Today I’m going to praise pop culture critic/satirist Charlie Brooker. He’s a UK writer/producer who plies his trade for The Guardian, and is best known for his television review special, Screenwipe.
From Fortune Magazine, (emphasis mine).
Not America’s dependence on foreign oil? Not climate change? Not the crushing cost of health care? Eventually McCain gets around to mentioning all three of those. But he starts by deftly turning the economy into a national security issue - and why not? On national security McCain wins. We saw how that might play out early in the campaign, when one good scare, one timely reminder of the chaos lurking in the world, probably saved McCain in New Hampshire, a state he had to win to save his candidacy - this according to McCain’s chief strategist, Charlie Black. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December was an “unfortunate event,” says Black. “But his knowledge and ability to talk about it reemphasized that this is the guy who’s ready to be Commander-in-Chief. And it helped us.” As would, Black concedes with startling candor after we raise the issue, another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. “Certainly it would be a big advantage to him,” says Black.
Summer television is usually where you get reality and the stuff the networks are trying to bury. However, cable offers some nice li’l goodies, and I definitely want to hype up Spike TV’s Read the rest of this entry »
Hat tip to Al Giordano over at the narcosphere (his new digs) for pointing out McCain’s latest head scratcher.
As far as I knew, Senator Grumpy stood in front of a lime-green jello backdrop to tell us that he’s not the Bush third term. So, what does he do? He stands up for off-shore oil drilling, which is the same policy being pushed by lame duck W.
I don’t get it — this is as close to a pander as the “gas tax holiday” was, and that straight up energized the Read the rest of this entry »
The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment — this was the time — when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.
To my few loyal blog readers, sorry I’ve been out of the loop for awhile. We (the wife, kids and me) are a Read the rest of this entry »
On Halperin’s Page, he’s touting that Edwards may endorse Obama tonight in Grand Rapids, MI.
Yesterday, Jimmy Fallon was introduced as the successor to Conan O’Brien as the next host of Late Night. In this clip, he visits Conan to discuss the ascension.I was somewhat surprised by the hiring. When I think of Fallon, I think of a guy who broke constantly onstage at SNL, and for being more of the Adam Sandler mold (muggy stylings, adored by the young’uns, left early to do movies). I didn’t like it at first, but seeing this clip convinced me that he might pull it off. What convinces me most is that he’s got alot of energy, and that he was very giving. In this clip, you can see him build off of every bit that Conan did and at times earned guffaws from the coiffed one. (”I have Freddy Mercury’s chest hair for a haircut…”) He’ll need both of those attributes to make it work at 11:30 as he has to carve out a show that’s uniquely his own. If NBC gives him time, then he’ll do fine.
Over-rated? Sure. But yeah, I bought his first album. But ya gotta hand it to the guy — he does have a great sense of humor. Some language is NSFW, but nothin’ you haven’t heard before.
Ok, I couldn’t resist the horrible Spanglish pun.
But that’s what last night was. Perhaps not in true delegate count, but in terms of the Corporate Owned Media narrative. When Li’l Russ is using analogies like “removing life support” to describe HRC’s campaign Read the rest of this entry »
