Random musings on politics, society, and pop culture from the Internet's marketing curmudgeon.
Tonight’s debate, I think, could be the turning point. Or not.
McCain is going to be in a “town hall” setting – his prefered ar
ena. Expectations are low. And Palin set him up with a big home run. If he scores big tonight, he could turn this thing around. If not… [Read more…] about The ball’s in McCain’s court tonight.
Remember the movie Network? In it, Howard Beale famously ranted, “I’m mad as Hell, and I’m not gonna take this any more!”
Indeed.
If you’ve not seen the Paddy Chayefsky classic, rent it. It’s a great flick. Peter Finch gave the performance of a lifetime (one of his last performances, too, as he was the first – and so far only – actor to receive an Oscar posthumously for the role). What really struck me is the on-air speech he made after finding out he was being put out to pasture. Thanks to the fine folks at iMDb.com, here’s a transcript: [Read more…] about My own, special, little Howard Beale moment.
I got a bad feeling about this, Sundance.
Today, the market is (finally) reacting to reality, that no amount of government funny money is gonna be able to cheat the hangman on this one. The idea that the government (who by relaxing regulations and subsequently forcing lenders to grant home loans to credit-unworthy borrowers) could fix this by pumping a few billion dollars (which the government didn’t have to begin with) into the system is patently absurd. So the market does what markets do (when allowed to work as they should) – they react to reality and adjust accordingly. For those that think that the descent from 10,000 is a tragedy unheard of in modern times – get a grip. This ain’t over yet. This is simply the end of the beginning. And the more the Feds monkey with things, the worse it’s gonna get, and the longer it will take for the market to recover. In point of fact, you can argue that a DOW of over 10,000 was an illusion, and the current number is much more reflective of reality. When everyone pretends that everyone else has money, it’s no big deal. The minute somebody has the gall to call in a chit, the whole house ‘o cards comes a-tumblin’ down. [Read more…] about Welcome to the Mother of all Mondays.
If you’re anything like I am, you’re pretty steamed at the way Congress has acted throughout this financial crisis. Here’s a couple of salient facts you might NOT know:
Just came back from watching An American Carol, and I’m very happy to report that I found it pretty funny, very entertaining, occasionally poignant, and incredibly refreshing. It’s not often that, as a conservative, I can go to see a film and not wince at the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) liberal agenda that the studio and director choose to serve up. Way to many Hollywood films are made by Liberals, for Liberals – or even worse, made by a bunch of Hollywood types who use their films to stake their claim to “I can be more liberal than you can.”
This film is different. Waaaaaaaaaaaaay different. [Read more…] about An American Tune.
Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving guy.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a believer Star Chambers or judicial retribution for past sins left unpunished. However, I AM a big believer in Karma, in so far as you reap what you sew. Let me explain… [Read more…] about Famous versus Infamous.
Well, the VP debate is over. Whew! I can breathe again. From where I sit, Palin came, she saw, and she conquered. Flat out, she rocked. Biden was able to avoid putting his foot in his mouth verbally, but he did set a record for smirking, and another for forced smiles. Advantage: Palin.
If we were to use the mainstream media standard, Palin made no mistakes (they would have judged her survival on the basis her not making more than one or two gaffes), and therefore “survived.” So if you’re a conservative, you’re going to say “Palin Won.” If you are a liberal, you’ll probably say something like “Palin acquitted herself adequately [sniff], but Biden enunciated his positions, where Palin made a base appeal to middle America.” [Read more…] about Palin Rocks!
…for it’s debate time. I’m looking forward to tonight with a sense of anticipatory dread. I’m hopeful Palin will exceed all expectations, and blow Biden out of the water. In order to do that, however, she will have to not only win, but win by such a convincing margin that nobody in the mainstream media will be able to pretend she didn’t. Here are the possible outcomes, in order of worst to best. I’m handicapping the debate, just so some of my liberal friends and I will be able to gloat about who’s right and who’s wrong, prediction-wise, aprés-debate… [Read more…] about Get out your crystal balls…
…ladies and gentlemen, I give you the moderator of Thursday night’s Vice Presidential debates: Gwen Ifill.
You’re not familiar with Ms. Ifill? Neither was I. Evidently, neither was the Commission on Presidential Debates (a supposedly neutral organization), nor was the McCain camp. Ifill is a senior correspondent for the PBS show, The News Hour, with Jim Lehrer. (Any association with PBS woulda done it for me – PBS being far from neutral in it’s news shows. But I digress.) More importantly, on January 20, 2009, Ifill’s new book will be released. The title? The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama. If you harbor any illusions that her book is a critical look at the Democrat’s standard-bearer, take a look at this abstract from Amazon.com: [Read more…] about Just in case you had any delusions about a lack of media bias…
This conversation was recorded without the knowledge of the participants. This transcript came to us anonymously. We cannot reveal our source – as we have no idea who sent it. But they provided enough bona fides that we can vouch for it’s authenticity. The names have been changed to protect the identities of the speakers (but unless you live under a [30] Rock, you should be able to fill in the blanks without any problem).
Mr. X: Have you seen the overnights?
Mr. Y: Yes…they’re pretty scary.
Mr. X: I can’t believe McCain did this…we were all ready to go negative on anybody on his short list…where did SHE come from? Nobody had her on a short list…long list…ANY list.
Mr. Y: I’m baffled. What do we do now?
Mr. X: You’re the President of the network…you tell me. It’s what I’m paying you for.
Mr. Y: Uh…well…it will take us a few days…weeks maybe, to dig up enough dirt on her to get our claws in deep. [Read more…] about Heard…and overheard.