Civil War and freed the slaves. News flash: That ain't what America is like today -- and thank God for it."You know what I hope? I hope Obama is another Coolidge or Eisenhower", Jonah concludes. "But I'm not holding my breath." MySpace: 1999
"Why the Drudge Report is one of the best designed sites on the web"--Well, it probably does boot quickly on a 56k modem, given its Web 0.0 aesthetic. Or maybe it's a Windows 1.0 aesthetic: While Matt's pioneering Internet status is a given, it's definitely for his content, not his visual style. Barackalypse Now
By Ed Driscoll · November 19, 2008 11:29 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Memory Hole
Or--Full Metaphor Jacket: During Tuesday evening's "No Bias, No Bull" program, Washington Post national political correspondent and CNN contributor Dana Milbank implied, perhaps inadvertently, that the incoming Obama adminstration was like the North Vietnamese advancing on Saigon in 1975. Host Campbell Brown asked Milbank about the "backlog of at least 2,000 pardon applications" to the Bush administration before the president leaves office early next year, and he replied, "Yeah -- it sort of has the feeling of the last helicopter off the embassy roof in Saigon."To be fair, it's an awfully benign metaphor, since nothing bad happened after we left Vietnam--just ask Tom Harkin. Great Moments In Journalism
By Ed Driscoll · November 18, 2008 07:45 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive
Victor Davis Hanson writes: Traditional journalism as we knew it --the big dailies, the weekly news magazines, the networks, public radio and TV--no longer exists. Death by suicide. RIP--around March, 2008.As rigor mortis sets in, I doubt the media are concerning themselves much about how ill-informed the average voter is, but if so, they might want to take a look at their story selection this year. Here are two recent but stellar examples of the media living up to the legacy set for it by Edward R. Murrow, et al: CNN analyzes Obama and Palin's doodles. Meanwhile, in a story that I'm sure its myriad of readers were undoubtedly pining for, Salon analyzes the incoming first lady's posterior. Arthur Frampton could not be reached for comment. From Hero To Zero
By Ed Driscoll · November 18, 2008 06:34 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Making of the President
As Mark Steyn noted in his "Happy Warrior" column on the back page of the recent edition of National Review, when choosing between an actual combat veteran and a fellow celebrity to play James Bond, for actor Daniel Craig, the choice is an easy one: Before we close the book on this election season, let me quote one of the most dispiriting asides on the subject. Daniel Craig, the star of the new James Bond movie The Audacity Of Solace - no, wait, A Quantum Of Hope - was being interviewed by Kevin Sessums for Parade (that supplement thingie that's free in all the local newspapers), and as a final question was asked which of the two candidates would make the better 007:On the other hand, Tim Blair notes that that the media's standard for heroism these days is one heck of a lot lower than it used to be.Craig doesn't hesitate. 'Obama would be the better Bond because--if he's true to his word--he'd be willing to quite literally look the enemy in the eye and go toe-to-toe with them. McCain, because of his long service and experience, would probably be a better M,' he adds, mentioning Bond's boss, played by Dame Judi Dench. 'There is, come to think of it, a kind of Judi Dench quality to McCain.'Oh, great. John McCain has survived plane crashes, just like Roger Moore in Octopussy. He has escaped death in shipboard infernos, just like Sean Connery in Thunderball. He has endured torture day after day, month after month, without end, just like Pierce Brosnan in the title sequence of Die Another Day. He has done everything 007 has done except get lowered into a shark tank and (as far as we know) bed Britt Ekland and Jill St John. Bipartisan Obama
By Ed Driscoll · November 18, 2008 02:23 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
A frighting schism threatens to fracture the once unified mass media: Time says that Obama is the next FDR, Newsweek says he's the next Lincoln. Kyle Smith calls on our old media overloads to settle their differences, for the good of the nation. (Of course in reality, The One seems do be aiming his standards just a tad lower, and doing his damnedest to be the next Bill Clinton.) Ground Zero In American Culture War Pinpointed
By Ed Driscoll · November 18, 2008 12:28 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The Return of the Primitive
These days, apparently the White House phone only rings at 3:00 AM when there's a international geopolitical crisis brewing. Similarly, for those domestic struggles involving America's Culture War, the frontline has finally been triangulated: the local Wendy's. Glenn Beck discovers firsthand that things sure are a lot less Chili and Frosty at the local branch of the nationwide hamburger chain than they were during the visit four years ago by John Kerry and John Edwards as brilliantly documented back then for England's Telegraph by Mark Steyn. It's 3:00 AM And There's A Phone In The White House...
By Ed Driscoll · November 17, 2008 06:03 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · War And Anti-War
Will President Elect Obama be calling Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton? The Guardian says yes--but as always with a British paper (particularly the Grauniad), verify before trusting. Life Imitates Austin Powers
By Ed Driscoll · November 16, 2008 04:13 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Gulag Archipelago · The Return of the Primitive
Basil Exposition: The Cold War's over. And You Thought Detroit And Banks Were In Trouble
By Ed Driscoll · November 16, 2008 03:14 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Substance of Style
Breakin' 2: Koranic Boogaloo
By Ed Driscoll · November 16, 2008 12:20 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
As the Ayatollah Khomeini once said: "Allah did not create man so that he could have fun. The aim of creation was for mankind to be put to the test through hardship and prayer. An Islamic regime must be serious in every field. There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious."And dancing? That's right out as well, as Reuters (who else?) notes: "Iran vice-president under fire over Koran dance." The 21st Century's Answer To Stonehenge
The state of Western Civilization at the dawn of a new millennium summed up in a single photograph and caption. (Paging Dr. Dalrymple--your next "Oh To Be In England" column awaits.) If Only His Press Secretaries Were This Effective
"Violence erupts between Bush aide, reporter"--and a Reuters reporter at that. But hey, one man's vicious attack dog is another man's freedom fighter. Or vice versa. NBC's Chuck Todd: Rahm Emanuel You Magnificent Bastard!
By Ed Driscoll · November 6, 2008 12:04 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President · War And Anti-War
NBC's Chuck Todd may has been up too late watching war movies on competitor channel TCM before uttering this statement on the Today show: President Clinton chose a childhood friend to be his chief-of-staff, Mack McLarty. What did that mean? That chief-of-staff never knew how to tell the President no. Never was a sort of behind-the-scenes guy. In Rahm Emanuel Obama knows he's getting Douglas MacArthur, or General Patton. A guy who's a field general, who will keep all of the, keep everything running on time, the trains running on time and will go after Congress.He'll make the trains run on time? So he's Mussolini, too? Hey, if you say so, Chuck. But Patton was relieved of command by Ike at the end of WWII when he wanted to push into Russia; MacArthur was unceremoniously dismissed by Truman during the Korean War. Obama has publicly admitted on several occasions as being a rather dovish fellow. And Tim Graham of Newsbusters notes, "Like Obama, Emanuel has no military service on his resume, starting his career in Illinois 'public interest group' politics." As Tom Wolfe illustrated in Ambush At Fort Bragg this is but the latest example of a journalist using military lingo in his speech, even as his network has routinely been astonishingly negative regarding their chief missions over the last five years. Update: And if the left have found their MacArthur/Patton/Mussolini, the right "haven't yet found our Omar Bradley." Help Me Obi-Wan Obama, You're My Only Hope!
By Ed Driscoll · November 5, 2008 07:55 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Slate has a little fun with CNN's latest technological gimcrack: Exit question: Did David Bowie's "TVC-15" single from the mid-1970s predict this latest video development? Update: Welcome InstaReaders! Meanwhile, Hot Air's Allahpundit enharshens CNN's mellow: "Heart-ache: CNN holograms not really holograms." "Jogger Runs Mile With Rabid Fox Locked On Her Arm"
Before reading this AP story, I had no idea how dedicated Keir Dullea fans truly are! Is This From The Onion?
By Ed Driscoll · November 4, 2008 01:25 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
No! [James Earl Jones voice on] This is CNN [/Vader]: But instead of the split screen or window TV viewers might typically see during live remote interviews, the Obama spokesperson will be projected as a three-dimensional hologram, making it appear as if he or she is in the Manhattan studio with Blitzer. The network plans to conduct similar holographic interviews with representatives from the McCain campaign in Phoenix.Mark Hemingway adds, "I can only hope one of the spokesman takes to opportunity to mock this ridiculous gimmick by uttering the phrase, 'Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope!'" I'll stick with my virtual sets--at least until Adobe CS27 builds holographic technology into After Effects. You Can't Stop Him, You Can Only Hope To Contain Him
By Ed Driscoll · November 4, 2008 11:23 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Memory Hole
Layers and layers of fact checkers can't be wrong! Greg Packer: the man, the myth, the legend is back--and in the New York Times no less. Has Anybody Seen Leonard Bernstein Yet?
By Ed Driscoll · November 4, 2008 10:55 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Radical Chic · The Making of the President
Radical chic rocks the vote! In Chicago, noted academic Bill Ayers and renowned UFO-ologist Louis Farrakhan are both seen waiting to vote at Shoesmith Elementary School. And gosh, I'm sure every Philadelphia resident feels infinitely safer when he sees a "Black Panther poll watcher guarding the door to the polling station with a nightstick." (Wonder who they're voting for?) Meanwhile, just to remind you that it is indeed Philadelphia: GOP Election Board members have been tossed out of polling stations in at least half a dozen polling stations in Philadelphia because of their party status. A Pennsylvania judge previously ruled that court-appointed poll watchers could be NOT removed from their boards by an on-site election judge, but that is exactly what is happening, according to sources on the ground.I'm not sure if W.C. Fields would still rather be in today's Philadelphia, but they've certainly manged to transform voting into a comedic farce. Trapped In The Joebius Loop
Mark Hemingway goes from the inner mind of Joe Biden to...beyond the infinite: Only Joe Biden could make a gaffe in the act of addressing his gaffes. It's just a matter of time before he gets stuck in a recursive infinite gaffe loop, where every subsequent gaffe is an attempt to undo the previous one. This should put the conventional pundits at a total loss, and eventually CNN will be forced to offer a TV contract to an M.I.T. mathematics and logic professor who has done pioneering work expounding upon Kurt Godel's incompleteness theorem as it relates to Eubulides' liar paradox, since he's the only one who comes close to offering a cogent explanation for why Biden is still talking.You know know what this means, right? If Joe wins tomorrow, it's only a matter of time before some mad Photoshop wiz creates--shudder--The Biden Recursion! Not To Be Confused With Test-Tube Muppet Babies
Found via Maggie's Farm, watching this Onion parody video on how Top Research Scientists clone and harvest Disney's annual crop of new teenage stars, I'm pretty convinced that this how Pajamas Laboratories™ will be creating the next generation of bloggers: (And you thought Uncle Walt going into cryogenic suspension was something...) He's Got A Plan--To Stick It To
By Ed Driscoll · November 2, 2008 11:37 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
Just to follow-up on the Springsteen post below, nowadays, the only time I read about Bruce touring is every four years during a presidential campaign, when he hits the road as a well-paid (at least from the gate receipts) adjunct of the DNC. To borrow from the vernacular of The Boss's early '70s glory days (to coin a phrase), has any musician become more Establishment than Springsteen? Well, there are a few who come close--and what they say about themselves illustrates the duality of corporate rock perfectly. As Diana West wrote in The Death of the Grown-Up last year: When U2's Bono promises Grammy night fans "to keep f----ing up the mainstream," as critic Mark Steyn has noted, Bono fails to see--or admit--that he is the mainstream, a bonanza to corporate stockholders and well fit to perform at the official, ribbon-cutting opening of a presidential library in Little Rock.I recently came across a similar moment in Wikipedia's profile of Billy Joel. (No, I don't know how I ended up there, either, but pop culture ephemera is what Wikipedia does best): On March 10, 2008, Joel inducted his friend John Mellencamp into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a ceremony that took place at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. During his induction speech for Mellencamp, Joel said:But of course: no matter how many TV commercials, supermarket Muzak systems or football stadium loudspeakers play your music, no matter how many millions of albums you've sold or millions you've earned, "You're right, John, this is still our country and we'll always be victims of powerful people.""Don't let this club membership change you, John. Stay ornery, stay mean. We need you to be pissed off, and restless, because no matter what they tell us - we know, this country is going to hell in a handcart. This country's been hijacked. You know it and I know it. People are worried. People are scared, and people are angry. People need to hear a voice like yours that's out there to echo the discontent that's out there in the heartland. They need to hear stories about it. [Audience applauds] They need to hear stories about frustration, alienation and desperation. They need to know that somewhere out there somebody feels the way that they do, in the small towns and in the big cities. They need to hear it. And it doesn't matter if they hear it on a jukebox, in the local gin mill, or in a goddamn truck commercial, because they ain't gonna hear it on the radio anymore. They don't care how they hear it, as long as they hear it good and loud and clear the way you've always been saying it all along. You're right, John, this is still our country and we'll always be victims of powerful people." That's right! Stick it to the man--even if he's yourself! Life (As Always) Imitates Iowahawk
By Ed Driscoll · November 2, 2008 08:37 PM · God And Man At Dupont University · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
Power Line goes "Inside the mind of an 'Obamacon'"--who all but says, "As a Conservative, I Must Say I Do Quite Like the Cut of this Obama Fellow's Jib." Related: I'm not at all sure if I want to take her up on her invitation, but Noemie Emery asks us to "Meet the Fastidiocons"--whose model of the perfect conservative Republican, as Emery notes, is apparently Merkin Muffley himself, Adlai Stevenson. News From 1942
By Ed Driscoll · November 1, 2008 02:38 PM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive
A Daily Kossite takes Obama's trip to Berlin very much the wrong way. News From 1922
By Ed Driscoll · October 31, 2008 12:24 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Memory Hole
As Tom Blumer writes in Newsbusters, put down all beverages before reading this quote from Al Neuharth, extracted from his column in today's edition of USA Today: In the olden days, some newspapers actually were backed or funded by political parties. Not only did most endorse candidates, but news coverage often was slanted or opinionated.OK, to be fair, if you define "the olden days" to mean the era before the national radio networks, that's reasonable--and the era that followed, which was centered around a unified mass media, served the American public reasonably well until about 1968. But Victor Davis Hanson writes today, as I noted in an earlier post today, that era was shattered by the rise of the World Wide Web and replaced with a hyperpartisan advocacy media--which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as long consumers know that that's what their getting, and not a continued feint towards objectivity. An increasing number of journalists understand that. But to borrow from an earlier post, there are those stragglers, such as Neuharth, whom every year sound more and more like the mythological Japanese soldier discovered on a desert island years after World War II ended, who doesn't realize the war's over, and how it concluded. Reality...What A Concept
Marvel Comics and Mark Steyn's America Alone thesis on demographic decline team up for all of the two-fisted, one-handed imaginary action you can handle! A Japanese man has enlisted hundreds of people in a campaign to allow marriages between humans and cartoon characters, saying he feels more at ease in the "two-dimensional world".Sounds like somebody's due for a nice long rest in Arkham Asylum. Besides--there's a larger marital issue which clearly Mr. Takashita hasn't considered. Since it's reasonable to assume that the most popular female cartoon characters would have thousands--nay, millions of male suitors, why, that's bigamy! Standing Athwart History, Yelling "More Vermouth!"
By Ed Driscoll · October 30, 2008 05:01 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
As a connoisseur of fine conservative satire, I must say, I do rather like the cut of this "Iowahawk" fellow's jib: When my late father T. Coddington Van Voorhees VI founded the iconoclastic conservative journal National Topsider in 1948, he famously declared that "Now is the time for all good conservative helmsmen to hoist the mizzen, pour the cocktails, and steer this damned schooner hard starboard." In the 60 years since he first uttered it after one-too-many Cosmopolitans at one of Pamela Harriman's notorious foreign policy black tie balls, father's pithy bon mot has served as a rallying cry for conservatives from Greenwich to Chevy Chase. Today, I say it's time for we conservatives to once again grab the rigging and set sail with the flotilla of the true conservative in this race: Barack Obama.Do I even need to add the "read the whole thing" encomium here? Even Better Than The Real Thing
By Ed Driscoll · October 29, 2008 07:32 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Biggest celebrity in the world already known for his faux-presidential seal and other self-reverential campaign graphics produces infomercial on mock-White House set. Chris Matthews' take? "It was romance. It was realism." More human than human is our motto. But like another product of the Tyrell Corporation, does Obama see unicorns when he dreams? The Key Phrase Being "Mixed Lot"
By Ed Driscoll · October 29, 2008 02:29 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole
Check out this howler in a piece in CQ Politics titled, "What McCain Defectors See in Obama": The defectors are a mixed lot, but all represent some brand of recognizably conservative thought. Some like Doug Kmiec, Andrew Sullivan, and Ken Adelman are probably conservatives by anyone's definition, while others are cut partly from an older mold. They bear some resemblance to the moderate Republicanism of the Rockefeller era, but the issues of their time are not the same.Sullivan is as conservative these days as much as John Kerry was "the right man -- and the conservative choice -- for a difficult and perilous time." (H/T: Orrin Judd, whose link to Powers' essay is titled, "Inherit The Windbags.") Think Of The Matrix--With The Soundtrack By The Bee Gees
By Ed Driscoll · October 26, 2008 11:23 AM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Making of the President · The New Puritans
"Joe Biden's RAVE Act of 2002 was a terrible blow against dance-generated alternative energy." What A Run! From Navel Gazers To Monsters In Seven Years
By Ed Driscoll · October 24, 2008 04:59 PM · An Army Of Davids · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Long Tail · The Making of the President · The New, New Journalism
Mary Mapes, the woman who brought you RatherGate, wrote yesterday at the Huffington Post: Americans aren't responding to the old plays -- the fake fears, the faux outrage, the conservatives who yell "Communist" at the news cameras, the pompous right-wing bloggers who once held such sway. I know all too well how scary and effective these old tactics were in 2004. Today, they are toothless. Ha, ha. Nothing makes me happier than seeing once swaggering players like Powerline, Free Republic and Little Green Footballs forced onto the sidelines, left to limply watch this campaign pass by like a parade in which they play no meaningful part. They just don't matter anymore.Mapes' post is titled, "The Monster is Dying"--so "conservatives who yell 'Communist' at the news cameras" are declasse, but attacking conservatives as a monolithic "monster" on a Weblog is reasoned nuance journalism. Charles Krauthammer, call your office! But behind each of those "monsters" was at least one person who in one form another said, "I don't know how many people will actually listen, but why shouldn't my voice be heard as well?" (Just as the founder of the Huffington Post presumably said as well at some point.) Much like a certain Ohio tradesman with entrepreneurial dreams who is now called "the now infamous Joe the plumber," on over 500 Webpages. Or as another journalist with the same initials as Mary Mapes wrote today: So much for the Standing Up for the Little Man, so much for Speaking Truth to Power, so much for Comforting the Afflicting and Afflicting the Comfortable, and all of those other catchphrases we journalists used to believe we lived by.And calling one half of the Blogosphere "toothless" because their presidential candidate isn't an effective purveyor of the same message as they are seems awfully disingenuous to the other side--I don't think the bloggers at, say, the Daily Kos would take kindly at being called, by extension, toothless in 2004 because John Kerry was such a feckless candidate. It also fails to take into consideration that pundits supporting the out-of-party are able to go on the rhetorical offense, something that the right-hand of the Blogosphere will likely have ample opportunity to do so over the next four years. But if indeed "The Monster is Dying", what a run! In September of 2005, a year after RatherGate broke, Mapes admitted that she had never heard of any of the blogs that she quotes above, even as she was a working TV producer at a corporation which billed itself at the time as "America's Most Watched Network", and hence, presumably, had her pulse on the nation's political scene: Within a few minutes, I was online visiting Web sites I had never heard of before: Free Republic, Little Green Footballs, Power Line. They were hard-core, politically angry, hyperconservative sites loaded with vitriol about Dan Rather and CBS. Our work was being compared to that of Jayson Blair, the discredited New York Times reporter who had fabricated and plagiarized stories.And accurately so, of course. But hey, from cat food eating pajama-wearing navel gazers to a journalistic "monster" in the space of seven years after 9/11 is a pretty amazing growth cycle--and something tells me that the starboard side of the Blogosphere isn't going away anytime soon, no matter how much Mary wishes it were so, and no matter what the outcome on November 4th. I Am Bill!
By Ed Driscoll · October 24, 2008 02:49 PM · God And Man At Dupont University · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · Radical Chic · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole · The Return of the Primitive
Forget the Black Panthers, hobnobbing with High Society on Park Avenue, happily dining on "asparagus tips in mayonnaise dabs, and meatballs petites au Coq Hardi". Bill Ayers is the workingman's unrepentant former domestic terrorist, and as such has earned longest of long shot third party presidential candidate Dave Burge's coveted support. (Sirhan Sirhan could not be reached for comment.) The Blue Eagle--Now With Extra Sprinkles!
By Ed Driscoll · October 24, 2008 12:01 AM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Substance of Style
Echoing the slogan of the 1930s National Recovery Administration, Mickey Kaus writes that even "Baskin-Robbins is doing its part" to get their man elected. The NRA (no relation to this NRA) gave corporations that "did their part" a blue eagle logo to display--and woe betide those who didn't cooperate. Presumably, Baskin-Robbins is hoping to be rewarded with the official "Patriot Employer" symbol for their more recent efforts. NY's Erratic Idiosyncratic Psychosomatic Democratic Chief Of Staff
By Ed Driscoll · October 23, 2008 12:09 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law
As Nicole Gelinas noted back in April, when New York's Governor David Paterson was inaugurated, he heard from a number of his old friends, now living out of state: Paterson cited a number of personal friends, all former New Yorkers, who have contacted him from out of state since his ascent to the governorship. "A friend from primary school, Randy San Antonio, told me he moved to Dallas 20 years ago," Paterson began. "Another friend, Randy Watts, had moved to Reno. A friend from Syracuse, Marvin Lee Simons, said he's working in Lower Manhattan. I said we should get together . . . and he said, 'Well, I don't live in New York. I live in western Pennsylvania.' Jeff and Stacey Stackhouse wanted to start a business on Long Island. They moved two years ago--they're trying to start their business in Charlotte, North Carolina. They couldn't pay the taxes here."Gov. Paterson's chief of staff has his own idiosyncratic, remarkably psychosomatic solution to the issue--a severe case of "non-filer syndrome." (John Derbyshire writes about it here, just before being overcome with a terrible case of "non-blogger syndrome.") "Is Joe Biden A Republican Plant?"
By Ed Driscoll · October 21, 2008 05:47 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · War And Anti-War
Betsy Newmark stumbles onto Robert Conquest's Third Law of Politics. (Not to be confused with Malcolm Muggeridge's Law, which is always in operation where Joe is concerned.) Update: Welcome readers of Charlie Martin's Explorations blog. Pay To Play--That's The Chicago Way!
By Ed Driscoll · October 21, 2008 01:51 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
It will be curious to see how this stunt goes over with, as Ed Morrissey has dubbed them, the Tanning Bed Media: The best-funded political campaign in American history says news organizations will have to pay--in some cases almost $2,000 each--if they want to cover Barack Obama's election-night celebration in Chicago.As Ed writes, "Don't expect too much sympathy from us for the Tanning Bed Media. The only reason why Obama's in a position to demand tithes from the worshiping media is because journalists and editors didn't do their jobs in the first place." "This Country Was Founded By Terrorists"
By Ed Driscoll · October 21, 2008 01:07 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · Radical Chic · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive
Somebody has been watching too much NBC. I Am Not Joe!
By Ed Driscoll · October 20, 2008 09:13 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · War And Anti-War
Well, hopefully not this Joe. As Jennifer Rubin writes, "On the very same day he told us that Colin Powell should have ended all questions about Barack Obama's national security bona fides, Joe Biden comes along to tell us precisely why we should be scared of Obama as commander-in-chief:" "Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."Jennifer adds: Well, golly, if Obama is so untested that we will have a series of international crises -- at the very time we are in a financial meltdown -- which will make the Cuban Missille Crisis look like a walk in the park, shouldn't we vote for the other guy who will keep all the miscreants in their place?Hey, it's 3:00 am... Update: I'm not this Ed, either. Although I didn't think he did too bad a job when he was a mayor of a surprisingly bitter and clinging small town in Pennsylvania. Trust, But Don't Verify
By Ed Driscoll · October 20, 2008 12:37 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President · The Newspeak Dictionary
Kevin D. Williamson spots "An Unbelievable Headline from Slate": "Believing in vote fraud may be dangerous to a democracy's health."Still though, I'm glad to see Winston Smith is finally off IngSoc's vast government payroll and happily writing in the private sector. Incidentally, back in 2002, Glenn Reynolds suggested one simple method of reducing voter fraud: The fact is, if you could come up with a new technology as simple and resistant to fraud as the paper ballot, people would be pretty impressed. So why do we use machines?But since then, as any trip to the supermarket will demonstrate, the left have moved headlong into organic vegetables and away from the more modern canned variety. Couldn't paper ballots be sold to the left along similar lines? Vote the organic way--vote paper! Read More » Nothing Gets Past The Hollywood Reporter
By Ed Driscoll · October 19, 2008 10:44 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
This just in to the Tinseltown trade paper: "Republicans in biz feel stifled, bullied." Who knew? Neighborhood Guys
By Ed Driscoll · October 18, 2008 10:31 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Radical Chic · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole
"George this is of what I'm talking about. This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood who's a professor of English in Chicago who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from..." Civilians, Friendly Fire And Collateral Damage
By Ed Driscoll · October 18, 2008 07:36 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole
Back in April, Obama discussed Reverend Wright with Chris Wallace: WALLACE: Did you talk to reverend Wright recently about his decision to make a series of public appearances at this particular point?Obama talking about his wife, back in July: And I've said this before: I would never have my campaign engage in a concerted effort to make Cindy McCain an issue, and I would not expect the Democratic National Committee or people who were allied with me to do it. Because essentially, spouses are civilians. They didn't sign up for this. They're supporting their spouse.I guess once you move beyond the inner circle, the definition of "civilian" becomes slightly hazier. Love In A Vacuum
So is this what 'Til Tuesday were singing about back in the halcyon days of MTV? (Via Allah, who gives the news its appropriate sobriquet.) "Click For Maximum Regurgitation"
By Ed Driscoll · October 16, 2008 12:57 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
You know that proverbial tank that the media are supposed to be in? Snapped Shot has your snapshot of exactly what it looks like. Quote Of The Day
Our dedicated team of fact checkers is hard at work verifying the accuracy of the following statement from one of the two major candidates running for the White House this year: "I am convinced that if there were no Fox News, I might be two or three points higher in the polls," Obama told me. "If I were watching Fox News, I wouldn't vote for me, right? Because the way I'm portrayed 24/7 is as a freak! I am the latte-sipping, New York Times-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effete, politically correct, arrogant liberal. Who wants somebody like that?Fact check: Lie. Obama does not own a Volvo. Read More » It's All Just A Little Bit Of History Repeating
Everything old is new again! When I was poking through the Truveo video search engine to find B-Roll material for my "Two-Minute Warning" October Surprise edition of Silicon Graffiti a couple of weeks ago, I came across Mary Katharine Ham's first HamNation video from the fall of 2006, in which she outlines the Mark Foley scandal: Just overdub Mahoney for Foley, change the R to a D, and presto, brand-new video--or same old scandal. In any case, recycling is always a good thing, right? Update: Shocker! "TV Newsers Who Fawned Over Foley Sex Scandal Ignore Mahoney." Son Of Joe McCarthy's Aide Rails On About "McCarthyism"
By Ed Driscoll · October 13, 2008 01:46 AM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · The Gulag Archipelago · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole
A few years ago, when Jonah Goldberg pointed out "the generalized ignorance or silence of mainstream liberals about their own intellectual history", he wasn't kidding! Elliot Spitzer Could Not Be Reached For Comment
Breaking financial news just in from The New York Daily News: "Prostitution has not suffered drop-off despite economic meltdown." But is the world's oldest profession considered a leading or lagging economic indicator? Back And To The Left
By Ed Driscoll · October 12, 2008 07:29 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
Oliver Stone, borrowing a few tabs of Jim Morrison's acid: "I think in this present political state, the real George W. Bush might not approve of this movie," says Stone with a wry grin. "But this movie tries to understand George W. Bush -- the good, the bad and the ugly.Yes--imagine the movies that Oliver Stone might have produced had he truly been a polemicist! (As this email to Glenn Reynolds highlights, Hollywood rounding out the Bush years with yet another in an eight year series of attacks on the man--a few of which actively called for his, or a convenient surrogate's assassination--guarantees no honeymoon for Obama if he is elected in November.) Related: "Democrats and Republicans have become two solitudes, and so, the result of the election will be ugly, no matter which side wins." I Am Become Soros--Destroyer Of Financial Worlds!
By Ed Driscoll · October 11, 2008 05:14 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
Mike Huckabee and blogger Frank Martin each question the timing of the markets' current meltdown. Oracle's Larry Ellison has the right business mindset for a time like this, and as far as conspiracy theories, for the moment, I agree with one of Frank's commenters, who quotes one of Charles Krauthammer's aphorisms: Krauthammer's razor (with apologies to Occam): In explaining any puzzling Washington phenomenon, always choose stupidity over conspiracy, incompetence over cunning. Anything else gives them too much credit.I agree--but I also reserve the right to revise and extend my remarks at a later date, once everything shakes out, as it inevitably will. "I Know Hollywood Is The Land Of Make Believe, But Really?"
By Ed Driscoll · October 11, 2008 11:37 AM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
I'll never look at Annette Bening's nude scenes in The Grifters the same way again... Update: Rand Simberg posits: "On the other hand, it's probably a lot easier to make Annette Bening look like Helen Thomas than vicey versy.I'd say that's an staggeringly safe assumption. The Consolation Of The Shoes
By Ed Driscoll · October 9, 2008 09:15 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
When did the Manolo become the photo editor at the Associated Press? Looking For Kryptonite In The Muslim World
By Ed Driscoll · October 9, 2008 04:40 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · The Substance of Style · War And Anti-War
Annie Jacobsen writes that if the Muslim world's vice squads consider Barbie to be "Jewish", wait 'til they find out the origins of their favorite cartoon and movie superheros: When Iranian toy seller Masoumeh Rahimi thinks of Barbie and Ken dolls, she thinks of heavy artillery -- only worse. "I think every Barbie doll is more harmful than an American missile," Ms. Rahmi told the BBC back in 2002. In April 2008, Iran's top prosecutor and religious cleric, Ghorban Ali Dori Najafabadi, upped the anti-Barbie campaign by calling for a ban on the sale of all Barbie dolls from the country. "Barbie is an emissary of nudity and promotes moral corruption," wrote the hardliner newspaper Kahyan.All I can add (at least while still in my secret identity as a mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan new media firm) is, "Up, Up, And Oy Vey!" "Rabies for Obama"
Viral marketing at its finest! (Especially since I heard about the site via an email from its author, who says that his next project might be "Measles for McCain"--though that could be a bit of a strain...) 57, 40, Or Fight!
Hey, 57 states, 40 days 'til new president's sworn in, FDR on TV in '29--forget it, they're rolling. (Even if the teleprompter isn't.) The Iowahawk Chronicles
By Ed Driscoll · September 24, 2008 11:11 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Hey, forget FDR's 1929 fireside video chats in stereophonic Bidenvision! Independent third party presidential candidate Dave Burge--the Maverick's Maverick--explains the basics of the credit bailout to you in this exclusive man-in-the-TGIFriday debate. It's sort of like the famous Nixon-Khrushchev Kitchen Debate of 1959, but combined with a heaping helping of all-you-can-eat nachos and gallons of half-priced happy-hour Margaritas in genuine polystyrene cocktail glasses. That's Our Katie
By Ed Driscoll · September 24, 2008 07:24 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Newsbusters' Brent Baker writes, "Couric Scolds McCain for Palin's 'Great Depression' Scare -- Which Couric Proposed to Palin." And meanwhile, Joe Biden's Pangea of gaffes this week continues to pay dividends--as blogger "Right Wing Professor" noted, Katie never batted an eye during Joe Biden's wacky Depression-era-flashback on Monday. And A Grateful Planet Says Thanks!
By Ed Driscoll · September 24, 2008 12:07 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Making of the President
Sky News: "Singer Bette Midler Quits Touring To Help Save The Planet." Glad to see that at least one celebrity has taken my advice after Al Gore's Live Earth concert last year: I wouldn't have as much of a problem with Live Earth if it really were The Last Rock Concert by those who participated in it. It takes an enormous amount of cognitive dissonance to simultaneously believe that the planet's ecosphere is soon to be doomed, but the solution is a blowout concert in two different football stadiums.More news regarding energy and an even bigger celebrity, here. He's Quayle-Tastic!
By Ed Driscoll · September 23, 2008 09:52 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
As Kathryn Jean Lopez writes, this election wouldn't be the same without Joe Biden. In addition to the aforementioned Barack-Olian Cluster-Gaffe--which actually snowballed to true classic proportions after Joe's appearance on CBS last night, this was Joe's other moment of greatness from his interview with Katie Couric, transcribed by the Politico's Ben Smith: Joe Biden's denunciation of his own campaign's ad to Katie Couric got so much attention last night that another odd note in the interview slipped by.Actually, you'd probably be wondering what happened to Felix, but still: If Sarah Palin had said this, CBSNBCABCCNNMSNBC would be running it on a never-ending loop today. Update: "At any rate, it looks like Biden learned his history from Faber College." Hey--knowledge is good. More: "What's funnier is that Katie Couric didn't catch it." The Barack-olian Cluster-Gaffe
I think this might be the first presidential campaign gaffe equivalent of a music mash-up, as multiple unforced errors by both a presidential and vice-presidential nominee get chopped down into a fine, fine puree by the patented Obama campaign's Super Gaffe-O-Matic '76 blending machine. First up, via InstaPundit, here's Joe Biden on the 6:30 PM CBS News, complete with video: Barack Obama's running mate says a campaign ad that mocked Republican presidential candidate John McCain as an out-of-touch, out-of-date computer illiterate was "terrible" and would not have been done had he known about it.And here's Biden a few hours later: I was asked about an ad I'd never seen, reacting merely to press reports. As I said right then, I knew there was nothing intentionally personal in the criticism of Senator McCain's views which look backwards not forwards and are out of touch with the new economic challenges we face today. Having now reviewed the ad, it is even more clear to me that given the disgraceful tenor of Senator McCain's ads and their persistent falsehoods, his campaign is in no position to criticize, especially when they continue to distort Barack's votes on an issue as personal as keeping kids safe from sexual predators.The Obama camp has been thugishly issuing threats on a surprisingly routine basis to metaphorically break the knees of his critics on the right, so presumably, his veep feels equally threatened to stay in line, lest he face a painful Luigi Vercotti-style end to his nomination. (Which "notorious conservative blogger" Glenn Reynolds has been not predicting right from the start!) Or perhaps the Obama campaign's PR department just threw caution to the wind and got a quick press release out there, safe in the assumption that Biden likely can't remember what the heck comes out of his perpetual motion machine of a mouth from one moment to the next. Related: Al Qaeda's dreaded Weather Weapon! Note: Put Down Your Diet Coke Now
Otherwise, the management of Ed Driscoll.com, Newsbusters, Pajamas Media, and its affiliates will not be held responsible for the survival of your computer's monitor when you read the following sentence by Frank Rich: In our news culture, [Joy] Behar, a stand-up comic by profession, looms as the new Edward R. Murrow.Not that last year's Murrow is currently living up to that rep himself, of course. From The Division Of Dark And Stormy Nights
By Ed Driscoll · September 22, 2008 10:57 AM · Muggeridge's Law
Tim Blair writes that it's a "Battle of the Openings", as "The best opening paragraph is challenged by the best opening sentence." Bicoastal Consensus Reached
By Ed Driscoll · September 18, 2008 12:12 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Memory Hole · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
Joel Stein in the L.A. Times in January of 2006: I DON'T SUPPORT our troops. . . . But when you volunteer for the U.S. military, you pretty much know you're not going to be fending off invasions from Mexico and Canada. So you're willingly signing up to be a fighting tool of American imperialism, for better or worse. Sometimes you get lucky and get to fight ethnic genocide in Kosovo, but other times it's Vietnam.Today in the Boston Globe, Steve Almond writes, "I have an ugly confession to make: I don't support the troops - at least not unconditionally": PERHAPS the most insidious byproduct of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has been a reflexive sanctification of the military. To put this in bumper stickerese: Support the Troops.As Jeanne Kirkpatrick once said: Reflecting at a 2002 conference on her early career as a socialist, she said it had been "relatively short." As she read the works of various socialists, she said, "I came to the conclusion that almost all of them, including my grandfather, were engaged in an effort to change human nature. The more I thought about it, the more I thought this was not likely to be a successful effort.""Human nature has no history", but then neither does much of the left. I'd call it a draw, but that might be using language that's too militaristic for some. Related: The above "Human nature has no history" quote comes from Professor Glenn Loury, whom you can see discussing Obama and feminism in this new Bloggingheads TV interview. Full Circle
"Who knew that back in the late 1990s, the folks at Free Republic were helping collect material for Obama supporters a decade later..." Great Moments In Hyperbole
By Ed Driscoll · September 15, 2008 04:46 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Found via Hugh Hewitt, John H. Taylor Spots Salon's Gary Kamiya allowing his Palin Derangement Syndome to lead him into an astonishing bit of hyperbole [After the Jill Greenberg meltdown, why is that astonishing?--Ed Good point]: If Palin catapults McCain to victory, it will be revealed to be the most powerful and enduring force in American politics. And that fact will raise serious questions about the viability of American democracy itself...As opposed to a tyro Senator who has yet to complete his first term in office and unlike Palin has zero executive experience? (Oh wait, other than running his campaign. Harold Stassen and Lyndon Larouche, eat your hearts out!) Nothing Gets Past The Washington Post
By Ed Driscoll · September 12, 2008 09:43 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole · War And Anti-War
As Ed Morrissey writes: Yet another stupid Palin smear arises today, on the front page of the Washington Post, no less. Anne Kornblut writes that Sarah Palin linked 9/11 to Saddam Hussein in telling troops departing to Iraq that they would be fighting the same people who attacked America. Perhaps the Washington Post hasn't yet realized it, but Saddam and his regime have long since been dispatched to history:Hey, it was in all the papers--even the Post! Jung America
By Ed Driscoll · September 10, 2008 03:51 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
Decades ago, Orson Welles once called Citizen Kane and its use of "Rosebud" as a framing mechanism an example of "Dollar Book Freud". Bracing for the onslaught of Hurricane Sarah, Deepak Chopra channels some Dollar Book Jung, and nests a seriously clunky PC parenthetical along the way. But what would Freud and Jung have made of this incredible admission from Smokey Joe Biden? Deliberate Convention Planning Or Jungian Synchronicity?
By Ed Driscoll · September 10, 2008 12:13 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
You make the call! Nathan Goulding posts photos from both parties' conventions. Near the top of the album is a photo with this caption: MSNBC's booth right next to Al Jazeera's. Think RNC planners did this intentionally?That whole media row on the west side of the Xcel Energy City was a wretched hive of old media infamy. While ideologically the networks housed in those booths moved from establishment liberal to very far left, in terms of skybox placement, the lineup ran from right to left as follows:
As I joked to Roger Simon on the day before the convention began and we first saw the lineup in the convention hall (and somewhat presciently in retrospect), if Keith Olbermann gets the boot mid-convention, he can simply walk next door and feel right at home. Hey, good enough for David Frost, good enough for Keith! Obama Chameleon
By Ed Driscoll · September 10, 2008 11:19 AM · All You Need Is Ears · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
While the new McCain ad highlighting yesterday's gaffe from Obama is pretty good, and I commend the speed with which it was crafted and uploaded to YouTube, the late-August video from Team McCain (embedded above) is just devastating. It's crafted with lurid psychedelic colors, filled with ancient 1960s peace symbols, and linking Obama with Boy George, David Bowie, Amy Winehouse, the late drag queen Divine, 1970s Greenwich Village cult singer Klaus Nomi, and other international musicians and celebrities. Really potent raw red meat for conservatives. Though I imagine the left might not be too sanguine with some of th.... ...Oh wait, it's not from McCain? It's a pro-Obama message? Who can tell these days?! The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Syndicated Columnist
By Ed Driscoll · September 10, 2008 09:47 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Future and its Enemies · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
While PDS may be running rampant in the US, it takes Saudi Arabia to really push it to its ironic zenith: Here's an irony to start your Iftar meal tonight: Saudi Arabia, where a woman must have permission from a male relative or her husband before traveling, will nevertheless run a Gloria Steinem column in its main English-language daily about the sufferings of American women (and their impending doom if Sarah Palin makes it to the White House).But then, feminism has stopped at the American border since 9/11/01--and sometimes not even there. For McCain And Palin, A New Etiquette
The International Herald Tribune reports that "For now, the rule is simple: Hug your running mate, kiss your wife": When Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, came out on stage to congratulate his running mate, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, after her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul last week, he gave her a hug, not a handshake. Palin got another hug at a rally here outside Kansas City on Monday.A healthy distance between running mates is usually a good thing. Glad to see that McCain and Palin have learned from the costly mistakes made in 2004. A Star Fall, A Phone Call, It Joins All
It's the Jungian thing, sir! Tim Blair has your electoral synchronicity of the day. "I Am America's Community Organizer Community"
Third party candidate Dave Burge is rapidly closing that 50-point gap between himself and the two front-runners in the 2008 presidential election. And he's not at all happy with the election's newest sensation and her hateful rhetoric and subliminal class warfare: When America's Communities Need Organizing, America's Community Organizers Will Be There to Organize ThemIowahawk: now more than ever, it's the audacity of tautology! Attention, Harried South Park Writers On Deadline!
By Ed Driscoll · September 7, 2008 11:37 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Return of the Primitive
Watch this short video; your next episode will then write itself in about five minutes. (Need I even mention how the above clip fits perfectly into these categories?) Update: "I so wanted the clip to end with Sarahcuda firing on a moose that wandered into their drum circle." Hey, she only shoots things that needed killin'... Nothing Gets Past ABC News
By Ed Driscoll · September 5, 2008 07:36 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
The New York Times, May 3rd, 2007: "Oprah Endorses Obama". ABC News, today: "Is Oprah Biased? Host Won't Interview Palin". Related: "While it is true that only Oprah suffers from a bad business decision it is 99 Red State Balloons
By Ed Driscoll · September 5, 2008 01:16 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Nuance: Andrea Mitchell has no idea what the ideology of anyone working in NBC might be, but can spot a Republican "Katharine Harris type" from miles away. She's afraid that the botched New Yorker Obama parody was actually "too sophisticated to actually be perceived the way it is intended" by the booboisies out there in Middle America. And then there was this attempt at cultural anthropology gone awry: MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell issued an on-air apology Monday following a remark last week in which she referred to an area of southwestern Virginia as "redneck, sort of bordering-on-Appalachia country."Which is why she's probably filing a request for hazardous duty pay from NBC after this particular field assignment. How To Secede In Blogging Without Really Trying
By Ed Driscoll · September 5, 2008 11:45 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President · The New, New Journalism · The Reich Stuff
Thank God that ABC lets its hosts of The View blog. Back in 2006, there was the sophisticated and nuanced prose stylings of Rosie O'Donnell, and successor Whoopi Goldberg is proudly upholding the same commitment to high-quality journalism that has made Big Media what it is today. In both cases, the 21st century medium of the Blogosphere allows them to share with us insights into their personalities--and dare I say it--views, that simply cannot be boxed into the tubercular blue small screen of television alone. Such as the fact that Whoopi Goldberg doesn't know the difference between "succeed" and "secede", and sees in Sarah Palin, a conservative tax-cutting pro-life candidate with libertarian leanings, the return of a hard left racially driven socialist agenda governmental leviathan bent on euthanasia and ethnic cleansing. Or as Tim Graham puts it, "Whoopi Goldberg: Palin Sounds Pro-Nazi, Wants to 'Succeed' From U.S." (And speaking of secession--I guess this means that the left has finally come to their senses on the Akaka bill, whose author has said could eventually lead to "outright independence" for Hawaii, and is supported by Barack Obama.) The Gaffe Machine Rolls On
John Hinderaker of Power Line spots, as he puts it, "this pathetic effort" by Barack Obama to defend his lack of executive experience: Well, my understanding is that Governor Palin's town of Wasilla has, I think, 50 employees. We've got 2,500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe $12 million a year. You know, we have a budget of about three times that just for the month. So I think that our ability to manage large systems and to execute I think has been made clear over the last couple of years.Still though, bonus points for not calling her "sweetie." As John writes: Apparently Obama hadn't heard about Palin being Governor of the State of Alaska, which has a budget in excess of $11 billion annually and more than 24,000 employees. Also, on Obama's theory, the act of running for President gives you the experience you need to qualify to be President. That's convenient for a guy who has accomplished so little in his career in public life.Before his death at age 93 in 2001, Harold Stassen must have racked up more executive experience than anyone! Update: Ben Smith of the Politico writes: The McCain campaign, happy to talk about Obama's experience, calls his using his campaign as an example "desperate circular logic" and pointing to Palin's tenure as governor.As Orrin Judd writes, "Yes Barry, they're laughing at you." An Army Of Palins!
During the day, as we watched the final preparations being applied to the PJTV booth before it could go live yesterday evening, Jennifer Rubin, the three Power Liners and I kicked around how the ever-expanding Palin family story was playing on Monday. As I quipped, somebody should write a Mark Steyn-style demographic angle to the story. And with 113 million Weblogs floating around out there, not surprisingly, at least one blogger did just that. Glenn Reynolds calls this the "Best Spin Yet." "Belay The Bird Porn--Follow That Pedicab!"
By Ed Driscoll · August 28, 2008 11:48 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive
I'd quote from this story by Dave Barry on the big, big story of the Democratic Convention--the fight against bird porn, and a cameo from Daryl Hannah, but I'd wind up excerpting the whole thing in an effort to lay out the conceptional groundwork of this fast breaking story. Which, like Watergate 35 years ago, required the efforts of another journalist to bring the story to its complete fruition. In this case, Blogosphere favorite James Lileks, who makes a key guest appearance in Barry's article, and also has video of the anti-Bird Porn puritans in action, here. Memo: Proper Attire For The Temple Of Obama
The McCain Camp has issued a memo listing "Suggested Toga Styles" for those visitors tonight on a pilgrimage to the "Barackopolis." But really, they're just helpfully trying to prevent the sort of wardrobe malfunction that seems to befall performing celebrities in football stadiums all too often these days. News From 1979
By Ed Driscoll · August 28, 2008 01:57 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
There is no escape even from the aura of the penumbra of the echo of the Decade From Hell: "Mackenzie Phillips has been busted at LAX for allegedly possessing heroin and cocaine."Disco Stu's mood ring sure turned black over that news. It's Not Just A Good Idea, It's The Law
By Ed Driscoll · August 28, 2008 01:25 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Back in the very, very early days of this site's existence, I wrote: When Malcolm Muggeridge was the editor of the British satirical magazine Punch in the early 1960s, Khrushchev had announced he was going to tour England alongside its prime minister. Muggeridge wrote up a list of the silliest tour stops he could think of, and then put the article to bed, ready for publication. When the actual tour list was drawn up, he had to massively rewrite the article. At least half the tour stops in his satirical piece were actually on Khrushchev and the British PM's agenda!And even your humble narrator isn't immune. Yesterday, when I was interviewing Roger L. Simon about PJTV, he started talking about bias, and remarked that everyone's biased, which is true enough; it's human nature. "You have a bias, I have a bias, everyone has a bias" I think Roger said. I immediately quipped, "Keith Olbermann doesn't have a bias--he's straight down the middle!", trying to think the most obviously in-the-tank anchor on TV, who in the past, hasn't been afraid to at least tacitly admit it. Naturally, I had just unwittingly crashed straight into the brick wall of satire known as Muggeridge's Law: Regardless, [MSNBC President Phil Griffin] said he has faith in his convention anchors -- including Olbermann, a scourge of the right -- for both the final days in Denver and next week in St. Paul, Minn.Straight down the line, straight down the middle. Objectivity all the way, dude! (Is it just me, or is Griffin starting to sound like Howell Raines railing against the furies immediately after the Jayson Blair scandal exploded in his face? But hey, if this was the gang you had to play Kindergarten Cop with every day, you'd be feeling pretty tense, too.) Revolutionary Spray-On Tan Colors Debut At DNCC
Fox's Shepard Smith seems to have discovered the crisp new Nacho Cheese-colored spray-on tan, which Doritos appears to be test-marketing at the Democratic convention. As James Lileks writes, "the last time I saw someone with that much makeup on he had green eyes and went by the name 'Data.'" Recreate '68 BC!
All hail Caesar Obama! Update: There's always been definite gnostic feel to Obama; to combine memes from Glenn Reynolds and Nigel Tufnel (and really, who doesn't?) I blame...Da Druids. Meanwhile, Orrin Judd asks a reasonable follow-up question. (Via Michelle Malkin, who has much more on the Temple on the Platte.) Obama Man Is Thrusting In The Direction Of The Problem!
By Ed Driscoll · August 24, 2008 07:15 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Substance of Style
It's Billy Beer for a new millennium as Obama beer hits the shelves! Life Imitates Ace
By Ed Driscoll · August 24, 2008 04:23 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Ace of Spades earlier today: If you've talked to Hillary supporters, you know that they're the world's most recent and most enthusiastic converts to the Anti-Media Bias Party. It's almost funny how life-long Democrats are now sputtering angrily about media bias, the way we've been fuming for most of our lives. They know damn well the media propped up Obama while working to take down their girl.Which is why Ed Rendell sounds much more like Brent Bozell in this Politico article: Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell was supposed to give "closing remarks" during this afternoon's Shorenstein Center-sponsored panel discussion with all three Sunday show moderators -- NBC's Tom Brokaw, ABC's George Stephanopoulous and CBS's Bob Schieffer -- but instead, he opened up a can of worms about bias in 2008 election coverageEd must be the last guy on the planet who can use the words "impartiality" and "Chris Matthews" in the same sentence and still keep a straight face. The Fun Begins
By Ed Driscoll · August 24, 2008 12:56 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · War And Anti-War
Glenn Reynolds writes: Anti-war protests in Denver, featuring Cindy Sheehan. Though at this late date, what war are they protesting, exactly? Iraq's in the wrap-up phase (even Obama says the Surge worked and, well, "mission accomplished"), even the lefties haven't been raising much complaint about Afghanistan, and nobody's talking about invading Iran or anything. If you want a real invasion over oil to protest, you could march against the Russian invasion of Georgia, but that's not happening. What's next -- protests against Teddy Roosevelt in Cuba?No blood for Mojitos, maaan! (Mmmm...Mojito....) The Audacity Of Mendacity
"Before a crowd of thousands gathered in front of the Old State Capitol, Mr. Obama said Mr. Biden was 'what many others pretend to be -- a statesman with sound judgment who doesn't have to hide behind bluster to keep America strong.'" He doesn't?! As Orrin Judd asks, "Has the Unicorn Rider ever even met the man?" Meanwhile, Hugh Hewitt, not surprisingly, has lots of fun at the expense of Obama's veep. I won't give away the television character that Hugh compares Biden, except to say that as nutty as the character was, the actor who played him is a pretty level-headed guy in real life. But Where's Our Novocaine?
Hot Air has the Metaphor Of The Day: "Biden got the call from Obama during a root canal"! "Terrified Asexual Forcemeat"
News you can use from Tim Blair: If, on May 14, 1979*, you'd asked yourself, "How long must I wait until a cartoon cat uses the phrase 'terrified asexual forcemeat?'", the answer is 10,693 days.And while such brilliant phrasing isn't a part of "one of the best opening paragraphs ever written", it'll do until the next one comes along. Update: More meaty, beaty, big & bouncy fun from the cartoon kingdom: ![]() Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft
Jonah Goldberg's recent National Review essay on Barack Obama's transnationalism was titled, "Hear Me, Earthlings!", and, nevermind its fluorescent pastel color scheme, I as look at the photos of the stage set of the Democrats' convention in Denver, I have to wonder...so what time does V'Ger make himself visible? Or as Ace puts it, "Obama's Stage Stresses Democratic Planks of Unity, Hope, and Avante-Garde Lighting Concepts." Chinese Democracy
By Ed Driscoll · August 22, 2008 01:19 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Radical Chic · The Gulag Archipelago · The Making of the President
Words you rarely like to hear from a presidential candidate: "Beijing looks like a pretty good option." In a devastating comparison, Maggie's Farm notes that Obama's gaffes have gotten so bad, he's beginning to make Bob Dylan sound sensible by comparison. Life Imitates Roger
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I increasingly find Obama to be like a late night infomercial host - slightly charming, slightly unctuous, factually meaningless. Ready for the Presidency? Don't be silly." --Roger L. Simon, November 18th, 2007 "Obama Tests Waters With Late-Night Informercial" --TV News, August 12th, 2008 Life Imitates Woody
By Ed Driscoll · August 22, 2008 12:07 AM · Muggeridge's Law
A Mr. Allan Stewart Konigsberg once quipped: I have never in my life had difficulty with the cops. I had difficulty with the cops, that's not...no actually I didn't have difficulty with the cops. I was once sitting home in my house, and a lot of cars pulled up around the house. They shined in searchlights, and I heard a voice over the loudspeaker say "We have your house surrounded. This is the New York public library" They wanted their books back, y'know, and the little librarian was lobbing grenades over the house.--From Woody Allen - Standup Comic: 1964-1968. Flash-forward forty years: "Wisconsin woman, 20, arrested for two overdue library volumes." While her mug shot does bear somewhat of a certain vague aesthetic similarity to fellow Wisconsinite Miss A. Hall, the above guilty party is not from Chippewa Falls though, sadly enough. Freon? Is There Nothing It Can't Do!
By Ed Driscoll · August 21, 2008 11:40 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason
As a man of the Great Indoors, air conditioning has been my life-long friend, one whose reputation I will fight long and hard to protect. But it's curious the partisan rancor it brings out in others: back in 1999, Jonah Goldberg quipped that it's responsible for Big Government: In the 18th and 19th centuries a congressman wouldn't be caught dead in Washington during July. Well, actually, they might be caught dead, because they wore all those clothes and were so fat that they might have died while trying to get out. The British Embassy, for example, moved the entire kit and caboodle to Maine every summer.In Salon, on the other side of the political spectrum, Edward (no relation) McClelland writes, "I blame A/C for the decline of the labor movement and for decimating the Midwest's population. Mostly, I blame it for the election of George W. Bush." And speaking of propeller-driven machines, Mayor Bloomberg spins back from the ledge, slowly: Mayor Michael Bloomberg is backing off his suggestion to put windmills on city bridges and rooftops after newspapers mocked the idea with photo illustrations of turbines on the Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building.Imagine the howls of derision from the media if a Republican--or at least one who wasn't temporarily one in name only solely for electoral expediency said that. When The Whip Team Comes Down
By Ed Driscoll · August 21, 2008 12:36 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President · The New Puritans · The Return of the Primitive
If "inexperienced" is code for racism, and if Ralph Lauren's Waspy-duds are racist, (which must make this a photo of the 21st century KKK in their bedsheets) then surely the headline of the article that RedState links to is as well. The writers of Avenue Q didn't know the half of it: by the time November rolls around everything will be code for racism--if it isn't yet already. Related: "Roasting Obama." Recreate
Ed Morrissey has a photo of the pass to Barack Obama's acceptance speech at Invesco Field with its now infamous upside-down flag motif. I think it's a likely gaffe, not an intentional slur (perhaps a Kinsley-esque gaffe?), but it does immediately recall two other blasts from the Democratic past: the cover of John Kerry's The New Soldier cri de coeur from 1971, as Ed notes, and according to a passage in Steve Hayward's The Age of Reagan, the staffers of the following year's campaign by George McGovern. Barack Obama once positioned himself as someone who had moved beyond the failed punitive liberalism that began in the mid-to-late1960s. But from Bittergate to this recent gaffe, his campaign seems mired in his party's reactionary politics, which date back to the days after JFK's death; now the longest running hangover in history. Related: On the other hand, "Credentials? We don't need no stinkin' credentials"! Troy McClure Could Not Be Reached For Comment*
Hi, I'm Barack Obama. You may remember me from such public service videos as "Pirates of the South Side: Dead Man's Vote" and "It's Raining Weathermen". But today, I'm here to talk you about... (*Neither could Ross Perot, for that matter.) All Right--Important Safety Tip. Thanks, Egon
By Ed Driscoll · August 17, 2008 01:50 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Via Tim Blair, "An important community warning, featuring one of the best opening paragraphs ever written": A Mount Gambier woman has warned the community against cleaning lawnmowers in bedrooms while smoking.I know I won't ever do that again! This Won't Be An October Surprise
By Ed Driscoll · August 17, 2008 01:21 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Remember one of the loonier conspiracy theories that the left floated in October of 2004--that Bush cheated during the debates against John Kerry? Here we go again! I blame those Katherine Harris-type election officials, myself. The Eschaton Immanentized: NBC's Outdoor Air Conditioning!
By Ed Driscoll · August 16, 2008 11:20 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · Run To Daylight · The Assault On Reason · The Return of the Primitive
I gave NBC a lot of grief last fall for their global warming stunt of turning a handful of overhead lights off in their studio as some sort of sophomoric global warming cheerleading when covering a Cowboys/Eagles NFL game, which itself burned megawatts of power from the stadium lights, the video electronics, and the satellite hookups. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel spent by those driving to the game, the network equipment trucks, the corporate charter flights, etc. But NBC made up for it big time with this: WTHR, the NBC affiliate for Indianapolis, reported from Beijing and described the NBC set used for the network's two highest rated news broadcasts, "NBC Nightly News" and "Today," as air conditioned - even though it is outdoors.Thanks, fellas. Everyone has that brief embarrassing fling with the teenage nostalgie de la boue Rousseauvian primitiveness of environmentalism, but it's good to have you back with the rest of us. Top Celebrity Designs Own Clothes Line
By Ed Driscoll · August 16, 2008 05:12 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Substance of Style
As Barack Obama reels in response to John McCain's charges that he's a lightweight more obsessed with image than substance, his campaign has come up with the perfect rejoinder. Gateway Pundit spots Team Obama courting top fashion designers to create his own clothes line. And why not? For complete stylistic fabulosity, he's already got the logo ready to go! (Via Founding Bloggers; no word yet on whether the new Obamatogs are Manolo-approved.) In Sub-Zero Midichlorians? Jabba Golightly?
By Ed Driscoll · August 14, 2008 10:24 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
It's Answered Prayers for some budding young Sith Lord! Kyle Smith writes that George Lucas may have stepped into the latest scandal for those aficionados of the industry of the world's most puritanical company town who: A. Whose blood pressure blows sky-high if anybody looks at them cross-eyed. B. Have far too much time on their hands, and: C. Are bummed because they missed the chance to flip out over Tropic Thunder's use of the newest worst most eviltastic word discovered to still be in the English language. It's....Capote The Hutt! (Think he's kidding? Two words: Muggeridge's Law.) But then, this is all just preseason stuff. The Complainy-American (to borrow a Tim Blair-ism) will really be out in full dudgeon this fall over this. Update: Kyle's take on the film itself? "A Big Pile of Dukoo." Reading his review, I can't help but think of Marcia Lucas' thoughts on her ex-husband's franchise in Peter Biskind's Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: "After Star Wars, he insisted, 'I'm never going to direct another establishment-type movie again.' I used to say, 'For someone who wants to be an experimental filmmaker, why are you spending this fortune on a facility to make Hollywood movies? We edited THX in our attic, we edited American Graffiti over Francis' garage, I just don't get it, George.' The Lucasfilm empire--the computer division, ILM, the licensing and lawyers--seemed to me to be this inverted triangle sitting on a pea, which was the Star Wars trilogy. But he wasn't going to make any more Star Wars, and the pea was going to dry up and crumble, and then he was going to be left with this huge facility with its enormous overhead. And why did he want to do that if he wasn't going to make movies? I still don't get it."That pea has dried up, and no amount of water in all the vaporators on Tatooine is going to bring it back to life. Takin' It To The Streets!
By Ed Driscoll · August 14, 2008 07:01 PM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
Hot Air has video of impeachment-crazed leftwing whackos attempting to shout down Nancy Pelosi. "I have complete comfort with the frustration. I'm from the streets," she said.But these days, there's just no place for a Street Fightin' Nan. I Am The Next Brian De Palma!
By Ed Driscoll · August 14, 2008 11:35 AM · An Army Of Davids · Ed TV · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · War And Anti-War
Which actually isn't saying all that much these days: take a look at Redacted's IMDB page. If you assume $9.00 a ticket, with its absolutely pathetic $65,087 domestic gross, that means Redacted was seen by about 7,232 people during its initial run in theaters. (As John Nolte likes to write, "Anyone care to debate how Hollywood's money driven?") In contrast, my recent "2004: An MSM Odyssey" video was viewed by 8,507 people according to Brightcove, its Webhost. ...And I can safely guarantee that my budget was just a smidgen lower than Redacted's five million dollars. We Can Be Patton, If Just For One Day
By Ed Driscoll · August 14, 2008 10:41 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
Thomas Frank feverishly lets it all hang out: The most cherished dream of conservative Washington is that liberalism can somehow be defeated, finally and irreversibly, in the way that armies are beaten and pests are exterminated. Electoral victories by Republicans are just part of the story. The larger vision is of a future in which liberalism is physically barred from the control room--of an "end of history" in which taxes and onerous regulation will never be allowed to threaten the fortunes private individuals make for themselves. This is the longing behind the former White House aide Karl Rove's talk of "permanent majority" and, 20 years previously, disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff's declaration to the Republican convention that it's "the job of all revolutions to make permanent their gains".That's the stuff! Every time I think that the right is just bumbling around in the dark and rapidly losing ground to the left, something like this from the other side truly warms my heart. As one of Charles Johnson's rotating metatags says, "please more print and distribute and get blessing!" Watching The Snausages Being Made
If you've ever said to yourself--and really, who amongst us hasn't?--I wonder what happens behind the scenes when they shoot a Triumph the Insult Dog video segment, Daniel Frank, AKA "Captain Spaulding", writes: Watch sausage being made as camcorders pick up Triumph the Insult Comic Dog at Comicon here and here.Meanwhile, found via Kathy Shaidle, the Cake Wrecks blog documents, with copious photographic evidence, pretty much just what its title suggests. Move Along, Nothing To See Here
By Ed Driscoll · August 13, 2008 06:10 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · War And Anti-War
Great moments in MSM leads: While the amount of sodium cyanide found in a Denver hotel room was enough to kill hundreds of people, the FBI says they do not believe there is any link to terrorism.I feel safer already, don't you? Though Charles Johnson spots one possible link. Visualize Industrial Collapse--At The Newseum!
By Ed Driscoll · August 13, 2008 03:34 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Assault On Reason · The Future and its Enemies · The Return of the Primitive
One Al Gore clubhouse inside of another, as Ted Kaczynski's cabin is on display now at the News mausoleum in Washington, DC. As Jaime Sneider of the Weekly Standard writes: So I guess the question is does the "hands on" experience of the Newseum allow visitors to handle the contents of Kaczynski's cabin? Do recall among his only possessions was an underlined copy of Al Gore's Earth in the Balance.For our Silicon Graffiti segment on the Newseum, click here. (Headline explanation here.) A Thousand Points Of Light
By Ed Driscoll · August 10, 2008 12:35 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole
"Nothing would have more impact on the economy and the price of oil than his election as president," former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young (no relation to this Andrew Young) said. "There would be a boost of 1,000 points on the stock market the first week after he's elected. This would be better than a chicken in every pot." Thus ushering in a decade of blazing 1.5 percent annual growth! By the way, note this line from Young: More importantly, Young strongly believes that the economic future for the United States is inextricably connected to the rest of the world.Obama agrees of course--depending upon which day you ask him. Topo Gigio Could Not Be Reached For Comment
Is the Obama hand signal really the apocalyptic Sign of Wences? After "Dukakis After Dark"
By Ed Driscoll · August 9, 2008 05:53 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · War And Anti-War
20 years after Saturday Night Live said goodbye to everyone's favorite Atari Democrat, and from the man who brought you this classic moment: If she had lived, Mary Jo Kopechne would be 62 years old. Through his tireless work as a legislator, Edward Kennedy would have brought comfort to her in her old age.Comes the breathless question...Just what if Michael Dukakis had won! Which begs for a follow-up: What if George Bush had won in 1992? Eats, Shoots & Leaves Rainbow's, Prodominatly!
By Ed Driscoll · August 8, 2008 02:52 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Return of the Primitive
What's in your Water? Rainbows, man! But what's in your video? Apparently several unnecessary apostrophes, and spelling errors prodominatly on display in the titles at the beginning of the video--always a sure sign that crack research scientists are hard at work! ![]() ![]()
I Shall Call Him Mini-Hutz
By Ed Driscoll · August 8, 2008 02:25 PM · Muggeridge's Law
The media demands photos of John Edwards' alleged love child--and the Exurban League delivers! The Obama Salute!
By Ed Driscoll · August 7, 2008 10:03 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive
![]() Its multifaceted meanings are a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma--with a touch of Goatse... The Liberal Bletchley Park
By Ed Driscoll · August 7, 2008 08:26 PM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive
And voila! A meme is born: In a column for the Politico yesterday, Reason editor Michael Moynihan wrote the left had turned into a "a virtual Bletchley Park of racial cryptographers teasing out the sinister motives and subtexts of McCain's campaign advertising."Here's an all-too-rare sign of racial sanity on the left, fortunately. Update: Here's a new project for the codebreakers to sink their mad deciphering skills into. Build-A-Barry
"I'll say this much for the Obamas: No one has more interesting political conversations with second-graders than they do...the Obama camp is uniquely well positioned to engage seven-year-olds on foreign policy." The Mark Of Barack!
By Ed Driscoll · August 7, 2008 03:48 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Oh, I hope we're not too messianic, or a trifle too satanic, the sequel: The McCain campaign is unquestionably targeting the 44 million+ Americans who have read the Left Behind series. The makers of the ad chose all of Obama's quotes very carefully and filled it with image after image equating Senator Obama to the anti-Christ, and especially to Nicolae Carpathia, the anti-Christ in the popular end times novels....You know, sometimes the Leaning Tower of Pisa is merely the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Quote Of The Day
"By the way can you imagine that if Joe Biden is selected as VP he might actually be the less gaffe-prone of the two?" --Jennifer Rubin, "It's Not a Gaffe, It's a Theme" I Hope We're Not too Messianic, Or A Trifle Too Satanic
I wish everyone would get their stories straight--are McCain's ads trying to tell me that Obama is Hitler, or that Obama is the Anti-Christ? Work it out and get back to me, fellas--thanks. Quote Of The Day
By Ed Driscoll · August 3, 2008 02:57 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Kathryn Jean Lopez: "I think the Iraqi government is more functional than our domestic airlines right now..." Oh sure--but just try getting a $5.00 Asian Chicken Wrap or a .5 oz bag of pretzels in downtown Baghdad... Great Moments In Headlines
By Ed Driscoll · August 3, 2008 02:39 PM · Muggeridge's Law
"Say I'm Inside the Large Hadron Collider and It's Revving Up. Should I Be Concerned?" Via Glenn Reynolds, who fears for the safety of the Piercing-American demographic. Looks scary in the photo though; something that could cause many Shuvs and Zuuls to be roasted in the depths of the Slor, I can tell you! Know Your Rubber!
The dark horse third-party Burge '08 ticket focuses on two key issues of the day, both of which, I think, are succinctly summed up by the above headline. And while he approaches the second issue only grudgingly (note the divisive "Internet hat pundit" attack aimed at us, though clearly an implied shot at the entire fourth estate--or maybe just the Stetson company--I'll get back to you), we're quite proud of our efforts in getting Mr. Burge on the record regarding the latter issue. You're welcome, gentle reader; you're welcome! "Wanna See Rielle Hunter's Old Site?"
![]() Deceiver.com has a screencap and a link to Reille Hunter's Website, which is a hoot: Looks like there are two Americas: the America where not-John-Edwards'-babymama Rielle Hunter has erased her web site from existence, and the America where someone else has put it right back up.Actually, it's not America--the URL is the Egyptian mirror site for the San Francisco-based Internet Archive Wayback machine, but still, click over for the graphics, stay for the sweet, new age chakra! (Via the crystalline blogging of Australia's Tim Blair.) Update: Welcome Deceiver readers! Take a look around; hopefully you'll like some of what you see. Late Update (8/8/08): Edwards begins to come clean--er, so to speak--click here for details. And on the Sixth Day He Created Jar-Jar Binks
By Ed Driscoll · July 30, 2008 07:44 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Memory Hole
So can you immanentize the eschaton through the Force? "I am the father of our Star Wars movie world--the filmed entertainment, the features and now the animated film and television series," (George Lucas) says. "And I'm going to do a live-action television series. Those are all things I am very involved in: I set them up and I train the people and I go through them all. I'm the father; that's my work. Then we have the licensing group, which does the games, toys and books, and all that other stuff. I call that the son--and the son does pretty much what he wants." He laughs. "Once in a while, they ask a question like 'Can we kill off Yoda?', things like that, but it's very loose.Pretty biblical stuff from a guy whose original idea was to portray communist North Vietnam in a favorable light... The Question Here Is Obvious
By Ed Driscoll · July 30, 2008 06:42 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Substance of Style
Betsy Newmark writes, "Apparently, under Iowa law, dancing naked on a stage is legal because it can be considered an expression of art." I realize that while all politics is local, when a man becomes a presidential nominee, he must take a national, at times global perspective; and thus has little time to study hometown issues. But the question must be asked nonetheless: where does Iowa's most famous son, Dave Burge, aka Iowahawk, currently heading up the maverick's maverick presidential ticket, Burge-Goldstein 2008, stand on this critical issue? Update: Steven Den Beste responds via email: "As close to the stage as possible, of course!" Heh, indeed.TM The L.A. Times Keeps Rockin'!
By Ed Driscoll · July 30, 2008 02:12 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole
Remember the bad old days of Kremlinology, when analysts would study who was airbrushed out of Soviet photos to see who was out of power? Greg Pollowitz notices--for some reason known only to the L.A. Times and don't you dare read anything into it--a curious update of the photos of potential veep candidates by the Times. ABC: "You Are Like Teddy Roosevelt!"
By Ed Driscoll · July 30, 2008 12:38 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Memory Hole · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
John McCain? No--Osama bin Laden! Osama bin Laden wanted to introduce himself to America with an ABC television interview months before al Qaeda bombed two U.S. embassies in Africa, the interviewer testified on Tuesday.Michael Moore and Brian Williams could not be reached for comment. Now Ze's Time On Sprockets Ven Ve Vote!
By Ed Driscoll · July 29, 2008 11:43 AM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive
Fans of Mike Myer's Dieter character and his techno-Brechtian goof Sprockets will get a chuckle out of this, but as Allahpundit notes, I'm not sure how well it will play back in Just One Word, Muhammad: Plastic
By Ed Driscoll · July 25, 2008 07:36 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
As a kid, I was never very good at building model airplanes (particularly when it came time to paint and detail them), and thus, a key career path is no longer open to me: minister of Iranian propaganda: Here's a photo of the pilot. But really, isn't Iran's copying photos from the latest Revell catalog more or less on a par with this? "Impeachment Lite"
AP checks in on the two-minute hate in DC: "I am really astonished at the mood in this room," commented one witness, George Mason University School of Law professor Jeremy Rabkin.Nahh, they'd be pretty cool with him. Tomorrow's Answers Yesterday!
By Ed Driscoll · July 25, 2008 11:52 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The New Puritans · The Return of the Primitive
Jason Maoz of Commentary asks, "Whatever Happened to Liberal Humor?" Fire up the Tardis--with or without Barry behind the wheel: We answered that one two and a half years ago, three years ago--and five years ago! (H/T: KS) Related: "Best. Headline. Ever." With Apologies To Gavin Macleod
By Ed Driscoll · July 24, 2008 02:26 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive
It's not just a presumptive victory lap...it's the Love Parade.
Oh Wait, We Already Did The Animal House Riff
By Ed Driscoll · July 24, 2008 12:37 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole · War And Anti-War
Still though--forget it, he's rolling. Great Moments In Headlines
By Ed Driscoll · July 23, 2008 04:20 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The New, New Journalism
And on a related note, here's great moments in mastheads. Corvette Summer
By Ed Driscoll · July 23, 2008 03:52 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Quote of the day, part deux: "I've heard people talk about the 'drive-by media,' but this is ridiculous."--Glenn Reynolds on Bob Novak's driving skills--or lack thereof. Quote Of The Day
By Ed Driscoll · July 23, 2008 02:26 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole · War And Anti-War
"We don't see a need to improve upon our credibility by, say, putting the audio on the web." --Der Spiegel, which according to Patterico, helpfully rewrote Iraqi PM Maliki's remarks for "clarity." Related: "Photo Ops and 'Fake Interviews': Obama's Excellent Overseas Adventure." Think Of It As The Opposite Of The Turing Test
By Ed Driscoll · July 22, 2008 06:31 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
"This is my proposed Quayle Test. Ask yourself: How each time Obama says something stoopid, would the press would have crucified Dan Quayle for it?" (Via Glenn Reynolds.) Great Moments In Headlines And Job Titles
By Ed Driscoll · July 22, 2008 11:53 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Making of the President · The Newspeak Dictionary
Actual Rocky Mountain News headline: "DNCC's Director of Greening experience questioned." I hope she's up to the task: Only three state delegations have agreed to eliminate entirely their carbon footprints by purchasing travel offsets, despite the pleas of convention organizers.As Orrin Judd notes, "The telecast of his speech will be eco-porn!" The Audacity of Tautology
Dan Quayle, eat your heart out: "Well, let me--let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israel's." A Modest Proposal
By Ed Driscoll · July 22, 2008 10:15 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Having been rejected for publication by the New York Times, copies of which are no doubt sold throughout our northernmost 51st state, John McCain clearly has a slam-dunk case for the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal. Take That, You 295 Million Americans!
By Ed Driscoll · July 22, 2008 10:01 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
According to this AP report from April, Katie Couric's evening news show "averaged 5.34 million viewers last week, breaking a record low for CBS News' flagship show that had been set the week before, according to Nielsen Media Research." And the rest of you 295 million troglodytes who tuned her out? Sexist bastards, the lot of you: "Unfortunately I have found out that many viewers are afraid of change. The glory days of TV news are over, and the media landscape has been dramatically changed. News is available now for everyone, everywhere, all the time, and everybody fights for the last pieces of the shrinking pie. The corporate pressure and the ratings terror are intensifying all the time, and the situation is not simple. I find myself in the last bastion of male dominance, and realizing what Hillary Clinton might have realized not long ago: that sexism in the American society is more common than racism, and certainly more acceptable or forgivable. In any case, I think my post and Hillary's race are important steps in the right direction."All that pioneering bravery, and for only $15 million a year. "Maliki Delivers A Body-Blow To The GOP Candidate"
By Ed Driscoll · July 21, 2008 12:15 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · War And Anti-War
Byron York writes: For months now, John McCain has urged Barack Obama to visit Iraq. "It has been 873 days since Sen. Obama's one and only visit to Iraq," a McCain campaign statement said on May 30. "Before [he] decides to override the recommendations of our commanders in the field and surrender the fight, he should have the judgment to see for himself first-hand the conditions on the ground."As Allahpundit writes, "The discomfort is palpable and apt to get worse as the day wears on. " The Audacity Of Uniformity
By Ed Driscoll · July 19, 2008 04:30 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Even as liberal comedians continue to knock their product, if not its target, the legacy media celebrates a broad diversity of marketing slogans as it prepares for November: CBS News creative director Bob Peterson has rolled out this new logo for CBS News coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign. CBS continues with the "Campaign '08" theme, while ABC calls theirs "Vote '08" and NBC's is "Decision '08"Oh to have been a fly on the wall when the real Don Drapers of Madison Avenue submitted their bills for those innovative slogans! Obama In The Sky, With Diamonds
By Ed Driscoll · July 18, 2008 06:47 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Ever since the media's infamous "DemocRATS" articles first ran in September during the 2000 campaign, usually the subliminal advertising paranoia begins to arrive late in the race, as with the Republican follow-up in October, 2004. But as a helpful way to deflect attention from the New Yorker's cartoon, ABC has discovered that theoretically it's possible, that if you watch John McCain's new, nearly eight minute long video attacking Obama's Iraq War flipflops while you stand on your head, look cross-eyed, simultaneously chant passages from the Tibetan Book of the Dead and take hits from an Evian-cooled bong full of Acapulco Gold, it's possible to see what looks like it might be the letters Al Qaeda, in one of the video's 14,000 or so frames. Abraham Zapruder could not be reached for comment. And no word yet, if you play the anti-Obama ad backwards, if it spells out Paul Is Dead, Here's To My Sweet Saul Alinsky, or Hillary Is The Antichrist. Caution, Future New Yorker Writer At Work!
By Ed Driscoll · July 18, 2008 12:45 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive
See if you can spot the disparity between the photo and its caption in this NPR story. Here's the text: Angelica Hernandez (left) and her mother, Gloria Nunez, struggle to make ends meet on a very limited budget.Click over for the photo. The headline of the article is "For Some Ohioans, Even Meat Is Out Of Reach", which of course, probably makes PETA quite happy, in much the same way that rising gasoline prices give a warm fuzzy feeling to Gore and Obama. Forget It, He's Rolling
By Ed Driscoll · July 18, 2008 10:41 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · War And Anti-War
The Obama/John Belushi connection, as discovered by Orrin Judd. Bonus question: Was Hawaii already one of our 57 states when the bomb was dropped on it? Sacrifice For Thee--But Not For Me!
By Ed Driscoll · July 17, 2008 06:33 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The New, New Journalism
Your must see eco-hypocrisy video of the day, via Americans for Prosperity: Al was recently quoted in the New York Times (sure, but for the sake of argument, assume they got it right) as saying that: "The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk," Mr. Gore said in a speech to an energy conference here. "The future of human civilization is at stake."As Glenn Reynolds likes to say, I'll believe there's a crisis when the people who tell me there's a crisis start acting like there's one themselves. All You Need Is Cash
Eric Idle's proto-Spinal Tap Beatles parody TV movie in 1978: In the midst of all this public bickering, "Let it Rot" was released as a film, an album, and a lawsuit. In 1970, Dirk sued Stig, Nasty, and Barry; Barry sued Dirk, Nasty, and Stig; Nasty sued Barry, Dirk, and Stig; and Stig sued himself accidentally.Newsmax, today: "Rangel to File Ethics Complaint--Against Himself." Darkness On The Edge Of Germany
By Ed Driscoll · July 17, 2008 12:51 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · War And Anti-War
Back in 2006, I wrote, "Baby We Were Born To Run--From The Wall"--but Reuters has put an entirely new spin on that headline! Betsy Newmark spots everybody's favorite wire service praising Bruce Springsteen's efforts in the twilight of the Cold War, with the headline, "Did the Boss help bring down the Berlin Wall?" Frankly, this revisionism of the Cold War by the MSM cannot stand. We were told by no less an authoritative source as the BBC that a former actor who envisioned himself going on to bigger and greater things ended the Cold War, without firing a shot in the process. As he once wistfully told a German reporter, "I find it a bit sad that there is no photo of me hanging on the walls in the Berlin Museum at Checkpoint Charlie." Mufflernomics
By Ed Driscoll · July 16, 2008 01:49 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
Tim Blair looks at the Midas Muffler school of economics: 2001:No word yet on President Merkin Muffley's tax-cutting proposals, though.Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., dramatized his objections [to the Bush tax cut] ...he held up a spare part and said, "If you're a typical working person, you get $227, and that's enough to buy this muffler."2008:Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's wife, Michelle, complained the government's $600 economic stimulus check was only enough to buy "a pair of earrings" ...Or nearly three mufflers. Which, for the sake of her husband's campaign, Ms Tiffany Cartier Michelle DeBeers Obama might consider using. Mellow Enharshened
By Ed Driscoll · July 15, 2008 04:56 PM · Muggeridge's Law
This sort of thing can sure ruin an otherwise casual trip to the drive-thru. Tiny Mummies Attack Man With Thin Skin
By Ed Driscoll · July 14, 2008 02:50 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President · The New Puritans
(Although, to be fair, it's tough to picture the Shawn-era New Yorker that Tom Wolfe satirized in his classic "Tiny Mummies" article doing anything that would actually get them this much negative press, particularly amongst the left.) Michelle Malkin writes welcome to the big leagues, rook, where the establishment left routinely satirizes politicians of all stripes. What, you thought you'd get a pass? The Jackson Grab: No Castration Without Representation!
Extreme Mortman explains that the media is "Making A Mountain Out Of A Mohel." Elsewhere, Mark Hemmingway suggests that the Jackson Grab will become the new fist bump. Me? I think Jesse's been watching too much Stephen Colbert: I Need A Book To Tell Me This?
By Ed Driscoll · July 9, 2008 09:38 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
"Memoir says Madonna's true love is herself." I'm Fuzzy On The Whole Good/Bad Thing
"WHAT'S WORSE THAN MAUREEN DOWD? Fake Maureen Dowd!" But what happens if you cross the streams and Dowdify fake Maureen Dowd? Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light... An Inconvenient Connection, Or: To Live And Die In Milan
By Ed Driscoll · July 9, 2008 02:06 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Return of the Primitive
Around 1969 and '70, when The Who's Tommy was a pop culture phenomenon, Pete Townshend and his manager, Kit Lambert were culturally aware enough to know that when they booked their self-described rock "opera" into real opera houses, they were veering dangerously close to camp. It was only The Who's sledgehammer live stage show (and Townshend's often great songwriting) that saved them--at least until Ken Russell arrived on the scene to direct the movie version a few years later. Flash-forward to nearly 40 years on, and we find two prominent cinematic auteurs also seeking to enter the rarefied world of opera. But are they self-aware enough to know that the joke will be on them if their choice of venues actually comes to pass? Why Can't We Be Friends?
By Ed Driscoll · July 8, 2008 09:02 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
I can't be entirely certain, but I'd say there's a reasonable chance of a penumbra of an emanation of a rumor that these people simply are not here to make friends: (From the friendly neighborhood Manolo himself at his terrific gossip blog, Ayyyy!) Avenue UK
By Ed Driscoll · July 7, 2008 12:17 PM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
England's Telegraph: "Toddlers who dislike spicy food 'racist'". And don't even mention those ne'er do well urchins--and bourgeois parents in the proletariat sector--who commit the doubleplus ungood crimethink of food waste! (Can't the kids just claim that bland food and garbage are covered under their own personal interpretation of sharia law and be issued a hall pass?) She's Gotta Have It!
By Ed Driscoll · July 6, 2008 05:19 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law
Well, lots and lots and lots of butter on her popcorn when at the movies: Robert Reich, offshore drilling (and the sad lack thereof), Antonioni's Blowup and a young Hillary Clinton's deep abiding love of hot buttered popcorn--all this--and more!--coalesces, thanks to Ann Althouse, in the Rosetta Stone of blog posts. (H/T: IP) Inarguable Proof That God Has A Sense Of Humor
Chevy Chase began his career 30-odd (very odd) years ago savaging a former GOP vice president; back then, part of the joke was that Chase looked nothing like the then-60-something Ford. But as always, God has the last laugh. It's further proof that Botox, plastic surgery and better medical technology merely cause Orwell's maxim to be pushed back a decade or two: At age 64, Chase has the face he deserves. As Mary Katharine Ham asks, "How ticked off do you think Chevy Chase is these days when he wakes up, looks in the mirror...And sees a slightly less-handsome version of Dick Cheney before his eyes?" I'd say very. It's A Trap!
Stop Global Warming...before it turns you into Admiral Akbar! (Who looks a lot like Mary Steenburgen these days! It's certainly only one step removed from being turned into a zombie, which is enough to make one want to mix one of these in response.) Related, If Exceedingly Tangentially: "Arugula causes global warming"! Triumph Of The Mud
By Ed Driscoll · July 5, 2008 06:59 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Hollywood, Interrupted · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · The Memory Hole
John Nolte, on his Dirty Harry's Place film blog, spots Roger Ebert making quite an interesting analogy in his latest review, which revisits Leni Riefenstahl’s infamous Triumph of the Will: Try to imagine another film where hundreds of thousands gathered. Where all focus was on one or a few figures on a distant stage. Where those figures were the object of adulation. The film, of course, is the rock documentary “Woodstock” (1970). But consider how Michael Wadleigh, that film’s director, approached the formal challenge of his work. He begins with the preparations for this massive concert. He shows arrivals coming by car, bus, bicycle, foot. He show the arrangements to feed them. He makes the Port-O-San Man, serving the portable toilets, into a folk hero. …Wow, who knew that the famously leftwing Roger Ebert was such a fan of Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism?! But such a comparison is ultimately futile: Freddie Mercury and Queen weren't even bandmates when Woodstock occurred in 1969, and they were history's first fascist rock and roll group--just ask Rolling Stone. I Question The Timing!
By Ed Driscoll · July 4, 2008 02:11 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive
Recreate 1,000,068 B.C.! I had to laugh when a link to this advertisement started showing up this week in my Site Meter's banner ads: Next month, you'll be able to meet more fossilized dinosaurs in Denver than Michael Crichton could have possibly ever imagined... Blind Faith
By Ed Driscoll · July 4, 2008 10:25 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Thank God for the American public that the journalists they rely upon to help them make informed decisions are a hard-bitten cynical lot, having seen it all a hundred times, never falling for the latest huckster trying to sell them a bill of goods, instead of those naive, easily fooled bloggers... Update: Fortunately, not all in Big Media are as dewey-eyed as the Gray Lady's unseasoned young naifs. Hasn't This Happened To Everyone, At Least Once?
Dave Barry rifles through the case files of CSI: Appleton, Wisconson: A couple telephoned police in the middle of the night after finding a man in their basement covered head to toe in barbecue sauce.It's common sense, really: If they can't see you, they can't get to you! The Assault On Plasma
By Ed Driscoll · July 3, 2008 02:53 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · Pajamas Theater 3000 · The Assault On Reason · The Return of the Primitive
It's official--everything does indeed cause global warming. But before we ban flat panel TVs and monitors, we might want to ask this fan of conspicuous digital consumption what he thinks about the idea: ![]() "Hitler Tamed by Prison. Released on Parole…"
By Ed Driscoll · July 3, 2008 02:30 PM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Memory Hole
Claudia Rossett sifts through the Memory Hole and recovers a classic headline from the prehistoric Walter Duranty era of the New York Times. Of course, it's not like things have changed all that much in the Pinch Sulzberger era... MDS--It's Never Too Early To Start!
By Ed Driscoll · July 3, 2008 11:21 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
"Behold, per Blake Dvorak, one of the first documented cases of McCain Derangement Syndrome." Who Knew That Ian Faith Edited The L.A. Times?
Certainly, in the topsy-turvy world of heavy journalism, having a good solid b.s. detector in your hand is often useful: If only AP was as skeptical of the L.A. Times as it is of the Bush Administration ...it wouldn't have left this uncommented upon:So the paper's content, like its popularity, isn't shrinking, it's merely becoming more selective. "Saving Private Zion"
By Ed Driscoll · June 29, 2008 08:20 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
Charles Johnson has a video clip of, as he says, a typically bizarre piece of Iranian antisemitic propaganda, with the usual lunatic conspiracy theories run amok, and notes: Good grief. The bizarre antisemitic propaganda being fed to the Iranian people would be funny in a dark way if it didn’t provoke such a sense of foreboding, of history repeating.Capt. Jack Sparrow, Tom and Jerry, and the cast of Zionist poultry from Chicken Run could not be reached for comment. Great Moments In Television Journalism
By Ed Driscoll · June 27, 2008 07:10 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive
Back in December, I mentioned Alycia Lane, a Philadelphia-area TV news anchorbabe who was fired after an altercation with a Manhattan police woman: As Dan Riehl wrote in October when the story of Dallas-area TV journalist Rebecca Aguilar confronting an innocent elderly man on-camera broke, "Leave it to a real journalist to go over the top."While that story sounds trashy enough as it is, it only gets weirder from there: CBS3 yesterday released anchorman Larry Mendte from his contract 31/2 weeks after FBI agents seized his home computer amid allegations that he illegally broke into former coanchor Alycia Lane's e-mail.You stay classy, big media! (Hat tip: My mom, one of the great connoisseurs of Philadelphia television news, who told Nina and I that Mendte was fired "after he was caught going into someone else's Internet!" Hey, everyone's entitled to their own private series of tubes...) Fear, Itself
Warner Todd Huston has a terrific roundup of photos documenting "Obama's Propagandistic Iconography: the Making of a Messiah". Regarding the latest example, Mickey Kaus asks if Obama's mocked-up pseudo-presidential seal was his Mission Accomplished moment. Both certainly pleased the base, while alienating the more skeptical. And speaking of trips down memory lane, "And now, Barack Delano Obama"... Related: While we're on the subject of messianic propagandistic iconography, did Obama personally tell a campaign volunteer to shut up about her Che Guevara Flag? He must have forgotten about this one, in any case. Update: A voice of cool, dispassionate reason emerges as a strong counterforce, finally: I think that we can take a lesson from the Republicans in the sense that we seem to be continually looking for the next Messiah. I think that’s a bad habit.Oh wait, nevermind--that was Obama himself two years ago. It's not easy, but I guess a man can get used to rampantly overflowing hagiography pretty quickly if he has to. On The Whole, I'm Rather Glad I'm Not In Tunbridge Wells
By Ed Driscoll · June 22, 2008 02:31 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Newspeak Dictionary · The Return of the Primitive
While England has many of the same problems that inflict the bluer alcoves of America, fortunately, that enlightened bastion of reason and common sense has its priorities firmly in order: A council has banned the term "brainstorming" and replaced it with "thought showers".No, this story offends those of us who have a modicum of common sense remaining, which appears to be the world's scarcest resource these days. Meanwhile, as the editor of the 11th edition of the Newspeak dictionary once said, "You think, I dare say, that our chief job is inventing new words. But not a bit of it! We're destroying words -- scores of them, hundreds of them, every day." (Story via Dirty Harry's other blog; headline via Claude Rains.) Are Ombudsmen Necessary? When Sexes Collide
By Ed Driscoll · June 21, 2008 07:35 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
"Politically correct is never a term one would apply to [Maureen] Dowd’s commentary", the New York Times ombudsperson Clark Hoyt writes. If you say so, though standard-issue East Coast establishment liberal boilerplate are all terms that readily come to mind. In any case, as Hoyt's predecessor ombudsman wrote, "Is The New York Times a Liberal Newspaper? Of course it is." And now it's time to pay the piper: Over the course of the campaign, I received complaints that Times coverage of Clinton included too much emphasis on her appearance, too many stereotypical words that appeared to put her down and dismiss a woman’s potential for leadership and too many snide references to her as cold or unlikable. When I pressed for details, the subject often boiled down to Dowd.So please, all you sexist troglodytes, no giggling at the end of that last paragraph! (Via Hot Air.) To Paraphrase Robert Plant (Or Maybe Memphis Minnie)...
By Ed Driscoll · June 21, 2008 07:05 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Perfect Storm
When the levee breaks, Obama, you've got to move--and attempt to pin it on John McCain. (Via Greg Pollowitz; Spike Lee could not be reached for comment.) The Not-So-Groovy Guru
Given its horrid revues from both sides of the aisle, I don't think that Hindu chaplain Rajan Zed will have much difficulty in urging "Hindus around the world to boycott" Mike Myers' new film, The Love Guru: Movie executives at Paramount Pictures have honoured their promise to preview Mike Myers' new film The Love Guru for concerned Hindu leaders in Los Angeles.Really? They might? Do you think! Let me check on this one and get back to you. OK--back! Unfortunately though, the producers of Dogma, The Da Vinci Code, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Golden Compass, and Jesus Camp could not be reached for comment. Nor could this director of a different sort of anti-religion movie, who, curiously enough, isn't around these days to cash his royalty checks. Related: "Admit none: 16 protested movies." Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes!
Or, All The President's Vegetables (Margaret Thatcher could relate to that one); in any case, Lou Dobbs sounds like he's warming up to be an extra on Mystery Condiment Theater 3000. As John Hinderaker writes, "Dobbs has been a joke for quite a while now, but I think he's finally gone around the bend. Yesterday he urged that President Bush be impeached over salmonella in tomatoes." No, really!, as Dave Barry would say:
(Video found at Eyeblast.TV) Update: "Let’s ask the really important question: how can we impeach incompetent news anchors?" More: Hot Air-lanche--welcome readers of Michelle, Allahpundit and Capt. Ed! Given Hot Air's multimedia theme, click here to check out my various recent videos. The Audacity Of Winnie
By Ed Driscoll · June 20, 2008 03:15 AM · Ed TV · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · War And Anti-War
Two guesses as to how this video ends: (Back story here; lots more fun with Winnie and friends, here. And many more videos, here.) Related: The original Dukakis in the tank ad from 1988 can be found here--judging by the nuanced headline written by the person who uploaded it, I don't think he was a fan of the ad's message. "In Many Ways, He Really Will Be The First Woman President"
By Ed Driscoll · June 17, 2008 08:57 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Back in October of 2003, Howard Dean boldly went where no presidential candidate had gone before: Dean declared himself a "metrosexual," the buzz phrase for straight men in touch with their feminine sides, as he touted his accomplishments in "equal justice" for gay and lesbian couples.Perhaps it means this: "In many ways, he really will be the first woman president," Megan Beyer of Virginia, a charter member of Women for Obama, told reporters. An op-ed essay in The New York Post headlined "Bam: Our 1st Woman Prez?" came to a similar conclusion, if a tad more snidely: "Those shots of Barack and Michelle sitting with Oprah on stools had the feel of a smart, all-women talk panel."No wonder Hillary's narrative never gained traction in the Democratic primaries! (Incidentally, the author of the piece is feminist icon Susan Faludi. Was she a Hillary backer in the primaries? Because that's quite a poison pill she's dropped into Obama's lap if that "he really will be the first woman president" line she quotes goes viral in the general election.) Iron My Shirt!
By Ed Driscoll · June 17, 2008 11:50 AM · Muggeridge's Law
The Australian reports: AN Italian man has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping his ex-girlfriend and forcing her to iron his clothes and wash his dishes.Surveillance tapes recovered here. The Chicago Way
As Tom Maguire notes, "Barack Obama channels his inner Sean Connery as he describes his approach to the upcoming campaign": Barack Obama is warning supporters that the general election fight between him and John McCain may get ugly, but the Illinois senator is vowing not to back down.Maybe he could borrow this one. (By the way, Obama does know that all of the gunfire in The Untouchables is just pretend, right?) What Do You Think You're Looking At, Sugar Beak?
By Ed Driscoll · June 14, 2008 12:42 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
Iranian TV explores Hidden Zionist Themes in... wait for it... No really! (I wonder if anybody told Mel Gibson?) It's a bit like watching the Soviets in the mid-1960s complaining how decadent the West had become because they listened to the Beatles and Herman's Hermits. And incidentally, can you say projection, boys and girls? (Via a post at Free Mark Steyn which looks at the insanity of conspiracy theories through the ages; as you may have already seen, we recently made a quick romp through their last fifty years in video form, here.) "So Bad, It Must Be Seen!"
In the old days of Hollywood, if a film bombed spectacularly, legend had it that its frames would be cut up to make thousands upon thousands of guitar picks. (Or ukulele picks, in Roger Ebert's vernacular.) Which would be have been infinitely more humane to all concerned than this attempted method of salvaging a recent celluloid megabomb. (Via the Vast Manolo Empire.) Don't Worry, He'll Walk This One Back Shortly, Too
By Ed Driscoll · June 11, 2008 12:47 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The Making of the President
Just as the San Francisco Chronicle op-ed writer who dubbed him a "Lightworker" also previous admitted (and he's not the only media figure to do so), Obama is also for higher gas prices. He just wishes they arrived more slowly than the Pelosi Premium did. As John Steele Gordon noted in Commentary a few days ago, "This would seem to be an opening the size of the Grand Canyon for McCain, and Republican candidates for Congress, to exploit this year." The latter group already has. McCain? Don't bet on it, sadly. Update: More more at Ace of Spades. More: Mike Bloomberg, Manhattan's favorite nanny who has been named as a potential veep to both candidates, is also cool with higher gas prices. Note this bit of Orwellian doubletalk from the mayor and his aide: "Reducing taxes on energy consumption is the wrong way to go. We should be raising taxes on energy consumption dramatically because it's the only way you're going to force people to use less."On the other hand, WWCD? Too Much Monkey Business
By Ed Driscoll · June 10, 2008 01:21 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Naturally this had to make James Taranto's Best of the Web Today column: "Scientists find monkeys who know how to fish". As James writes, "Mike Kinsley, Call Your Office". "Gaia Wants You To Eat Your S'Mores Cold!"
"Seattle may ban beach bonfires", because, as IowaHawk predicted a few years ago (on target as usual) "Top Scientists Warn: Fire Make Sea Gods Angry!" What's The Frequency, Scott?
Just to add to my recent video on which side of the aisle is more obsessed with conspiracy theories, reading this, it sounds like Dan Rather's take on how he was discovered trying to sell phony documents to his audience isn't all that far removed from Tim Blair's satiric look at RatherGate's birth. Advice To The Young At Heart
Kids, you can trust Betsy Newmark on this one--she's a teacher: "If you're going to plagiarize a graduation speech, don't take one from The Onion." Pass The Popcorn
"Video: The ten worst running mates Obama could choose". As Allah writes, "pithily effective as a reminder of just how many seedy characters number among the Messiah’s apostles." Beware Of The Brown Note!
By Ed Driscoll · June 5, 2008 11:19 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive
No, that's not a Frank Zappa song title, though if he were alive, hopefully he'd be satirizing this: Beware of the Brown Note.Uh, yeah. But like the mythical brown note itself, paranoia strikes deep... (HT: MM) As Always, Life Imitates IowaHawk
IowaHawk headline, April 29: "Dear Barry--Relationship Advice From Illinois Senator Barack Obama". Glamour Magazine, today: "Obama's Dinner Date Doctrine". (Incidentally, IowaHawk's latest post is well worth your time as well, involving classic radio programs from America's 58th state.) The Bogosity Of Hope
By Ed Driscoll · June 1, 2008 04:01 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Hey, maybe I've been too harsh on the Obama campaign--they have to have quite a well-developed sense of humor to actually send their communications director out to and say this with a straight face: GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: In Philadelphia, just in April, Senator Obama said of Reverend Wright "I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community." Now he's cut all ties to Reverend Wright, and left his church. What is it a mistake to wait this long?Uh-huh. If it is, it would be the first non-political decision Obama has made in his adult life. Besides, I thought the personal was political. It Must Feel Like Hitting The World's Biggest Speed Bump
Obama throws his whole church under the bus. Reverends Otis Moss, James Meeks, Michael Pfleger and Jeremiah Wright could not be reached for comment... Yet. Update: Found Via Maggie's Farm, "Faith Flashback: Obama Says Christian Right Drives People Apart". Except for those clinging bitter unemployed gun-toting people it brings together, of course. Meanwhile, Sweetness And Light links to the Chicago Tribune: CNN is reporting this afternoon that Sen. Barack Obama is leaving Trinity United Church of Christ, his longtime religious home on Chicago’s South Side and a place that has triggered repeated controversies during his presidential bid.Indeed he did. More: Byron York notes: CNN is reporting, based on CNN contributor Roland Martin, that Barack and Michelle Obama have resigned from Trinity United Church of Christ.You can watch Martin and Soledad O'Brien give two big thumbs up to Wright's NAACP appearance back in late April here. O' Brien was still gushing the next day. A week later though, CNN's John Roberts would helpfully declare the network "a Reverend Wright-free zone", before Obama declared himself completely Trinity-free today. Can't wait to find out how all this will be written up in the next issue of The Trumpet! Meanwhile, John Podhoretz has a few questions: The breaking news is that tonight (Saturday night), Barack Obama will announce he has resigned his membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago — the former pulpit of Jeremiah Wright from which the Catholic priest Michael Pfleger made his incendiary remarks about Hillary Clinton. This is of course the same church that Obama said contained within it every aspect of the black community (which raises the question of whether he is, by the same logic, resigning from the black community). There’s something about this decision that raises more questions than it answers. Is Obama doing this now because he is on the verge of securing the nomination and no longer needs to worry so much about disappointing his base? Or is he worried there is more to come on YouTube from the Trinity United stage and he wants to have dissociated himself from it all beforehand? Is he going to have to give another major speech on race to revise and amend his previous speech on race?The answer to that last question depends on how tough a grilling he'll receive from the press. When cynical steely old media finally turns up the heat on its favorite candidate, will it be room temperature, or merely tepid? Something Tells Me Mike Logan Would Beg To Differ
By Ed Driscoll · May 30, 2008 10:38 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
Chris Noth, "Mr. Big" in Sex And The City, "Thinks New York Is Too ‘Commercialized’": The actor, who began residing in New York City in the 1970s, told Interview magazine that its appeal has greatly lowered over the years. “New York is pretty much commercialized to the point of no return,” he complained. Noth also misses the city’s creative scene, stating, “It’s very suburban. The art scene really left, except in patches. It’s all about sort of a corporate sensibility, and it’s squeezed out room for any other kind of sensibility.”Ironically, for a guy who makes his living playing a cop on TV, it sounds like Chris longs for the nadir of Big Apple's law enforcement, proving once again the inviolability of Bill Whittle's Lou Grant Effect. Our Multifaceted Media, Then And Now
By Ed Driscoll · May 30, 2008 04:44 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Memory Hole
Dan Rather* in 2001: Bill O'Reilly: I want to ask you flat out, do you think President Clinton's an honest man?But that was then, this is now, and the President no longer has a D after his name: "CNN’s Wolf Blitzer to McClellan: Is President Bush ‘A Serial Liar?’" Read More » A Modest Proposal
Ramesh Ponnuru writes that some are finding the phrase "War On Terror" offensive. A headline writer at the BBC, found by way of Tim Blair, safely ensconced in his plush new virtual digs, inadvertently creates one possible replacement euphemism. Dead Chant Walking
By Ed Driscoll · May 29, 2008 01:10 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive
Well give 'em credit: at least they're threatening to recreate 2000 instead of '68. But like much of "progressivism's" rhetoric, this nostalgic cliche is starting to feel almost as old and clapped out as your local folkie playing "Imagine" and "Give Peace A Chance" on his out of tune acoustic guitar. Or, given her early role in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, another chorus of "Let's Do The Time Warp, Again!" “I’ve got a lot of flak from feminists who feel that I should be supporting Hillary Clinton, but I thought the whole point of feminism is that you’re not supposed to be defined by gender,” she says…Yes, it's always a choice of polar opposites, isn't it? The Heaven-on-Earth of the messiah-like rookie liberal Democrat senator, or the abyss of the war hero moderate Republican senator. And speaking of which, Allah notes: She’s been a trooper up ’til now — 36 years of her life lived under Republican presidents and still, somehow, she hasn’t left yet. How does she stand it?Meanwhile, Brian Faughnan has the logical response that most will have after the third consecutive go-around of this rhetoric: prove it to me, sister: It's a valiant try by Ms. Sarandon, but the voters are unlikely to be fooled. We'll never know how many cast votes for George Bush in 2004, anticipating that Alec Baldwin, Robert Redford, Janeane Garofalo, Michael Moore, and many others would pack up and move to Canada. Alas, they failed to hold up their end of the deal.Canada--it's just a jump to the left! Wow, Maybe He Really Is The Manchurian Candidate!
Was Obama's uncle part of the Russian brigade that liberated Auschwitz...or, far more likely, has Hillary just been out-Tuzla'ed by Obama (or his speech writers)? And will Hillary, looking for a way to put her own recent gaffe behind her, take advantage of the opportunity she's just been handed? Update: Jim Geraghty writes: If the MSM would either A) be more forgiving of Republican officials who they don't like or B) be a little tougher on Democratic officials they do like, the world would be a better place. In this case, I don't think Barack Obama is deliberately lying, or trying to pull a fast one. It sounds like a family "legend" in which the specific horrors of war witnessed by his uncle are mistaken as the years go by. It happens, and Obama only deserves the lightest of metaphorical slaps on the wrist for it. But it would help if his fans in the press actually paid attention to what he says.Exactly. More at Hot Air. More: Charles Johnson writes: Jim Geraghty thinks Obama wasn’t really lying here; it was just another gaffe.Charles adds that "This digression into fantasy was apparently not in Obama’s prepared speech". Good Day Sunshine
By Ed Driscoll · May 24, 2008 12:07 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
"Somewhere, Dan Quayle scratches his head in bewilderment", Jammie Wearing Fool notes--and probably accurately, as Barack Obama hits Florida: At four different points during the speech, Obama referred to the town as “Sunshine,” as opposed to “Sunrise.” Amazingly, the crowd of 16,000 played along and no one corrected him. Sunrise is a city in Broward County, possibly best known for its role in 2000 presidential election.JWF writes: Good grief.And possibly John Kerry as well, who had his share of similar geographic gaffes in 2004. Place Them In A Box Until A Quieter Time
By Ed Driscoll · May 23, 2008 12:52 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason
Much like his lyrics, Dave Matthews puts a typically goofy ironic spin on what numerous conservatives--and even some musicians--said last year: "The whole joke of Live Earth was how wasteful it was": The May 29 edition of Rolling Stone looks ahead to the summer concert season, and the rock-music mag is praising the Dave Matthews Band for their use of biodiesel for buses and "biodegradable goods for catering." But this exchange was interesting, about Al Gore's "Live Earth" concerts.As I wrote last year, right around this time: I wouldn't have as much of a problem with Live Earth if it really were The Last Rock Concert by those who participated in it. It takes an enormous amount of cognitive dissonance to simultaneously believe that the planet's ecosphere is soon to be doomed, but the solution is a blowout concert in two different football stadiums.Or as Glenn Reynolds said at the time, "I'll start acting as if it's a crisis when the people who are telling me it's a crisis start acting as if it's a crisis." I'm Thinking It Over
By Ed Driscoll · May 23, 2008 10:28 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Return of the Primitive · The Substance of Style · War And Anti-War
With apologies to Jack Benny for the above headline; while I'm not in the market for a new car at the moment, the timing of Honda's new sales pitch makes it an awfully appealing proposition... Certainly better than this gaffe (at least I hope it's a gaffe--never ascribe to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity) by Dunkin' Donuts' latest spokesperson. In any case, mister, they could use a pitchman like Michael Vale again! "Rival Camps Plan Inevitable Merger"
By Ed Driscoll · May 18, 2008 01:24 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole
The Washington Post reports on the most spectacular merger news since the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central combined forces (which certainly worked out just swell for all concerned): Top fundraisers for Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have begun private talks aimed at merging the two candidates' teams, not waiting for the Democratic nominating process to end before they start preparations for a hard-fought fall campaign.Wow, just like that, huh? I thought all of Hillary's voters were bigots. And all of Obama's, sexists. And that while Hillary has "a lifetime of experience", all Senator Obama has for political experience is a single speech he gave in 2002. But in contrast to the second coming of the Messiah, Hillary was the personification of Michael Corleone, Glen Close in Fatal Attraction and Richard Nixon all rolled into one. Nowhere is talk more cheap than politics, but doesn't the left get whiplash riding out all those 180 degree pivots? He's The Full Hot Orator
By Ed Driscoll · May 15, 2008 12:42 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
"I hope that he will understand, if he is the nominee, the degree of disillusionment that will happen if he doesn’t become a greater man than he will ever be". --Sean Penn on the "phenomenally inhuman" Obama. Did Joyce Kilmer teach poetry at Ridgemont High? The Age Of The Age Of Reagan
This just in from Salon--"Reagan didn't completely suck": In "The Age of Reagan," liberal historian Sean Wilentz reckons with the enormous, ongoing influence of the teflon president.The Age of Reagan? Say, now there's a title that rings a bell! Math Is Hard!
By Ed Driscoll · May 11, 2008 04:03 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Assault On Reason · The Perfect Storm
Last year, there were 409 tornadoes: "So far some 730 tornadoes have touched down this year, more than double the number for all of last year."—ABC's Bill Weir on yesterday's Good Morning America, who--of course--blames the "more than double" increase on global warming. I doubt Cindy Crawford would argue with those calculations. (Nor would this fellow, but for different reasons.) Building A Bridge To The 1930s
By Ed Driscoll · May 10, 2008 12:40 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The Return of the Primitive
Father Coughlin could not be reached for comment: "All we're doing is going into the basket and saying, 'Damn, what did they do in '32, what did they do in '34, what did they do in '36,' and we're pulling them out, dusting them off, giving them a paint job, correcting the fenders a bit, and we're using them," Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) said. "To get us through the horrendous problems we may have over the next several years, we've got to make these old programs work, and we've got to be as inventive as hell."Nice to know that with the Dow Jones about 12,700 points higher than it was in 1932, the left still sees nothing but Hoovervilles into eternity. Hillary's Final Campaign Days As Personal Rorschach Test
By Ed Driscoll · May 9, 2008 12:59 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
This could make for one of those cheesy guilty pleasure National Enquirer-type surveys: Reveals Your Inner Personality! Is Hillary:
You make the call! Update: This one arrived too late to make the initial cut: Is Hillary Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction? More: This was inevitable, and in highly questionable taste, to be honest Livin' On A Prayer
Mark Hemmingway asks, "How bad are things in the newspaper industry? See prayingforpapers.com." I know there are no atheists in fox holes and unemployment lines, but I wonder what these people would say about that site? That Sly Come Hither Stare That Strips My Conscience Bare
By Ed Driscoll · May 8, 2008 02:56 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
They call it witchcraft...Or the reality party, depending upon who you talk to. The Object Of Power Is Power
By Ed Driscoll · May 1, 2008 05:42 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole
The prime motivation of government is...to be in government. Making the country a 'better place' comes a distant second.Or as a Mr. E. Blair wrote 60 years ago: We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?'By the way, for a real "Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia" experience, check out the backwards-reverse-somersault Olympic-level fip-flops that Obama-worshiping journalists such as CNN's Soledad O'Brien (no relation, presumably to the fellow quoted above) performed between Sunday night and Tuesday, when new orders came in from the Ministry of Yes We Can. Related: May Day 2008: A Day Of Remembrance Of The Victims Of Communism. (H/T: IP) This Just In
Jonathan Pierce of England's Samizdata reads Andrew Sullivan, so you don't have to, spotting this classic Sullivan moment: It's extremely depressing that the first major national black politician who takes on the victimology of Sharpton and Jackson is greeted by the right with the kind of cynicism you see at Malkin or the Corner or Reynolds. It reveals, I think, the deeper truth: the Republican right only wants a black Republican to do this.As Jonathan writes, "Republicans want to vote for Republicans: who knew?" Go figure! I guess their chief concern is finding "the right man — and the conservative choice — for a difficult and perilous time." I'd Rather Be Mortarboarding
By Ed Driscoll · April 29, 2008 12:03 PM · God And Man At Dupont University · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · War And Anti-War
Jonah, mortarboarding at Gitmo is when detainees are made to put on a cap and gown and listen to back-to-back commencement addresses by alternating Clinton cabinet secretaries and PBS hosts. Most of them crack during Janet Reno.I'd say that by far, this is the definitive example of mortarboarding--with this a close second. But the competition is fierce, with numerous new potential contestants participating each spring. Priorities Firmly In Order
By Ed Driscoll · April 27, 2008 12:39 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · War And Anti-War
Charles Johnson spots "Lefties Seething Over Obama on Fox": The irony here is completely off the scale. These are people who advocate speaking with our real mortal enemies, enemies who chant “Death to America” and kill American soldiers and civilians, but they’re unyielding when it comes to ... Fox News?Freud called it displacement. With A Bit Of A Mind Flip, You're There In The Time Slip
By Ed Driscoll · April 26, 2008 07:13 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Memory Hole
The wheels of progress grind exceedingly slowly at Newsweek, but eventually, the magazine grudgingly catches up with conservative thought: First this week, Eleanor Clift nods in tacit agreement with everything Republicans said about the Clintons in the 1990s. Shortly thereafter, Michael Hirsh runs an article there titled, "How the South Won (This) Civil War". That was a theme that Michael Graham, a southerner currently transplanted to New England, described six(!) years ago, in a book with much less bitter tone (actually, it's quite a funny read) called Redneck Nation. Its subhead also notes..."How the South Really Won the War". Update: Speaking of time warps, Glenn Reynolds flashes back to November of 2004 and notes, "Jeez, they used to at least wait until after they lost the election to start this talk." I Think Newsweek Just Unwittingly Endorsed John McCain
By Ed Driscoll · April 26, 2008 11:24 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
During the 1990s, conservatives believed that the Clintons were something out of The Godfather, with endless dark deals and bodies buried (Vince Foster, and even Ron Brown, depending upon how deep down the conspiratorial rabbit hole of the VRWC one went) to stay in power. That was all tut-tutted by the left during the 1990s, but as I recently said, that was then and this is now. In the very liberal Newsweek, the even more liberal Eleanor Clift essentially says that they were right: I'm beginning to think Hillary Clinton might pull this off and wrestle the nomination away from Barack Obama. If she does, a lot of folks—including a huge chunk of the media—will join Bill Richardson (a.k.a. Judas) in the Deep Freeze. If the Clintons get back into the White House, it will be retribution time, like the Corleone family consolidating power in "The Godfather," where the watchword is, "It's business, not personal."So if Obama runs, he'll be the second coming of Leonard Bernstein's salon, with radical chic terrorists and racist thugs such as William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, and Reverend Wright. If Hillary wins, it will be the second coming of Don Corleone, according to Eleanor. Sounds like an exceptional reason to ride the Straight Talk Express, to me. Nair Runner
By Ed Driscoll · April 25, 2008 01:07 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Return of the Primitive
Couldn't he have have simply let it keep growing naturally to demonstrate the importance of sustained old growth forestry? Illinois Nazis--I Hate Illinois Nazis
Soon to be ex-GOP Congressional candidate Tony Zirkle from Indiana speaks with neo-Nazis in Chicago: U.S. Congressional candidate Tony Zirkle is facing criticism from one of his primary opponents, and a host of people on the Internet, for speaking at an event over the weekend that celebrated Adolf Hitler’s birthday.As the director of the play within the movie The Producers said after reading its script, "Did you know, I never knew that the Third Reich meant Germany. I mean it's just drenched with historical goodies like that!" "That's The Truth"
By Ed Driscoll · April 21, 2008 01:22 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
From Whoopi Goldberg, toiling away in the department of stopped clocks: "Well, what’s the matter is the Democrats are an elitist group. That’s the truth." Whoopi's last foray into politics was so elitist, it lost her a lucrative advertising gig. Update: Tim Blair uncovers more elitism involving the Keystone State, as "Chelsea Clinton hits the gay bars in Philadelphia": "I think Chelsea looks better in person and she's got the body and ass of life," said Christoper Murray after wrapping his arms around her and giving her a big hug.No word yet on what "the ass of life" means. Maybe CNN can help. Three Of A Perfect Pair
Jim Geraghty writes the next MasterCard ad: Planned campaign expenditures for television ads with message, "McCain is as bad as George W. Bush": $100 million.Heh. The Decline And Fall Of Western Civilization, Part II
If there was an Internet sixty years ago, typing the words "media", "rope", "gay" and "New York" into Google would have sent you here, reading about one of Alfred Hitchcock's most underrated movies. Typing those same words into Google these days brings you to this story: CNN personality Richard Quest was busted in Central Park early yesterday with some drugs in his pocket, a rope around his neck that was tied to his genitals, and a sex toy in his boot, law-enforcement sources said.His boot? Well that's one word to use, though I thought he was arrested in New York, not London... Much more seriously, CNN has never met a repressive dictator that it hasn't admired, from Fidel Castro to Saddam Hussein, to Kim Jong-il to this latest incident involving communist China. And yet in America, Quest's Central Park quest ends with laughter all around. In most of the nations that CNN admires, it would lead to brutal prison sentences, death--or both. A Pinch Of Hypocrisy
It might seem a bit self-flagellating for the editorial board of the New York Times to bemoan the collapse of Americans’ trust in the press over the last 30 years. But it seems that the media’s fall from grace is undermining democracy.Because undermining democracy is a job best left to the professionals at the Times: In his wonderful book, How I Accidentally Joined the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy (and Found Inner Peace), Harry Stein lays out the disturbing facts about "Pinch" Sulzberger. (Sulzberger's father was nicknamed "Punch," and the none too flattering nickname for Junior is "Pinch.")And he really hasn't. But hey, first you shock them, then they put you in a museum. And a new one awaits a very Gray Lady to retire to in her dotage. (H/T: JWF) Related: Can't argue with this: "The workings of American newsrooms are some of the least transparent enterprises in the country, and it is easy to believe that the press has one set of standards for government, business, and other institutions, and entirely another for themselves," the Arizona senator said.Indeed. Ambassador To The Court Of Arkansas
By Ed Driscoll · April 17, 2008 02:18 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
Immediately after the election in 2004, Rush Limbaugh was fond of quoting this exchange between David Westin, the president of ABC News, and Tina Brown, from her now long-since-canceled CNBC show (subscription required, but this gives you the gist of things): RUSH: So, anyway, she's got David Westin on the program, and she says, "David, would you have a reporter/producer live in any of these communities?" She's talking about the red states of America here, folks. "Would you have a reporter/producer live in any of these communities and saturate themselves in these cultures so that they get more stories from those communities?"While we're waiting for those foreign correspondents to don their Willis & Geiger safari jackets and grab their Shure SM-58s and minicams, Robert Ferrigno, found via Mark Steyn, has an excellent suggestion for an ambassador to lead them into the vast unknown that is the American Heartland. This Just In
By Ed Driscoll · April 17, 2008 12:00 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
As Allahpundit notes, one hilarious result of last night's debate, is that the left has suddenly decided that George Stephanopoulos "is unacceptably partisan": If nothing else good comes from all this, at least it’ll have opened a few eyes to left-wing media bias by putting Hillary’s supporters temporarily, and bizarrely, in the position of Republicans. Why yes, Jeralyn, Keith Olbermann is “the most shameless ridiculous hack on TV.” If Hillary wins the nomination and he jumps back face-first into the tank for her, will that still be true?The all-is-forgiven tone that's inevitably coming between now and late August will be as amusing to watch as these examples of blatant hypocrisy have been. Related: "Little Tyrants Upset Over Debate", but then all of these cries of "pull the bastards' license!" is leftover rhetoric from the 1920s and '30s, when terrestrial broadcast frequencies were thought to be scarce, and the government stepped in, creating the FCC to allocate them. Today, with 500 DirecTV channels, a couple of hundred satellite radio channels, 100 million blogs, and a babillion videos on YouTube and the like, we know that bandwidth is certainly not in short supply. More: Here's an excerpt from Tim Robbins' beclowning speech at the NAB convention a couple of days ago: "Just when we were close to a national news media providing a general consensus on what the truth is,” he added, “along comes the Internets [sic] that allows its users a choice on the kind of news it [sic] watches and the YouTube [sic]. My God, we’ve got to stop them.”Close? Dude, in the early 1970s, your side controlled four television networks (the big three and PBS) and most big city newspapers, which by then were virtual information monopolies in their respective regions. As I wrote earlier this week when Politico referred to the 2004 election being hijacked by "the right-wing freak show"--i.e. bloggers and the Swift Vets: To be fair, there was certainly a neatness to the liberal conformity of the 1960s and 1970s, when three television networks and a handful of newspapers controlled the news. Breaking up those information monopolies would seam like a freak show to a particularly nostalgic mind, just as many senior citizens pine for the simplicity of an era built around Bell Telephone, three TV networks and three primary car manufacturers.Why does it seem like all self-styled progressives want to turn back the clock on progress? Besides, at least they can relive those monolithic mass media glory days in their own museum! NSFW Update: If you enjoy your schadenfreude with enormous slabs of cheesecake on the side, Doc Weasel's post on this topic may be worth it for the--thoroughly NSFW--photos alone. Does This Mean Hurricane Katrina Was Pearl Harbor?
By Ed Driscoll · April 17, 2008 11:18 AM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Assault On Reason · War And Anti-War
As Jonah Goldberg has noted in several places in Liberal Fascism, and reiterated to Salon magazine: What appealed to the Progressives about militarism was what William James calls this moral equivalent of war. It was that war brought out the best in society, as James put it, that it was the best tool then known for mobilization ... That is what is fascistic about militarism, its utility as a mechanism for galvanizing society to join together, to drop their partisan differences, to move beyond ideology and get with the program. And liberalism today is, strictly speaking, pretty pacifistic. They're not the ones who want to go to war all that much. But they're still deeply enamored with this concept of the moral equivalent of war, that we should unite around common purposes. Listen to the rhetoric of Barack Obama, it's all about unity, unity, unity, that we have to move beyond our particular differences and unite around common things, all of that kind of stuff. That remains at the heart of American liberalism, and that's what I'm getting at.See also, the cover of the latest edition of Time magazine, which takes Jimmy Carter's 1977 speech that explicitly equaled the reduction of foreign energy reliance with, as Carter said in his speech, "the moral equivalent of war", and puts the now-expected green spin on it. Sadly, it's probably not a belated April Fools' Edition. (Note that Time probably doesn't call for this particular scheme, which would no doubt save quite a bit of power and resources.) Update: "Imagine the designs that were rejected"! I Was Told That There Would Be No Math
By Ed Driscoll · April 16, 2008 08:20 PM · Muggeridge's Law
"The Democrat Math On Republican Filibusters: February 29, 2008= 72 Vs April 15, 2008= 65." Is the the proverbial New Math in action? Incidentally, I thought it was typically the minority party did these sort of photo-op stunts, not the party in power. Quote Of The Day
By Ed Driscoll · April 10, 2008 01:13 PM · God And Man At Dupont University · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
"There’s really nothing like a dose of condemnation from a moral relativist."But are you sure she really fits the bill? Coming Soon: Superfast Internet...Or Digital Sweatshops Without End?!
By Ed Driscoll · April 6, 2008 10:48 AM · An Army Of Davids · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Future and its Enemies
Jonathan Leake, the science editor of the Times of London writes that the Internet "could soon be made obsolete": The internet could soon be made obsolete. The scientists who pioneered it have now built a lightning-fast replacement capable of downloading entire feature films within seconds.I'd be happy--well, temporarily at least--with this speed Internet, which I wrote extensively about in 2000 through 2002 for various publications, let alone what the Times is describing. But they can't fool me. When Glasgow University's Prof. Britton says, "future generations will have the ability to collaborate and communicate in ways older people like me cannot even imagine", it's all just hegemonic code for digital-era sweatshops without end, as the other Times across the pond notes. (Geez, hyperbole much, boys? Incidentally, the superfast Internet article was found via the pieceworkers slaving away inside the digital-era sweatshop housed on Maggie's Farm.) Update: Ed Morrissey shouts from the hilltops, "Finally — I belong to a victim class!" Preach it, Brother Ed, preach it! Bloggers of the world unite--you have nothing to lose but your Sitemeter stats! The Very Definition Of "Slow News Day"
By Ed Driscoll · April 4, 2008 12:34 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The New Puritans · The Substance of Style
Marion Berry Leaves DC For Wyoming
By Ed Driscoll · April 3, 2008 07:17 PM · Muggeridge's Law
But what's a dazzling urbanite like you doing in a rustic setting like this?
Advantage: Gutfeld!
By Ed Driscoll · April 3, 2008 02:23 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Assault On Reason · The Memory Hole · The Return of the Primitive
Only a true satiric master can beat the nigh-impossible odds that Muggeridge's Law imposes, especially when one of the participants is the nutty grandparent in cable television's attic. (Alongside Dan Rather, Walter Cronkite, Helen Thomas, Phil Donahue, and...hmmm: Whom The Gods Destroy, they first build lionizing PBS specials around.) Add nutty Ted's latest mutterings to this one from a quarter of century ago, and it's yet another example of the Not So Final Countdown. (Which is still probably better than this Final Countdown!) Exile On McCain Street
By Ed Driscoll · April 3, 2008 12:14 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
One of these two people is 96 years old. Or maybe both... Of All The Gin Joints, In All The Towns In All The World...
By Ed Driscoll · April 3, 2008 11:58 AM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · War And Anti-War
Further proof of Pajamas' global influence: Madonna wants to remake Casablanca, but set in Iraq. I told Roger no good could come of this, but would he listen? Nooooooo..... Besides, another trashy wanna-be femme fatale (who's about as fatale as an after-dinner mint, as Michael York said in Cabaret) already beat her to the punch, though sadly not in the literal caged Celebrity Deathmatch sense that the phrase conjures up. But of course, the definitive modern remake of Casablanca has already been done--and done right. How can Esther improve upon David Soul as Rick and Scatman Crothers as Sam? This Not An April Fool's Joke
By Ed Driscoll · April 1, 2008 07:37 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive
Or at least I don't think it is, given Muggeridge's Law and everything, and the fact that Time did a similar story almost concurrently: "Anti-Emo Riots Break Out Across Mexico." I bet this news makes Emo Girl even extra super sad. But then, what doesn't? More seriously, there's an interesting Death of the Grown-Ups slant on this story: compare how soberly Time magazine covers a story like this with how its fellow newsweekly kept a safe healthy distance when reporting on another youth phenomenon over 40 years ago. That's something I touched upon regarding their coverage of another faddish story, here. A Funny Kind Of Hooverville
By Ed Driscoll · April 1, 2008 04:23 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
Let's see: original Depression: Dow Jones Industrial Average bottoms out at 40 as huge unemployed swatches of the country live in Dickensian hardship. Men in breadlines wear suits and ties, largely because they have no other clothes. The 21st century New American Depression that England's Independent has stumbled across? The Dow closed today at 12,654.36, unemployment is at 4.8 percent, and Nike's stock is doing quite nicely as the firm makes a comfortable profit selling $150 basketball shoes to parents and their kids across the country who have the disposable income to afford them. But why is a British newspaper trying to muscle in on territory that's traditionally exclusive terrain for American journalists during an election year? Shouldn't they be investigating a protracted economic malaise that's far closer to home? A Cool And Logical Analysis Of The Bicycle Menace
By Ed Driscoll · April 1, 2008 04:08 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
Andy Bowers of Slate believes he has found "America's Stupidest Bike Lane"; my much more curmudgeonly immediate impression is that it's a multiple-choice question with thousand upon thousands of correct answers. Outtakes From The Zapruder Film
By Ed Driscoll · April 1, 2008 02:15 PM · Muggeridge's Law
OK, so President Bush is an evil genius who deliberately plunged three planes into giant office buildings (oh wait, the Pentagon crash never actually happened, right?), but he brilliantly covers his tracks by appearing to be stupid enough to get conned into photo ops that wouldn't pass muster in a Poli-Sci 101 class? Just checking. (So what are you saying?--Ed That he's human, neither a blithering moron, nor an Ian Fleming-ish super-genius. All national politicians are photographed so much during their careers that occasional bad photos are simply part of the gig.) Is Our Terrorists Learning?
By Ed Driscoll · March 30, 2008 12:37 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
Readin', Writin' and 'splodin'--what are they teaching the kids these days at Yasser Arafat Junior High? Quote Of The Day
By Ed Driscoll · March 30, 2008 11:10 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Radical Chic · The Making of the President
"Karl Rove had the audacity to hope Democrats would nominate a hard-left Cook County hack...and they did!" The Chickenhawks Come Home To Roost
By Ed Driscoll · March 29, 2008 01:30 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole · War And Anti-War
As I wrote at the start of the month after noting Gloria Steinem's Olympic-quality backflip regarding the successive former Navy men to run for the White House in 2004 and 2008: 56 years ago, Lillian Hellman rather disingenuously told HCUAA, "I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions." But as we're seeing, those who played the "Chickenhawk" and Starship Trooper-esque "Absolute Moral Authority" cards earlier in the decade have absolutely no problem hitting the CNTRL-ALT-DEL buttons on their consciences when the need suits them.Physician, heal thyself: "The real issue is this," Dean said in March 2004, when endorsing formal rival Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., "Who would you rather have in charge of the defense of the United States of America, a group of people who never served a day overseas in their life, or a guy who served his country honorably and has three Purple Hearts and a Silver Star on the battlefields of Vietnam?"(Via Hot Air, who dubs hypocritical Howard the quote of the day, and with good reason.) Quote Of The Day
By Ed Driscoll · March 28, 2008 11:27 AM · Muggeridge's Law
"Sen. Ted Kennedy: 'And when the Reagan administration was selling arms to Iran, WHERE WAS GEORGE?' Answer: Dry, sober, and at home with his wife." --One of many quotes from the great P.J. O'Rourke, found here. Here In My Car, I Feel Safest Of All
By Ed Driscoll · March 27, 2008 05:30 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
As Tim Blair writes, "The Mercedes-Benz of peace has been up on blocks for a while, but now it’s back on the road". In other news from the intersection of "progressivism" and horsepower, Massachusetts' Coupe Deval is continuing to hit pothole after pothole badly enough to actually be noticed by his supporters at the New York Times. Gravel Flies
It was only a matter of time: But he was the LIFE of the party! As NBC/NJ’s Carrie Dann writes, One-time Democratic candidate Mike Gravel is leaving the Democratic Party, accusing it of "work[ing] in tandem with the corporate interests that control what we read and hear in the media." Greener pastures await, he says, with his joining today of the Libertarian Party, where he hopes to continue his presidential bid.Because, let's face it: somebody who makes videos this utterly, completely, existentially cutting-edge cool doesn't belong with those L-7 reactionary Democrat squares. But is there a case of the blues ahead in his Libertarian Party future? Maybe We Need Harry Caul To Track It Down
By Ed Driscoll · March 26, 2008 12:25 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole
Jonah Goldberg on the missing conversation: Thank God for Barack Obama. Until his “More Perfect Union” speech last Tuesday, it seems it never occurred to anyone that America needed to talk about race."Because sometimes it’s easier to hold on to your own stereotypes and misconceptions"... The Gift That Keeps On Giving
As James Taranto writes, "Let's Hope No One Calls Her at 3 A.M.": Because it's always 3:00 a.m. somewhere... Why Don't You Pass The Time With A Game Of Solitaire?
"The 8 Stages Of Liberal/Progressive Discussion When They Are Busted": 1. Ignore the story - pretend it is not happening, or deflect like crazy.For some thoughts on the Mother Of All Leftwing Conspiracies, click here. Update: And speaking of leftwing conspiracy theories! Mister, We Could Use A Man Like Curtis Mayfield Again
By Ed Driscoll · March 24, 2008 01:48 PM · God And Man At Dupont University · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The New Puritans
Indeed we could, but this latest round of "pushers" aren't exactly the best material to write the backstory for Superfly: The Next Generation. Up on the Drudge Report is this headline: School candy ban spurs underground 'sugar pushers'...Who, other than the nanny staters, didn't see this one coming from a mile away? Quadrophenia
By Ed Driscoll · March 23, 2008 11:08 AM · Muggeridge's Law
As Tom Maguire notes with brilliant understatement, blogger with reported case of multiple personality disorder syndrome has problems identifying group blog. We hate it when this happens to us. Hyperbole Much, Boys?
By Ed Driscoll · March 23, 2008 10:13 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
"Obama adviser likens Bill Clinton's comments to McCarthy's", the Boston Globe reports. Meanwhile, Jake Tapper notes that "Carville Equates Richardson With Judas": In the New York Times today, Clintonista James Carville calls Bill Richardson's endorsement of Obama "an act of betrayal."Heh. Now that brings an entirely new meaning to the phrase, "The King James Bible". Has Philip Glass Ever Written The Music For His Ads?
Andrew Ferguson waxes philosophic on "The Wit & Wisdom of Barack Obama": There's still room for whimsy at the New Yorker magazine, I don't care what you've heard. Just the other day two of the New Yorker's bloggers (now there's a phrase to send Harold Ross spinning) were chewing over the widely noted eloquence of Barack Obama. They were struck by "Obama's wonderful line," as one of them described it, to the effect that "We are the ones we've been waiting for." Obama uses it as one of his signature refrains. Some of his followers even turned it into a music video.Hopi prophecies? Would that make Obama the Koyaanisqatsi candidate? Both have in common a dazzling surface, great soundtrack, and little more than nihilism and warmed-over leftwing sixties rhetoric at their core. (Via Orrin Judd, who concludes his post with a punning, "The Audacity of Hopi".) Now Are You Bloggers Happy?!
By Ed Driscoll · March 14, 2008 09:11 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Future and its Enemies · The New, New Journalism · The Substance of Style
In addition to killing print newspapers, you're killing their ink-stained wretches' favorite watering holes, too! Of course, it's also likely that the political correctness of the modern newspaper person isn't doing much for saloon keepers: today's journalist on a bender is much more likely to blow through a cube of Diet Pepsi than a fifth of Chivas. Contraband Possession Derails Honor Student
By Ed Driscoll · March 13, 2008 12:38 PM · God And Man At Dupont University · Muggeridge's Law · The New Puritans · The Return of the Primitive
As I noted three years ago: Joanne Jacobs writes that all too frequently these days, pushers supplying contraband are roaming the halls of American schools--who have only themselves to blame.The contraband in question back then? Candy, which is increasingly verboten on school property. And a bag of illicit Skittles has derailed (temporarily one hopes) an eighth-grade honors student in Connecticut. Fascinating that boomers did all sorts of really illicit substances in the 1960s, and endlessly shouted "question authority." But now, as they approach their dotage and are the authority, they get the vapors from trivialities as silly as a bag of candy in school. (Via Jules Crittenden.) Update: "School clears kids in contraband candy caper", AP reports. And the student learns a valuable lesson regarding how juvenile the alleged leftwing grown-ups running his school are. Quote Of The Day
By Ed Driscoll · March 10, 2008 05:13 PM · Muggeridge's Law
"Conspiracy theory is the sophistication of the ignorant." Found in the comments of Daily Takes' "Left Blames Bush for Spitzer Paying for Sex". For some earlier thoughts on an infinitely bigger (and older) conspiracy theory, click here. "Rented SUV Allegedly Involved In Redskin Taylor's Murder"
By Ed Driscoll · March 10, 2008 03:21 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · Run To Daylight · The Assault On Reason
"A rented sports utility vehicle is apparently involved in the November shooting of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor at his Miami home." Last year, the Orlando Sentinel actually ran a headline that read "SUV crashes into store, perhaps in attempt to steal guns". Having gotten a taste for larceny, clearly, the killer cars have moved on to even more heinous crimes. A Bimbo Eruption Too Far
Airbrush Alert: Hillary Clinton's campaign Website--suddenly Spitzer-free! (Via Hot Air's ongoing Spitzer-palooza.) "From Troopergate To Shtupergate"
By Ed Driscoll · March 10, 2008 11:42 AM · Muggeridge's Law
That's Flip Pidot's hilarious headline on Elliot Spitzer's extracurricular activites. Or as Steve Green writes, "Governor Eliot Spitzer: Cleaning up New York one prostitute at a time. Sometimes maybe even two at a time." Glenn Reynolds adds, "So much for Mr. Clean", NRO writes, "Danger Neutralized". Update: "Name That Party", uber-high-profile edition. Elsewhere, Hot Air is doing running updates on a story that appears to be developing with surprising rapidity. Of Course He Is
By Ed Driscoll · March 10, 2008 10:07 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole
Barack Obama was recently listed as the most liberal member of the US Senate--and that's saying something--by the National Journal. That doesn't stop this claim found via Jules Crittenden: Tony is also press officer for an organization known as “Republicans for Obama” (RFO). The group was started in December 2006, before Obama officially announced his candidacy, to help encourage him to make a run for the White House. Since then, the all-volunteer RFO has morphed into a grassroots effort to disseminate information on why Republicans should support the Senator. The group — active members of which number around a thousand — operates with no funding and no coordination or official relationship with the Obama campaign.Just like the candidate four years ago whom National Journal rated "Most Liberal In Senate For 2003" followed, in the next year, by a then-somewhat prominent pundit writing, "Kerry may be the right man — and the conservative choice — for a difficult and perilous time". Well That's One Way To Get The GOP To Vote For Him
"Clinton aide compares Obama to Ken Starr." Bill Clinton's trousers could not be reached for comment. Though I think Mark Steyn still has the dress's email address. "The Absolute Best Reuters Headline Ever"
By Ed Driscoll · March 4, 2008 10:55 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · War And Anti-War
Just click. And then ask Reuters when other religions should expect such a headline. The New York Sun Tzu
By Ed Driscoll · March 4, 2008 10:35 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote, "the left treats politics like it's warfare, and warfare like it's politics." And nowhere is that more true than the front page of the New York Times! We Are Ready To Believe You, Part Deux
By Ed Driscoll · March 4, 2008 08:35 AM · Muggeridge's Law
Particularly given the state involved, here's a little synchronicity with the previous post: "Who You Gonna Call: Ghost Investigators Offer Services In New York". "Smiling Bob" Loses His Groove
By Ed Driscoll · February 23, 2008 11:47 AM · Muggeridge's Law
And the maker of "male enhancement" tablets joins Miss Cleo in the tacky cable TV commercial Hall of Infamy. This Just In
By Ed Driscoll · February 20, 2008 07:35 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
UPI breathlessly reports that "Hearing rap music can spontaneously activate pre-existing awareness of sexist beliefs, North Carolina State University researchers determined." All together now: I need a study to tell me this? Middle East Crisis To Be Permanently Solved
By Ed Driscoll · February 19, 2008 05:54 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · War And Anti-War
Carter, Reagan, Bush #41, Baker, Clinton, Albright, Bush #43, Rumsfeld and Condi couldn't get the job done, but finally, Sharon Stone is now on the case. Take that, Babs! Hyperbole Much?
By Ed Driscoll · February 19, 2008 02:49 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Reich Stuff
Chaz Pazienza, the former CNN producer whom we briefly mentioned here last week after he was fired from CNN for his blog, has a post today on the HuffPo: When I asked, just out of curiosity, who came across my blog and/or the columns in the Huffington Post, the woman from HR answered, "We have people within the company whose job is specifically to research this kind of thing in regard to employees."Since you're still able to type, the answer to that would "No." On the other hand, Chez's former employer has rarely met a government with a similar agency it didn't want to prop up. (Via Greg Pollowitz.) Update: Speaking of propping up... By Ed Driscoll · February 14, 2008 07:06 PM · Bobos In Paradise · From Bauhaus To Our House · Muggeridge's Law
This is hysterically funny on all sorts of levels: The New York Times has an article titled--I think with a straight face--"Parent Shock: Children Are Not Décor". From the headline on, the theme is Bobos in Paradise Yuppie parents who discover, the hard way, a basic and incontrovertible fact of life that in less enlightened times was once considered common sense: Little kids and delicate modernist furniture and decorations are not compatible: Nevertheless, some people try. Ms. Brown and Mr. Friedman — who of course were thrilled to have a child, like all the later-in-life parents interviewed for this article — were also determined not to let Harrison “take control of the house,” Ms. Brown said. They went ahead with putting in flat-front lacquered maple cabinets in the kitchen, even though they soon had to watch a professional babyproofer drill 300 holes in them for safety latches. (Ms. Brown still cringes.) They put up silk Shantung draperies in Harrison’s bedroom, knowing that they might well end up stained, as they soon did — with yogurt. And they held onto the molded-wood chairs, which were not an easy transition from the highchair. “They have a very sleek bottom,” Ms. Brown explained. “He slides off it.”The slightly arch tone of the article is a scream--it reads like the writer herself had no idea that high design and rough-housing kids were incompatible concepts when she wrote the piece. (H/T: IP. On the other hand, I have a lot more sympathy for these parents than this earlier Times story of "modern" domesticity.) Fun City Derangement Syndrome
By Ed Driscoll · February 12, 2008 09:10 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The New Puritans
Johnny Carson was once quoted as saying, "New York is an exciting town where something is happening all the time, most of it unsolved." Not the least of which is how this staggeringly idiotic anti-Big Apple screed came to be published by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Blogospheric Apocalypse Sighted
Here's a sentence I never thought I'd Paging Mr. Lileks...Mr. Lileks To The White Courtesy Phone, Please!
By Ed Driscoll · February 10, 2008 06:43 PM · Muggeridge's Law
The Paranoid Style--Now With Extra Sprinkles!
By Ed Driscoll · February 10, 2008 11:04 AM · Liberal Fascism · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
Chapomatic writes, "I Despair For My Country (Although My Waistline Might Well Improve)": Jonah Goldberg just helped me get thrown out of an ice cream shop.I would have asked them Kathy Shaidle's questions: Why are on earth are you still in this country? And why are you talking openly about 9/11 as an inside job? The nation who's government is so powerful, so secretive and so focused that it can nuke two of the largest structures in the world and keep all the potential leakers quiet wouldn't lose much sleep over waxing a pair of big mouth proles in an ice cream parlor, right? How Soon Is Now? About 600 A.D. If You're Morrissey
By Ed Driscoll · February 2, 2008 08:29 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
As the Times of London aptly quips, "Never mind the fundamentalists, here’s Morrissey": Iran is still suspicious of pop music. Last summer police raided an underground festival in an orchard near the town of Karaj to stop what they called a “provocative, satanic concert”. More than 200 people were arrested.I guess that's as good a definition for the current meaning of progressive rock as anything. "Bloggers National Security Threat!"
By Ed Driscoll · January 31, 2008 01:56 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The New, New Journalism
Linking to a recent AP article, James Joyner ponders why bloggers are being considered a national security threat: Let me get this straight:Well, I'd be worried about these tyros joining the Blogosphere, myself. When History Rhymes
Michael Moore, four years ago: “There’s a reason that they’re saying Kerry is the No. 1 liberal in the Senate. It’s because he is the No. 1 liberal in the Senate.”But hey, that was then, this is now. This Just In
By Ed Driscoll · January 25, 2008 08:44 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · The New Puritans
"A U.S. study suggests marketing plays a role in how often parents buy fast food for their children." Breaking: Dennis Kucinich Drops Out
It's to a far, far better gig that Kucinich goes--because let's face it, Ed Straker can't run SHADO forever. The Greatest Hollywood Digital Special Effects Job In History
By Ed Driscoll · January 24, 2008 12:43 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Memory Hole · War And Anti-War
Titled, "Obama: I'm Not a Muslim! Forward This to Everyone You Know", this Wired article contains this unintentionally ironic passage: The Obama campaign announced the debunking effort with an e-mail barrage from John Kerry of Massachusetts, in which the former presidential candidate urges supporters to "e-mail the truth" to everyone on their address books, to print out the facts about Obama's background and post them at work, and to call local radio stations and talk to neighbors.Yes, how did the Swift Vets, on their budget, talk Industrial Light & Magic into digitally inserting Kerry into footage of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations back in 1971, and pay Rich Little for doing an outrageously over-the-top Boston Brahmin accent? (But c'mon Rich--JJJJJennnghis Kahn? isn't that a bit too much? Nobody will believe it!) To complete the ultimate scam, ILM then digitally inserted Kerry, much like Hollywood's Forrest Gump a decade ago, onto the set of the Dick Cavett Show from that same year. And they talked C-Span into running that footage in 2004. Amazing! Update: Related thoughts from Mike Hendrix and Power Line. "No Other Voting Bloc In The Country Faces This Choice"
By Ed Driscoll · January 22, 2008 08:22 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive
James Taranto links to an astonishing passage in a CNN article that certainly puts the emphasis on the second word of the phrase presidential race: Recent polls show black women are expected to make up more than a third of all Democratic voters in South Carolina's primary in five days.Steve Green responds that identity politics-themed articles such as this are "Why Politics Make Me Drink Reason #478". adding: I dunno. White Republican males had like seven or eights guys to choose from (plus Ron Paul), and they seem to be handling it just fine.HehTM. More on media-induced identity politics from Steve Boriss, who writes, "Media Blinders Impede a Colorblind Society." Where's Col. Klink When You Need Him?
By Ed Driscoll · January 19, 2008 05:16 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Jules Crittenden writes that the more things change in Germany, the more they remain the same. Can we dispatch this young fellow to the Great White East for a few months for a minor attitude adjustment? When Bylines Collide
Since the early days of this site, a recurring theme has been that no satirist is able to improve upon real life for its pure absurd absurdist absurdity. Which is what makes this Iowahawk parody, titled "As Casualties Mount, Some Question The Emotional Stability of Media Vets" so delicious: Accounts of media psychopathy, while widespread, have until now been largely anecdotal. In order to provide a more focused and systematic study of the crisis, Iowahawk researchers set out to identify and tabulate criminal arrests and convictions of current and former journalists. While by no means comprehensive, this 10-minute project yielded a grim picture of a once-proud profession now in the grips of tragic, drunk, violent, child-raping rage.What's astounding--and deeply troubling--is that while Iowahawk's tone is satiric, the myriad of links embedded in his post go to story after story of actual troubled journalists melting down, one after the other. With so many examples of veterans of this profession leading troubled lives, one wonders if recruiters should be barred from college campuses to prevent their trolling for new enlistees into such a dangerous, personality destroying field. "Canada Trains Diplomats On Torture"
By Ed Driscoll · January 18, 2008 12:44 AM · Muggeridge's Law
Well that's not exactly what I'd call what's happening to Ezra Levant, but if the lawsuit fits... Your Dog Wants Steak
By Ed Driscoll · January 16, 2008 11:27 PM · Muggeridge's Law
With a tip of the fedora to the denizens of Fark, it's pretty obvious that's the inevitable outcome to this perennial story of the naughts. This Just In
Fast breaking news from UPI: "Rove belittles Democratic candidates." Update: More from the Architect, at The Hill. I Just Have To Look Good, I Don't Have To Be Clear
This just in--the anchorwoman's an airhead!
Any time you start to doubt yourself, and wonder if you're fit for the big leagues of American thought and opinion, you can just read The Times and be thankful that the standards of the big leagues aren't so high.As video blogging becomes increasingly accessible, if anything, the Professor's advice is even more useful to those who want to opine in front of a camera, rather than a keyboard. The Favre Side
By Ed Driscoll · January 13, 2008 11:52 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Run To Daylight · The Making of the President
Found at Theo Spark's: In a news conference Deanna Favre announced she will be the starting QB for the Packers this coming Sunday. Deanna asserts that she is qualified to be starting QB because she has spent the past 16 years married to Brett while he played QB for the Packers. During this period of time she became familiar with the definition of a corner blitz, and is now completely comfortable with other terminology of the Packers offense. A survey of Packers fans shows that 50% of those polled supported the move.Actually, I'd take Deanna and Brett in the White House over the return of Hillary and Bill, any day. News From 1955
By Ed Driscoll · January 13, 2008 11:25 AM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · The Memory Hole · The New Puritans
"Obesity now a 'lifestyle' choice for Americans, expert says": "Obesity is a natural extension of an advancing economy. As you become a First World economy and you get all these labor-saving devices and low-cost, easily accessible foods, people are going to eat more and exercise less," health economist Eric Finkelstein told AFP.I need a "health economist" to tell me this? Fifty years ago, in those less enlightened times, less obssessed with counterknowledge, this was called "common sense." Grand Theft Kodak
By Ed Driscoll · January 12, 2008 12:11 PM · Muggeridge's Law
If you're going to steal a car, don't take photos of yourself with the camera in the glovebox: Kate Smith Was No Slouch, Either.
By Ed Driscoll · January 9, 2008 03:15 PM · Muggeridge's Law
"Study: Obesity linked to less productivity." Really? That would be news to Alfred Hitchcock, who directed 66 movies, and Orson Welles, who directed 40 films. Or Rush Limbaugh, who has generated bazillions hours of radio. As Directed By Akira Kurosawabama
It's official: Barack Obama is the Rashomon candidate: In short, he's everything and anything you want him to be. Like the undefined Senator Kerry at the start of 2004, project away, voters! Update: Barack to the 1960s: Hillary says Obama's no MLK (though claims she's LBJ), but the NYT says he could be RFK! Wow! I Could Have Had A V-8...With Budweiser!
The Official Beverage Of Hell--soon in liquor stores everywhere! The Agony And The Obamacy
By Ed Driscoll · January 6, 2008 10:38 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive
Everybody else has already linked to Ezra Klein's description of Obama as savior, but just in case you missed it, it's a classic: Obama's finest speeches do not excite. They do not inform. They don't even really inspire. They elevate. They enmesh you in a grander moment, as if history has stopped flowing passively by, and, just for an instant, contracted around you, made you aware of its presence, and your role in it. He is not the Word made flesh, but the triumph of word over flesh, over color, over despair. The other great leaders I've heard guide us towards a better politics, but Obama is, at his best, able to call us back to our highest selves, to the place where America exists as a glittering ideal, and where we, its honored inhabitants, seem capable of achieving it, and thus of sharing in its meaning and transcendence.Naturally, a potential leader so radiant and beatific needs his sinister opposite, enthroned in a sulphuric abyss: That's odd...I heard [the New York Times' corporate jet] was already booked this Friday picking up Bill Kristol from hell.Wow--I am getting old--I remember when it was the right that embraced evangelicalism and a fire-and-brimstone worldview. Related: "It's the secular Left vs. the Christian Left." Exponential Toboggan Sledding With Helen Thomas
By Ed Driscoll · January 5, 2008 09:55 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Long Tail · The New, New Journalism
As Michelle Malkin writes: The deterioration of journalism–from Janet Cooke to Stephen Glass to Scott Thomas Beauchamp to Staged News Galore to Rathergate to Reuters-gate to More Fake News Galore–isn’t the fault of individual MSM reporters, editors, or shoddy journalism schools.Business and Media Institute quotes Thomas as saying: “What I really worry about is that I think the bloggers and everyone, everyone with a laptop thinks they’re journalists,” Thomas said. “And, they certainly don’t have our standards. They don’t have our ethics, and so forth. There’s a deterioration,” she continued. “Reporters laid down on the job in the run up to this [the Iraq] war.”So if it's all those darn bloggers that caused, as Helen put it, big journalism's "deterioration" back in 2002 and 2003, let's run the numbers and see how are bloggers are impacting its downhill slide today. Back in early 2004, I estimated the number of bloggers in the US at around 7,300,000 for a Tech Central Station article. That's an impressive number, but less than four years later, my, how quickly the neighborhood has grown! These days, Technorati tracks--say it with me now in your best Dr. Evil voice--over one hundred million blogs. And with Blogospheric growth that exponentially powerful, just imagine how much more intense the suckage of old media is today, as opposed to just five years ago. Actually, no need to imagine it. Just read their product. "Warning! This Is Not Underwear!"
By Ed Driscoll · January 3, 2008 06:53 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The New Puritans · The Return of the Primitive
Do not taunt happy fun trial lawyers; heed the important safety warnings that Laurie Kendrick has assembled. Iranian Propagandists Heart Satiric Photoshops
By Ed Driscoll · December 31, 2007 07:03 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
The People's Cube Website "Pwns Iranian Propaganda": Dear Iranian Mullahs! While our satirical website and your Propaganda Directorate deal in the same trade of making up facts and exaggerating reality, we are different in that we can recognize a spoof - but you apparently can't. On Dec. 27, 2007 you used our spoof image on your propaganda website to illustrate a "true" statement that Jews are welcome in Iran and that Western reports about mass emigration of Iranian Jews are "lies spread by the Zionist hegemony."Evil Bert could not be reached for comment. Update: Nor could Achmed the Dead Terrorist. Related: Rollover fun! The Department Of Duh
The San Francisco "Experts say that the depth of the moat and height of the walls could have a large impact on the animal's ability to escape the enclosure."Who knew?! Uh-Oh--I Smell Another Cheap Cartoon Crossover
By Ed Driscoll · December 27, 2007 06:31 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Which is the more craptacular Spider-Man PSA: Spider-Man and Planned Parenthood from the 1970s? Or Spider-Man and the United Nations, coming next year? You make the call! (Preferably to Stan Lee, telling him to cut this stuff out.) Defining Crises Down
By Ed Driscoll · December 27, 2007 11:59 AM · Muggeridge's Law
You know you're in the land of plenty when... There's a podcast titled, "Diet in Decline: Can America's Overnutrition Crisis be Reversed?" (Overnutrition?! God, I love that.) And as Mickey Kaus writes, "This evening NBC Nightly News billboarded a 'housing CRISIS.' I thought a 'housing crisis' was when people couldn't find housing, not when it got cheaper. (NBC's expert: 'It's very, very difficult to find any silver lining.' No it's not.) ..." To paraphrase Orrin Judd, every people should face such crises. Kramer vs. Kramer vs. Gaia
By Ed Driscoll · December 27, 2007 11:11 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The New Puritans · The Return of the Primitive
Theodore Dalrymple writes, "Researchers from Michigan found that people in divorced households spent 46 and 56 percent more on electricity and water, respectively, than did people in married households. This outcome is not all that surprising: marriage involves (among many other things, of course) economies of scale": One of the interesting questions that this little piece of research poses is whether the environmentalist lobby will now throw itself behind the cause of family values. Will it, for example, push for the tightening of divorce laws, and for financial penalties—in the form, say, of higher taxes—to be imposed on those who insist upon divorcing, and therefore upon using 46 percent more electricity and 52 percent more water per person than married couples who stay together? Will environmentalists march down the streets with banners reading SAVE THE PLANET: STAY WITH THE HUSBAND YOU HATE?Well, yeah. The Gadfly Who Should Come In From The Cold
"Make Global Warming A Priority": Indeed--this poor frozen soul looks like he needs all the help he can get! Great Moments In Headlines
"Chuck Norris sues, says his tears no cancer cure." Well, it's good to see that there are limits to his otherwise omnipotent Chucktacular powers! Dude
By Ed Driscoll · December 16, 2007 12:49 AM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
Chuck Norris "has called Huck a dark horse who turned into a ‘shining stallion.’ He once praised Huck for having the ‘big package.’ (The ‘whole package,’ he corrected himself.)" Word on the street is that his carbon footprint is awfully tiny, though... "We Were Given The Task Of Making Sure The Willy Disappeared"
As Mark Steyn writes, "That's one task you can always entrust to the Europeans", adding that it's "Tough Time for Satirists." But then, it's always tough to beat real life in that department. Like The Man Said, It's The Law
In his latest Bleat, James Lileks writes: The other night I was watching “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” and thought: there are three stages to a man’s life. 1. He laughs at Clark Griswold. 2. He sympathizes deeply with Clark Griswold. 3. He laughs at Clark Griswold.Naturally, I assumed that the bard of Minneapolis was having a jape. Alas, I should have known better. Malcolm Muggeridge's thesis: it's not just a good idea--it's the law. Not All Celebrities Can Wear Fur Equally Well
Personally, I think the superstar in the left photo pulls the look off far more successfully than the one on the right. (Warning for parents: both stars have appeared in programs designated adults-only in today's increasingly puritanical society...) Life In The White House Imitates The Sopranos
By Ed Driscoll · December 10, 2007 08:18 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Near the beginning of the "Pine Barrens" of The Sopranos (and yes, I was pretty astounded that anyone in Hollywood had heard of New Jersey's pine barrens), there was this amusing exchange: Christopher Moltisanti: Russians? They're not all bad.Evidently, White House press secretary Dana Perino skipped that "movie" entirely. Update: So did Mike Huckabee, who's looking increasingly not ready for prime time, let alone HBO. The Semi-Annual Lawrence O'Donnell Meltdown
By Ed Driscoll · December 9, 2007 08:14 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
Actually, this one's pretty low on the Richter scale of O'Donnell's meltdowns. No fists banging or veins popping at all. It's too bad no one on the McLaughlin Group thought to ask O'Donnell his thoughts on Harry Reid, though. Update: "Just imagine if this was a being said by a conservative about a Muslim candidate." Not To Be Confused With The McCartney/Lennon Split of 1970
By Ed Driscoll · December 8, 2007 04:48 PM · Muggeridge's Law
The Trotsky/Lenin split of the early 1980s explained here. Ice picks, Frida Kahlo, and logic are all optional. Get Your Kicks On Route #666
By Ed Driscoll · December 8, 2007 01:40 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The Memory Hole
Tim Blair as a humorous look at "Automotive history rewritten by British socialists"; earlier, we linked to an American socialist's attempt to further cast the Model T as Original Sin. Betty Friedan--The NFL's Best Friend
By Ed Driscoll · December 7, 2007 10:46 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Run To Daylight · The Return of the Primitive
I’m going to add that very few people now actually remember what it was like during the period of the feminist movement. Everything was up for grabs. No one knew what to do or how to do it. Betty Friedan ruined a Super Bowl party in my very own home by wearing a black leather miniskirt and swinging her (not bad) legs clad in fishnet stockings back and forth in front of the TV screen so that nobody could see the plays. She radicalized a sizable bunch of neutral men into committed anti-feminists that day."Cowboys-Packers game was the top rated cable show in 14 years." One Million Years H.T.
By Ed Driscoll · December 6, 2007 06:13 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The New, New Journalism
Not surprisingly, Jurassic journalist Helen Thomas isn't too happy about new media. But then, she's not all that crazy about old media, either: back in 2005, she famously shouted, "I'll never talk to a reporter again!" No blogs, no reporters. That kind of limits Helen's options, doesn't it? I guess she can always make her own videos... Rocket J. Squirrel Could Not Be Reached For Comment
By Ed Driscoll · December 3, 2007 08:42 PM · Muggeridge's Law
For years, I thought the best moose joke was this one. But as always, there's no way for satire to best real life. Update: Rocky couldn't be reached for comment, but Steven Den Beste certainly could! From: Steven C. Den BesteIt's a fair cop. The Dead Have Risen--And They're Voting Republican!
(Sorry, one of my favorite Simpsons quotes.) They're also still happily voting Democrat, of course, and contributing in large quantities to both parties. I blame the zombies. Unsafe At Any Species
By Ed Driscoll · November 27, 2007 01:07 PM · From Bauhaus To Our House · God And Man At Dupont University · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Assault On Reason
Tim Blair writes: It’s not often one happens upon a story combining issues of architecture, environmentalism, institutes of higher learning and accidental avian windowcide, let alone such a story written in a manner joyously suggestive of B-grade horror movie previews. For this, we thank the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and journalist Andrea Jones.As Tim adds, in full Monster Chiller Horror Theater Mode, "Read on. If you dare!" Pat Urges Purging The Cakewalk Crowd?
By Ed Driscoll · November 26, 2007 12:35 AM · Muggeridge's Law
Longtime readers will know that I'm not a huge fan of Pat Buchanan for reasons that we explored in this post, amongst others, but in his new book, Buchanan really goes beyond the pale with this particular recommendation: • A purge of neoconservative ideology and the “Cakewalk” crowd” from national power.But they make such cool recording software! What Does Jimmy Page Think About This?
"Oh, the Humanity!" Just in time for next month's Led Zeppelin reunion: the Ron Paul Blimp! And Speaking Of San Francisco...
By Ed Driscoll · November 24, 2007 12:55 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Memory Hole
Where have you gone Winston Smith? Our nation turns its doubleplus melancholy glazzballs to you: The San Francisco Chronicle has recently activated a devious system by which it deceives commenters on its website, SFGate.com. Here's how it works:Glenn Reynolds adds, "If this is real and not some kind of bizarre caching problem, I'm torn between disgust and admiration for their cleverness . . ." To paraphrase what I've written before regarding media double-standards, imagine the howls of outrage from the Chronicle and the gallons of ink they'd spill on the topic if General Motors or Wal-Mart had installed such a system on their Website. Update: Charles Johnson adds, "Surprise! George Soros-funded pseudo-blog Think Progress is pulling the same trick to censor critics. Konservo has screen shots to prove it." The Collect Call Of Cthulhu
By Ed Driscoll · November 21, 2007 10:03 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day, I can tell you! (Whoops--I think I just crossed the streams...) Nanny Street
By Ed Driscoll · November 20, 2007 12:28 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The New Puritans · The Return of the Primitive
This New York Times article on the upcoming DVD version of the first season of Sesame Street is on the one hand a hoot, and on the other rather depressing in terms of how badly the nanny state has made inroads into American society since 1969. Back then, it merely wanted to educate your kids about reading, writing and 'rithmetic (in the form of taxpayer-funded shows like Sesame Street). These days it wants to go much, much further than that: According to an earnest warning on Volumes 1 and 2, “Sesame Street: Old School” is adults-only: “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.”Forty years from now, when the current season of Sesame Street is being assembled for release on whatever the successor format to the successor format of DVD is, how much of it will have to be reshot to comply with how much further the nanny state is sure to have expanded further? In Ron We Trust
By Ed Driscoll · November 17, 2007 05:15 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive
"Ron Paul Nuts Busted for Making Their Own Money." This Just--hic!--In
Yet another great moment in surveys--not to mention headlines: "Bars, nightclubs linked to more drinking". Colossus: The Messiah Project
By Ed Driscoll · November 14, 2007 12:12 PM · Muggeridge's Law
When they were promoting the original release of 2001: A Space Odyssey, I believe Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick each told interviewers variations on this joke, which probably received wide traffic in the 1960s: The first supercomputer is built, and it's virtually omniscient. Scientists ponder what historic first question to ask it. So after extensive deliberation, they program the initial punchcard (remember, we're talking the 1960s here): IS THERE A GOD? "THERE IS NOW", the computer immediately replies--and it was right! (H/T: 5FF) Coming Soon: Supertrain: The Next Generation!
By Ed Driscoll · November 12, 2007 08:23 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Assault On Reason
It's time to thaw McLean Stevenson out of cryogenic suspension--because Fred Silverman's back, and he's running NBC again. That's the only way to explain these two mind-numbingly stupid peacock network fumbles occurring back-to-back. Well, it's not the only way, but it is the only explanation that makes some sense, isn't it? Sorry, Charlie
By Ed Driscoll · November 12, 2007 01:30 AM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Memory Hole
20 years ago, Ted Danson told us that we had only ten years to save the world's oceans. And he was right! Update: Meanwhile, back on land, the radical cloning program on the Island of Dr. Moreau proceeds apace... As Always, Life Imitates Dr. Strangelove
By Ed Driscoll · November 11, 2007 09:12 PM · God And Man At Dupont University · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive
Mr. President, we must not allow a mine shaft gap! To Paraphrase Andy Warhol
By Ed Driscoll · November 8, 2007 12:38 AM · God And Man At Dupont University · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
In the future, everyone will be Joseph McCarthy for 15 minutes. (When they're not being Hitler, of course.) When The Fountainhead Springs A Leak
By Ed Driscoll · November 7, 2007 11:48 AM · From Bauhaus To Our House · God And Man At Dupont University · Muggeridge's Law
Ann Althouse notices a superstar architect being sued for taking his deconstructionism just a little too seriously: The building is incredibly cool, a showpiece. Check out these pics of the Stata Center at MIT, designed by Frank Gehry. But MIT is suing, "charging that flaws in his design... one of the most celebrated works of architecture unveiled in years, caused leaks to spring, masonry to crack, mold to grow, and drainage to back up."Corbusier would have gone from Bauhaus to the poorhouse if his clients sued him along similar lines. Because HDNet Beat 'Em To Dan Rather
By Ed Driscoll · November 5, 2007 06:07 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive
You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don't, you wind up at a subsidiary of a subsidiary of General Electric. I Blame Haley Joel Osment, Myself
By Ed Driscoll · November 5, 2007 01:35 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Assault On Reason
Somebody's seen Waterworld and A.I. one too many times: On Monday’s CBS "Early Show," co-host Harry Smith interviewed New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg. The liberal mayor has followed in the footsteps of Al Gore and implored the government to take action to address an impending environmental crisis, saying "We need to do something now." To match Bloomberg’s alarmist rhetoric, Smith added "Manhattan will be underwater by 2050." Amusingly, even Bloomberg thought that assertion went too far, "There's a -- I don't know that Manhattan will be underwater, but certainly the environment's going to be a lot worse that we leave our children."Hey, I love Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick as much as the next guy, but I do know that A.I.'s only a movie. Still though--for those who are true believers, it might be time to buy property in Trenton or Paramus. Could be prime beachfront real estate by 2050! NBC: We'll Leave The Lights Off For You
By Ed Driscoll · November 4, 2007 09:30 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · Run To Daylight · The Assault On Reason
When George Bush was elected president, I was told he would usher in the new dark ages. And they were right! As exciting a game on the field as the first half of tonight's Cowboys at the Eagles was, the program that NBC built around it sure did have its moments of strangeness: NBC's "Sunday Night Football" officially will become a "green" show this weekend, as it kicks off an initiative that will see the broadcaster televise 150 hours of environmentally-themed content this week across its broadcast and cable networks, online sites and mobile platforms.I had to not see it to believe it. Whenever I've done videos, I've spent hours getting the lights just so. Who knew it all you had to do was say, "Hey man, we're going dark to be green", and no lights at all are necessary. Television: It's like radio without pictures! Seriously though, all religions have their rituals which seem strange, old-fashioned, and just downright rococco to outsiders, and this is yet another example. (But wouldn't turning off the 90 babillion kilowatts of power that light-up a night game at the "Linc" have saved a helluva lot more energy than turning off a handful of Lowel Omnis back at the studio?) For decades conservatives have complained endlessly about the big three TV networks' biases, only to be rebuffed by television journalists and producers who would respond with a shrug, "Biased? Us? Huh--sorry, I just can't see it, myself." (CBS's Dan Rather, not surprisingly, was a master at this technique.) But lately, NBC has really let it all hang out, even on a show as mainstream as Sunday Night Football. Pink, the rockerette who screamed the show's theme song last year is a PETA spokeshumanoid. (Happily, this year she was replaced.) Keith Olbermann, who routinely compares conservatives to Nazis on NBC's MSNBC cable outlet appears on the pregame show and at halftime. This week show featured ads for Al Gore's upcoming appearance on 30 Rock, beyond Obama's appearance last night on Saturday Night Live. And elsewhere on NBC, their flagship Nightly News show is hosted by a man who has compared America's founding fathers to terrorists. Earlier this year, retired Army Col. Ken Allard, then a regular contributor to NBC, had enough: It is, therefore, possible to argue that NBC is merely undergoing a delicate arabesque in anticipation of changing audience preferences and the long- hoped-for Democratic restoration (although journalists generally seem reluctant to raise the tough questions that should punctuate the 2008 campaign).At the end of the 2004 presidential election, Howard Fineman of Newsweek wrote: A political party is dying before our eyes--and I don't mean the Democrats. I'm talking about the "mainstream media," which is being destroyed by the opposition (or worse, the casual disdain) of George Bush's Republican Party; by competition from other news outlets (led by the internet and Fox's canny Roger Ailes); and by its own fraying journalistic standards.And if anything, that trend has only accelerated. So thank you, NBC, for letting viewers know where you stand. After after 80 long years of pretending otherwise, doesn't it feel good to finally come clean with your audience? You can read related thoughts from Sister Toldjah--asuming the lights are still on in your den. And The Sundries Shack would like NBC to disclose each show's carbon footprint--"so I can determine whether they have any grounds on which to criticize me for my lifestyle." Finally, "I notice they didn't turn off the bright lighted Toyota sign." Heh.TM Full Mitchell Jacket
By Ed Driscoll · November 1, 2007 12:18 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · War And Anti-War
I was told that if George Bush attempted to free Iraq from Saddam Hussein, the result would be another Vietnam. And they were right! (Audio here.) Unsafe At Any Speed
"Consumer advocate and 2004 independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader sued the Democratic Party on Tuesday, contending officials conspired to keep him from taking votes away from nominee John Kerry." But will Ralph fire up the Corvair for a run in '08? The Mustard Museum's Gift Shop Is A Lot More Fun, Too
By Ed Driscoll · October 30, 2007 12:28 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law
As Warner Todd Huston notes, despite AP's best efforts at spinning the numbers, at 25,000 visitors in its first year, the George McGovern Legacy Museum (!) had 5,000 less visitors than the annual traffic of the Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin Mustard Museum. But that's boffo business compared with the number of ticket purchasers on the opening weekend of another attempt to glorify the toothless legacy politicians of the 1970s, Jonathan Demme's blockbuster Jimmy Carter biopic. Miracle Happens: Fish Notices It's Swimming In Water
By Ed Driscoll · October 28, 2007 12:06 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive
Matthew Sheffield of Newsbusters writes: Most everyone on the center-right knows the media are biased in a leftward direction, much fewer on the left are able to see this phenomenon--they are just saying the truth. Because of this, it's always refreshing to see a liberal news organization sit down and notice something that's left-biased such as the Boston Globe did recently when it correctly observed that ABC's "View" is skewed against conservatives and religious people.Not to mention being skewed pretty far afield from the shared consensual hunch the rest of us call reality, of course. Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft
By Ed Driscoll · October 28, 2007 11:30 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Final Frontier · The Making of the President
Speaking of conspiracy theories, Jules Crittenden writes, "Truman Lied, Aliens Died", and Bill Richardson, if elected president, volunteers to blow the lid off the ultimate intergalactic cover-up. Germans? Pearl Harbor? Forget It, He's Rolling
"If you're going to make a heartfelt tribute, you've got to get the basic facts right." "Senators Want Probe On Content Blocking"
Two Senators on Friday called for a congressional hearing to investigate reports that phone and cable companies are unfairly stifling communications over the Internet and on cell phones.Because, really, isn't that the Senate's job? Redorkulation Overload
By Ed Driscoll · October 26, 2007 03:39 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · Pajamas Theater 3000
Not since the early days of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and New Shimmer have two-two!-great tastes come together in a full metal redorkulation overload. And You Thought Keith Richards Could Party
By Ed Driscoll · October 26, 2007 12:00 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Substance of Style · War And Anti-War
Keef has nothing on the British Navy: In 1805, British Admiral Horatio Nelson was killed during the Battle of Trafalgar off the coast of Spain. Most sailors were simply put to rest at sea, but as an admiral, Nelson had to be brought back to England for an official burial.Pschew! I think I'll stick with my Remy Martin 1738, sans royal navy zombie brains. If The Can Fits...
Or to paraphrase Eason Jordan only slightly, the smells we kept to ourselves. Having watched umpteen hours of his channel in D-FW airport yesterday, I'd say the network name on his microphone is appropriate as well. The Song Remains The Same
By Ed Driscoll · October 22, 2007 01:11 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Future and its Enemies · The Memory Hole · War And Anti-War
CBS’s Bob Simon, March 16, 1990 Evening News: “Few tears will be shed over the demise of the East German army, but what about East Germany’s eighty symphony orchestras, bound to lose some subsidies? Or the whole East German system, which covered everyone in a security blanket from day care to health care, from housing to education? Some people are beginning to express, if ever so slightly, nostalgia for that Berlin Wall.”Jay Price and Qasim Zein of McClatchy Newspapers, October 16, 2007: As violence falls in Iraq, cemetery workers feel the pinchThen and now, no matter how good the news, the legacy media is always there to see the dark side. The Thin Red Polyester Line
Your headline of the day: "it's all fun and games until a guy is hanging at the end of a Speedo drawstring." (Via 5'F, who notes, "And frankly even then it sounds funny.") An Image Seared--Seared!--Into My Brain
By Ed Driscoll · October 17, 2007 10:39 AM · Muggeridge's Law
(Via Andrea Harris who had an appropriately similar, horrified reaction.) Life--Rather Belatedly--Imitates SCTV
27 years ago, the Canadian television parody series featured featuring Rick Moranis' dead-on impersonation of deadpan Dick Cavett interviewing...Dick Cavett. Today, in a rather belated effort to catch up, the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz interviews himself. As another Washington Post media critic wrote today: Be careful what you wish for. In this era of media superficiality, newsroom budget cuts and celebrity worship, there's also a growing call for depth and tough reporting on the crucial issues of our time, such as the election of a president.But as we've seen more than a few times recently, the Washington Post and its subsidiaries may not be the best place for that depth and tough reporting. Which may be why the legacy media is on Forbes' endangered species list this week, several months after first appearing on ours. Update: Video here. A hint before watching it: Courage--as another legacy media figure is wont to say. Old Reactionaries Protest New Reactors
By Ed Driscoll · October 13, 2007 11:09 AM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
I've read a lot--and posted my fair share--of material on the graying of television's audience. But I had no idea how bad the problem had truly become. In the late 1980s, television tried to keep my parents' generation glued to the tube by recycling oldsters such as Raymond Burr, Andy Griffith, Telly Savalas, and the blue-haired cast of The Golden Girls. But as Katherine Mangu-Ward of Reason notes, times change, and new eras call for new nostalgia: Writing for CNN today, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, and Harvey Wasserman share some thoughts about nuclear power (Note: Don't think about that last sentence too hard. You'll hurt your head or bring on the apocalypse or something). They're worried that the siren song of cheap, clean energy will seduce us once again, when we should be rightfully seduced only by Bonnie's dulcet tones.This line in the CNN piece is a remarkably dual-edged sword: These "new" reactors are the same as the old ones, with a few bells and whistles, and a proven 50-year track record of catastrophic failure.Indeed, and it's brave of the "Troubadour-American Community", as James Lileks dubbed them on Thursday's Hugh Hewitt show, to admit their own shortcomings. (Audio here, which foreshadows the geriatric rockers' CNN piece rather well.) Fortunately, nuclear engineers are a bit more introspective. He Is The Very Model Of A Modern Business General
By Ed Driscoll · October 12, 2007 12:21 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
The modern CEO covers all the bases, knows all the angles. He's got one eye on the bottom-line, and another looking towards the expansive globe--or globes--yet to be surveyed and conquered. Crimes & Misdemeanors
By Ed Driscoll · October 11, 2007 08:57 PM · Muggeridge's Law
"If there weren't an Ann Coulter, the Democrats would have to invent her. I can't imagine a greater walking advertisement for the supposed bigotry of the extreme right." It's also hard to find a better walking definition of Conquest's Third Law. Incidentally, they're going at it hammer and tongs in the comments at Hot Air, if you'd like to wade in on Ann's latest self-promotional kerfuffle. Running Scared
"Manolo says, at this point, you should perhaps consider changing your barber." (I know Billy said “The Republicans, I can’t even say their name--I gag" last year, but perhaps he's carrying party loyality just a tad too far...) Phony Soldier Sighted In Atlantic City
By Ed Driscoll · October 6, 2007 12:49 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Memory Hole
Imagine this scenario: A Republican Mayor of a famous city lies about his service in Vietnam and is caught at it but before that revelation comes to light he was already in trouble as he was about to be recalled by the citizenry for commonly being absent at city council meetings. What's more he also presides over a city council that has several members under investigation for sexual misconduct, drunk driving and at least one recent council member who is in jail serving a conviction for bribery. Imagine how the MSM would howl over the Republican "culture of corruption?" And yet, this scenario that I describe actually exists with but one small alteration in the particulars. The mayor in question actually exists. His city council is as corrupt as I describe. Only the mayor is a Democrat instead of a Republican... not that the MSM seems to have noticed.Yes, it's time for another edition of "Name That Party!" (Though to be fair, when you're dealing with The Mob That Whacked Jersey, their party affiliation is a given.) "Six Reasons the '70s Should Have Killed Us All"
By Ed Driscoll · October 6, 2007 11:31 AM · Muggeridge's Law
Well, five actually. As the Drapers' distaff neighbor on AMC's Mad Men frequently illustrates, number six on Cracked's list certainly wasn't a trend exclusive to the 1970s, but fortunately, it did become increasingly socially unacceptable in the years that followed. I'd add this to the list as well, though there's no end to the horrid trends that ran concurrently through the Decade That Taste Forgot. (Via Kathy Shaidle.) Related: "Our Child-Based Decadence", which, as David Frum has written, is much more a byproduct of the 1970s than the 1960s. "Did 9/11 Kill Feminism?"
Or as Hot Air dubs it, "World Trade Center attacked; women, minorities hardest hit"; in the L.A. Times, Meghan Daum writes: Because I seem to be one of an ever-dwindling handful of women under 50 who still call themselves feminists (and, therefore, am allowed to make fun of feminists with impunity), let me say this: Anyone who blames the weird, conflicted state of contemporary womanhood on the cultural fallout of 9/11 isn't just burning her bras but smoking them.I guess the Air Force Academy didn't get the message in time. Related: "The Real Gender Gap". The Doctor Is Input
"Last year, two [computer] programs were endorsed by Britain’s health officials for people with panic attacks, mild depression, or phobias." Hopefully one of them was Eliza... Pass The Popcorn
As I wrote in 2005, and (unbeknownst to me at the time) Jonah Goldberg wrote in 2001, from time to time, the left deploys the circular firing squad, and surprisingly often, it's Hollywood that winds up caught in the crossfire. When the bullets start to fly and the f-bombs begin dropping, the best thing for the rest of us to do is to sit back, watch the explosions (provided by Gloria Allred, rather than ILM) thunder and crash, and pass the popcorn. The Silent Killer
By Ed Driscoll · October 4, 2007 01:29 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason
"Oh sure, they're environmentally conscious and cost-efficient, but there's a dark side to those zippy Toyota Priuses: They can be lethal to the blind." Emergency medical technicians aren't that crazy about them either, considering their electrical cables can generate quite a shock when cut into. Quote Of The Day
Dr. Helen cuts directly to the chase, as the 2008 presidential race enters the realm of the Mondo Bizarro: If Mr. Giuliani wants to be the next leader of the free world, he would do well to heed this advice, for while voters can overlook a man who has had three wives and family problems, they can’t overlook is a man who looks like he’s pussy-whipped.Heh. Indeed. Read the whole thing.TM Throw The Books At 'Em!
AP sports headline: “Jason, John Garrett coach against brother Judd when Cowboys meet Rams” Wow, this could be one interesting game! To be fair, the Brothers Judd run a helluva Website, but I'm not sure how we'll they'll stand up against the Cowboys' high-powered offense on Sunday... The Very Definition Of Projection
Sid Blumenthal believes that RatherGate was a Karl Rove operation. The amazing thing is that he's more right than even he can imagine! Mister President, We Cannot Afford A Hookah Parlor Gap!
By Ed Driscoll · September 27, 2007 11:09 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The Making of the President · The New Puritans · War And Anti-War
Thank you for smoking, Matt Lewis writes: But what about the growing Hookah Parlor Gap? "Reuters Reporter is Source for His Own Story"
By Ed Driscoll · September 27, 2007 10:49 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Memory Hole
Hey, if Reuters' Adnan Hajj can rework the Beirut cityscape for a more dramatic photo, why can't a Reuters reporter insert himself into his own story? Besides, didn't Norman Mailer and Tom Wolfe do that same sort of stuff all the time in 1960s Esquire articles? Of course, they were writing features, not hard news, but, hey, why quibble when you work for the one-time "Rolls-Royce of news agencies". Where's Colonel Flagg When You Need Him?
This line by veteran CIA man Mark Lowenthal sounds like something that M*A*S*H's favorite bumbling spy would utter: Last night, Hugh had longtime CIA employee and George Tenet advisor Mark Lowenthal on as a guest. At the end of the interview, Lowenthal provided an unintentionally hilarious (albeit chilling) summation of the CIA’s pathos. While discussing Iran’s path to nuclear weapons, Lowenthal posited that the Mullahs remain seven years from “mission accomplished”. Hugh asked if we could afford to take the chance that the CIA’s “guess” on this matter was correct. Lowenthal bristled, reminding Hugh that at “the CIA we don’t guess. We estimate.”As Dean Barnett asks, "Does the 'I' Really Stand for Intelligence?" Quote Of The Day
By Ed Driscoll · September 27, 2007 09:09 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive
Mike Gravel sticks it to The Man: Another element of the talkathon that marks the candidates' vulnerability in the general election is the candidates' conformity on the desirability of public schools educating eight-year-olds on homosexual relationships. At one point last night -- was it during the discussion of Social Security? -- one of the candidates referred to the unreality of the talkathon, but bankruptcy seemed to me the more appropriate metaphor. Senator Gravel found a way to salute himelf for his personal and business bankruptcies:Video of Gravel first staring down the credit card companies and then casting off his debts for the empowerment of the American people, here.“Well, first off, if you want to make a judgment of who can be the greediest people in the world when they get to public office, you can just look at the people up here,” Gravel said in a nod to his fellow candidates.Byron York salutes Gravel: Postmodern Irony Alert
Calvin Ross of the Napa Valley Register checks in on Andrew Keen: Lately many elite journalists have been attacking blogs, especially politically liberal blogs, as "vitriolic," "rabid" and "crude." Keen went to great pains to offer the "real" journalism of the Wall St. Journal, the New York Times, and the Washington Post as examples of what blogging is not.Go figure: Keen is assuming that responsible readers won't be able to distinguish between bloggers who produce responsible work, and those who manufacture fake news...on a comedy show hosted by an actor who's producing fake news by sending up the typical network anchorman. Update: Related thoughts on the faux news show where Colbert got his start. Great Moments In Headlines
By Ed Driscoll · September 24, 2007 04:40 PM · Muggeridge's Law
"Helicopter Rabies Baiting Program To Begin". I have absolutely no idea whatsoever what that means. However, I would personally advise not baiting any rabid helicopters. But hey, that's just me. Ronfinger--He's The Man, The Man Who Is Out Of Touch
By Ed Driscoll · September 23, 2007 02:47 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
Or...life imitates Ian Fleming. In the 1964 film version of Goldfinger, James Bond has this exchange with the eponymous Gert Frobe, after he describes his plan to invade Fort Knox to 007: Bond: You'll kill 60,000 people uselessly.John Stephenson spots Ron Paul uttering a surprisingly similar dismissive quote concerning a real-life terrorist incident that had nothing to do with SPECTRE, SMERSH, or Hollywood: Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul contends that the federal government has overreacted by limiting personal freedom in the wake of terrorist attacks six years ago, noting more people die on U.S. highways in less than a month’s time compared to the number who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.With ever-classy Ronfinger, every quote he utters turns to lead, not gold. A Conspiracy More Vast Than He Can Possibly Imagine
Charles Johnson links to New York Times ombudsman Clark Hoyt's op-ed, which admits that the Times did indeed give a sweetheart rate to Move On.org: In a weasely attempt to throw some blame back on the people who were outraged by this disgusting advertisment, Clark Hoyt echoes the statements of terror groups like Hamas, who only denounce violence because it hurts their image and gives people an “excuse” to “change the subject.”Does the Times itself count as part of that cottage industry?By the end of last week the ad appeared to have backfired on both MoveOn.org and fellow opponents of the war in Iraq — and on The Times. It gave the Bush administration and its allies an opportunity to change the subject from questions about an unpopular war to defense of a respected general with nine rows of ribbons on his chest, including a Bronze Star with a V for valor. And it gave fresh ammunition to a cottage industry that loves to bash The Times as a bastion of the “liberal media.” A Clockwork Algore
It really does happen like clockwork--first Al drops into L.A. to pick up his Emmy, then this. Incredible! That Was The Week Of That Was The Week That Was
By Ed Driscoll · September 19, 2007 10:49 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · Run To Daylight · The Assault On Reason · The Gulag Archipelago
The week is far from over, but it's already been filled with deja vu all over again. And again. Or as to paraphrase those parodies of 1930s-era Time magazine, Backwards ran the flashbacks until reeled the mind... ...Where it all will end, knows God! Update: speaking of "a couple of week links", welcome readers of Jules Crittenden and Don Surber! The Politics Of Personal Inertia
By Ed Driscoll · September 19, 2007 10:15 AM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
Via Libertas: Director Richard Lester (who also did “A Hard Day’s Night” and is perhaps best known in Hollywood for helming the theatrical blockbuster ”Superman II” after Richard Donner was fired) is going to promote the DVD release in Britain but refuses to do so in America. Why? He won’t enter the country as long as President Bush is in office, an informed source tells me.Lester is 75 years old. His best work was behind him by the time the 1960s ended. He's probably loathing the idea of spending ten hours airborne over water to promote a movie he handed over to the studio 28 years ago. He hasn't made a new film in 16 years. Great way to turn a perfectly understandable geriatric ennui into a statement. The Blogosphere Full Employment Act Of 2007
By Ed Driscoll · September 18, 2007 05:30 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law
The punchlines are endless; fire at will, boys! Bet Your Bottom Dollar
By Ed Driscoll · September 17, 2007 07:16 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Return of the Primitive
No matter how silly Hollywood gets, there's always going to be a topper. Always. Texas Rainmaker, rather appropriately named to fluidly comment on this story, suggests in a stream of consciousness that "Yellow is the New Green". I'll simply note that between Cate Blanchett, and Laurie David and Sheryl Crow, Hollywood sure knows how to put the focus on the business end of global warming's root causes, huh? Let That Be Your Last Duke Nukem Battlefield
By Ed Driscoll · September 17, 2007 06:56 PM · Muggeridge's Law
"A man in southern China appears to have died of exhaustion after a three-day Internet gaming binge, state media said Monday." (Via the healthy online alternative for those with pre-existing broadband addiction symptoms.) Forecast: Holiday Heart-Ache
Safe prediction: Because of this shocking, shocking news coming from his two favorite showbiz titans, there'll be no joy in the Allahpundit household this The Very Definition Of Muggeridge's Law
By Ed Driscoll · September 16, 2007 12:28 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
As Malcolm Muggeridge first observed, there is absolutely no way for any satirist to improve upon real life for it's complete and utter absurdity. "Chafee Quietly Quits The GOP"
Geez, unlike ol' Linc, at least Jim Jeffords was smart enough to jump ship while in office, thus assuring his 15 minutes of MSM and Beltway cocktail party fame and a book deal. As the New England region completes its case of the Blue State Blues, Pajamas explores "The Vermontization of New Hampshire". Having Done So Much To Advance Catholicism In The 1980s
By Ed Driscoll · September 16, 2007 11:25 AM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
"Madonna: I'm an 'ambassador for Judaism'". Update: "Rock & roll, we know, is sexually charged music that tends to trivialize whatever it touches, even as it has largely replaced Shakespeare and the Bible as our cultural shorthand." No doubt, Esther's ambassadorial duties will help fill the gap! (And speaking of filling gaps...) Not Exactly Precision Engineering...
By Ed Driscoll · September 16, 2007 12:33 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
But it's nice to finally see the long awaited return of Mercedes Owners for Islam! Wow, Talk About Passing The Buck
By Ed Driscoll · September 15, 2007 12:29 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · Radical Chic · War And Anti-War
Found via Mark Steyn, the New Republic's longtime publisher Martin Peretz writes: The American Left and even the mainstream of American liberalism (which includes TNR) has never gotten over its dalliance with Stalinism and its guileful romance with revolution. This is one of the costs of McCarthyism. But it is sadly true that some of the things Joe McCarthy believed and said were not false.Peretz is typically a very smart writer, so maybe I'm misconstruing his point. But it sounds--at least at first glance--like he's blaming McCarthy on some level for nearly ninety years of the left's love of all things Radical Chic, and an eagerness to ally themselves with any tin-pot tyrant with a thick-enough moustache. That seems like an awfully heavy burden for a man dead 50 years who had already done a pretty good job on his own destroying much of his credibility long before the left turned into (a) a punchline and (b) an evil thought far worse in Hollywood and academia than Stalin himself. Time For Auto-Reprimitivization
By Ed Driscoll · September 14, 2007 11:58 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Future and its Enemies · The Return of the Primitive
Talk about the right and the left coming full circle--and then some. Here's Jonah Goldberg of the conservative National Review on the role the automobile played in reshaping society: I think conservatives let their admirable attraction to ideas distract them from other sources of change. Many conservatives like to blame all of our modern ills on those horrible ideas that escaped German laboratories at the beginning of the 20th century and then mutated in French cafés. And while I think nihilism, moral relativism, existentialism, etc. have had serious consequences for society, it’s impossible to deny that the automobile, birth control pill and the telephone have done more to unsettle traditional arrangements than anything Heidegger ever wrote or said. The problem is that it’s easy to argue with Heidegger (or his writing); it’s really hard to argue with a Buick.How 'bout a Model-T then? The far left's Pete Seeger, who had no problem with technology when it was transporting people to the gulag, was later quoted as claiming, "I like to say I'm more conservative than Goldwater. He just wanted to turn the clock back to when there was no income tax. I want to turn the clock back to when people lived in small villages and took care of each other." (At least until the NKVD knocked upon their door.) In a similar attempt at leftwing self-reprimitivization, Time magazine's Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Dan Neil kicks off his look at "The 50 Worst Cars of All Time" by bolding going far more conservatively than Henry Luce would have ever thought to go and railing against the very machine that made weekly home delivery of his publisher's magazine possible: The Model T - whose mass production technique was the work of engineer William C. Klann, who had visited a slaughterhouse's "disassembly line" - conferred to Americans the notion of automobility as something akin to natural law, a right endowed by our Creator. A century later, the consequences of putting every living soul on gas-powered wheels are piling up, from the air over our cities to the sand under our soldiers' boots.As we've noted before, look who's standing athwart history these days and yelling stop. Update: Backwards ran the SUVs until reeled the mind. Where it all will end, only knows Gaia. (H/T: I/P) Pats, Lies, And Videotape
Well, here's one way to build a consistent NFL powerhouse: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has determined that the New England Patriots violated league rules Sunday when they videotaped defensive signals by the New York Jets' coaches, according to league sources.Back in 2004, immediately after Super Bowl XXXVIII, and its infamous "wardrobe malfunction", when the Pats won the second of their third Super Bowls (so far), Paul Attner of The Sporting News wrote that Bill Belichick has helped the Patriots crack the NFL code. In hindsight, he had no idea just how prescient he was! (Between this, Kevin Everett's horrific spinal injury, and the dog days of Michael Vick, the NFL is off to some start this year, huh?) Venting Plasma
By Ed Driscoll · September 11, 2007 12:39 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Assault On Reason
To build on our post from Monday night, while the leftwing BBC clearly has issues these days, one could say that the Tories are overreacting, just slightly, to the increasingly global issue of Kultursmog. Osama's Watched JFK Once Too Often
By Ed Driscoll · September 7, 2007 08:06 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
As Allahpundit is wont to say...Duuuude: In the Vietnam War, the leaders of the White House claimed at the time that it was a necessary and crucial war, and during it, Rumsfeld and his aides murdered two million villagers. And when Kennedy took over the presidency and deviated from the general line of policy drawn up for the White House and wanted to stop this unjust war, that angered the owners of the major corporations who were benefiting from its continuation.Did Oliver Stone write Osama's latest missive to the world? Update: Heh: "Some five years after it was coined, Blair’s Law reaches a tipping point." Related: Osama's past words and Mr. Rauch’s Ugly Narrative. Jessica Alba's Bitchin' New Bukkake Movie!
Paging Dr. Freud...Dr Freud wanted in the movie publicity emergency room, stat! No Goats For Boeing, Maaaan!
Wow, while PETA is making Whoopi Goldberg kowtow profusely over her remarks regarding Michael Vick, wait 'til they get a load of this: Sometimes I have to remind myself that this is really the 21st century.Actually, PETA might well give them a pass (or maybe not). Because it's multicultural, we mustn't judge. As Christiane Amanpour might say, who amongst us can truthfully say that he thinks that ours is the superior culture because we don't sacrifice goats to enhance jet aircraft performance? And speaking of Amanpour, she'd really hate this post, both for its high levels of un-PC-ness, and for the somewhat more understandable reasons that Scott Adams discussed here. "The Baron von Richthoven Of The Minneapolis Bathroom Patrol"
Needless to say, the decline, wide stance, and fall of Idaho's Senator Larry Craig is a story tailor-made for Mark Steyn to run with--and he does, complete with a George Michaels cameo. (But alas, no Andrew Ridgley, who with his involvment in "Surfers Against Sewage"(!) seems to have a bathroom fixation of an entirely different sort.) Don't Know Much About History
By Ed Driscoll · September 1, 2007 01:22 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Final Frontier
“The only moon landing in history is NASA’s Apollo expedition in 1968.” Don't let Buzz hear about this! (And in case AFP's editors are reading and they'd like to quickly bone up on NASA's golden age, here's a great place to start. Read the article, watch the DVDs, repeat the dosage as needed.) Ban Ki Panky
Your quote of the day: “If it is properly sealed, it should not pose much of a threat unless it is dropped,” said former New York City emergency services director Jerry Hauer, an ABC News consultant.He was referring to the Phosgene "nerve agent" (apparently of Iraqi origin, to boot) found in an office at the U.N. This time, you've really failed me, Hans Brix. Well, He Did Play Gandalf After All
By Ed Driscoll · August 29, 2007 11:49 AM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
Veteran actor Sir Ian McKellen gives a demonstration in magical thinking: Sir Ian McKellen is so offended by the Bible’s anti-gay stance he makes a point of ripping out the relevant page every time he stays in a hotel room. The openly homosexual actor, a longtime campaigner for gay rights, accepts he shouldn’t vandalise the Bible, but finds it difficult to contain his outrage at the contents of Leviticus 20:13 when he spots the holy book in hotels. McKellen says, “It’s the one thing I find difficult to defend but do go on doing.” The Leviticus 20:13 passage reads: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.”Some random thoughts: Update: Related thoughts from Daily Dollop. BDS--Like Visa, It's Everywhere You Want To Be!
By Ed Driscoll · August 28, 2007 08:36 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
The syndrome first given name by the good Dr. Krauthammer sure works in mysterious ways--it's caused Rush Hour 3 to become a hit, even as it somehow simultaneously caused Playboy to lose circulation. Bush Derangement Syndrome--is there nothing it can't do? "It's Not Our Job To Lead People And Proselytize"
The Grauniad reports, "Two of the BBC's most senior news and current affairs executives attacked the corporation's plans yesterday for a Comic Relief-style day of programming on environmental issues, saying it was not the broadcaster's job to preach to viewers": The event, understood to have been 18 months in development, would see stars such as Ricky Gervais and Jonathan Ross take part in a "consciousness raising" event, provisionally titled Planet Relief, early next year.Dan Rather, Walter Cronkite, Walter Duranty, David Halberstam, Woodward and Bernstein, Katie Couric, Arthur Schlessinger, Peter Jennings, and Pinch Sulzberger could not be reached for comment. Bush Equals...Hindenburg?
By Ed Driscoll · August 25, 2007 11:20 AM · Muggeridge's Law
If, as James Piereson suggests (and welcome to the party, pal! What took you so long?), the Cold War assasination of JFK led sixties-era Democrat elites down the rabbit hole of conspiracies, Noemie Emery brings a report on the latest comings and goings of the paranoid style: The fascists are coming! Or rather, they're already here, installed in the White House, planning like mad to subvert the Constitution and extend their reign in perpetuity, having first suppressed and eviscerated all opposition and put all of their critics in jail. Thus goes the rant of America's increasingly unhinged left. If only, sigh many Bush partisans, wondering when this administration will get out of the fetal position and show some fighting spirit. To them, as to most reasonable observers, the White House shows the chronic fatigue of a two-term presidency reaching its final year. Nonetheless, paranoia about what Bush and Co. are up to preys on the minds of many progressives, who have progressed, in this case at least, beyond reason.(Incidentally, just to check, is Noamie considered a member of Bill Kristol's posse of thug rappers?) My current favorite is Andrew Sullivan's newest riff, on "The Weimar President". I can only guess that Andrew believes that President Bush is an elderly figurehead leading a weakened but relatively benign quasi-socialist administration suffering the ravages of hyper-inflation and that Hillary, Obama or whoever his successor is, is the next Hitler, about to install a terribly malevolent war machine and concurrent massive welfare state? Further deconstruction of this lead zeppelin of an analogy, here. Coming Full Circle
By Ed Driscoll · August 24, 2007 11:05 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · Radical Chic
Sometimes irony really can be ironic, as MSNBC falls for a quote on an Al Sharpton parody blog (which is only fair, as long ago, they fell for the "real" Sharpton). Tawana Brawley, not to mention Georges Sorel, could not be reached for comment. And as the Gawker blog notes, "The next time someone trots out the adage about bloggers not being reporters, we're going to note that reporters aren't exactly reporters these days either." But hey, they do get to decide "what is news and what isn't", and much more importantly, what's haiku-worthy. Name That Party, Southern-Fried Historical Edition!
By Ed Driscoll · August 23, 2007 01:49 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Memory Hole
"George Wallace Assailant to Leave Prison; AP Fails to Note Wallace Was Democrat". Woodrow Wilson could not be reached for comment. I Shot A Moose Once In My Pajamas...
By Ed Driscoll · August 21, 2007 04:08 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Assault On Reason · The Return of the Primitive
Time to go hunting, boys: The poor old Scandinavian moose is now being blamed for climate change, with researchers in Norway claiming that a grown moose can produce 2,100 kilos of methane a year -- equivalent to the CO2 output resulting from a 13,000 kilometer car journey.Global warming--it's a Second Ammendment issue! (With apologies to Groucho and Jonathan Klein for the above headline.) Greatest Headline Ever Written In History of Mankind
When a video clip has a headline like "Suburban Witch Arrested For Midnight Underwear Bonfire Moon Chants", you know you're talking Must See TV! Nifong: The Dog Ate My Law License
By Ed Driscoll · August 15, 2007 01:23 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Curiously, this is one fact that really does fit the narrative. When Conspiracies Collide
By Ed Driscoll · August 13, 2007 11:32 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Return of the Primitive
As we've all learned from a prominent former employee of the American Broadcasting Company, fire does not melt steel. But the heat from global warming just might! Dan Rather Goes Back And To The Left....Back And To The Left
Or with his latest Blockbuster Report (on HDNet, where Dan and his mom will likely be the only viewers), is Captain Dan channeling his inner Captain Queeg? "Ahh, but the butterfly ballot, that's... that's where I had them. They laughed at me and made jokes but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt and with... geometric logic... that a duplicate key to the ballot box DID exist, and I'd have produced that key if they hadn't of pulled the Evening News out of action. I, I, I know now they were only trying to protect some fellow candidates... " (Whom Gods Destroy, they first make into unknowing Nixon parodies.) Via Download, This Just In
By Ed Driscoll · August 13, 2007 01:11 AM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Long Tail
Reuters: "Study finds kids justify illegal downloads". As Jonah Goldberg wrote a few years ago, "I need a study to tell me this?" The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
By Ed Driscoll · August 9, 2007 12:14 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Future and its Enemies
On the day of his birthday, James Lileks beams back a photograph from Hell: a television set above a urinal in a hotel men's room, echoing the infamous moment in Robocop with the stock ticker in the executive W.C. I'm not sure if I've seen TV sets in any commercial men's rooms I've been in (and I’d like to think I’d remember seeing something like that), but God knows they're everywhere else. Kaiser has had them in their doctors’ waiting rooms for several years now, and more recently, during a major remodeling, my local supermarket installed small sets at every checkout station, and a large plasma model above the produce aisle, all mostly beaming out CBS programming. The local Bank of America branch has TV sets--with the sound on, as I recall--blaring CNN while you wait for the next teller. And of course, as any one who flies has noticed, all TV sets in all American airport waiting areas must be tuned as well to CNN. It's. The. Law. Of course, CBS and CNN are each getting killed in their own way at the moment in the ratings: Katie Couric is third amongst evening news anchors; and Fox News cleans CNN's clock nightly. I wonder how much, if any, the presence of their Ingsoc-style telescreens contributes to their ratings? And would CNN and CBS have even lower ratings without a captive audience that's forced to watch them? One of my local gas stations (the Gulf station, I believe) has recently installed TV screens above the meters and credit card swipes in the pumps. No long form programming here, it'a all commercials, which begin once the credit card is swiped. What’s strange is that almost all of the ads actually discourage gasoline use: they seem to be an endless stream of Toyota Prius commercials, mass transit, and other environmentally-themed ads. Bu then, to me, the whole idea of having to watch commercials while pumping gas is pretty strange. Especially when half the drivers leave their 190-db chest-pounding subwoofer-equipped car stereos blasting away while filling up. But the timing of this recent rush to bring a whole new meaning to public broadcasting is a bit bizarre itself. It comes just as television is massively losing ground to the Internet. Happily, between laptops, PDAs, iPods, iPhones, and even handheld videogames, a growing number of people have access to digital information and entertainment that they've chosen to interact with, rather than 80-year old brodcast networks. The annoyance of a public TV set in this day of personal media seems to greatly outweigh its benefits. Beyond the added advertising revenue, is it the relative low cost of a thin LCD-style TV set makes them inviting for retail businesses to install? Is it a sense of nostalgia for a medium that's pretty much peaked? Because maybe I missed it, but I don’t recall reading about supermarkets installing radios in the checkout counters to pump out broadcasts of Benny Goodman and his orchestra live from the Fontainebleau just as television was reaching its zenith (so to speak) in the mid-1950s. Hey, I Said It First--Two Years Ago!
By Ed Driscoll · August 8, 2007 04:31 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · War And Anti-War
Ann Coulter's latest op-ed is titled, "Absolutely Fabulist". Say, now that rings a bell somewhere... "No Real Than You Are"
The 21st century equivalent of "Croatoan" or "NO KILL I" surfaces in Holland. In other news from the world of plastics, Dustin Hoffman graduates to 70 years old today. The Rashomon Bridge
By Ed Driscoll · August 8, 2007 11:52 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
This sounds like one of those National Enquirer self-quizzes: how you react to the I-35 bridge collapse reveals your true personality! The I-35: It's a mirror into your soul! (Or lack thereof, in Phelps' case.) Update: Ace: "I Don't Want To Politicize The Minneapolis Bridge Collapse, But I'm Pretty Sure It Was Andrew Sullivan's Fault"... "Flashlight Weapon Makes Targets Throw Up"
Every wafer-thin actress and fashion model in Hollywood will want one of these for Christmas! Bias In The Strangest Places
"Creeping liberal bias killed Weekly World News". Of course, outside of the supermarket tabloid fare, it's done a remarkable job in transforming a variety of formerly respected traditional news outlets into National Enquirer-wannabes. Tiny Mummies Discover The 21st Century
Allison Kaplan Sommer writes: The New Yorker’s Hendrik Herzberg loses his blogging virginity at the YearlyKos, no less - where, he observes, “there are two thousand people, every one of them a news junkie, and I haven’t seen one single person—not one—carrying a newspaper.”Gee, I think that's why they call it an online community. (Entirely unrelated to the above story, except that it involves a newspaper, but this is an amusing anecdote from 2006 involving the Minneapolis Star-Tribune lifting vast swatches of one of Hertzberg's more incendiary New Yorker articles without attribution. And for complete Hertzbergian overload, today's New York Sun has a piece on him as well.) Dennis Rodman Lives!
Salon profiles Erik Von Markovik, aka the pickup master "Mystery", who "chats about the ‘Venusian Arts,’ sexual psychology and why he can help 40-year-old virgins everywhere get laid": When you first see the towering, 6-foot-5 man who goes by the name "Mystery," there's almost too much to take in. A floppy top hat and goggles, bright red lips tattooed on his neck, kohl-lined eyes, platform boots, black nails, binoculars slung around his neck: These are just a few of Mystery's unexplainable accouterments. But Mystery says he knows just what he's doing. He calls his look "peacocking" -- and explains that it's a way of capturing women's attention, to intrigue and, ultimately, sleep with them.Peacocking? Well that's one thing to call it... That's Why They Call It The Nanny State
By Ed Driscoll · August 4, 2007 01:28 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The New Puritans
Mike Bloomberg may have finally gone a ban too far: Amidst all the conflicting advice from friends as well as experts in child rearing, one solitary issue united everyone: Breastfeeding is better than bottle feeding. Doctors unanimously tout the benefits of breastmilk — it provides antibodies which protect from respiratory and intestinal diseases, increases immunity, protects newborn intestines, and — if you believe the hype — makes babies more likely to get into Harvard. World Breastfeeding Week, which started Wednesday, should have been a time for everyone on the planet to come together as one and celebrate the fact that even though we’ll go to the mat on issues like co-sleeping and childhood vaccinations, we all agree on one single parenting issue: Breast is best.Go figure--never noticed that, myself. By the way, pssst--hey Mike: dihydrogen monoxide can also impact newborns. Best start working on banning that next.... Thunderbirds Are Go!
"Have those crafty Iranians recruited the Thunderbirds for Iranian Air Defense?" It's A Black Fly In Your Chardonnay
It's the good advice that you just didn't take. Who would've thought...it figures. "Nobody Covers The News Like Telemundo!"
Newsbusters has an update on the Mirthala Salinas story: The Los Angeles Times reports in the August 3 paper that "Los Angeles television newscaster Mirthala Salinas was suspended without pay for two months — but not dismissed — Thursday from KVEA-TV Channel 52 for covering Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa while they were romantically involved, a relationship that journalism experts said damaged the station's credibility."Orrin Judd asks the logical follow-up question. (Headline above via Mickey Kaus's post on the topic from last month.) The Onion Tackles Omnipotent Tourist Syndrome
By Ed Driscoll · August 2, 2007 01:02 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies
In The Know: Is Our Wealth Hurting Africa's Feelings?
Matt Welch described a similar sentiment amongst equally leftwing and reactionary tourists to Cuba:Found via Small Dead Animals, the Onion does a surprisingly dead-on parody of that worldview in one of their Weekend Update/Daily Show-style mock news videos, in which their panelists debate, "Would it be mean to tell Africa about the global economy?"this common sentiment has always irritated the hell out of me. Oh, the crumbling, no-longer-beautiful houses! Ah, the lovely two-feet-deep potholes, and rickety Chinese bicycles (because the 50-year-old Chevys and 30-year-old Ladas don't work, and at any rate there's no gas). How people can derive pleasure from evidence of the suffering of innocents is beyond me, and few sights are more unseemly to my eyes than seeing a Lonely Planet-waving travel snob whine about how some current or formerly misgoverned hellhole has been "ruined" by all that yucky reconstruction, material success, and (worst of all!) tourism. Oh how pretty! The baseball players make $20 a month, and they live on a prison, but at least there's no annoying electronic scoreboard!Val Prieto, who frequently blogs on Cuban issues at his own Babalu Blog dubs it "Omnipotent Tourist Syndrome". The Panic In Needle Park
By Ed Driscoll · August 1, 2007 01:39 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Return of the Primitive
The San Francisco Chronicle reports: They tell us he was steaming, but San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom shouldn't have been too surprised when The Chronicle reported that Golden Gate Park was littered with used drug syringes.Other than the needle tip, aren't syringes made out of plastic? Previous stories had led me to believe that the San Francisco city government was doing everything it could to ban plastic, as it's been deemed this year's environmental public enemy number one. But it sounds like in San Francisco, it's drug syringes: Si! Plastic water bottles and grocery bags: a definite No. (Story via Sacramento's Fetching Jen, headline via Al Pacino.) Most Improbable Comic Book Superhero Cross-Over Ever
By Ed Driscoll · August 1, 2007 12:35 AM · Muggeridge's Law
Or as Andrea Harris writes, "More evidence that the Seventies sucked, as if you needed more." “Ron Paul Brings Back A Wacky Post-9/11 Bill”
By Ed Driscoll · July 30, 2007 05:41 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · War And Anti-War
Where have you gone Boba Fett? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you! And Speaking Of Shopworn Media Narratives...
By Ed Driscoll · July 30, 2007 01:23 PM · Bobos In Paradise · God And Man At Dupont University · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Substance of Style
This just in from the New York Times: Nerd culture discovered; Asians, other minorities hardest hit. Update: The International Herald-Tribune, a spin-off of the New York Times, undertakes their own Noam Chomsky-style research on nerd linguistical patterns. More: Jerome J. Schmitt adds: "In sum, I believe that this article and study reveal a lot more about the racial bigotry and monomania of the NY Times and swaths of the liberal arts and social sciences than it does about nerds." MSM Sets Baseline Quality Standard For Video Blogging
By Ed Driscoll · July 27, 2007 12:14 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
Back in late 2001, Glenn Reynolds wrote: Any time you start to doubt yourself, and wonder if you're fit for the big leagues of American thought and opinion, you can just read The Times and be thankful that the standards of the big leagues aren't so high.Flashforward six years; technologies change but the song remains the same: the baseline quality control standards for acceptable video punditry has now been set by NBC...err ABC... Little Green Men Really Go Green
Great moments in headlines: "Flying Saucer Designed for Greener Air Travel". This will not make Ed Straker happy at all. "Layers Of Editors"
That's Teh Grai Laidee's key to being stocked in the nation's libaries. Update: "Shock: Ann Coulter Hired At The New York Times!" No Good Deed Goes Unpunished—Even By Jack Bauer
By Ed Driscoll · July 21, 2007 05:45 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason
This fall, Kiefer Sutherland and 24 are sending a special, special thanks to all of the conservative viewers who've made the show such a Red State smash... Don't Worry,They're Still Big Penn & Teller Fans
By Ed Driscoll · July 21, 2007 01:18 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The New Puritans
Rudy Giuliani uses R-rated word 15 years ago, puritanical left implodes. Great Moments In Irony
Andrew Sullivan: "We have to create a social stigma..." Update: Cassandra of Villainous Company has further thoughts on what she describes as "Social Stigma for Me, But Not for Thee". Insert Obligatory Dr. Strangelove Riffs Here
Asked about the John Birch Society Society by the New York Times, Ron Paul responds, “Is that BAD? I have a lot of friends in the John Birch Society. They’re generally well-educated and they understand the Constitution. I don’t know how many positions they would have that I don’t agree with.” In sharp contrast to Ron Paul channeling his inner Sterling Hayden, Rudy Giuliani sews up both the nomination and the general election in a single highly strategic endorsement. Not to mention locking in the votes of both Thomas "Big Tom" Callahan and his son Tommy. Austin Powers Swings Into Action
By Ed Driscoll · July 20, 2007 12:01 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law
And breaks up Dr. Evil's underground lair, apparently: The news reports that the billionaire founder of Broadcom is alleged to have built a secret underground suite on the grounds of his mansion, which he is alleged to have stocked with prostitutes and drugs is a titillating rumor, and obviously bad news for the man himself and his family (I won't add to the Google hits by naming him).But what will happen to Scott Evil? (Via Pajamas HQ.) Popcorn And Good & Plenty’s Are Available In The Lobby
The Motion Picture Association of America have made their ruling, and we stand by their decision: ![]() Mingle2 - Free Online Dating Via the G-Rated Virginia Postrel. Get your blog rated, here. And speaking of the movies, check out my reviews of four new Hollywood-related books at Blogcritics. Revenge Of The Sith
Yesterday, Jonah Goldberg had an interesting essay on changing attitudes regarding "the Imperial Presidency". But these fellows are taking the idea into a galaxy far, far away.... Jurassic Park
By Ed Driscoll · July 19, 2007 12:52 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · War And Anti-War
Forget the recently announced remake of 1,000,000 years B.C.--especially since it will lack the essential elements for such a movie: a 1966 A.D.-era Raquel Welch in a fur bikini. Instead, here are two video clips beamed back from the dinosaur world of the past: Update: Heh: You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in the Senate.P.J. O'Rourke wouldn't argue with that. Related: Will Collier asks, isn't it ironic, don't you think? I was just interviewed by a camera crew, and will apparently be on the CBS Evening News tonight.He'll probably be discussing this with the network that brought you not only RatherGate, but Maude and Petticoat Junction as well. Charlie Murphy's True Washington Stories
CNN's Ed Henry profiles comedian Dave Chappelle: Chappelle said he was feeling good and then asked me a question about covering the White House. “Has the president given you a nickname?” he asked.Wouldn't you pay money to see him to answer Helen Thomas's loony questions in his Rick James persona? Update: The blogger behind Immodest Proposals emails in that he suggested Chappelle as press secretary a year ago, along with a variety of other proposals to spice up the routine quotidian details of the daily pressers. The BBC Really Phones One In
Ace notes that the "BBC Suspends Phone-In Competitions After Shows Found To Have Given Awards To Fictitious 'Callers,' Sometimes BBC Personnel". He adds, "What could possibly go wrong with a state-operated media monopoly designed to propagandize and anaesthetize its viewers?" Indeed.TM The Global Village Elder People
By Ed Driscoll · July 17, 2007 09:46 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The Return of the Primitive
In his nifty "D.I.Y." song from 1978, Peter Gabriel sang the praises of Do It Yourself: When things get so big, I don't trust them at allBut that was a long time ago. These days, Peter sounds much less entrepreneurial--as does one-time uber-entrepreneur Richard Branson: Nelson Mandela celebrates his 89th birthday tomorrow in Johannesburg, launching a humanitarian campaign along with former President Jimmy Carter, ex-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other “elders” of the global village. The initiative stems from an idea by British entrepreneur Richard Branson and musician Peter Gabriel to create a world council of elders to tackle issues such as conflict, AIDS and global warming.Peter Seeger wouldn't complain much about Gabriel and Branson's "idea", of course. But for everyone else, it's obvious that the old days of "Don't trust anybody over 30" have sure gone out the window, now that the average superstar rock musician is typically quite an elder himself. Update: "I for one welcome our new geriatric overlords. I’d like to remind them that as a trusted blog commenter, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground Metamucil caves." This Just In
By Ed Driscoll · July 17, 2007 04:27 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Memory Hole
Redbook airbrushes minor imperfections out of its celebrity cover photos, astonished blogger blows gasket. The site is part of the Nick Denton blog empire, which isn't averse to running a little Photoshoppery themselves from time to time. (Via Gerard Van der Leun. It's not exactly Shinders, but his post has numerous other links for your reading pleasure.) Hiding The Salami With Johnny And Tommy
By Ed Driscoll · July 16, 2007 09:22 AM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Memory Hole
Allah notes that "Mag busts Reuters for using fictional source in 'Sopranos' piece", whose name, according to Reuters, is the very Sopranos-like "Johnny Salami". "Exit question: Where’s Johnny now? Exit answer: You know where. With Tommy." Meanwhile, the headline on Howard Kurtz's latest piece sounds like he may have phoned it in from the Bada Bing: "Bikini Journalism". This Just In
"Young Adults Are Giving Newspapers Scant Notice." Update: Late-night restaurant guides to the rescue! The Return Of The Killer Bees!
By Ed Driscoll · July 15, 2007 02:38 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
Everything old is new again, as a prominent television network recycles Saturday Night Live's old "Killer Bees" routine. But these sketches were infinitely more fun when it was John Belushi in the bee suit. "Escape To The Poconos!"
By Ed Driscoll · July 15, 2007 12:44 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · War And Anti-War
Greg Pollowitz writes that the slogan of the touristy Pennsylvania mountainous retreat takes on a whole new meaning these days. Bicoastal "Informational Vermin"
The L.A. Times may have used the phrase as a disgusting metaphor for their competition, but they're a much more literal concern for their Manhattan-based namesake. New York magazine quotes a Times staffer as saying, "With maggot-y ceilings and rats falling out of the air, it's like the dark ages in this building". Somehow, I doubt Victor Davis Hanson would argue with that assessment. Thou Shall Not, Part Deux
By Ed Driscoll · July 13, 2007 01:38 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
Charles Johnson spots "Malaysian Muslims Seething Over Morgan Freeman"; he links to this AFP article: Malaysian Muslims have called for a ban on the blockbuster [define blockbuster please--Ed] movie “Evan Almighty,” saying it is offensive to their religion, state media reported Friday.Will there be a retroactive fatwa against George Burns? Drive By Jury Duty
Diane Sawyer: "You know, I wanted to sit on a jury once and I was taken off the jury. And the judge said to me, 'Can, you know, can you tell the truth and be fair?' And I said, 'That's what journalists do.' And everybody in the courtroom laughed. It was the most hurtful moment I think I've ever had." Giant Badgers Terrorize Iraqi Port City
Charles Johnson links to this AFP report which says: The Iraqi port city of Basra, already prey to a nasty turf war between rival militia factions, has now been gripped by a new fear — a giant badger stalking the streets by night.Video of the strange beasts here. Defining Deviency Down--Via A Touchtone Phone
By Ed Driscoll · July 11, 2007 08:26 PM · Muggeridge's Law
This is interesting, though I think Ace is more likely right as to who actually made the call. Related: "Liberal Activist Goes Cuckoo on Carlson: 'You Preppy Punk!'" Separated At Birth?
By Ed Driscoll · July 11, 2007 11:56 AM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
Life Imitates Roger Corman
Sounding like a low-budget B-movie that's coming soon to your local theater--or in this case, England: "I Married The Son Of Osama!" Update: Maybe Osama Jr. and the new missus could facilitate Harvard's proposed negotiations with dear old dad. Is Telemundo Hiring This Year?
By Ed Driscoll · July 10, 2007 02:36 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive
Hot on the Versace heels of Telemundo reporter Mirthala Salinas delivering the on-air scoop of her own affair with L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa comes this story out of Chicago: WMAQ-Ch. 5 executives on Tuesday continued to weigh what, if any, disciplinary action to take against reporter Amy Jacobson, seen on videotape in a swimsuit at the home of Craig Stebic, whose wife's disappearance Jacobson has been covering.Last week, Mickey Kaus wrote that "Nobody Covers the News Like Telemundo!" But in a different kind of Red Queen's Race to the bottom, WMAQ is definitely catching up with them fast. In Every Dream Home A Heartache
By Ed Driscoll · July 9, 2007 11:07 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The Return of the Primitive
This freaky-deaky Reuters story is a tale of demography and polystyrene: In the coming years though, while Japan's population may dwindle, its technology is only going to get more sophisticated. Send in the fembots! Television: Teacher, Mother, Secret Lover!
By Ed Driscoll · July 9, 2007 01:07 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · War And Anti-War
Life imitates TV; once again, everything old is new again! Update: "Hello, Rodney Dangerfield"! Oh Sure, I Get Them Confused All The Time, Too
[Cue the "In A World" movie trailer announcer voice.] In a world of endless Hollywood remakes of proven formulas, Charles Bronson is back! Only this time, he's Jodie Foster! Death Wish VI: The Sex Change! [/In A World Voice off.] Is this the sort of high quality mass media product that Andrew Keen is endorsing? Of course, it's better idea for a movie than Jodie as Leni, needless to say. (More trailers here; and click here for some book suggestions focusing on Hollywood's better days.) Update: Related thoughts on new media and old, from someone who's spent a fair amount of time toiling in the trenches of both the Blogosphere and Tinseltown. Lifestyles Of The Rich And Environmental
By Ed Driscoll · July 7, 2007 06:10 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Substance of Style
Headline via Pajamas; post at Gateway Pundit. Incidentally, I didn't notice until now that I've spent the day digitally dissing the Goracle--while wearing a brown shirt! (Linen, monogrammed, custom-made with as high a carbon footprint as possible by Brooks Brothers, of course.) Which is either irony or Gaia having the last laugh, depending upon how you look at it. Help Me Obi-Al Kenobi, You're My Only Hope
By Ed Driscoll · July 7, 2007 01:49 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The New Puritans
"Al Gore Appears On Live Earth Tokyo Stage As A Hologram". Triumph could not be reached for comment. Much more at Hot Air, whose name describes the concert--aka, “Private Jets For Climate Change” perfectly. And speaking of which, Newsbusters has some thoughts on the private jet-setting Jann Wenner. Update: "Mostly Mild Weather Greets Live Earth Global Warming Concert Goers. Backstage, the Red Hot Chili Peppers get puritanically scolded (what else did they expect?) for using their red hot private jet. More: "Whither the Gores’ war on sex, drugs, and rock and roll?" If, as Gore once claimed, a traffic accident involving Al III was the singular moment that transformed him into the scourge of the automobile industry, I wonder if we can blame today's proceedings at Live Earth entirely on Al being dissed by Courtney Love and desperately trying to recover his leftwing pop culture streed cred. But then, this isn't the first industry that Al's been forgainst. Related: Is this all a sign that global warming has “jumped the shark”? Tim Takes The Mickey Out Of Murder Mouse
By Ed Driscoll · July 6, 2007 11:07 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
Tim Blair looks at the last days of Farfour The Mouse, Hamas television's psychotic answer to Disney's beloved Mickey: Anyway, Farfour's unfortunate real estate deal was still under way when the show cut to its teenage girl co-host, who announced Farfour had been martyred while defending his land; 72 virgins for Farfour.Don't miss the cartoon that accompanies Tim's article, in which Farfour does indeed get his 72 virgins. Minnie will not be happy. Electronic Heaven And Hell
The highest highs and the lowest lows of the wired world: Bobos in electronic paradise dial-up the eschaton: "Here's your new life," said the Apple Store clerk, beatifically, handing me the little black bag with my hot-off-the-FedEx-truck new iPhone. The comment was supposed to warm my heart, but I felt a slight chill. I'd just been thinking in line about how waggish bloggers had long since dubbed the long-in-coming device "the Jesus Phone," so the clerk's sendoff got me wondering what level of spiritual commitment I'd just made. I felt a little like Tom Cruise, finally graduating from the highest level of Scientology (and like I'd paid nearly as much for the privilege).Simultaneously, Megan McArdle explores the Dante's Inferno that is Sony VAIO customer service. Green Age Wasteland
By Ed Driscoll · July 6, 2007 04:17 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason
Like America's Investor's Business Daily, England's Daily Mail is equally none-too-thrilled about Live Earth: A Daily Mail investigation has revealed that far from saving the planet, the extravaganza will generate a huge fuel bill, acres of garbage, thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions, and a mileage total equal to the movement of an army."Live Earth is encouraging 'citizens of the world' to take small steps: share a car, plant a shrub, turn off a light or hang out washing rather than use a dryer." But feel free to light up the football stadium, plug-in 500,000 watts of amplification, and buy boxcars full of CDs and acres worth of playbills. Related thoughts at Pajamas HQ. Will Get Fooled Again
By Ed Driscoll · July 6, 2007 03:43 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason
Investor's Business Daily notes that "one of most monumental acts of hypocrisy in memory" will be occurring tomorrow: For years, fear mongers have been telling us carbon dioxide emissions caused by our use of energy have created a greenhouse effect that's warming the planet at a rapid and dangerous rate. Yet these people are not the least bit concerned about the amount of carbon and useless hot air that will be spewed into the heavens as a direct result of Live Earth.I can't argue with that; of course, it's not like the concerts' original namesake accomplished its goals, either. Paddy Chayefsky Goes Through The Looking Glass
As Mickey Kaus writes, "Nobody Covers the News Like Telemundo!" This may be a first: If you watch the third local news video linked on this LAT page** ("Mirthala Salinas reports Villaraigosa's separation") you'll see the news of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's separation from his wife announced last month on Telemundo by the reporter/anchorwoman with whom he has been having an affair.And having accomplished this first, Telemundo seems determined to quickly throw it all away: Telemundo finally has someone everybody wants to see! So of course they ... take her off the air. Estupido MSM. ... What's wrong with an hour Mirthala Salinas special? They could add bilingual subtitles for the millions of new Telemundo viewers. ... But no. They'd rather please Howie Kurtz. (Or maybe it's a respectability play: "See! We're as much of a doomed hidebound media organization as all the doomed hidebound English-language media organizations!")My money's on the latter. Mistakes Were Made
By Ed Driscoll · July 6, 2007 02:14 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Substance of Style
"The mistake wasn't spending $1,250 on a haircut. It was calling Torrenueva 'that guy.'" Attacking Polar Bear Science
Tim Blair links to New Scientist.com, which notes: As the poster child for the climate change generation, polar bears have come to symbolise the need to tackle climate change. But their popularity has attracted the attention of global warming sceptics funded by the oil industry, who have started to attack polar bear science.They're absolutely right--and I one for feel deeply ashamed for questioning the future of these large furry creatures and the freezing conditions in which they thrive. "Follow That Carbon Footprint, Men!!!"
Schadenfreude overload alert: Al Gore III, youngest child of Himself, has been arrested and jailed for possession of marijuana and illegally prescribed prescription drugs, including Xanax, Valium, and Vicodin -- and for trying to evade arrest by leading police on a merry chase up to 100 m.p.h...Just to bring this post full circle, recall that it was a traffic accident involving Al III as a child that, if Gore is to be believed, mystically set him on his path towards becoming the Goracle. Update: Detailed analysis of the vehicle in question here: Meanwhile, Tim Blair looks at worldwide ticket sales--or lack thereof--for Al's Live Earth concerts this weekend. And in a pefect demonstration of Blair's Law in action, Al "Digital Brownshirts" Gore has invited Cat Stevens, aka Yusef ''I might ring somebody who might do more damage to [Salman Rushdie] than he would like" Islam to jam at the Hamburg portion of Live Earth. Strike A Pose, There's Nothing To It
By Ed Driscoll · July 3, 2007 01:49 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President
Lynn Davidson spots John Edwards on the cover of Men's Vogue and writes, "There are two Americas. One fans the flames of class warfare while running for office and the other knows that there is something disingenuous about a class-warfare spokesman posing on the cover of high-end fashion magazine." Here He Is Folks, The Favorite Of Gym Teachers Everywhere
By Ed Driscoll · June 30, 2007 08:54 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Substance of Style
Bob Hope once introduced comedian Mort Sahl (the thinking man's Woody Allen!) at the Academy Awards by saying "Here he is folks, the favorite of nuclear physicists everywhere!" Similarly, based on his choice of footwear, Ron Paul--the thinking man's Pat Paulsen--definitely has the all-important American gym teacher vote all sewn-up. Rather than a pair of black sneakers, Ron might have better odds in a slightly more upscale pair of kicks such as these. However, despite his shabby shodding, the Ron Paul boomlet could be catching--I actually saw a car parked at the Marie Callender's restaurant just outside of San Jose with not one, but two Ron Paul bumperstickers in its rear window. No word yet on which phys. ed. class its owner teaches. Well, At Least He Didn't Compare Him To Hitler
Because, clearly, that epithet is reserved for only one man on the world scene. But as Noel Sheppard writes: I’m not sure what derangement syndrome Bill Moyers is currently suffering from [I'd call it this--Ed], but on Friday’s “Bill Moyers Journal” broadcast on PBS, the outspoken host went into an invective-filled tirade about media tycoon Rupert Murdoch that frankly was one of the most disgraceful exhibitions of liberal bias so far this year.How can you? Real life always trumps satire for its sheer absurdity. Speaking of which, apparently AP stands for Ad-Hominem Press these days. The Seven Pillars Of Wisdom
Greg Gutfeld writes that today's foiled London bombing attempt is very much a teachable moment. Meanwhile, Jonah Goldberg explores "Dogs That Don't Bark"--and needless to say, he doesn't mean his faithful sidekick Cosmo. Well, That Didn't Take Long!
By Ed Driscoll · June 28, 2007 02:37 PM · An Army Of Davids · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The New, New Journalism
Cost: DV tape cassette: $4.95 As I wrote a couple of hours ago: Speaking of Big Media, oh to be a fly on the wall in this newspaper's editorial boardroom.Today, the Journal writes, "Just who sponsors Hot Air’s ad, and other similar ads popping up across the Internet, is unclear". Allah highlights their multimillion dollar production values; Mickey Kaus could not be reached for comment. Update: "Maybe it will help the WSJ to be owned by Murdoch". Heh--but don't tell these guys that. Defining Victimhood Down--And A Modest Proposal
By Ed Driscoll · June 27, 2007 09:07 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · Run To Daylight
CBS runs to daylight and makes victims out of aging former NFL gladiators. As an Opinion Journal piece back in February noted, look for more of these stories; "Noticeably absent from this debate is any discussion about the personal responsibility these players bear for their post-career conditions". But if the networks truly cared, shouldn't they simply drop all NFL coverage? Sure, it would accelerate the speed of TV's ongoing ratings collapse a hundred-fold. But the money created by television advertising is what inspires NFL players to punish their bodies during what they hope will be long, multimillion dollar careers. Aren't the networks enablers themselves, if they continue to air their abusers’ video? And if television doesn't put a stop to this voluntarily, then all I can say is: C’mon Congress: your next ban on free speech awaits! (And yes, I'm taking absurdity to its natural conclusion; like a lot of guys, pro football is one of the few remaining network shows I still regularly tune into.) There Are Eight Million Stories In The Naked City
By Ed Driscoll · June 25, 2007 02:10 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
Here are two of them (or four, depending upon how you do the math): In contrast to Rudy Giuliani, who managed to clean up the porno-infested Times Square, Mayor Mike's Manhattan manages to have things uncovered from top to bottom. Somebody Set Dan Up The Bomb
"By the way, the image at the top of this post is of a real HDNet promotion for Dan Rather. Who needs PhotoShop!" As Always, Life Imitates Monty Python
By Ed Driscoll · June 25, 2007 12:40 PM · Muggeridge's Law
"Sea, sand and sunshine make Paignton the queen of the English Riviera. But for the next six months this sleepy Devonshire resort will be transformed into the blizzard-swept wastes of the South Pole. For today shooting starts on the epic Scott of the Antarctic, produced by Gerry Schlick": Scott: Listen, I gotta fight the lion. That's what that guy Scott's all about. I know. I've studied him already.Forget Devonshire--they should have simply filmed in Peru. Pinch Meets Kettle
NYT MONDAY PAGE ONE: 'Murdoch has used his media empire to advance his personal and political agendas'... Developing...Whew--thank Gaia the publisher of the New York Times could never be accused of that. Life Imitates Spinal Tap
By Ed Driscoll · June 23, 2007 02:51 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
Motley Crue sues their manager for--wait for it!--harming their image: In the lawsuit, filed today in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the four founding members of the band (Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Tommy Lee) through Motley Crue Inc., claim manager Carl Stubner and Sanctuary Management Group gave them bad business advice and attempted to "divert revenue from [the band] and redirect it to themselves.Wouldn't the Crue and their lawyers have been better off simply suing the government for their slice of heavy metal disability insurance? In other Life Imitates Spinal Tap news, 15 year olds everywhere are, even as we speak, thinking that this is the Coolest...Guitar...Ever. Eschaton Immanentized
Georgia man lives out ultimate libertarian wet dream. (H/T InstaPundit, who writes, "If it were me, I'd set up toll booths . . . .") Let's Think Cool About It
By Ed Driscoll · June 23, 2007 12:22 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Return of the Primitive
Technorati has been running a series of ads from MSN promoting all of the HOT ARTISTS performing at Al Gore's Live Earth concert next month. Here's a sample: ![]() Needless to say, MSN's copywriter has raised some inconvenient questions which beg explanation. If the goal of the concert is to stop the global warming that's coming before global cooling returns from the depths of the 1970s, do we really want all of that hotness concentrated in one area? Wouldn't cool artists be better than hot artists? Couldn't too much concentrated hotness burn a hole in the ozone layer over the Meadowlands? Maybe all of that hotness has actually caused global warming. You never heard about global warming when Sinatra and Dino were playing Vegas and Miles Davis was Kind of Blue, did you? I rest my case. Especially since it's becoming too hot, and I need to put it down. Further thoughts on those HOT ARTISTS! from the always cool Tim Blair. The Ban Ki-moon Motor Works
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon: “The Darfur conflict began as an ecological crisis, arising at least in part from climate change". The rest of the UN? You can have our BMWs and Mercedes Benzes when you pry their steering wheels from our chauffeurs' cold dead hands! "Arise Sir Salman!"
By Ed Driscoll · June 21, 2007 03:59 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · War And Anti-War
Mark Steyn writes that "It's slightly depressing to read that Her Majesty's Government were entirely taken aback by the hostile Muslim reaction to their decision to knight Salman Rushdie": One assumed they had factored into their calculations at least a bit of pro forma Death-to-the-Great-Satan prancing in the livelier quartiers of Pakistan - or even, with classic Brit cynicism, figured that enraging hundreds of millions of Muslims over an imperial bauble was a cheap way to look courageous and tough and determined after the recent humiliations inflicted on the Royal Navy. But no: the whole burning-effigies-of-the-Queen routine took them completely by surprise. It really is impossible to exaggerate the depths of self-delusion within which the multiculti bien pensants exist. With characteristic clumsiness, Margaret Beckett, the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, managed to make things worse. As The Sydney Morning Herald reported:Political correctness does tend to have that effect on the brain. "The Knife Went In"
By Ed Driscoll · June 19, 2007 12:00 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · War And Anti-War
The CNN/Theodore Dalrymple connection, as spotted by James Taranto. (Safely back home in the Bay Area, incidentally--regular blogging to resume later today.) Twin Causes For All Problems Everywhere On Earth Identified
By Ed Driscoll · June 17, 2007 10:32 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Assault On Reason · War And Anti-War
Hugh Hewit spots Robin Wright of the Washington Post blaming the US "for the spread of Islamist radicalism. An excerpt from a classic of the genre": But even former Bush administration officials blame Washington for the region's latest woes. "The U.S. bears responsibility, both for things it's done, particularly in Iraq, but also for things it's not done, which is where the peace process comes in," [Richard] Haass said. "The president never developed his idea of a Palestinian state. He never used his leverage to help Egypt get launched on a trajectory of greater openness."As Hugh writes, "Yes, of course. And Churchill was to blame for Hitler". Hey, be thankful for small favors--at least the Post didn't blame Islamic radicalism on global warming. Rue De Regret
By Ed Driscoll · June 17, 2007 04:30 PM · From Bauhaus To Our House · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies
James Lileks has some fun with urban renewal; but a la Malcolm Muggeridge, as always, real life trumps satire. Crashing Yasser's Crib
By Ed Driscoll · June 16, 2007 06:12 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
Tim Blair and Charles Johnson link to links to a news reports which claim that Hamas looted the home of Yasser Arafat, who by all accounts is still dead: A crowd on Saturday looted the home of longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, destroying one of the strongest symbols of the Fatah movement in the Gaza Strip, witnesses and Fatah officials said.Including, apparently, Arafat's Nobel Prize. Hopefully the father of late-20th century terrorism is enjoying the irony of it all, from his window seat in Hell. This Was Inevitable
By Ed Driscoll · June 16, 2007 05:17 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
With his omnipresent case of BDS, CNN's Jack Cafferty can't help but blame President Bush for Hamas's takeover of Gaza. I wonder how this all ties into Rosie's 9/11 meta-conspiracy. Speaking of leftwing conspiracies, Charles Johnson notes: According to the international left and the paleo-right, Israel is a fascist apartheid state, a brutal occupier, universally despised by the oppressed Palestinian people.You got it! (Greetings from sunny Orange County, by the way.) Salon Enters The Gravel Zeitgeist
By Ed Driscoll · June 15, 2007 12:44 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Making of the President
"Salon: 'Ambiguity' of 'The Sopranos' Offered an Alternative to 'Self-Righteous' Bush" Geez--on the other hand, does Mike Gravel own this mindset, or what? The Circle Is Now Complete
The Jimmy Carter late-1970s enters Star Trek's Mirror Universe: In January, the US captured the Iranian consulate (in Iraq at least). Today, Iran begins gas rationing. What will constitute Iran's equivalent of The Last Days Of Disco? Remain In Light
Video surrealism-a-go-go! First, it's the return of the "Once In A Lifetime"-era David Byrne. Second, Mike Gravel owns the American Zeitgeist, creating campaign ads that brilliantly feed off the postmodern final moments of the Sopranos finale. Groove with your space, Zen Master Mike! Politics Goes Through The Looking Glass
By Ed Driscoll · June 15, 2007 10:10 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Democracy In America · Muggeridge's Law · The Memory Hole
As Hunter S. Thompson once said, when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. And at the moment, there's nobody weirder than today's professional politicians. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who's apparently found his RINO soul mate in Mike Bloomberg, goes politically incorrect and gets it right. Meanwhile, Trent Lott appears to be doing an infinitely weirder RINO impersonation--he was last seen praising Teddy Kennedy (and of course, the Dixiecrats) and is now attacking talk radio--which brought him to the height of his power 13 years ago, thus allowing him to live out the Peter Principle on a national stage. On the left, that's something that Harry Reid seems to demonstrating right now, as he first unintentionally echoes Mark Steyn--then tosses his quote down the Memory Hole. Related: Via Instapundit, "Did Reid Really Say That?" Update: Oy. But What Are His Thoughts On Hillary?
Look, it's Iran's answer to Greg Packer! Meanwhile, Ann Althouse has some thoughts on Iran's answer to Ron Jeremy. Where's The Street-Wise Hercules To Fight The Rising Odds?
By Ed Driscoll · June 14, 2007 09:54 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
Jonah Goldberg writes that, like Bonnie Tyler, the media are holding out for a hero--and they found not just one brave warrior, but two of them! In an age when Fox News is a ratings juggernaut and Katie Couric is ratings roadkill, it seems almost antique to talk about liberal media bias. But it's still out there, my friends. Just look at the hilarious press release masquerading as a news story in Time magazine. With a picture of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg looking like henchmen from Murder Inc., Time proclaims these politicians "The New Action Heroes." And why are the Munchkin Mayor and the glandular Governator so heroic? Because they're taking care of business in a flash, as Elvis used to say (and probably still does on that Pacific island where he lives with Bruce Lee). Time's Michael Grunwald comes close to sounding like a teenage girl talking about Justin Timberlake. Bloomberg and Schwarzenegger are doing "big things," he tells us. "Specifically, they're doing big things that Washington has failed to do." Unlike politicians in the nation's capital, where "partisanship-on-crack has made compromise almost impossible," Schwarzenegger and Bloomberg have "got better things to do than bicker and posture."Read the whole thing, which is a great explanation of the template by which the legacy media frames virtually all of its government-related stories: The false advertising here is the never-ending story of elite journalism's bias toward "heroes" who expand government (which is why FDR remains the greatest hero in American history to so many Washington scribes).Meanwhile, as Edward Glaeser writes in the New York Sun, "Amity Shlaes's fascinating new history of the Great Depression, The Forgotten Man (HarperCollins, 480 pages, $26.95), challenges this conventional wisdom". It will be interesting to see if her book makes any dent in this sclerotic paradigm, now in its seventh decade and ripe for updating. Update: I don't think that Harry “I think we should just drop it" Reid is going to qualify for hero status in the media--at least this week. The Pernicious Censorship of George Bush’s America
Once again, America's conservative media blocks a frank and open discussion of sexually-oriented topics. Update: More censorship spotted here; though fortunately, it looks the forces of free speech may have actually won this round. RonPaulian Mind Control Rays Can Strike Anyone
Ace of Spades: "Wow, I think I'm catching Ron Paul Feveh!" Bringing New Meaning To The Phrase "Combat Correspondent"
Last week, I quoted this passage from a Tech Central Station article, which stated that "In the future, a war correspondent will either effectively be a soldier for one faction of a conflict, or he will literally not survive in the war zone" suggesting that "The days of the independent, neutral war correspondent, objectively reporting from a war's front lines, are quickly coming to an end". They may have come to an end sooner than we think... "Did I Miss Something?"
Assuming that the above video isn't a complete put-on, the ongoing efforts to virtually bury television images of 9/11 has paid off brilliantly, and the American media can pat themselves firmly on the back for creating a informed and knowledgeable citizenry. Everybody Hurts
By Ed Driscoll · June 12, 2007 11:24 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
On the left, everyone's ultimately a victim, no matter how powerful he or she is--in this case, one of the most successful women on television: "CBS blames sexism for [Katie Couric's] bad ratings". (Previous victimology spotted here.) A Feature, Not A Bug
A Reuters article begins thusly: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rejected on Monday another prominent senator's call for a military strike against Iran, saying a U.S. attack would destabilize the Middle East.Exactly. Hasn't destabilizing the Middle East been the whole idea since about mid-morning 9/11/01? (Actually, in a sense, it's been the whole idea since around 1998.) Related: Power Line's John Hinderaker looks at Sen. Reid's poll numbers: Scott Rasmussen's latest survey has Harry Reid in a dead heat with Scooter Libby, each with a 19% approval rating. And Reid hasn't even been convicted of anything yet! Rasmussen attributes Reid's dismal standing to his visibility on the immigration bill, and that no doubt played a part. I suspect, though, that word of the Democrats' corruption is starting to leak out. Bobby Brown Still Fears George Bush Will Kill Him!
By Ed Driscoll · June 11, 2007 08:33 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · War And Anti-War
Sorry--just reading this headline through Rosie-colored glasses. The Duality Of Man--The Jungian Thing, Sir
Well, He's No Stalin, But...
By Ed Driscoll · June 7, 2007 04:16 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Future and its Enemies · The Memory Hole
ABC News' Claire Shipman on Russia: "Everybody is very happy with Vladimir Putin there". Sure, but does he get these kind of results at the ballot box? Pot Meets Kettle
NBC-Universal chairman irked at his company's information leaked by a blogger. "I hate the blog world...it ends up interfering with people's lives". As opposed to Big Media, whose leaks merely end up interfering with soldiers' lives. (And note that the blogger in question is the late Cathy Seipp's bete noire Nikke Finke, an MSM veteran herself.) On Her Majesty's Secret Seizure
By Ed Driscoll · June 6, 2007 07:05 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · The Substance of Style
It's hard to believe that England was once the embodiment of cool, but from Savile Row in the 1930s, to the early James Bond films and the Beatles, England could certainly be cool when she wanted to be. But to be "cool", it helps to know what you're about, and to maintain a certain inner reserve. It prevents aesthetic abortions such as the 2012 Olympics logo, of which James Lileks writes: Seriously, what is the matter with people who come up with this? And what is the matter with the people who approved it? Ads that showed the logos have reportedly caused seizures among British epileptics, but I think this thing would make a fossilized femur bone suffer convulsive muscle spasms. If you can’t tell, it’s the year of the London games – 2012. I think it’s also meant to imply a human form – say, a discus thrower, or a runner bursting from the blocks. Whatever it is, it’s an aesthetic catastrophe, and would seem to indicate there’s no one around in the London Games who had the nerve to bark “rubbish, that; try again, and give me a proper logo with some bloody numbers.” I think there’s a point at which people lose the ability to pretend they have any sort of aesthetic criteria, and embrace whatever’s loud and ugly simply because loud and ugly is the style of the times. There’s always a fair amount of coin to be had for dissing the traditionalists, of course; I imagine that if someone submitted a logo with a flag or a bulldog they would have suffered a gentle sneer: still pining for the empire, eh, Smithson. Well, Kipling’s dead. Yes he is. Dig him up, you’ll find Posh Spice’s heel stuck in his heart, the coffin stuffed with I Heart Diana memorial teddy bears.Ugh, indeed. Peter Hitchens' The Abolition of Britain began by contrasting England's collectively dignified response to the death of Churchill (who in large part won the Second World War) in the mid-1960s, to Britain's emotional spasms over the death of Diana (who in large part modeled Versace) in the 1990s. Churchill would roll over in his grave if he saw what has happened to England's sensibilities even in the short period after Diana's death, let alone after his own. On the other hand, Glenn Reynolds notes that the possible military implications of the Olympic design. (Too bad the remaining members of Monty Python have gone reactionary--a sketch about "The Killer Logo" would have been a scream.) Great Moments In MSM Journalism
The New Criterion spots the "Headline of the month" at the New York Times; National Review Online catches "the all-time weirdest opening disclaimer" in a Washington Post column. Meanwhile, Newsbusters observes Diane Sawyer acting out the title role in Johnny Got His Gun, a fine 1988 Metallica single that Dalton Trumbo eventually turned into a truly dreadful anti-war movie in 1971. Back In Black
By Ed Driscoll · June 1, 2007 10:30 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Return of the Primitive
"Shrink your carbon footprint by searching the Web in the dark". Update: Or why not choose self-illumination when searching the Web! Nostalgia Schlock
By Ed Driscoll · May 31, 2007 12:58 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The Return of the Primitive · The Substance of Style
In 1973, Daniel Patrick Moynihan looked back on the decade which had recently concluded and said, "Most liberals had ended the 1960s rather ashamed of the beliefs they had held at the beginning of the decade". And part of that sea change in their beliefs was replacing a JFK-era New Frontier optimism towards future progress with an enormous fear of modernity that in many respects continues to this day, seeking to replace life-enhancing technology with a Rousseauvian return to nature. Perhaps wishing to live out Moynihan's observation, in 1972, Orson Welles narrated and appeared on camera in the McGraw-Hill(!) production of a short film presenting a few of the doomsday-ish concepts from Alvin Toffler's Future Shock. (Toffler's 1980 sequel, The Third Wave was a much more optimistic look at the near future, and blessedly free of the lingering effects of psychedelia which tainted his 1970 book.) In a way, this is the culmination, the apex of 1970s Merdework, to borrow a Lileksian word. Thrill! To dissonant first generation Moog synthesizers! Gasp! At Orson Welles and his quick paycheck-seeking stentorian sell-no-documentary before-its-time tones--and his omnipresent 12-inch Double Corona Monte Cristo Cuban phallic symbol! Shudder! As Welles fears the technological ramifications of giant mainframe computers with less computing power than your Motorola cell phone! These first ten minutes are presented as part of an ongoing public service to remind our readers how frightening the aesthetics of the 1970s truly were; more adventurous souls may wish to view the remainder of the documentary, available here. Bringing New Meaning To Ballot Stuffing!
By Ed Driscoll · May 29, 2007 06:18 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Yes, JFK would have plotzed over this. Yes, Bill Clinton and Teddy Kennedy will, too. But so what? This is the greatest innovation in voting technology, ever. We can only hope and pray that it's approved for American use in time for the 2008 elections. I'm sure its manufacturer won't lack for beta testers, though... Beta Male?! Sounds Like Betamax To Me
By Ed Driscoll · May 29, 2007 04:14 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Assault On Reason
Newsbusters spots Newsweek Celebrating "'Ecosavant' Al Gore As The Hot New Sensitive 'Beta Male'"; meanwhile, Tim Blair runs roughshod over Time's coverage of Gore's Assault On Reason with a full metal fisking. "You My Friend Can Use Some Fun--Big Fun!"
By Ed Driscoll · May 27, 2007 06:45 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The New Puritans
Sorry to dust off Telly Savalas' old Players Club TV commercial pitch, but I wanted to remind you of the evil planet-crushing dangers of...."Big Recreation"! “Big Oil” sounds a bit sinister.What's especially fun is watching members of "Big Recreation" tie themselves up in knots when they feel the need for self-persecution over the eeeeevils of so-called manmade Gerbil Worming or Glowball Warmening, as Tim Blair is wont to malaprop. (Via Kathy Shaidle.) Related: Just in time for Memorial Day, puritanical Newsweek conjures up its inner nanny in regards to outdoor cooking. NY Times: 1960s Fetishized; Women, Minorities Hardest Hit
By Ed Driscoll · May 27, 2007 12:01 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive
As Tim Graham notes, "The Left Eats Its Own", but then, they often do. And not just the brain-eating zombies in San Francisco, either. ABC's Tapper: Goracle Could Have Prevented 9/11
Tim Graham spots ABC's Jake Tapper claiming that "the most surprising part" of Al Gore's Assault On Reason "was Gore's implication that if a more competent person had been president during 9/11 -- like, say, him -- 9/11 might not have happened": Gore argues that the president does not need enhanced domestic surveillance powers he has sought and received, often in secret, just competent use of the information already available. He points out, for instance, the fact that 9/11 terrorists Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almidhar were already on a State Department/INS watch list.He's omniscient, our Goracle--too bad he couldn't prevent this attack on the World Trade Center. Or this bombing. Or this one, for that matter. To be fair though, at least Al believes that 9/11 was caused by bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Rosie must be aghast. "Breastfeed Your Way Out Of Sexist Oppression"!
By Ed Driscoll · May 25, 2007 09:59 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
Jules Crittenden has this week's Great Moment In Headlines--and the story behind it is a pip, too. But what role do the 72 midgets play? Harvard's Not Gonna Like This
By Ed Driscoll · May 24, 2007 11:57 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
As Tim Blair writes, "Chicks Get Midgets", adding that "One of the great mysteries of modern times is finally solved by an Israeli radio journalist": Speaking to an Arab affairs expert on the reports that Islamic Jihad is threatening to send scores of women suicide bombers to blow themselves up near IDF troops if Israel starts an operation on the ground in Gaza, she enquired what awaited such women in heaven, the equivalent of the notorious 72 virgins ready to serve the male shahids. The answer: dwarves who will serve them.Larry Summers and Drew Gilpin Faust could not be reached for comment. Irony Overload Alert
By Ed Driscoll · May 24, 2007 11:47 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law
Full Metal Anchoress
By Ed Driscoll · May 24, 2007 11:00 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · War And Anti-War
On her newly spiffed-up site, The Anchoress goes X-Treeeeeme: "Oh, I think it’s definitely time. Let’s do it - let’s impeach President Bush". Read the whole thing. Bias--And BDS--In The Strangest Places
By Ed Driscoll · May 21, 2007 12:18 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
James Taranto spots this online chat involving a Post reader and Warren Brown, the Washington Post's car columnist: Clifton, Va.: Warren, my wife and I are considering a minivan in the near future. I like the idea of the Mazda5--truly a "mini" van--but saw that it's basically a Mazda3 with more seats and more metal. How woefully underpowered is the 5?Astonishing, but as Taranto adds: You see this all the time: writers who cover sports, technology, the arts or in this case cars, but wish they were political pundits, apparently believing their actual beat isn't "important" enough. But almost invariably the political rants they insert into their work are as insipid as this Brown bit. C'mon, Warren, wouldn't you rather be a first-rate car columnist than a fifth-rate Molly Ivins?In one paragraph, Brown manages to make the NPR Car Talk guys to sound like actual automotive buffs, which really takes work. Is it safe to say that just as Deborah Howell, the Post's ombudswoman, dubbed William Arkin as one of the best-known "anti-military military bloggers", that Brown is the anti-car car guy? Or is he simply anti-reader? Sometimes it's hard to tell these days with newspapers. Update: Related thoughts from Victor Davis Hanson and Glenn Reynolds. Hypocrisy As A Driving Force
By Ed Driscoll · May 20, 2007 02:41 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies
Yet another example to add to this list, which seems bottomless at times. "Ron Paul: Because Lyndon LaRouche Isn't Running"
By Ed Driscoll · May 19, 2007 08:57 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
Like I said, Ronald Paul is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I have ever known in my entire life. Conquest's Laws Meets Muggeridge's
By Ed Driscoll · May 18, 2007 02:11 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The Newspeak Dictionary
Robert Conquest's Three Laws of Politics: 1. Everyone is conservative about what he knows best.#2 has been proven time and time and time again; Glenn Reynolds believes #3 best explains the Republican crack-up over immigration. On the other hand, Jim Geraghty writes: Two words for anybody who thinks this immigration bill is a done deal, and there's no way enough opposition builds:And finally, your George Orwell meets Malcolm Muggeridge moment of the day: a reporter at a press conference on the immigration compromise yesterday actually asked about "law-abiding illegal workers". Can you say cognitive dissonance? I knew that you could! An Inconvenient Irony
By Ed Driscoll · May 17, 2007 07:44 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
When you have a long history of comparing global warming to the Holocaust, and those who disagree with you to "Digital Brown Shirts", then titling your next book this certainly seems more than a little like a dual-edged sword. And for more inconvenient irony, it's worth flashing back to Ann Althouse's recent comments regarding the media that it was printed on, and its distribution method. Potentially Dangerous Lightning Storms Brewing
By Ed Driscoll · May 17, 2007 06:41 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Memory Hole
Don't walk too close to Michael Moore, as he's in serious danger of smiting from above, after telling an interviewer, "Every fact in my films is true". That would be news to liberals such as Christopher Hitchens, the late Pauline Kael, fellow leftwing documentarians, and half the Blogosphere, of course. Update: Wow--He's not kidding, apparently.... Bicycle Smoothies Are Coming Your Way
By Ed Driscoll · May 17, 2007 04:26 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive
"Ann Curry Pedals 'People-Powered Blender' to 'Save the Environment!'" Presumably, her producer will soon be switching to people-powered generators for the 50,000 watts of studio lighting necessary to illuminate the set of the Today. This Week's Final Countdown
By Ed Driscoll · May 15, 2007 11:26 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The Return of the Primitive
Add this countdown by the Worldwide Wrestling Foundation, I think, to all of these final countdowns, still either in progress or recently allowed to expire in silence by the Legacy Media. Curiously, they always seem eager to announce a new doomsday countdown, but rarely its termination with the planet looking none-too-worse for wear. And gosh, I just can't understand why that always seems to happen. Wall Of Sound
Years ago, I remember hearing about an up-and-coming business consultant who would call his clients back on his cell phone--from the parking lot of his local airport, so that they would hear all the jet noise, and think he was incredibly in-demand, and about to parachute in to troubleshoot a business halfway across the globe. TechCrunch has an even simpler idea to make your business sound like it's thriving, and you don't even need to leave your office, or rev up Laurie David's private plane. (Via Pajamas HQ, where the joint's jumping enough, even without this CD.) Thank God For Big Media's Armada Of Editors And Gatekeepers
MSNBC quotes White House parody Website on Jerry Falwell’s political influence. As the Professor writes, "Reality, parody -- who can tell? To be fair, I sometimes suffer the same confusion when watching Keith Olbermann". Update: Welcome Insta-readers! If you'd like more in the same genre, you'll find a slightly more substantive media critique in the next post over. Lee Ermey Won't Like This News
By Ed Driscoll · May 15, 2007 11:57 AM · God And Man At Dupont University · Muggeridge's Law · The New Puritans · The Substance of Style
Wow--this is just bizarre: Austin, Texas 7th grader "suspended because his hair is too short". This sort of thing makes me feel so old: Why, sonny, I can remember the good ol' days back when schools were concerned about boys with long hair--long like Paul McCartney's, dagnamit!--not crew cuts. (Via the always well-coiffed InstaPundit.) Deep Throat Could Not Be Reached For Comment
In the "irony can be awfully ironic" department, the Washington Post decries anonymity on the Web--three decades after publishing The Holiest Of All Stories That Are Holy Within The Newspaper Industry, in which two Washington Post reporters became superstars by using an anonymous source to move the story along. To build on something that one of Ed Morrissey's commenters noted, this should also mean the end of all "unnamed source" and "some say" newspaper articles. Transparency for all, right WaPo? You Can't Make This Stuff Up
Reason number 1,325,637 why no satirist can improve on real life for its pure absurdity. When newspapermen such as James Lileks suggest that their papers should go intensely local, let me safely say that this is not what they have in mind: — The job posting was a head-scratcher: “We seek a newspaper journalist based in India to report on the city government and political scene of Pasadena, California, USA.”Yes--and having just completed two articles for TCS Daily on the British media, I'm reminded of the immortal words of The Music Man: You gotta know the territory. I was only a phone call or email from the people I interviewed for the article, but on one level, these were intensely difficult pieces to write, because I don't know the ins and outs of British politics especially well. And the reverse is certainly true as well: not many British journalists know the feel of the US as well as an American who's spent a lifetime steeped in the culture instinctively does, which makes unintentionally ironic pieces such as this all too common. Yesterday, when I had a computer crash, I contacted a tech support rep with Symantic who happened to be in an Indian call center (which he volunteered when he was trying to make small talk). He was absolutely incredible at fixing my computer remotely, but I wouldn't want to ask him to cover a San Jose planning board or sewer comission meeting--anymore than I could cover similar functions in Tamil Nadu by phone and email. If this is how newspapers think they're going to cut costs, they're doomed--or perhaps, doomed faster than we've originally thought. Because Puppy Blending Is So 2003
AP reports "Peruvians Drink Frog Smoothies to Gain Potency". People For The Ethical Treatment Of Muppets could not be reached for comment. (Via the Alice Cooper in 2008 campaigners at Skilletfan.) The Hunger
By Ed Driscoll · May 10, 2007 12:12 PM · God And Man At Dupont University · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
Roger Kimball asks, "How do you spell 'fatuous political grandstanding by over-privileged elites'?" When it's a hunger strike at Harvard. As Kimball writes, "let's hope it is long and thorough". “Most Bloggers Have Never Met A Beauty Product They Didn’t Love”
A spot-on observation by the New York Times (and couldn't the Gray Lady use a little Clairol #5?), your one stop source for all of your Blogosphere news. In fact, with the whichy thickets of my chest hair having reached Austin Powers-proportions, I’m just back from having it waxed down to Hasselhoffian smoothness. And you'd be amazed at who else I saw at the salon! More thoughts (and less facial cream jokes) regarding "The Sheer Stupidity of Newspapers These Days", from Michael Malone. As for some thoughts on the future of New Media, just click. The Seven Year Itch
By Ed Driscoll · May 9, 2007 09:07 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Making of the President · The Return of the Primitive
Mitt Romney spoke to an audience at Virginia Beach today: "It seems that Europe leads Americans in this way of thinking," Romney told the crowd of more than 5,000. "In France, for instance, I'm told that marriage is now frequently contracted in seven-year terms where either party may move on when their term is up. How shallow and how different from the Europe of the past."Pon Farr--It's not just for Vulcans any more! (Insert obligatory ironic riff from The Simpsons' Comic Book Guy, here.) After noting that Romney is apparently mistaking a plot point from one of Orson Scott Card's science fiction novels with that shared consensual hunch that we like to call--and note the jaunty lack of postmodern quotation marks around the word--reality, Ace makes a great point: Of course, while the right-leaning blogs point out such strange delusions of our candidates, you can bet damnsure neither Anna Marie Cox nor any other lefty in the media will make mention of John Edwards' far more calculated and vicious embrace of alt-history fantasy.Rob Port adds: At the GOP primary debate the Presidential candidates were asked tough questions about their beliefs with regard to evolution. With big-name Democrats like Edwards and Kerry apparently taking these “truthers” seriously, maybe some enterprising reporters should go around asking the Democrat Presidential candidates about their feelings with regard to 9/11 conspiracy theories.If--miracle of miracle--that actually happens, and it's late enough in the campaign season, will the reporter who finally has the nerve to ask that question be compared to the Swift Vets by his fellow journalists in the MSM? Related: Im in ur commentz, debunken ur mechincs! Meanwhile, in NRO's Corner, Mark Steyn writes: British schools would rather not teach the Holocaust because too many of their Muslim pupils think it didn't happen. How long will it before American teachers complain that it's difficult to teach 9/11 in class because a small minority of pupils insist on clinging to the discredited and divisive fantasy that it was an attack by foreign terrorists?Elsewhere, Michael Medved notes the cognitive dissonance that intertwines two of the left's favorite memes: If Bush “knew in advance” about the attacks, for instance, then why did he look so confused and hapless on September 11th? Surely, if they knew the terrorist strikes were coming, his political advisors might have suggested a more Presidential or martial setting for the moment the planes struck the buildings than sitting on an undersized chair and reading “My Pet Goat” to an elementary school classroom in Florida.As Steyn wrote, "If ever there was a perfect time for a Sister Souljah moment, this was it", but then maybe that's why it's called what it is—Candidate Bill Clinton’s rebuttal to Sister Souljah’s hysterics during the ’92 campaign seems to be the one and only time such a thing has occurred on the left in recent memory. Finally, They Were Able To Get Rid Of That Bugger
By Ed Driscoll · May 9, 2007 07:44 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive
Jim Boyd, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune's deputy editorial director, is taking a buyout and leaving the paper after 27 years. But he's going out with quite a bang: Avista Capital Partners, the Star Tribune's new owner, seems driven by financial goals and not ideology, so [Boyd] expects a minimum of meddling -- unlike with the paper's previous owner. McClatchy didn't approve of the Star Tribune's outspoken editorials, [Boyd] said, mainly because they "hated any kind of nail sticking up" and felt the editorials were harming the company financially. So they instituted what editorial page staffers jokingly call the "codpiece" — the "conservative of the day."As Minneapolis resident Ed Morrissey notes: If Boyd has to hold his nose to read excellent, well-known columnists like Mona Charon, Debra Saunders, and Jonah Goldberg, then it explains why the Strib has been tanking for the last several years. The dearth of challenges to the house positions -- really, Boyd's positions -- made it clear that the Strib under his direction would never allow dissent to creep into the opinion pages. McClatchy forced him to add other voices for a semblance of balance, in essence telling Boyd to grow a pair. The fact that he calls these fine columnists "codpieces" only highlights what a horse's rectum he is.Instead though, that high-paying gig as an Adobe Acrobat instructor awaits. Speaking Truth To Bleacher Bums
By Ed Driscoll · May 8, 2007 07:38 PM · Muggeridge's Law
The ever-flattening modern information sphere has helped to diminish the sense of boundaries between elites and everyday people. In an increasingly populist word, average folks are freer than ever to get their voices heard, and more-and-more, elites are responding, one-on-one, right back at them. Of course, some in positions of authority choose rather novel methods to express their opinions to their audiences, though. (H/T: OJ) Somewhere There's A Happy Medium
While the Blogosphere gave NBC lots of grief last month--and rightly so, in our opinion--over its lurid, tabloid-style coverage of Cho Seung-Hui and Virginia Tech, somehow, as Mickey Kaus notes, this may be toning down the impact of the Nightly News just a little too much to compensate: Slow news day? Don't take it out on kf! Brian Williams just opened the Nightly News with this teaser:Almost as exciting a story as the time Katie Couric chirped--also on NBC--"When I got this assignment I thought whoa, slow news day. But the importance of the sports bra to American women really cannot be overestimated can it?"Paper or plastic? What is the answer to that agonizing question in the checkout line? Didn't Troy McClure Make A Documentary About This?
By Ed Driscoll · May 7, 2007 01:43 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Capteeeeen, he put... creatures... in our ears... to control our minds. He made us... say lies... do things! Who could do such a thing? Only one man, that's who. Great Moments In Cognitive Euro-Dissonance
By Ed Driscoll · May 6, 2007 03:32 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Future and its Enemies
Hot Air spots this item in response to the center-right (in European terms, at least) Sarkozy’s election in France: As asked in headline of this incoherent leftist Dutch paper: “How far will the New York Times go to get a neo-con elected in France?”Someone should ask Al Gore! The Ham Of Hate
Speaking of PC run amok, Charles Johnson has an update on the Lewiston, Maine student whose teenage prank became a casus belli. Loose Change: What Was Virgin Thinking?
By Ed Driscoll · May 3, 2007 10:54 AM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · War And Anti-War
This story broke yesterday, so I'll cut directly to the denouement, but after praising Southwest recently for understanding their clientele, but all I can ask at this point, what was Virgin thinking? If Virgin is smart (well, smarter than doing this in the first place), they'll blame it on some low level employee in Sector 7-G who rents in-flight entertainment who truly screwed up. But shouldn't one of his higher-ups have thought, "Hey, this doesn't sound like enjoyable transatlantic in-flight entertainment to me"? Wow, That Was Fast!
Having only taken office in January, New York's Governor Elliot Spitzer has apparently already resolved every major issue facing the Empire State in record time. How else to explain this? Normally it is Jersey fans who gripe that they don't get any respect from pro sports teams that play at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford but have "New York" in their names.As Steven Den Beste writes: How do you enforce this? If these teams are actually based in Joisey, then a New York State law can't be enforced in Joisey. And if the teams play in New York, then the law wouldn't apply. Besides which, wouldn't this be an infringement of the First Amendment?And why would New York want to disassociate itself with two NFL teams with longstanding historic ties to the state? Elsewhere, speaking of sports and naming rights, my wife has some thoughts on advertising and NASCAR over at her business law blog. This Just In
Fire actually does melt steel! Update: "Paging Dr. Rosie: Did Schwarzenegger Demolish Bay Bridge Interchange?" To Be Honest, He Looks More Like Andrea Mitchell To Me
By Ed Driscoll · April 27, 2007 01:45 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
"Manolo says, ayyyyyy! The Ellen DeGeneres is looking bad these days". My Favorite Mistake
By Ed Driscoll · April 27, 2007 12:51 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Future and its Enemies
Making the rounds today in the Blogosphere is this editorial on "The Disarming of America" by one Dan Simpson, whom the Toledo Blade describes as "a retired diplomat, [and] a member of the editorial boards of The Blade and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette": When people talk about doing something about guns in America, it often comes down to this: "How could America disarm even if it wanted to? There are so many guns out there."Time to pull out the Sheryl Crow Defense once the emails start arriving at the Blade--which should probably be renamed something far less aggressive sounding, after all. Update: Since I linked to Ace of Spades' Sheryl Crow post, it's only to fair to also include a link to his thoughts on Simpson's gun-grab op-ed. More: "But don't call Simpson a ‘liberal’ or a ‘zealot’. After all, he's fired an RPG". Elsewhere: "Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?" First draft of Simpson's screed uncovered by--who else?--IowaHawk. I Hope They Were Cuffed, At Least
By Ed Driscoll · April 26, 2007 12:55 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Lawyer seeks $65 Million from dry cleaner for missing pants. Bill Clinton could not be reached for comment. (Via Pajamas HQ.) Great Moments In Photo Captioning
By Ed Driscoll · April 26, 2007 11:56 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · War And Anti-War
Reuters: "Palestinians attend a demonstration against violence in Gaza April 23, 2007". (Via Tim Blair.) Related: "Does Anyone Edit The AP?" The Summer Of Mobius Loops
Time magazine unwittingly provides further proof for Arnold Kling's thesis that there is no escape from 1968. With This, I Give You Peace In Our Bathrooms
By Ed Driscoll · April 24, 2007 11:02 AM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
Sheryl Crow is taking the path of least resistance and declaring her toilet paper manifesto to be a joke. I think that’s a wise move on her part, though the damage to her rep has already been done. Part of the problem is that zealots tend not to have a wild-‘n’-crazy madcap, whacky sense of humor. (See also: Gore, Al. I don’t recall Rachel Carlson or Paul Ehrlich being a big hit at the Improv or the Café Wah in the 1960s, either.) Lileks declared her Friday cri-de-Cottonelle a satire, but anyone who’s uttered a quote such as this one isn’t, in all likelihood, the second coming of Terry Southern. As Malcolm Muggeridge noted as far back as the early 1960s, real life is becoming increasingly hard to satirize, and Crow’s remarks certainly dovetail nicely with earlier comments from her partner in eco-zealotry, the high-flying Laurie David. Like I said yesterday, Crow’s timing was wonderful, even if her humor was so subtle it flew under many people’s radars. And fortunately, it’s done inestimable harm to the anti-toilet paper movement (and oh how these people must hate her right now). And to that, we can only give thanks. Update: More from the "is it a parody or isn't it" file: Remember kids, "Ham is not a toy, and that there are consequences for being nonchalant about where you put your sandwich". "Behold The Jaunty Nipples Of Collectivism!"
Or, Springtime For Mao Tse-Tung: James Lileks checks in with a report from Beijing, about as off-off-off-off-Broadway as theater can get. Update: Speaking of China, over at TCS Daily, Nick Schulz has some (much less satiric) thoughts on its role in the global economy--"The Lego-fication of Heavy Industry". Give Sheryl Crow Credit For Her Timing
By Ed Driscoll · April 23, 2007 04:54 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law
I don't think it was her original intent, but a nation recovering from of a week of darkness has found much-needed comic relief in Sheryl Crow's remarks on Friday. And that's really all you can ask of--or should expect from--a Hollywood entertainer. No Really--Please Curb Your Enthusiasm
By Ed Driscoll · April 23, 2007 02:18 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
Via Libertas, here's a 2006 look into the sanitary and dining habits of Sheryl Crow's partner in warming, forestry and BDS, Laurie David: Comparing Americans' use of toilet paper with national security, Laurie David believes the paper industry is responsible for the destruction of the environment; she now only buys post-consumer waste products. (See my previous column about this subject, which, despite Ms. David's political rant, conclusively establishes that the paper industry is, in fact, a strong proponent of conservation, and was very early into the Green movement. More to the point, we have more protected forests today than at any other point in American history.)As Laura Ingraham put it today, "You know how liberals are always telling us to stay out of their bedrooms? Well, we should start telling them, 'Stay out of our bathrooms!'" Not to mention our kitchens, hardware stores, etc., etc, along with meddling with the laws that control Ingraham's primary broadcast medium. The Boston Globe claims today that "The 2008 election is the Democrats' to lose". And one of the easiest ways to lose it would be from a consumer backlash to all of the overreaching that's sure to continue during the next year and a half. Punk Meets The Grandfather
By Ed Driscoll · April 22, 2007 12:22 AM · Muggeridge's Law
And (just to keep our Quadrophenia riffs going) asks, "Is It Me, For A Moment?" Quote Of The Day
By Ed Driscoll · April 21, 2007 11:33 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
I wish Even Sayet had a link to this quote by Barbara Walters (such as a transcript or video clip at the MRC), but assuming it's accurate, this really does sum it all up, doesn't it? When Peter Jennings, not long ago one of only three monolithic New York City newsmen charged with informing the public about the goings on around the globe, died recently, his colleague, Barbara Walters could think of no better way to eulogize him than to say “what made Peter great was that he knew there was no such thing as the truth.”Ironically enough, the original postmodernist would agree. The First Cut Is The Deepest
By Ed Driscoll · April 20, 2007 02:21 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Muggeridge's Law · The New Puritans · The Return of the Primitive
The first cut of a roll of Charmin, I guess. With One Breath, With One Flow
By Ed Driscoll · April 20, 2007 01:52 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
You will know Synchronicity! Reader Stephen Shields sends this amusing juxtaposition on Memeorandum earlier today. Everybody Must Get Stoned
By Ed Driscoll · April 19, 2007 09:39 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
Alec Baldwin, a decade of class: It was nine years ago that he ranted to Conan O'Brien and his audience that "We would stone Henry Hyde to death and we would go to their homes and we’d kill their wives and their children!" This month, as Ace notes, he goes Paul Anka on his 11-year old daughter, via her mom's answering machine: After Ireland failed to answer her father's scheduled morning phone call from New York on April 11, Alec went berserk on her voice mail, saying "Once again, I have made an ass of myself trying to get to a phone," adding, "you have insulted me for the last time."About three weeks ago, I linked to another Hollywood tirade and wrote that it's probably just another day amongst the calm, cool, peace-loving denizens of Hollywood. I'd like to think that somewhere, Cathy Seipp is loving all of this. The View Better Hire A Wartime Consigliere
The Donald's going to the mattresses--he just sent The View a Sicilian message. Or something. The Very Definition Of Muggeridge's Law
Malcolm Muggeridge's Law states that there is no way that a writer of fiction can compete with real life for its pure absurdity. Such as this example: "James E. McGreevey, who resigned the governorship under a cloud of scandal, has a new job teaching law, ethics and leadership at one of New Jersey’s public colleges". McGreevey's course should run about 30 seconds. Ideally, it would consist of him instructing his students, "If you'd like to remain office, just do the opposite of everything I did, and you should be OK. Goodnight--drive safely! (And speaking of driving--safely or otherwise--McGreevy's successor has some interesting ethics as well, of course.) If you haven't heard it yet, don't miss my podcast from last year with Steve Malanga of City Journal on how New Jersey slowly succumbed to such perilous governmental ethics that John Fund dubbed it "Louisiana North".* Read More » "Why I Quit Pat Buchanan’s Magazine"
By Ed Driscoll · April 18, 2007 10:07 AM · Muggeridge's Law
Alexander Konetzki explains why he left The American Conservative: At this point, I should mention that I’m a progressive. I didn’t even know TAC existed until a former colleague encouraged me to apply for an assistant editor position at the magazine last November, suggesting that it might be a good first step toward a career in journalism.You don't say. Update: Further thoughts from Jonah Goldberg. Vast Right Wing Conspiracy Unearthed
Prominent conservative presidential candidate expresses solidarity with recently disgraced conservative talk radio host. Only one man--a former presidential candidate himself-- had the foresight, five long, lonely, years ago, to predict this moment. By Ed Driscoll · April 17, 2007 04:56 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive
In a comment to this post on Tim Blair's blog, James Lileks writes: Imagine you’re an editor at the New York Times. It’s the apogee of the profession. You’re in a brand-new skyscraper, built at great expense. You’re editing a piece about clotheslines, which are good because they’re nicer to the earth, and you’re all about being good to the earth. (You don’t get on the elevator to go up to your 45th floor office unless there are at least eight others in the car.)As The Volokh Conspiracy noted last month, the 1980s' age of conspicuous consumption has morphed just slightly into the age of conspicuous virtue. Or as David Brooks wrote in Bobos In Paradise during the early days of this attitudinal adjustment, "A person who follows these precepts can dispose of up to $4-$5 million annually in a manner that demonstrates how little he or she cares about material things." Comrade Rove, You Magnificent Bastard!
By Ed Driscoll · April 15, 2007 02:03 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Leave it to Pravda to put all the pieces together on the Don Imus scandal--and then some... Update: Allah notes that the Imus scandal may have caused someone else who thinks she's gotten a little too close to the truth to clam up, lest a similar fate befall her from the Bushitlerhallisharpton conspiracy, and asks: Al Sharpton — unwitting pawn of Rove or deep cover PNAC operative of longstanding?Given the amount of airtime that NBC gave Sharpton last week as the network’s official Torquemada-in-residence, maybe Al Gore was right about that whole conservative media conspiracy! Related: On a more serious note, Tammy Bruce and Ann Althouse explore what Tammy calls "The Soros Industrial Complex". And elsewhere, Mark Steyn writes, "Only in America: a team of champions who think they're victims, an old white fool who talks like a gangsta rapper and multi-millionaires grown rich on race-baiting who promote themselves as guardians of civility. Good thing there are no real problems to worry about". Meanwhile, Steyn's fellow Granite State resident Orrin Judd looks towards the scandal's unforeseen fallout, tersely noting, "Blowback's A Bitch". Great Moments In Progressive Penitentiary Science
By Ed Driscoll · April 14, 2007 12:10 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Betsy Newmark has a lengthy post on the background of Duke Lacrosse accuser Crystal Gail Mangum and wonders: Since when is the penalty for stealing a car, drunken driving, and trying to run down a police deputy just two weekends in jail? I'd be interested in knowing if that was the standard sentence in Durham at the time for such crimes.Read the whole thing. Update: Related thoughts from Neo-Neocon. "Powerfully Corrosive Internal Culture"--The Sequel
By Ed Driscoll · April 14, 2007 12:04 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive
Color me rather unsurprised: "British journalists officially vote to boycott Israeli goods": With Britain as the base for influential international media such as the BBC, Financial Times, The Economist magazine, and Reuters news agency, British media lies about Israel and America have ramifications far beyond Britain.Like the man said... Update: Welcome readers of Time magazine clicking in through Time's Sphere link! The New, New Nixon
By Ed Driscoll · April 14, 2007 11:18 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · War And Anti-War
The Costanza Defense
Dr. Helen writes: Congratulations to the Duke Lacrosse players--this travesty should never have happened--but it is gratifying to see these innocent young men set free today."Jerry, just remember, it's not a lie, if you believe it". "CBS News Fires Producer For Plagiarism"
CBS News producer was fired and the network apologized after a Katie Couric video essay on libraries was found to be plagiarized from The Wall Street Journal.Boy, can CBS pick 'em at the producer slot, or what? Update: Austin Bay has some thoughts on this story. Rosie Running Scared?
Newsbusters' Justin McCarthy writes, "Rosie O’Donnell may be worried about her job after her recent extreme remarks": After a week long vacation, "The View" co-hosts returned to discuss radio talk show host Don Imus’s recent inflammatory remarks. Elisabeth Hasselbeck came out strong against Imus and stated his punishment was not harsh enough.I guess I missed the memo. When did NBC become Congress?ELISABETH HASSELBECK: I said he should have a time-out, and they gave him a time out.Rosie O’Donnell, who came under fire for claiming radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam, anti-Asian remarks, and her September 11 conspiracy theories, made the issue about free speech. Through the course of the discussion, she did condemn Imus’s remarks, but she was concerned that MSNBC, a private enterprise, violated his freedom of speech. A Modest Proposal For Harry Reid
By Ed Driscoll · April 9, 2007 10:42 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
Tim Blair links to Newsweek's interview with George Monbiot of England's leftwing house organ, The Guardian: MONBIOT: It is becoming morally unacceptable now to fly to go on holiday. The carbon emissions per passenger mile are roughly the same from a plane as they are in a car, but while in a car you might travel 10,000 miles in a year, in a plane you travel 10,000 miles in a day. So individually, by taking a flight, you are doing more damage than you could possibly do by any other means, and your luxury is depriving other people of their necessities.As Tim writes, "Planet Destroyed To Save Planet". Having just returned from an up close and personal weekend inspection tour of several of Las Vegas' better casinos, restaurants and other sophisticated establishments proffering high quality adult beverages, I'll believe Harry Reid actually believes in global cooling-warming-climate change-whatever-it's-called-this-week, when he calls for Vegas and its airport to be closed down. Like Leo and John and the movie industry, Al Gore and Nascar, and Gore's own conspicuous energy consumption and private 767-200 jet usage of the company whose board Al sits on, it's a reminder that the goal isn't reducing a phantasmic climate change, but growing big government. High School Chooses "Christian Terrorists" To Attack In Mock Drill
By Ed Driscoll · April 3, 2007 01:28 PM · God And Man At Dupont University · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
This is just bizarre--I didn't attend the school in this report (my parents sent me here), but it's just miles from where I grew up in South Jersey. And yet its worldview sounds like it's in another galaxy from the conservative (and largely Christian) townfolk I knew, and still know, in the area: The head of a national, Texas-based pro-family group says a recent hostage drill at a New Jersey high school, which portrayed conservative Christians as terrorists, is reflective of a dangerous philosophy that has become prevalent in many parts of America, where it is having negative effects on education.Robert Spenser writes, "Why do the authorities involved here invent a fake threat instead of dealing with the real one? Because they know that no Crusaders' Rights group will call them bigots on CNN. They know that no Christians will picket their offices or call them hatemongers." Or as Relapsed Catholic adds, "Not to be confused with a typical Law & Order episode". Confessions Of An Opium Eater
By Ed Driscoll · April 3, 2007 01:18 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
"Keith Richards: 'I Snorted My Father'" Sadly, after Tom Cruise's placenta eating quotes and Rosie's wild conspiracy theories, I half believe that "Keef" isn't just saying that to yank the media's collective chain. Update (4/4/07): "Keith Richards’ manager and longtime friend denies the rock star snorted his father’s ashes". Add this one to the endless list of legendary Keith legends. Picture, Thousand Words, Etc.
Just click. Related photo here. Update: "Feminist in the US, Subservient in Syria". Exactly. Related: Meanwhile, in stark contrast, "New Kuwaiti Minister Shuns The Hijab", Ed Morrissey writes. San Francisco's Anti-Steyn
By Ed Driscoll · April 2, 2007 03:08 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Future and its Enemies
Michael Medved writes: Religious conservatives come in for lots of criticism, but Mark Morford, columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, found a new reason to take the right to task: accusing us of social irresponsibility for “outbreeding liberals” without feeling guilty about over “what it means to pop out a brood of children in this overstuffed age.”As the Associated Press noted in 2005, "San Francisco has the smallest share of small-fry of any major U.S. city. Just 14.5 percent of the city's population is 18 and under." Update: Welcome Corner readers! Hedonistic Gipper?
By Ed Driscoll · March 29, 2007 12:32 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The New Puritans
This is rich--in the Washington Post, leftwing journalist Timothy Noah is attacking President Reagan for his "genial hedonism": Reagan, like just about every other actor who ever passed through Hollywood, had a very hard time viewing sex as something to repress. This genial hedonism would later express itself in Reagan's embrace of supply-side economics.I've referred to the left as "the new puritans" on more than a few occasions here, but up until now, I've never thought that they actually believed they were acting upon this trait themselves. So if Reagan, who by all accounts wasn't exactly the next Errol Flynn when it came to 1940s and '50s style Hollywood hard partying is being attacked for being too hedonistic, perhaps its time for the left to re-evaluate President Clinton's excesses? (Commencing holding breath....turning blue...feeling faint...never mind.) The JFK Motor Pool
Not as large as Mayor Nagin's, but quite well-equipped nonetheless. (Via Don Surber.) Bringing New Meaning To "Checkbook Journalism"
By Ed Driscoll · March 27, 2007 12:41 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Return of the Primitive
"I Bet The NY Times will jump on this". Ancient Climate Change Mystery Finally Unearthed
By Ed Driscoll · March 27, 2007 10:57 AM · Muggeridge's Law
Now it all makes sense! "Meanwhile, here's Al Gore's view of humankind". It's certainly this fellow's view of mankind, at least. Whole Lotta Rosie
Rosie O’Donnell speaks truth to power! The latest Iranian hostage crisis? Gulf of Tonkin, Part II. 9/11? The greatest conspiracy ever. Ahh, the journey that Rosie's taken since this moment. It's as if she's captured by history, turned upside down, riding the whirlwind, channeling unseen forces! Allah asks, "Is it time for Unstable Mabel to go?" I doubt it--she's a trainwreck, but viewers can't turn away. Rosie's the best thing that's happened to The View's ratings; ABC is happy to beam her into your home--F-bombs and all--five days a week. And it looks like her style is catching far beyond the measured, nuanced confines of over-the-air television. Good Thing The Germans Didn't Capture Saddam
Once again, proof that no satirist can improve upon the folly of man, as Germany releases convicted Baader-Meinhof terrorist Brigitte Mohnhaupt from her sentence two days early so that she doesn't have to face the indignity of--wait for it--talking to reporters. As Ed Morrissey writes: This has to be a joke. They wanted to protect a hardened murderer from getting hassled by reporters? How awful! We wouldn't want to have Mohnhaupt experience that kind of inhumanity!Who's Germany's equivalent of Leonard Bernstein? She'll be a huge hit at his cocktail parties. (Via Betsy Newmark. Incidentally, does anyone have Margaret Cho's take on this development?) Kung Pao Chickens
By Ed Driscoll · March 23, 2007 09:27 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
A meme is born, courtesy of Hugh Hewitt. Elsewhere, Don Surber adds: This backstabbing bill passed 218-212. That is about 72 votes shy of the 290 needed to override a presidential veto. The Senate knows this and will not follow suit. This was political masturbation.Just in case though, the troops are preparing for the worst. Update: Tammy Bruce deploys the Weyland-Yutani metaphor. Wow, Talk About Chutzpah
By Ed Driscoll · March 22, 2007 11:27 AM · Muggeridge's Law
Louis Farrakhan: "The Time for the Chastisement of Allah is Here". Shouldn't CAIR be all over Farrakhan for that kind of hate-speech? But Don't Short Your Charmin Stock Just Yet
Everything about this particular site category is summed up in the headline of this New York Times article--also printed on paper ironically enough!--found via Tim Blair. Note that the Goracle is at least smart enough not to actually live like this. But along with the Visualize Industrial Collapse people whose story we linked to a couple of years ago, one could say that these are liberals in a hurry--to become as re-primitivized as possible. As I wrote last year, curious, isn't it, that even as technology increasingly empowers the individual, vast tracts of the left wish for the return of the primitive? Meanwhile, Ann Althouse has some thoughts on the many inconvenient truths this story illustrates. Update: Related thoughts here. Related: Well, staggeringly tangentially related, but still. Despite their occasional sulfurous emanations,"Pampers are not an invention of the devil", reports the Times of London. Glad we cleared that up! And Just Wait 'Til Dinesh D'Souza Hears About It...
By Ed Driscoll · March 20, 2007 07:55 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies · War And Anti-War
How will the Palestinians react to this? "Hooters to expand to Israel". (Via OJ.) It's Necessary To Kill The Bear In Order To Save It?
Dan Riehl writes, "I don't think I've ever seen anything else that makes it so clear, the animal rights crowd doesn't love animals nearly as much as it hates humans - and almost by definition, themselves": Riehl adds, "The animals in this story aren't the polar bears. It's the nut jobs who think to prove you care for the animal, you have to put it to death". As Robert Bidinotto writes, "Don't you wish George Orwell was still around to serve as a translator for this sort of fanatical insanity?" The "logic" behind it isn't exactly new, of course. Update: Via Allah, the sugary-saccharine-cuteness-overload factor of this video is guaranteed to put any diabetic into a permanent coma: Stop The Global Umbrella--Prevent Global Darkening!
By Ed Driscoll · March 20, 2007 09:53 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Final Frontier · The Future and its Enemies
In the 1984 update to his epochal 1962 book, Profiles of the Future, Arthur C. Clarke had a chapter titled "Cosmic Engineering", with a couple of paragraphs in which he explored the idea of orbiting mirrors (they're on page 232-233 of my battered paperback, if you have the same edition): The idea of ‘orbiting mirrors’ was suggested by Hermann Oberth as long ago as 1925. He pointed out that reflectors miles wide could be made from very small amounts of material such as films of metallic sodium. (Today, aluminized Mylar would be a good candidate.) Something like this might even have happened back in the 1960s. There was a time when the Pentagon seriously considered abolishing night in Vietnam. Only a few Saturn Vs, it was calculated, would be necessary to do the job…(Elipses for dramatic effect in original.) Beyond providing illumination a war zone, there are other obvious benefits to erecting an orbiting mirror, Clarke wrote: More constructively, orbiting mirrors might greatly increase agricultural yields (24-hour-day crop growing), alleviate climatic extremes by pumping heat into cold areas, perhaps even direct movement of rain clouds and establish a form of weather control. These would be great benefits; but as usual, there would be a price to pay.Imagine the combined howls of the anti-war and then-nascent environmental left if there actually was a giant mirror orbited over Vietnam, and the hue and cry of the latter group still to come, if and when an orbiting mirror is ever deployed purely for agricultural or climatic purposes. But the Associated Press is cheerfully reporting on a negative image version of an orbiting mirror, as it explores combating some of the more apocalyptic envirodoom scenarios--or with a name the "Solar Umbrella", maybe it's more akin to a plot dreamed up by Batman's arch-villain, The Penguin: For far-out concepts, it's hard to beat Roger Angel's.Close the global umbrellas--prevent global darkening! (Via Newsbusters.) Associated Press Deficit Disorder
Fausta, who created the term, defines it to mean "the innatention of Associated Press and other news agencies to the actual words said by a person who doesn't fit what AP wants to hear". Most recently, she applies it to their coverage of Fidel Castro, of whom AP "reports": Fidel Castro will be in "perfect shape" to run for re-election to parliament next spring, the first step toward securing yet another term as Cuba's president, National Assembly head Ricardo Alarcon said Thursday.Assuming he actually lives to 2008, here's a sneak preview of Fidel's election night returns, courtesy of another "elected" official who recently left office. Well, That's One Way To Confirm Its Authenticity
By Ed Driscoll · March 16, 2007 10:25 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law
"Caroline Eldridge, a Da Vinci scholar and artist, who killed herself after becoming obsessed with the mysteries surrounding the artist and the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code". Jack Warner, Proto-Neocon!
By Ed Driscoll · March 16, 2007 07:37 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · War And Anti-War
As great as the action was in 300, the script of this production is infinitely funnier than anything I've heard in the movies in a long time. Or as Allahpundit writes, "From the culture that brought us the anti-semitic version of Plan 9 From Outer Space comes a critique bursting with all the nuance and sensitivity that we’d expect". Tightening The Circle
Tim Blair writes: Democrats are scared of The Colbert Report:As I wrote immediately after the mid-terms last November:Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the Democratic Caucus chairman, has told new Democratic members of Congress to steer clear of Stephen Colbert, or at least his satirical Comedy Central program, “The Colbert Report."Democrats are also avoiding Fox News. Soon they’ll be reduced to chatting solely with the Huffington Post. Democrats win when they move towards the center (just ask Bill Clinton), and right now, the center is where the action is. That doesn't sound like an environment that will be smooth sailing for a quintessential San Francisco Democrat like Speaker Pelosi over the next two years, but we'll see.Update: Related thoughts here. Why such purity of essence exclusivity is such a dumb idea, here. There Is No Hell, There Is Only The 1970s
By Ed Driscoll · March 15, 2007 02:09 PM · Muggeridge's Law
60 seconds that perfectly captures the day-glo polyester big-sideburned big-lapeled fat-tie chromakeyed hell of the 1970s, or at the very least, its television: Ace writes, "A real (I think!) promotion for a local newscast from the seventies". Real or parody? When dealing with the seventies, why not both! Update: On the other hand, here's something you won't find on your local TV news these days. Stop! Or I'll Chant Hare Krishna!
Tim Blair writes: Our dear old friend Lindsay Beyerstein reveals her Democrat defence strategy:Beats this strategy.If you’re already getting burglarized, do you really want to add to your problems by confronting a desperate criminal with your own loaded weapon? Update: Surprisingly related thoughts here. Definitive Proof Of God's Existence
He not only has a remarkable sense of humor, He has an amazingly fine-tuned sense of irony: The mysterious "non-theist" member of Congress was revealed today to be hot-blooded , 75-year-old Pete Stark of California . It's not the boldest announcement in the world. Stark is consistently ranked among the most liberal members on the Hill, and hails from a decidedly leftist district, so I doubt it'll cost him many votes. Though I guess you do have to admire the guy's moxie to wait until advancing years to announce his doubt about an afterlife.Certainly not my first choice for an atheist front man. Of course, perhaps God simply never returned the phone call Pete left on His answering machine... "Chris Matthews Says ‘Conservatives Don’t Like Sex’"
By Ed Driscoll · March 9, 2007 08:20 PM · Muggeridge's Law
![]() Something tells me that at least a few of the people on this page would disagree with Chris. Rectum? Damn Near...
By Ed Driscoll · March 6, 2007 09:24 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Charles Johnson asks, "Airline Security: Joke Or Farce": We all have to take off our shoes and hand over any bottled liquids to the TSA when we get on a plane. But put a magnet inside a “lower body cavity” before boarding a flight at LAX, and they’ll let your luggage travel ahead even though you’ve been detained by a squeamish screener: Wired Iraqi man questioned at L.A. airport.Elsewhere: "I tremble at the thought of Ann Coulter’s reaction to the news". Selling England By The Pound
By Ed Driscoll · March 2, 2007 07:27 AM · Muggeridge's Law
Tony Blair: The Genesis Years. Apparently, before Phil Collins took over lead vocal duties, England's current Prime Minister did a short tour of duty in the mid-1970s sitting in for Peter Gabriel. SHADO Of A Doubt
By Ed Driscoll · March 1, 2007 08:22 AM · Muggeridge's Law
When in doubt, always ask yourself: What would Ed Straker do? Former Canadian defense minister demands that the world governments disclose UFO technology and use it to stop global warming:Gerry Anderson could not be reached for comment.“I would like to see what (alien) technology there might be that could eliminate the burning of fossil fuels within a generation … that could be a way to save our planet,” Paul Hellyer, 83, told the Ottawa Citizen. Gandhi Meets The Goracle
By Ed Driscoll · February 27, 2007 11:09 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Reich Stuff · The Return of the Primitive
Frontline, which bills itself as "India's National Magazine" has a piece that Drudge is currently linking to, titled "Dangerous denial", with the following subtitle: If all the people of the world had the same living style as the average American, the holocaust would have already visited us.Of course, when it came to the real Holocaust, the world's most celebrated Indian was the very personification of "Dangerous denial", as Richard Grenier wrote in Commentary in 1983 as a mammoth rebuttal to the even-more-mammoth biopic then making the rounds: Since the movie's Madeleine Slade specifically invites us to revere the "way out of madness" that Gandhi offered the world at the time of World War II, I am under the embarrassing obligation of recording exactly what courses of action the Great Soul recommended to the various parties involved in that crisis. For Gandhi was never stinting in his advice. Indeed, the less he knew about a subject, the less he stinted.America's would-be modern day Gandhi has a long record of using ridiculously exaggerated Holocaust metaphors (a trait that has since been acquired by his acolytes) to breathlessly describe his pet cause, as Jonah Goldberg noted last year: In his 1992 book “Earth in the Balance,” [Gore] wrote that “today the evidence of an ecological Kristallnacht is as clear as the sound of glass shattering in Berlin.” He repeatedly refers to the unfolding ecological holocaust” and invokes Martin Niemoller’s famous quote (“When the Nazis came for the Communists, I remained silent; I was not a Communist. ... When they came for the Jews, I did not speak out; I was not a Jew. ...”) to label himself and other environmentalists “the new resistance.”And yet, as Betsy Newmark wrote when she linked to Jonah's post, "if addressing the crisis of global warming demands the same diligence and dedication that fighting the Nazis demanded, why isn't Gore proposing similar sacrifices today to fight global warming?" For a start, they should be out there denouncing the movie Cars for glorifying the weapons of mass destruction that cars are in this global crisis. They should be campaigning against NASCAR. But, of course, they won't be doing these things because it would be political suicide. So, now we know where they draw the line. They'll talk a good game, but they won't actually propose anything or say anything that would offend potential voters. As Goldberg writes:Coulter was right about Gore's Edwardian digs:Once you compare a problem to the Holocaust — even remotely — you’ve lost your moral wiggle room. No politician, indeed no responsible person in this country, would endorse a comedic cartoon about genocide, never mind take their children to it. Give PETA credit. While it repugnantly compares the raising of chickens and cattle to Auschwitz, the organization at least has the courage of its convictions, and protests virtually everything that treats animals as anything less than people. “I kind of respect him more, it shows he is not stupid enough to believe all this global warming nonsense. He’s trying to get us to believe. Okay, fine, he may be a hypocrite but at least he’s not a moron.”It's an "Inconvenient Hypocrisy" as Bill Hobbs writes, via Glenn Reynolds. Update: Perhaps the Goracle isn't Gandhi, but another icon immortalized on the big screen: It’s great that he’s using solar panels and all that, but notice he’s not disputing how huge his electric bill still is. What the hell is he doing in there? Is he a Terminator from the future and requires constant recharging? (That would explain pretty much everything.)I blame Cyberdyne Systems. The McNewspaper Of Record
Tammy Bruce writes, "USA Today Declares Republicans Not Part of 'the Country'". I guess this is what David Weston of ABC meant in November of 2004 when he said that the media needed to send more foreign correspondents into the Red States. Do Corporate Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?
By Ed Driscoll · February 25, 2007 11:51 PM · Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Long Tail
CBS does, as Reuters notes: CBS Corp. will invest in virtual world content developer Electric Sheep Co., the U.S. television broadcaster said on Monday. hoping to expand its reach beyond the living room.Of course. How could they not be? God's Lonely Man
27 years too late, but Martin Scorsese finally cops an Oscar for best director and best picture, and Thelma Schoonmaker for best editor. When I clicked on the IMDB page for Scorsese's next project, I thought jokingly, "Of course! He'll get Leonardo DiCaprio to star as the title subject". Once again, Muggeridge's Law comes through, and I'm sure the actual picture will be a hoot. Incidentally, the choice of a director's alter ego speaks volumes: Hitchcock had Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. Scorsese has Leonardo DiCaprio, and seems as wedded to him these days as he was to Robert De Niro in both men's glory days. "Ugly Betty" Quips U.S. Won't Be "Free" Until Bush Gone
By Ed Driscoll · February 25, 2007 01:11 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
Most people believe the truth. But one fourth of the population is retarded. If they wanna believe we control everything with intricate plans, why not let them? Well, The Center Is A Moving Target, I Suppose
As I wrote last month: Remember when Arnold Schwarzenegger seemed like the opposite of Gray Davis? That was a long, long time ago. As was his speech at the 2004 GOP presidential convention, in which he claimed that in 1968 he was listening to Hubert Humphrey's Great Society-style proposals shortly after arriving in the US:A recent post on the Politico.com site describes the Governator thusly:Everything about America seemed so big to me, so open, so possible. Schwarzenegger, a Republican who favors abortion rights, stem-cell research, gay rights and gun control, will give a speech at the National Press Club on Monday stressing the importance of centrism in American politics.The irony is, Arnold's positions on most issues would be to the left of so many of the '68-era Humphrey. Back To The Mothership?
By Ed Driscoll · February 22, 2007 06:36 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Apparently the 73-year old Louis Farrakhan is ailing and "heading into what's billed as his final major address Sunday", speaking at the Detroit Lions' Ford Field, "after undergoing a 12-hour abdominal operation to correct damage caused by treatment for prostate cancer". As Farrakahn explained to Ted Koppel in 1996: Farrakahn believes Elijah Muhammad, the (by all accounts deceased) former leader of the Nation of Islam, is living on a spaceship circling the planet. Also, a few years after Elijah "died," the spaceship picked up Farrakhan and the two men had a nice chat with each other. Afterward, Farrakhan says the spaceship let him off near Washington, D.C.Well, that's what they want you think... Heed The Goracle!
By Ed Driscoll · February 22, 2007 04:41 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive
Al Gore--or at least the reaction of his more crazed fans--proves my point from last night. Julian Simon could not be reached for comment. Update: More on the new Reverend Al's religious awakening: "He’s been designated as the Savior of the Planet"! A Future Presidential Campaign Blogger Is Born
"DemocracyRules" is mad as Hell, and he's not going to take it anymore! I certainly hope he let out a good loud Beatle-esque White Album shout of "I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!!!!" when he was done typing all that. (Via Tim Blair, who writes, "There’s ranting, and then there’s RANTING". Indeed.TM) Sticker Shock
By Ed Driscoll · February 19, 2007 11:54 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies
Richard B. Mckenzie writes on the law of unforseen consequences: In 2006, the California legislature authorized the state Department of Motor Vehicles to distribute 85,000 stickers to the owners of gasoline-electric hybrid cars. The stickers allow drivers to travel without passengers in all of the state's high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, which were formerly restricted to cars with two or more passengers. A report determined that California's HOV lanes were operating only at two-thirds of their capacity and not easing congestion as much as they could; the idea was to stimulate demand for hybrids and thus reduce the emissions of greenhouse pollutants.Way back in the summer of 2001, I made a modest proposal that's still worth looking into, as a way of solving the problem. The Softer Side Of Terror
By Ed Driscoll · February 19, 2007 04:15 PM · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Gulag Archipelago
The New York Times praises Forest Whitaker for his portrayal of Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland for revealing "some of Amin’s positive qualities". Has Idi taken his first step on the inevitable path towards icongraphic T-shirt superstardom? And it wouldn't be the first time that the Times itself has met a bloodthirsty dictator and/or third world revolutionary and presented his positive, nuanced qualities as well. Bring It On Home
It's a quagmire! John Podhoretz spots one congressman sounding the alarm: "It is time to pull our troops out . . . . The longer we stay in . . . the more chance we have of being sucked into another Vietnam in that region. ...Our troops must come home now. Therefore, if given the opportunity I intend to offer an amendment to the fiscal year . . . Defense appropriations bill that would require that our troops be pulled out . . . 15 days after the President signs the appropriations bill. That is more than enough time for an orderly withdrawal....We have run out of excuses for remaining . . . . It is time to come home."Podhoretz also makes this sad but true observation: Nobody who actually supports the troops says "I support the troops" any longer. The words "I support the troops" are now solely for those who oppose what the troops are doing.As I wrote earlier this month, while there's much to be faulted in the anti-military writing of Joel Stein and William Arkin, at least they're upfront with their readers on where they stand. That Was Then, This Is Now
In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, a statement by early blogger Ken Layne became a rallying cry to the nascent Blogosphere, much like "Go West Young Man" was to an early generation of Americans (or "Food Fight!" to a newer one, to borrow Roger Ebert's riff). Layne's original quote went like this: It's 2001, and we can Fact Check your ass. And you, like many in the Hate America movement, are no longer able to dress your wretched "reporting" in fiction. We have computers. It is not difficult to Find You Out, dig?In the course of massive repetition, Layne's statement was boiled down to its essentials: We have computers. We can fact-check your ass!But 2001 and the spirit of the early days of blogging is increasingly receeding further into the distance, as this passage near the end of Howard Kurtz's new profile of Michelle Malkin illustrates: Sometimes, though, Malkin seems to use the same howitzer against every provocation. After she started crusading against the "Girls Gone Wild" culture as a "liberal assault on decency," the satirical site Wonkette received -- and posted -- a picture of Malkin's head on the scantily-clad body of a college student, whose image had been plucked from the Web. Malkin denounced what she called the "hate-filled cowards" at Wonkette's parent company for "repeatedly smearing and attempting to humiliate me."As Ann Althouse wrote last year: People blog for lots of different reasons, and blogging is still burgeoning and developing. Don't cave into nostalgia for a Golden Age, especially one that got its golden glow from the horror that was 9/11. Things were bound to change and shake around, and some bloggers that you liked then may put you off now. But there are always a million new bloggers, and blogging is a beautifully fruitful format.If not always a beautifully truthful format, of course. But these days, what media is? Fast Times At Cape Canaveral
"As another famous pilot once said, 'a trench coat and wig and, a knife, BB pistol, rubber tubing and plastic bags....Gosh, a feller could have a pretty good time in Vegas with all that stuff.'" Economizing The Speaker
"Message to Nancy Pelosi: when NBC's Matt Lauer and David Gregory agree that your quest for a big plane is turning into a PR mess, and ABC's Chris Cuomo calls it a case of 'jet envy,' it's time to fold your wings." And when your constituency is obsessed with global warming/cooling/climate change, take a smaller car, too. Update: "Murtha Threatens to Cut Pentagon Funds Over Pelosi's Jet". Where's Ian Fleming And Gerry Anderson When You Need Them?
Here's a story that sounds like a subplot that was left on the cutting room floor of Moonraker, or maybe the old UFO TV series: Lisa Marie Nowak, 43, is (or perhaps was) an active Space Shuttle astronaut, who was a mission specialist on a Discovery launch last summer. She was arrested at Orlando International Airport today on attempted kidnapping and battery charges, "after police say she attacked her rival for another astronaut's attention", according to the Orlando Sentinel. Ooooooohkaaay. Here's a plot that Law & Order or CSI: Miami certainly wouldn't have dreamed up on their own: Nowak drove more than 12 hours from Texas to meet the 1 a.m. flight of a younger woman who had also been seeing the astronaut Nowak pined for, according to Orlando police.Given all of the recent attention that the first efforts towards privatizing manned spaceflight had been getting, this sounds like just what the doctor (McCoy, or Crusher, I guess) ordered to get NASA's PR machine back on track! Or not. Update: I guess there's a bright side to this story, in a way. We're one step closer to living in Star Trek, in that, when everyone's an astronaut, or at least space travel is commonplace, such stories are bound to start proliferating. We've come a long way though, from the early days of NASA, when Henry Luce of Time and Life went to such enormous lengths to make the original Mercury 7 astronauts appear as clean cut and wholesome as boy scouts to preserve their mythic, heroic status. This story is an effective bookend to that innocence of NASA's heady early days. Another Update: Ed Morrissey adds: NASA will have some work to do to deconstruct all of the ways in which this trio managed to embarrass the program in such a tawdry way. They'd better be quick about it, though, because this is the most eligible story for TV moviedom since a cheerleader's mom tried to find a hitman for the mother of a rival.But only if they get the special effects right. Industrial Light & Magic--time to fire up that blue screen again! One More: More here. A Timesman Takes A Rorschach Test
By Ed Driscoll · February 5, 2007 07:54 AM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · Run To Daylight
Ed Morrissey writes: Super Bowl commercials generate a lot of foolish analysis, perhaps as much foolishness as contained in the advertisements. This year provided plenty of that in several varieties, reflecting the efforts of ad agencies to make the biggest impression in their greatest competitive event. However, none of it comes close to matching the idiocy of the analysis provided by the New York Times, whose ad analyst blamed the war in Iraq for making commercials more violent.One of my favorite lines by the Washington Post's Anne Applebaum from a different front in the culture war seems apropos here: "Sometimes in the course of a great American debate there comes a moment when the big battle guns fall silent, the pundits run out of breath, and -- unexpectedly -- the long, bitter argument suddenly turns into farce". Update: "I guess that for New York Times writers, everything, even ads for beer or a Snickers bar have the war as a subtext. I think the guy just took too many deconstruction lit classes in college". Well, yeah. The L.A. Times Hunts For The Any Key
On Friday, we linked to an article describing the new 75 million dollar advertising campaign that newspapers are launching to remind readers that they're still relevant in the online era. In fact, one of the campaign's slogans is -- drum roll, please! -- "The Internet is the best thing to happen to newspapers since the paper boy." And it certainly would be...if they could just figure out how it works and what to do with it: "Internet 101 at the Los Angeles Times". No word yet on how many credits Remedial Internet Sock Puppetry counts for, though. Aqua Teen Viral Force
By Ed Driscoll · February 1, 2007 04:36 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Scott Ott satirically writes, "A day after a Turner Broadcasting guerrilla marketing campaign for an adult cartoon put Boston on full terror alert, the company said it would reconsider other 'edgy' marketing plans it was about to launch": Turner had placed dozens of battery-operated light boards displaying an obscene gesture throughout each of the 10 major U.S. cities. A series of Boston bomb scares sparked by the devices forced authorities to shut down roads, bridges and a section of the Charles River yesterday.And then their ratings hit bottom the second the two dufuses who spearheaded their marketing opened their mouths. Update: The Boston Herald writes that two fake pipe bombs turned up while the police were tracking down Turner's Lite-Brite-style marketing props. They were "unrelated to the advertising scheme for Cartoon Network’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force, police officials said", according to the Herald. Heavy Metal
By Ed Driscoll · February 1, 2007 02:01 PM · Muggeridge's Law
Mary Katharine Ham writes that unlike most politicians, President Bush certainly knows his away around heavy machinery, whether it's jet aircraft or Caterpillar D10-model bulldozers: Bush seems like the kinda guy who can keep a tractor under control, and we all know how he likes to mess with the press kids. (Via IMAO)Didn't Easley get the memo from fellow Democrat Al Gore that Global Warming is the New Holocaust? Why on earth would he be tooling around in a race car messing with Gaia, the ultimate MILF? Oh Holey Night
Paul Wolfwitz: president of the World Bank, clad in a beautiful navy Savile Row suit, single-breasted, cuffed trousers...and photographed leaving a holy spot with extremely holey socks. No doubt, he'll shortly be getting more than he'll know what to do with from friends and well-wishers. And every man who's had to take his shoes off at TSA line will be sympathizing with him. The Not-So-Final Countdown
By Ed Driscoll · January 31, 2007 09:10 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Assault On Reason · The Future and its Enemies · The Return of the Primitive
Back around 1988, I watched Ted Danson, then at the height of his fame as the star of Cheers appear on a late-night infomercial pitch for an environmental group. He ended the half-hour advertisement with his saying that "we only have ten years to save the world's oceans". (That's a paraphrase, but as close as I remember the line.) It's a reminder that, with the exception of Hollywood's greatest Greatest Generation-era stars (Cary Grant, Bogie, The Duke, Coop), Bill Whittle's Lou Grant Effect is inviolable. Having a beer in Sam Malone's bar while he recounts his glory days with the Sox sounds like infinitely more fun than listening to the doomsday prognostications of someone paid to recite lines written by others, with his performance calibrated by someone else. But since the freshness date has long expired on Danson's dire warning, and the oceans are, near as I can tell, all happily present and accounted for, there have been numerous additional Doomsday Countdowns, which always seem to run for a decade for some reason. Al Gore started his a year ago, and yesterday, aging man-child Leonardo Di Caprio and several accompanying B-list actors and musicians announced theirs. As Glenn Reynolds writes, "Ten years to save the planet: Let's start by banning private jets." Here are two extremely environmentally conscious sources who could immediately put their Boeings where their mouths are, and retire their privately-owned jumbo jets for Diet Cokes and a tiny bag of peanuts on Southwest. Anytime now, fellas; we're waiting... And while we're waiting, James Lileks has some very much related thoughts: "It’s a peculiar inversion: the height of civilization now consists of undoing the plug, not connecting it." Update: In 2005, I looked at the number of businesses leaving California for a pro-business climate and wrote, "Will the last person out of California please turn out the lights?" No need to--California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Pluto) is going to do it for us. Virginia Postrel recently wrote "California legislators are never without new ideas for regulations and bans"; sadly, that streak sees absolutely sees no sign of abating. Another Update: Libertas asks, where are the big boys? Wouldn’t you feel better if it weren’t boy-men trying to save the world? They couldn’t talk Bruce Willis or Russell Crowe into this nonsense? I’m sorry, but I’m just not comfortable leaving the fate of the planet to Leo, Orlando, and Josh.No, you really can't. If the earth really is doomed in ten years, then movie making--mere entertainment that no one outside of Beverly Hills needs to survive--should be stopped immediately, to prolong the environment as long as possible by eliminating all of its accompanying chemicals and pollution. I C Said The Blind Man
Some comments on the limits of bipartisanship and cultural sensitivity from Mary Katharine Ham. Related thoughts from Patterico. Update: Further cultural sensitivity spotted. Meanwhile, Debbie Schlussel shares polite, sensitive reader mail. Stephen Green Buys Air America; Franken Out!
Alas, it's not the Blogosphere's Stephen Green. But Radio Equalizer has the full details. Che Guevara's Ceviche
As the old proverb says: Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Give a man a fish recipe named after a murderous communist revolutionary who bizarrely wound up a pop culture T-shirt icon, and he'll post it on Allrecipes.com. They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
By Ed Driscoll · January 29, 2007 02:22 PM · Muggeridge's Law
It has to be a slow news day when this is the current top story on Drudge. Le Corbusier Would Approve, No Doubt
In the 1920s, Le Corbusier put himself on the map as an avant-garde architect by famously referring to the home as "the machine for living in". But this machine analogy by Japan’s health minister is in a class of its own! Reuters' New Slice Of Life Video
By Ed Driscoll · January 26, 2007 06:42 PM · Muggeridge's Law
To borrow from Woody Allen in Manhattan, behold: Reuters--the castrating anti-Zionists! AP Makes A Booty Call
By Ed Driscoll · January 26, 2007 12:23 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The New, New Journalism
"Who needs journalism when you've got booty and disco beats?" Michelle Malkin, whose Hot Air Website produced a series of first class videos shot on location in Iraq, checks in on Big Journalism's state-of-the-art online video efforts. Not My Solution, But I Give Him Points For Chutzpah
By Ed Driscoll · January 25, 2007 12:20 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · War And Anti-War
I guess this means that nobody can accuse James Webb as being soft on terror. Update: Related thoughts from TigerHawk. Meanwhile, does this imply that Webb's tacit threat is working? (Nahh, probably not.) Pigs On The Wing
By Ed Driscoll · January 25, 2007 09:04 AM · Muggeridge's Law · The Return of the Primitive · War And Anti-War
This report sounds like something Scrappleface would have written. But apparently, it's true, and if so, it proves, once again, Malcolm Muggeridge's immutable law: there is no way for satire to best reality for sheer absurdity: SHANGHAI -- Next month, China will ring in the Year of the Pig. Nestlé SA planned to celebrate with TV ads featuring a smiling cartoon pig. "Happy new pig year," the ads said.Fortunately, one man is not afraid to keep his pigs flying! C'mon Guys, Tell Us How You Really Feel
By Ed Driscoll · January 22, 2007 09:49 AM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · War And Anti-War
Reviewing Dinesh D’Souza's new book, which attempts to implicate the cultural left for helping cause 9/11, Dean Barnett fires off a postmodern update to a classic Reagan riff: While I’m tempted to compare certain precincts of the publishing industry to a crack whore that would turn any trick for money, that would be unfair to the crack whores of the world.Power Line's Scott Johnson adds: After I became aware of the learned critic John Simon in the late 1960's I saw him on one of the daytime television talk shows. Jacqueline Susann was the guest; the host was David Frost, and Frost was conducting a gushing interview with Susann about The Valley of the Dolls. Was this some kind of set-up? He turned to John Simon, sitting in the first row of the audience, and invited him to ask Susann a question or two. Simon asked Susann: "Do you think you are writing art or are you writing trash to make money?" (The interview degenerated into a memorable spectacle, as recalled in this remembrance of Susann by Abby Hirsch.)Taking a contrarian tack, James Lileks writes that there could be something to D’Souza's new tome, reminding us of the shocking lyrics of the hit song by the slatternly blonde video and pop star at the height of her career when Osama Bin Laden's chief mentor toured the United States. Warning--turn speakers down; may not be safe for work! Le Retour Du Primitif
Tim Blair writes: French darkeneurs plan an electricity-free earth-saving experiment:As Tim writes, "Don’t do themselves any favours with their advertising, do they?" Indeed they don't--their shirtless spokesprimitive is a scrawnier looking cousin of this vaguely remembered pitchman from the mid-1980s. Only this time, instead of pimping the Energizers, he's pulling the plug. And he wants his Gallic countrymen to do the same.We are asked to switch off all electricity from 7.55pm until 8pm on February 1 by L’Alliance pour la Planète, a grouping of 72 environmental organisations which includes the World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace and the Nicolas Hulot association. This is a call for a nationwide five-minute respite for the planet, and is intended to draw attention to citizens’ concern about energy consumption. But still, it is all so simplisme. So bourgeois. These fellows take such primitivistic gestures to their ultimate destination. When Murphy's Law Runs Roughshod
By Ed Driscoll · January 20, 2007 01:23 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Hollywood, Interrupted · Muggeridge's Law
Years ago, I read a library copy of The Devil's Candy, the 1991 book by Julie Salamon about the making of the movie version of Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire Of The Vanities, in which Murphy's Law ran roughshod, beginning with the two most important elements of the movie: casting and writing. Of the former, John Frankenheimer once said, “If you cast the picture correctly, you have a whole lot of leeway. You can make mistakes in other aspects but pull it off with the right actors.” Regarding the script, legendary screenwriter Ernest Lehman has said, “bear in mind that a film production begins and ends with a screenplay”. So let's cast Tom Hanks (in his first dramatic role) as a WASPy old money bond trader, Bruce Willis as a boozy English journalist, and Morgan Freeman as a character originally named Judge Myron Kovitsky, and originally intended for Walter Matthau or Alan Arkin. And then let's have the screenwriters edit out all of class and racial conflict that made Tom Wolfe's book so deliciously attractive to millions of readers, and make the movie as politically correct and vapid as possible. The Devil's Candy, which explores all of those Hollywood train wrecks as they happen, is a terrific read, and infinitely more interesting than Warner Brother's 1990 movie. But as Austin Bay's corollary to Murphy's Law goes, If it can go wrong, it already has and we just don’t know about it.” I finally bought a copy from Amazon this week, and just noticed something on the back cover of the softcover edition. It's the blurb from Kirkus Reviews: Like watching a World Trade Center tower topple onto Wall Street.As journalist/blogger Steve Silver noted in 2003: This was written two years before the 1993 WTC bombing (in which the terrorists attempted unsuccessfully to collapse one tower into the other) and of course ten years prior to 9/11. DAMN.Indeed--damn. "It’s A Problem Of Chronology"
By Ed Driscoll · January 19, 2007 12:04 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media!
Both Australia's Sunday Age columnist Terry Lane, and our own Garry "Doonesbury" Trudeau have fallen for the same press release put-out by an anti-Bush environmentalist group (are there any other kind?) that said...well, here's how Lane put it: Here’s an amusing example of the divide between good and bad America. A recent press release from the organisation Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility draws attention to the fact that rangers in the Grand Canyon National Park are forbidden to answer visitors’ questions about the age of the canyon because the truth will upset Bush’s fundamentalist supporters. However, Bush’s National Parks Service refuses to withdraw from sale in the park bookshop a book that explains how the canyon was formed by Noah’s flood.A former former national park ranger turned blogger began by using a little-known pre-Internet device called the telephone to check those claims: A number of blogs have lambasted the National Park Service after Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) authored a press release claiming Grand Canyon National Park (GRCA) is under orders to "cater to creationists" and is not permitted to get an official estimate of the geologic age of the Grand Canyon.Lane remains defiant, Trudeau appears silent (Jim Treacher offers an amusing parody response however), and as always, Greg Gutfeld is taking the issue in stride. Like the many Plastic Turkey stories which have appeared since 2003 and the earlier Bar Code Scanner story involving Bush #41, how many people will believe the hype behind the initial claims and not know they're completely spurious? Update: Jim Treacher emails to say that he wrote the post at the Daily Gut in addition to the Doonesbury re-captioning below it. We apology for the confusion; it's a problem of ophthalmology. Pride Goeth Before the Warming
As James Taranto writes, "Pride Goeth Before the Fall": 'We are the modern equivalent of the ancient city-states of Athens and Sparta. California has the ideas of Athens and the power of Sparta,' [Gov. Arnold] Schwarzenegger, who played Hercules in his first film role, told legislators at the capitol. 'Not only can we lead California into the future . . . we can show the nation and the world how to get there.' "--Reuters, Jan. 9Tim Blair could have seen this one coming from miles away. (About 6,500 of them, between Australia and Sacramento.) Update: The Gore Effect hits Hollywood! The Return Of The Killer Rabbit!
By Ed Driscoll · January 15, 2007 04:08 PM · Muggeridge's Law
In the immortal words of Carl Spackler: To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit - ever. They're like the Viet Cong--Varmint Cong. So you have to fall back on superior intelligence and superior firepower. And that's all she wrote. Jimmy Carter could not be reached for comment. Update: Background on the original Killer Rabbit, here. "Britain And France Planned 'Merger In 1950s'"
By Ed Driscoll · January 15, 2007 01:58 PM · Bobos In Paradise · Muggeridge's Law · The Future and its Enemies
As Mark Steyn has noted, the big dream of Europe, dating at least back to Napoleon, is a unification that sounds infinitely better than what the reality would entail. Fortunately, this didn't happen--it would have made the wreck of the Penn Central merger look like a slumber party. When Life Imitates Scrappleface
Betsy Newmark writes: Youssef Ibrahim reports in the New York Sun that the Saudi Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has denied trademark protection to a Saudi businessman for a business that carried the English word "Explorer" because it has the letter X in it. And X resembles the cross and so must be banned. The businessman wonders sarcastically if the next to go will be the plus sign.Scott Ott, call your office! (Meanwhile, Jonah Goldberg ponders what will be banned next in a much closer region--Manhattan.) To Boldly Go Where No Mannequin Has Gone Before
Reynolds Wrap--that's the fabulous new in trend for men's fashion that's poised for outer space take-off on the runways of Milan this month! Tinfoil, it's not just for hats anymore! 24: Nooook-lar Combat, Toe To Toe With The Terrorists?
Matt Drudge breathlessly writes: As Washington continues to raise concerns about terror threats on The Homeland -- a recent CIA report outlined a scenerio of possible "series of explosions using 'low charge' nuclear weapons" -- Hollywood and FOX-TV are set to up the ante with the new season of 24!To paraphrase something my wife and I used to tell a friend who took Star Wars waaaaay too seriously, "You do know it's just a TV show, right?" Blogosphere Etiquette 101
By Ed Driscoll · January 14, 2007 01:49 PM · Muggeridge's Law · The Long Tail · The Return of the Primitive
The Technorati search engine currently tracks over 63 million blogs, which means there are lots of new blogs starting every day. Technorati's in-house slogan is that with that many weblogs, "some of them have to be good". But alas, many of their owners will also do very stupid things from time to time. Take a hint from a couple of guys (both coincidentally named Ed) who've been in the Blogosphere for a while. it's basic career advice, actually: Work in a retail store? Don't post about famous customers walking in, no matter how much you despise them or their politics. Update: Or the appearance of their spouses. Climate Obeys Law
It's been unseasonably cold in the San Jose area, particularly at night, for the past few days. Tim Blair proposes two possible reasons why. Katie Seeks Relief From Her Critics
By Ed Driscoll · January 13, 2007 06:49 PM · Muggeridge's Law · Oh, That Liberal Media! · The Long Tail
Katie Couric offers a silver bullet to critics of her editorializing the news (at CBS? Perish the thought!): One of Ms. Couric’s innovations—or corruptions—of the form is that she occasionally offers up her own reaction to the stories that appear on her broadcast. A vestige of her chattier Today Show days, these frequent interjections are the subject of much deep thought and close analysis in the halls of CBS—and the subject of sniggering elsewhere in television news.Thus describing, with unintended irony, 75 percent of the advertising on the show, due to its increasingly elderly demographic. Vanity Fair's Michael Wolff recently described the newspaper as "a medium for old people (newspapers are for people who remember newspapers)". Its putative would-be video successor is already in similar territory, even if it doesn't know it yet. Update: Neo-Neocon has some thoughts on the print media's own repeated editorializing within otherwise straightforward news stories. Of course, as Michael Kinsley noted last year, for the legacy media, this is the "Twilight of Objectivity". Though I'd argue that they're already in the era of post-objectivity. Understanding The Big Picture
Alec Baldwin, as only he can, puts all the pieces together. (Henry Hyde could not be reached for comment.) Update: Heh. Red Heifer Days
Strange doings on both coasts: "Meteorite Lands in a N.J. Bathroom"; while on the left coast, "Choir boys jumped by San Fran punks after singing Star-Spangled Banner". The former is an exceedingly rare event. Sadly, after flipping through Zombie's archives, and reading stories such as this, the latter isn't all that surprising. |