Thursday, January 18, 2007
Night of a Dozen (Wonky) Stars
Hey fellow DC bloggers!
Just got back from the Ritz Carlton and the DC premier of Alexandra Pelosi's new HBO documentary Friends of God: A Road Trip With Alexandra Pelosi. It's all about Christian evangelicals and megachurches and such, including some deliciously ironic footage of Pastor Ted Haggart (pre-gay-hooker-and-crystal-meth-revelations) prattling on with his grotesquely curled upper lip about the power of the movement.
The movie was eh. I give it a "sheesh!" and two "myeaaahs." Pelosi tries and sometimes succeeds in achieving some interesting juxtapositions by letting various religio-nut shepherds and sheep speak for themselves, but relies too much on her largely secular humanist (satanic) audience to draw any deeper implications for U.S. culture and politics. I guess that's an intentional technique, but you know, a little voice over narration goes a long way if you've got any interesting things to say.
The most stimulating ideas came from the panel discussion afterwords, in which the always effusively intelligent Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg and a fairly impressive Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio were moderated by former W-booster and serial drooler Chris Matthews. It was a provocative and informed discussion, except for Matthews, of course.
But who cares about the movie? What about the (wonk) star power!!?
Well, before Wonkette gets to drop ass on the event, let me just say that I sat right behind Moby. He's very soft-mannered up close, as you would imagine, and has a nice low-budge cross tattooed on the back of his neck. He was being all pally with a vegan buddy of mine who works with him on animal rights. West Side! Woot woot!
Chris' wife Kathleen Matthews was there, looking slightly less horse-faced in real life than I had imagined she would. TV is not good for her.
Ms. Greenberg's husband, a strapping red-headed country gentleman, spent the pre-movie cocktail hour grinning slyly and towering a full foot over his wife.
David Corn of The Nation was in full bon vivant and bon mots mode while chowing some bay scallops in truffle oil risotto.
Representative Jane Harman was resplendent with head of spikey yet longish, softly glowing blonde hair that screamed, "I'm worth it, times 50!" She seems none the worse for wear after failing in her quest to chair the House Intelligence Committee. And she's got a pretty tight little body for a 90-year old.
Time magazine reporter Mike Allen was there looking vaguely gay, undersexed, and after a early career marked by breathless and vapid obsequiousness masking as "analysis," eager to begin ingratiating himself to newly empowered Dems without betraying his closeted rightwingishness.
Representative Ed Markey was tall and perma-tanned.
And Feminist Majority Foundation president Eleanor Smeal maintained the serene dignity befitting a nonprofit elder stateswoman. With her powder white hair, she had the cool demeanor of an Arctic Owl. (Her name is almost an anagram of demeanor. Hmm).
But the peace-day-resistanz was the mother of the filmmaker, Madam Speaker herself, Nancy Pelosi. I had the good fortune to be crunking about with Ms. Greenberg when the third-in-line to be Chief Executive cruised by to say hi. As introductions went around, I extended my hand and grasped the velvety firm hand that wraps around The Gavel (and probably some other interesting things). I was smitten, to say the least, and can now die happy. Does that make me gay?
Well, DC bloggers, that was my (wonk) star-filled night. Don't you wish you were there? Ha! Kiss my grits!
Wait a second. I don't know any DC bloggers.
Just got back from the Ritz Carlton and the DC premier of Alexandra Pelosi's new HBO documentary Friends of God: A Road Trip With Alexandra Pelosi. It's all about Christian evangelicals and megachurches and such, including some deliciously ironic footage of Pastor Ted Haggart (pre-gay-hooker-and-crystal-meth-revelations) prattling on with his grotesquely curled upper lip about the power of the movement.
The movie was eh. I give it a "sheesh!" and two "myeaaahs." Pelosi tries and sometimes succeeds in achieving some interesting juxtapositions by letting various religio-nut shepherds and sheep speak for themselves, but relies too much on her largely secular humanist (satanic) audience to draw any deeper implications for U.S. culture and politics. I guess that's an intentional technique, but you know, a little voice over narration goes a long way if you've got any interesting things to say.
The most stimulating ideas came from the panel discussion afterwords, in which the always effusively intelligent Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg and a fairly impressive Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio were moderated by former W-booster and serial drooler Chris Matthews. It was a provocative and informed discussion, except for Matthews, of course.
But who cares about the movie? What about the (wonk) star power!!?
Well, before Wonkette gets to drop ass on the event, let me just say that I sat right behind Moby. He's very soft-mannered up close, as you would imagine, and has a nice low-budge cross tattooed on the back of his neck. He was being all pally with a vegan buddy of mine who works with him on animal rights. West Side! Woot woot!
Chris' wife Kathleen Matthews was there, looking slightly less horse-faced in real life than I had imagined she would. TV is not good for her.
Ms. Greenberg's husband, a strapping red-headed country gentleman, spent the pre-movie cocktail hour grinning slyly and towering a full foot over his wife.
David Corn of The Nation was in full bon vivant and bon mots mode while chowing some bay scallops in truffle oil risotto.
Representative Jane Harman was resplendent with head of spikey yet longish, softly glowing blonde hair that screamed, "I'm worth it, times 50!" She seems none the worse for wear after failing in her quest to chair the House Intelligence Committee. And she's got a pretty tight little body for a 90-year old.
Time magazine reporter Mike Allen was there looking vaguely gay, undersexed, and after a early career marked by breathless and vapid obsequiousness masking as "analysis," eager to begin ingratiating himself to newly empowered Dems without betraying his closeted rightwingishness.
Representative Ed Markey was tall and perma-tanned.
And Feminist Majority Foundation president Eleanor Smeal maintained the serene dignity befitting a nonprofit elder stateswoman. With her powder white hair, she had the cool demeanor of an Arctic Owl. (Her name is almost an anagram of demeanor. Hmm).
But the peace-day-resistanz was the mother of the filmmaker, Madam Speaker herself, Nancy Pelosi. I had the good fortune to be crunking about with Ms. Greenberg when the third-in-line to be Chief Executive cruised by to say hi. As introductions went around, I extended my hand and grasped the velvety firm hand that wraps around The Gavel (and probably some other interesting things). I was smitten, to say the least, and can now die happy. Does that make me gay?
Well, DC bloggers, that was my (wonk) star-filled night. Don't you wish you were there? Ha! Kiss my grits!
Wait a second. I don't know any DC bloggers.
Memo to Dems:
1. Redefine the politics debate.
They won't admit it, and Chris Matthews and the rest of the defunct Washington press whores don't want to talk about it, but Republicans are in a rearguard scramble to salvage the Republican brand. As Arsenio Hall would say, talk about that.
2. Press your advantage.
The ideological gains that you consolidate now can be held for decades. This is your opportunity to institutionalize a process of social learning that should have begun in the aftermath 9/11 but didn't because our collective trauma was exploited by the most venal White House in memory.
3. Think big.
Rearticulate America's heroic narrative and identity in terms of an ethical national security policy that seeks justice and a defense from future attacks in a way that preserves the values enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and addresses the roots of humiliation, resentment, and desperation around the globe without excusing terrorism or accelerating a cycle of rage. Lead on.
This has been another edition of Somebody Pay Me for This, brought to you by Ovaltine, the letter B, and viewers like you.
They won't admit it, and Chris Matthews and the rest of the defunct Washington press whores don't want to talk about it, but Republicans are in a rearguard scramble to salvage the Republican brand. As Arsenio Hall would say, talk about that.
2. Press your advantage.
The ideological gains that you consolidate now can be held for decades. This is your opportunity to institutionalize a process of social learning that should have begun in the aftermath 9/11 but didn't because our collective trauma was exploited by the most venal White House in memory.
3. Think big.
Rearticulate America's heroic narrative and identity in terms of an ethical national security policy that seeks justice and a defense from future attacks in a way that preserves the values enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and addresses the roots of humiliation, resentment, and desperation around the globe without excusing terrorism or accelerating a cycle of rage. Lead on.
This has been another edition of Somebody Pay Me for This, brought to you by Ovaltine, the letter B, and viewers like you.
Biden-Levin-Hagel to Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Condemning Bush Iraq Policy
Apparently, Mitch McConnell (R-dinkwad) is threatening to filibuster the resolution.
Time was, when Dems thought about filibustering the Scalito Supreme Court nomination, Republicans promised to invoke the nuclear option.
Maybe it's time for Dems to be prepared to go nuclear.
Imagine the deliciousness of reminding Weepin' Joe Lieberman and the rest of the Gang of 14 of their moral, bipartisan duty to sweep in and preserve the Senate's right to legislate on the most pressing issue of our time. (Of course, the Gang will need replacements for Mike Dewine and Lincoln Chaffee, hee hee hee.)
Imagine the delectable spectacle of Senate Republicans falling over themselves to prevent a vote on the freakin war.
Sigh. I kind of doubt it will come to that.
I don't think McConnell wants to be reading the phonebook on the Senate floor while the Baghdad meatgrinder kicks into overdrive.
Still, the fear of tasting some of their own nuclear medicine is probably the best deterrent to Republicans trying to be the douchewads we know they want to be.
What a bunch of douchewads.
Time was, when Dems thought about filibustering the Scalito Supreme Court nomination, Republicans promised to invoke the nuclear option.
Maybe it's time for Dems to be prepared to go nuclear.
Imagine the deliciousness of reminding Weepin' Joe Lieberman and the rest of the Gang of 14 of their moral, bipartisan duty to sweep in and preserve the Senate's right to legislate on the most pressing issue of our time. (Of course, the Gang will need replacements for Mike Dewine and Lincoln Chaffee, hee hee hee.)
Imagine the delectable spectacle of Senate Republicans falling over themselves to prevent a vote on the freakin war.
Sigh. I kind of doubt it will come to that.
I don't think McConnell wants to be reading the phonebook on the Senate floor while the Baghdad meatgrinder kicks into overdrive.
Still, the fear of tasting some of their own nuclear medicine is probably the best deterrent to Republicans trying to be the douchewads we know they want to be.
What a bunch of douchewads.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Why the Libby Trial Matters
It matters for the same reason that Congress needs to conduct hearings on how the Bush administration cherry-picked and stove-piped intelligence on "Iraqi WMDs."
Beause even after their criminal incompetence has become obvious to all, the Bushits can still say with a straight face, "Everyone thought Iraq had weapons of mass destruction."
The statement is a lie in ways that Democrats should be able to rattle off like arithmetic.
Indeed, is a testament to the continuing inadequacy of the Democratic message machine that Bushits still complain, largely without challenge, that "we were all victims of a massive intelligence-gathering failure." The consensus fiction also persists because it absolves other political elites (including many Dems and most of the major media) who didn't have direct access to raw intelligence data but who trusted Bushit as far as they could throw him and conspired to pump up the Monkey King's credibility because, at a time of severe crisis, he was "the only president we've got."
More than all this, though, the conceit is the last thread suspending the dark, tattered soul of conservatism.
When it snaps, God willing, the conservative movement will descend into ignominy or irrelevance.
Let freedom rip.
Beause even after their criminal incompetence has become obvious to all, the Bushits can still say with a straight face, "Everyone thought Iraq had weapons of mass destruction."
The statement is a lie in ways that Democrats should be able to rattle off like arithmetic.
Indeed, is a testament to the continuing inadequacy of the Democratic message machine that Bushits still complain, largely without challenge, that "we were all victims of a massive intelligence-gathering failure." The consensus fiction also persists because it absolves other political elites (including many Dems and most of the major media) who didn't have direct access to raw intelligence data but who trusted Bushit as far as they could throw him and conspired to pump up the Monkey King's credibility because, at a time of severe crisis, he was "the only president we've got."
More than all this, though, the conceit is the last thread suspending the dark, tattered soul of conservatism.
When it snaps, God willing, the conservative movement will descend into ignominy or irrelevance.
Let freedom rip.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Consequences of Failure in Iraq
War Party asshats have rallied around the talking point that if there is no surge of 20,000 troops, the consequences could include
Funny, I don't remember War Party numbnuts talking about any of these scenarios when they were selling the war in 2002-2003.
I do remember some visionaries who dared to consider the possiblity of failure (Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich, Al Gore, Anthony Zinni, Scot Ritter, Robert Scheer, Jonathan Schell, et. al.) getting tagged as unserious thinkers or dirty, scary, America-hating hippies.
Funny, too, that after the dirty hippies were proven right, they are still systematically marginalized from our sphere of public deliberation, while ashwipes like Bill Kristol, Peter Beinart, Fareed Zakaria, John McCain, et. al. still enjoy regular access.
Our political system has deep, deep problems.
- a regional war,
- a new base for Al-Qaeda, and
- emboldened terrorists "following us here."
Funny, I don't remember War Party numbnuts talking about any of these scenarios when they were selling the war in 2002-2003.
I do remember some visionaries who dared to consider the possiblity of failure (Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich, Al Gore, Anthony Zinni, Scot Ritter, Robert Scheer, Jonathan Schell, et. al.) getting tagged as unserious thinkers or dirty, scary, America-hating hippies.
Funny, too, that after the dirty hippies were proven right, they are still systematically marginalized from our sphere of public deliberation, while ashwipes like Bill Kristol, Peter Beinart, Fareed Zakaria, John McCain, et. al. still enjoy regular access.
Our political system has deep, deep problems.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Bush Sets Benchmarks for Occupation, Accepts Responsibility for Debacle, but Begins "Blame Iraq" Theme in Earnest
- To Iraqi Prime Minister: Act Now or Lose American Support
- To Military Skeptics: A Few Thousand Troops Can Hold Neighborhoods (This Time!)
- To Democrats: Phased Withdrawal Would Force Troops to Stay Longer (huh?)
- Consign Iraq to civil war and blame the shiz sandwich on the lack of a viable partner in the Iraqi government,
- Provoke war with Iran and Syria, sinking the U.S. further into the shiz storm,
- Or both!
