Guess what I got my honey for our anniversary/his birthday/all the gifts for the rest of his life. Here it is!

Go See It Now! Right now. If you hurry, you can still make the 10:something showing. This is easily one of the best Pixar movies in recent history. Though they haven’t really made one I don’t like, Cars and The Incredibles weren’t up to the same level as Monsters Inc or the Toy Story films. Ratatouille is one of the best Pixar films, period.

The impressive thing about this one is that unlike the last few films, this movie requires a heavy suspension of disbelief. Compared to say, Monster’s Inc, which exists in a complete fantasy world, Ratatouille is based in a more realistic world where some completely unbelievable things happen. High up on that list are that Remy, our protagonist rat, can understand English (French?) and can control his human friend by tugging on particular clumps of his hair. When we’re first introduced to the concept in the film, I couldn’t help but think of it as absurd. Normally, that’s where a film would lose me, when suspension of disbelief is broken. That didn’t happen this time because the story immediately became about the characters.

Ultimately, that’s why this movie is so awesome. The story is funny and entertaining and rich. Everything else is forgivable when you have that. There were entire stretches of the film where Heidi and I couldn’t stop snickering, giggling, and laughing along with the film. Most importantly, the movie ends on a really strong note with an awesome little twist that just makes the film.

As with all the movies I really love, I’ll leave you with a few other reviews. As always, my favorite comes from Salon’s Stephanie Zacharek, who calls the film “pure joy, a grand achievement — one of the most beautiful animated pictures ever made.” Rotten Tomatoes has this film at an almost unbelievable 95%. (Cars was a 76%, though The Incredibles hit 97%(!)).

Go see this, you’ll enjoy it!

See if you can spot the problem with these statements by the President:

“Our success in Iraq must not be measured by the enemy’s ability to get a car bombing in the evening news,” he said. “No matter how good the security, terrorists will always be able to explode a bomb on a crowded street.”

He suggested Israel, the frequent target of terrorist attacks and a country in a decades-long, intractable and often violent dispute with Palestinians, as a standard to strive for.

“In places like Israel, terrorists have taken innocent human life for years in suicide attacks,” Bush said. “The difference is that Israel is a functioning democracy and it’s not prevented from carrying out its responsibilities. And that’s a good indicator of success that we’re looking for in Iraq.”

It was likely to be controversial — and possibly even explosive — for Bush to set out Israel as a model for a Muslim Middle Eastern nation.

Uh, ya think? WTF is wrong with this guy? I know the public caricature of Bush is that he’s a dumb frat boy, but these statements reflect an inexplicable ignorance of the diplomatic and cultural sensitivities of the region. How can you be President, in a time where Islamist terrorists are the primary national security threat, and not get that this is a bad thing to say???

Just in case there’s any doubt about what he said, here’s the direct quote from the White House web site:

Our success in Iraq must not be measured by the enemy’s ability to get a car bombing into the evening news. No matter how good the security, terrorists will always be able to explode a bomb on a crowded street. In places like Israel, terrorists have taken innocent human life for years in similar attacks. The difference is that Israel is a functioning democracy that is not prevented from carrying out its responsibilities. And that’s a good indicator of success that we’re looking for in Iraq: the rise of a government that can protect its people, deliver basic services for all its citizens, and function as a democracy even amid violence.

Does abject stupidity and incompetence count as high crimes and misdemeanors? Our country cannot handle 18 more months of this presidency.

(via TPM)

WATCH THIS! It’s an interesting idea, and I’m curious to see where it goes. I hope these people that participate, though, don’t get in trouble for taping their end of the phone call. Remember to ask for permission, folks! This is a neat way of leveraging YouTube for a campaign.

Walt Mossberg reviews the iPhone. This is sounding better and better (and I already have AT&T/Cingular anyway, so coverage isn’t an issue).

(via Jason Calacanis’s blog)

Seriously, I don’t envy her the job she has to do. It must suck to have to go up there and defend a position that you know makes no sense. Add to that the unbelievable administration back story reported by the Washington Post and there’s really only one conclusion. Cheney should leave his position and the White House should ask for him to resign. More on that later.

If there’s one thing I can’t do around my wife (and, like most husbands, there are a LOT of things I can’t do around my wife ), I can’t refer to a woman with the word “girl.” This usually turns into a debate about gender bias, language, and the state of feminism, the glass ceiling, and random assorted goodness. For the record, I think American English lacks an informal word for woman that would be the equivalent of the word “guy”… Heidi doesn’t disagree necessarily but finds “girl” loaded with connotations about women as helpless or immature compared to men.

We usually end up agreeing to disagree, but there are a few things we do agree on. For one thing, gender equality is still as much a dream as it is a reality. What I mean is that for all the advances women have made both in the workplace as well as in society, a number of challenges still exist for women. An editorial in the Dallas Morning News lays out one of the more insidious forms of gender bias in our media. These biases reinforce so-called traditional gender roles and undermine those women who are choosing to get out into the workforce. Read the article and leave a comment… interested in what folks have to say.

(via Atrios’s blog, though not Atrios himself)

This is a post almost entirely cribbed from Atrios, including the title. We need more Democrats like Rep. Rahm Emanuel to stand up and start holding the administration accountable. Since Congress can only ultimately control the money, that seems to be where they should focus their efforts. Via Atrios, we have this from an email sent out today:

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel issued the following statement regarding his amendment to cut funding for the Office of the Vice President from the bill that funds the executive branch. The legislation — the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill — will be considered on the floor of the House of Representatives next week.

“The Vice President has a choice to make. If he believes his legal case, his office has no business being funded as part of the executive branch. However, if he demands executive branch funding he cannot ignore executive branch rules. At the very least, the Vice President should be consistent. This amendment will ensure that the Vice President’s funding is consistent with his legal arguments. I have worked closely with my colleagues on this amendment and will continue to pursue this measure in the coming days.”

This amendment should pass unless the Vice President agrees to follow the executive orders and laws of this country. I posted about the underlying issue in a quick link post so if you missed it, please read.

These people have operated as if they’re above the law for too long. It’s time they were reminded of what their obligations are as government officials in our great country.