This is basically an interview with John Gaeta about the approach taken in the upcoming remake of Speed Racer. The movie looks great, and I’m such a fan of the Wachowski brothers that this is on my must see list. The Matrix and V for Vendetta are among my favorite movies in large part because of the visual and stylistic weight of their films.
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Via The Big Picture, we find this funny cartoon:
Then ask yourself whether I’d happily vote for someone who states, boldy, that she won’t side with economists (on an issue about the economy!!!@#$@#$) because they are “elitist.” To quote the great Inigo Montoya, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” sigh.
$0.18 is the best they got for you, though apparently, Hillary Clinton is running ads making up an $8 billion savings for the American people. The overwhelming majority of economists at this point call BS on that.
PS. This is why I don’t like her as much as I like voting for Obama. This is pathetic pandering.
Speaking of Hillary, here’s another issue she agrees with John McCain on. And, like John McCain, she’s finding it convenient to flip flop every which way to find some way to differentiate herself. Or, as a commenter at ObWi says:
McCain’s pander is icky but at least fit with his philosophy. Clinton’s pander doesn’t even make sense. She claims to be serious about globabl warming, and should be thrilled to see gas prices reducing consumption. How the heck does she think consumption is going to be reduced? The magic efficiency wand?
If there’s a reason I prefer Obama over Clinton, even prior to the recent nastiness, it’s this. She has a track record of being stupid when she knows better…
I think this pretty much sums up my response, as well. Below, you have Hilzoy’s reasonable prose, but this link goes to John Cole’s more blunt assessment. Or, as Greenwald said today:
So it isn’t as though we really have anything else to talk about besides Jeremiah Wright. There are some countries in the world—probably most—which have so many big problems that they could ill-afford to devote much time and energy to a matter of this sort. Thankfully, the United States isn’t one of them. I believe it’s critical that we keep that in mind as we discuss him for the next seven months.
Sigh. I’m for Obama, if you haven’t figured it out, but if this were happening to Hillary, I’d be saying the same thing.
Best rundown I’ve seen today of the Obama/Wright dustup, part 2. Video for both today’s Obama presser and Wright’s ridiculous comments yesterday are either embedded or linked. Good place to start.
Needless to say, since this seems to be the case more often than not, I agree with what Hilzoy says about Wright, Obama, and what this says about both men. (well, except for the ending point… I would not have speculated about that on my blog, though I think the theory is worth examining by people that know these men better).
It also wouldn’t surprise me if more Trinity members came out and publicly took sides in this, like MSNBC’s anchor Tamron Hall. If Wright is truly over-the-top, even for him, other church members should react the way Obama and Hall have: with surprise and shock.
Nicely done, Newsweek. I guess they’re pulling for Hillary?
Too funny. Imagine one of the Democratic candidates being this flip about stupid controversies. They don’t get a pass, but I guess IOKIYAR is in effect.
The sheer hypocrisy of the McCain campaign, from Hagee vs. Wright to McCain 2000/2004 vs. McCain 2008 on nearly every substantive issue has been appalling. So, will the media call him out on it? Or will they rather stay on the invite list for the big McCain barbecues at his ranch?
I admit to having lost a little bit of perspective about the primary, too. Some things to think about:
Like many people, I have gotten pretty caught up in the Democratic nomination fight over the last couple of months. After initially leaning towards Edwards, I shifted to Obama for a variety of reasons. As I became increasingly invested in (and excited by) the prospects of his winning the nomination, I found myself getting irritated by the tactics of the Clinton campaign, sometimes voicing my frustrations on this site in a fairly full-throated fashion.
…
And then I awoke the next day to two stories on NPR concerning rising food commodity prices and the enormous impact that this is having domestically and internationally. I felt a bit ashamed that I was obsessing over the Democrats’ internecine battle and issues of tactics and the like at a time when the ability of large numbers of people to feed themselves and their families seems to be growing ever more tenuous as a result of poorly crafted public policies.
…
The take away lesson to me seemed obvious — we cannot afford to allow the Republicans to continue to run this country. It will be a disaster not only for ourselves, but for the world writ large.
I agree. That’s why there’s no realistic circumstance where I won’t vote for the Democratic nominee or encourage all of you to do the same. I’m just tired of choosing the lesser of two evils, and really thought the Dems had two good, positive candidates to choose from.
Not really about the primary, per se, and an interesting perspective into the use of technology by the different campaigns. I think they’re a bit unfair to John Edwards. After all, I don’t think people really believe Edwards is sitting there with his blackberry or whatever and using Twitter. He’s got a staff, and when the campaign ends, the staff goes on to other things. It’s not surprising that the page hasn’t updated.
Um, now this is an unexpected idea. I can’t imagine this happening, and I can’t even begin to imagine the confirmation battle.
I just thought about something today. For the folks that claim that Obama supporters are getting “duped” or are “falling for” the rhetoric of Obama over substance, as if we’re not policy focused enough, as of today, most of the bloggers I was reading before the primary nonsense began have endorsed or said they were voting for Obama.
TalkLeft is the only blog in my regular reading list that has endorsed Clinton, I think. Josh Marshall is a guess, but it seems somewhat obvious he’s leaning Obama (not sure how he voted). Today, Atrios and Amanda Marcotte both wrote about voting for Obama. Kevin Drum at Washington Monthly voted Obama. John Cole has been, um, vocal about his Obama support. I’m not actually sure where Ezra Klein came out, but that forms the core of my “must reads” every day.
These are smart policy people, overly wonkish if anything. And they’ve chosen to vote for Obama. I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with people that vote for Clinton, but to say that Obama supporters don’t care about policy or are voting blindly for charisma or lofty promises are spinning for their candidate.
TPM points to this massive article in tomorrow’s NY Times detailing how the military analysts you see on TV have worked, often very closely, with the Pentagon to make sure their message got out there.
If this happened in another country, we’d be calling it propaganda. In our’s, we’ll all just shrug and forget about it. Pisses me off. All I know is that these retired generals have hurt the country by doing what they did and not disclosing it.
Five years into the Iraq war, most details of the architecture and execution of the Pentagon’s campaign have never been disclosed. But The Times successfully sued the Defense Department to gain access to 8,000 pages of e-mail messages, transcripts and records describing years of private briefings, trips to Iraq and Guantánamo and an extensive Pentagon talking points operation.
These records reveal a symbiotic relationship where the usual dividing lines between government and journalism have been obliterated.
Internal Pentagon documents repeatedly refer to the military analysts as “message force multipliers” or “surrogates” who could be counted on to deliver administration “themes and messages” to millions of Americans “in the form of their own opinions.”
Though many analysts are paid network consultants, making $500 to $1,000 per appearance, in Pentagon meetings they sometimes spoke as if they were operating behind enemy lines, interviews and transcripts show. Some offered the Pentagon tips on how to outmaneuver the networks, or as one analyst put it to Donald H. Rumsfeld, then the defense secretary, “the Chris Matthewses and the Wolf Blitzers of the world.” Some warned of planned stories or sent the Pentagon copies of their correspondence with network news executives. Many — although certainly not all — faithfully echoed talking points intended to counter critics.
“Good work,” Thomas G. McInerney, a retired Air Force general, consultant and Fox News analyst, wrote to the Pentagon after receiving fresh talking points in late 2006. “We will use it.”
Again and again, records show, the administration has enlisted analysts as a rapid reaction force to rebut what it viewed as critical news coverage, some of it by the networks’ own Pentagon correspondents. For example, when news articles revealed that troops in Iraq were dying because of inadequate body armor, a senior Pentagon official wrote to his colleagues: “I think our analysts — properly armed — can push back in that arena.”
The documents released by the Pentagon do not show any quid pro quo between commentary and contracts. But some analysts said they had used the special access as a marketing and networking opportunity or as a window into future business possibilities.
There’s more. Go read.
Ah, was waiting for someone to use this in a campaign mailing. That John McCain fella is one classy dude. BTW, did you know that racists and bigots have endorsed McCain. It’s true. And it matters just as much as who Hamas wants in office… (I’ll let you figure out how important I think it is…)
So, am I the only one who is FLOORED that The Colbert Report just had on both Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama (via satellite), and John Edwards? It was all silly fun with only the slightest bit of seriousness from John Edwards. His appearance was the most interesting to me, since he came out and said, for the first time on camera, I think, what he’s would like from the candidates in order to secure his endorsement.
Jet skis, in case you were wondering.
(and something about making poverty a key part of their campaign, pledging a minimum wage increase, and some issue called “healthcare” or something).
In all seriousness, I don’t think any other show could’ve set up a triple appearance like that. It’s amazing to me how “serious” the Colbert Report and The Daily Show have become.
