People have been inquiring as to TMH's opinion on Rick Santelli's recent Wall Street rant. "Rantelli" was on the floor of the stock exchange, waxing intelligent, and Republican -- read simplistic, generalized "solutions" to incredibly complex problems -- with regard to the state of the economy, the current housing and fore-closure problems, and the Obama administration's response. For those of you who have not seen it, here's the rant:
As for TMH's thoughts? We have to concur with statements that present Rick Santelli as an ill-informed idiot, and Republican turned lacky and political pundit. One of the many key components his "rant" (aka his gross generalization) failed to mention is the fact that the capitalist system in this country took advantage of great economic times (the dot com era under President Clinton, for example), "trained" itself to over-borrow, overspend and live beyond its means (as a way of attempting to reach the increasingly elusive American Dream) and -- like so often happens when times are good -- people wanted to believe that it would never end. Now we're paying the price for those lifestyle choices, that philosophy and the economic pipe-dream under which we have lived for so long.
Santelli didn't mention anything in terms of the global economy, how fragile the world economic system is at this time, or how reliant (and vulnerable) we all are upon each others' business, trade, and economic ups and downs. Simple solutions to complex problems will not work here, but that has been the modus operandi of the Republican party for many, many years. There is no nuance, there is no understanding of complexity. . .there is only partisan politics and simplistic platitudes presented as solutions.
For Santelli to even try to present something like an objective analysis of the state of our economy in a two minute rant from Wall Street is ridiculous. He maintains he was simply trying to get the administration's attention. He later admitted to Chris Matthews that he's a Republican and that he voted for John McCain and Sarah Palin. TMH suspects that he adheres to the Republican Party's (or what's left of it) apparent desire to move towards further isolationism and division along social, political, ideological, racial and economic lines. The current Republican political philosophy is to simply say "NO!" and to argue against any kind of government leadership. Meanwhile, as "our" elected politicians, they continue to draw a steady, hefty paycheck. Republicans seem to be sticking to their scorched-earth policy and to their desire to see the government run down completely, rather than attempting to present a system of leadership, guidance and effective political policy. Republicans have no new ideas, and they have no leadership capabilities.
The "corporate welfare," de-regulaltion, anti-union "system of government" continued under George W. Bush was meant to encourage a "trickle-down" economic ideology which has been such a mainstay of Republican thinking over the last several decades. It doesn't work; the money did not and will not "trickle down." Republicans rail against socialism, but provide a similar benefit to their big-business cronies, special interests, and pet-projects like Enron, Haliburton and Black Water (to name a few). Under Bush, the CEOs, big-business and oil companies got the mine...while the average American got the shaft.
TMH sincerely believes that Republicans see a democratic (and Democratic) system of government as a type of union and they want to break it just as much as they have always wanted to break the unions (going back to Reagan and the air traffic controllers). This helps explain House minority whip Eric Cantor's recent hypocritical and profane anti-union video, which is for the non-sensitive viewer only and not for the feint of heart.
Thankfully, Cantor was busted -- or, rather, his spokesman, Brad Dayspring was busted -- and the house whip was called vicariously to the carpet for his obvious support of vulgarity and hypocrisy, however -- as is typical of the current Republican political "leaders" in this country -- the "little whip" took the opportunity to do a bit of creative revisionism, rather than apologize sincerely. Take a look at the video and the accompanying critical article from ThinkProgress.org:
Anti-Obscenity Crusader Eric Cantor Sends Out Profanity-Laced Attack On Union
TMH has to wonder how Republican, neoconservative, fundamental, bible-beaters reconcile such disgusting behavior on the part of their elected officials what with their belief in "family values," the Moral Majority, and God? We have to wonder what happened to the "compassionate conservatives" and why Republicans would raise such a moralistic stink over the Janet Jackson Superbowl "mishap" a few years ago, only to turn around to support and condone Eric Cantor's disgusting behavior.
As for the direction of the Republican party of the future? Your guess is as good as ours. Who knows where or in what direction the hypocritical winds will blow this party of foul-mouthed liars and propagandists, But if the past eight years is any indication, then the Republican idiocy will only continue. As you know, George W. Bush's political ineptitude didn't stop at trickle down economics. It included the Republican belief (gleaned from Reagan's political philosophy) that ". . .government IS THE PROBLEM!" Republicans would rather run-down and destroy the government in its current incarnation than provide true political leadership. In that sense, they share more in common with their AFSCME depiction than does the actual AFSCME union itself! Talk about a SCAM!: Imagine having voted for a Republican politican with the sincere belief that he/she would help run our government efficiently, only to have that politican turn around and help run the government into the ground through irresponsible political behavior, corruption, propaganda and intentional, anti-blue-collar, anti-American mis-management.
I've been a registered Independent voter for 12 years now (which presently makes me a Democrat) because, as an Independent voter, I wouldn't touch the Republican party with a ten-foot pole. There is simply no way to reconcile their political "positions" with good governance, responsibility, or the best interests of the country and its people. Their behavior is obsessive-compulsive at best, and bi-polar, schizophrenic at worst! Their leaders are incompetent, irresponsible, and -- more often than not -- as politicians uneductaed on specific issues, and uneducated as human beings in general!
TMH believes that any Republican (or Independent) who would vote for Sarah Palin for president is the same idiot who voted for George W. Bush. The party is unbelievably incompetent, corrupt, disorganized, and horribly misguided. They are hypocritics, social Darwinists, and war-mongers who are pro big-business (even while big-business continues to outsource in order "to compete"), ideologues, and -- largely Southern, bible-belt -- nut bags. Then again, idiocy isn't just a partisan party affiliation anymore, it runs in the family! With clarity of answer in mind, see if you can recognize with any degree of accuracy precisely how far the political apple has fallen from the tree!
Here's Sarah six-pack:
And here's her teenage daughter, Bristol:
Clarity (or lack thereof) notwithstanding, TMH gives the age-versus-overall-intelligence nod to daughter Bristol! In terms of substance and sincerity you can actually see Bristol attempting to think and trying to form an intelligent response, whereas the "hockey mom's" answer is pure caught-in-the-headlights political posturing. It must be nice to be a seventeen year old teenage mother -- having not quite finished high school -- and still be smarter than the governor of Alaska! Republicans should petition to lower the age of presidential eligibility, so that they can vote for Bristol in 2012! After all, with Bush Republicans felt that they had a president they could "have a beer with," so why not take that level of leadership to its logical conclusion and vote for a president with whom they can attend college! Think of all the Bush-like fraternity and sorority parties Bristol could take them to!
Then there was the conservative New York Post's inflammatory political cartoon which depicted the president as an escaped chimpanzee and sanctioned, condoned and pretty much advertised for his (and the stimulus bills') assassination. Combine all of these political antics and you've got a Republican party chock-full of bonafide, classy, moral, and family-value loving winners!
Let's hope Rupert Murdoch will do the right thing (not that we have much faith in that) and fire New York Post editor Col Allan, continue to distance himself from the right-wing, radical, slash-and-burn politics which have been so financially lucrative for him in the past (his new wife is reportedly politically progressive and much more liberal) and begin dumping his Fox News interests in favor of retirement. The country would be better off without Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and the propaganda which pretends to be "Fair-and-Balanced." Besides, we'd still have Rush Limbaugh and all of conservative talk radio to turn to whenever we wanted to get our fill of Republican stupidity! Apart from that, we can always vacation in the South, the bible-belt, or take a road trip to TEXAS!
And, as long as we're looking toward the Republican idiocy bastion that IS the state of Texas, why don't we ponder the wonderful comparisons between Republicanism circa 2009 and the workings of Texas businessman Sir Allen Stanford!
On the one hand, Republicans under Texas oilman George W. Bush run our country into the ground, violate our constitutional laws, and take us to war, all while repeatedly displaying profound and widespread corruption; on the other hand Republican millionaire Stanford almost singlehandedly bankrupts the entire country of Antigua!
On the one hand Republican pundit Rush Limbaugh supports white Republican George W. Bush and helps get him elected, declaring anyone who did not support the president and all of his policies after the attacks of 9/11 "un-American;" on the other hand, Rush Limbaugh turns attack-dog within two weeks of our first African-American president's administration, plays "Barack the Magic Negro" parodies on his radio show (which remind us of the Republican's idea of humor and no doubt inspired Rick Cantor's anti-union video) and then declares vociferously that he wants president Obama to fail!
On the one hand, Sean Hannity, a conservative, Republican, Fox News "reporter" harangues the Republican base on a nightly basis about the evils of Democrats, socialism, and how we're all doomed under a Democratic administration and system of big-government; on the other hand, Sean Hannity pimps gold for -- and receives advertising money for his conservative talk radio show from -- corrupt businessman and Texas millionaire, Sir Allen Stanford! On the whole, I think Olbermann's "Countdown" pretty much had it spot-on when it picked the worst persons in the world last week. Check it out:
Then again, Keith Olbermann missed out on the biggest Republican idiot of them all (not that he'll have to wait long for plenty of other opportunities). Here, by far, is The Worst of the worst persons in the world:
After witnessing that disgusting display of Republican "politics" it's obvious why some animals in the wild choose to eat their young! Need another example? How about the way in which Jeb Bush's son, George P. Bush, attacked Republican Florida governor Charlie Cristtoday for his support of the president and the Democrats.
You might not remember George P. since he's the new Bush on the block, but certainly you remember Jeb! He's supposed to be "the smart one" but has shown his ability to let ideology (and stupidity) reign supreme on more than one occasion. Remember. . .Republicans favor LESS government! Well, that ideology didn't stop Brother Jeb from expanding his gubernatorial powers in Florida to screw up the Terry Shiavo case. Nothing like "small" government overriding the wishes of a widower and doing its best to control when you can, or cannot die! Republican hypocrisy knows no boundaries. . .but let's hope the Southern Republicans STAY in the South!
What's truly sad, however, is that the Republicans don't seem to be getting the message. They're no longer acting responsibly or in the best interest of the country. They have, en masse, seemingly picked up where Alan Keyes left off, and they continue to repeat the same idiotic banter over and over andf over again, even despite the president's popularity and the desire for the american people to believe that a turn around is possible. But let's face it, a turn around would not be in the best interests of the Republican party. Limbaugh said it, and now the rest of the Republican party has fallen into line and is working hard to ensure that we all fail! They have nothing left to lose, and would rather see us all go down, then to go down themselves!
At the fear of beating a dead horse, TMH noticed the most recent idiocy expounded by the Republican party today through Alabama senator Richard Shelby (who was once a Democrat but jumped the shark and switched parties because he thought there was no future in being a Southern Democrat!. . . now he's beginning to realize there's no future in being a Republican). Yet just like Keyes he continues to look into the camera and intentionally lie to the American people. He continues to spew hatred and party propaganda and to question President Obama's birth certificate, country of birth, status as an American, and legitimacy.
Add to Shelby's idiocy, the dispicable comments of Republican senator Jim Bunning (from Kentucky) who stated today that he expects Ruth Bader Ginsburg (who has recently returned to work as is fighting for her life against pancreatic cancer) to be dead within the next nine months! Just the sort of class we have come to expect from the Republican party!
And so, with that in mind, TMH is seriously waiting for the Southern states currently under Republican control to announce that they plan to succeed (once again) from the union, and then the Obama comparisons to Abraham Lincoln will have become much more literal rather than just political jargon.
Until someone who is responsible, inclusive and who has actual leadership ideas -- someone who is willing to understand, acknowledge and embrace the fact that there is a definitive leadership role for government in our country (and in the world) -- takes control of the Republican party, they will continue to be miserable excuses for leaders, civil servants and human beings (right now they are none of the above). Until someone moral and ethical actually takes the reigns of the Republican Party, we're pretty much looking at a one party system and a bunch of isolation-minded, idiotic obstructionists. I think Obama has been very good at working toward the center, but the Republicans are not willing to bend. RNC Chairman Michael Steele (and his new "hip-hop" agenda) is not going to lead the party in the right direction, and neither is a return to the politics of Newt Gingrich or Bill Kristol.
Ultimately, TMH thinks "Dilbert" creator and cartoonist Scott Adams has it right when he asks, "When Did Ignorance Become a Point of View?"
What's more, TMH finds it ironic that the Republican party is currently going the way of the American economy -- namely, it's gotten much worse and looks like it's going to continue that trend before it gets any better -- which would be a case of the both the economy AND the Republican party reaping what it has sown.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Limbaugh's Conservative Idiocy Brings Republican Chickens Home to Roost
Anyone following the first two weeks of the Obama administration's struggle with the stimulus package will certainly be aware of the insulting, idiotic way in which Rush Limbaugh has tried to insinuate himself back into the public spotlight.
He's also hypocritically undermined and done a philosophical 180 with regard to the "Bill of Goods" that conservative Republicans sold so many Americans in the aftermath of 9/11. Namely, that we owe a patriotic debt to our president and to the country by rallying around Bush (and his party) during our country's time of need.
Instead of remaining true to his word--a word which is only reserved for Republican presidents like Bush--and being truly patriotic, Limbaugh has turned even more partisan, displayed his cowardice, and admitted to the fact that he does not support our president, our country, or anyone other than himself for that matter, by saying that he "hopes Barack Obama fails." Today, Limbaugh inched away from his un-American original statement and said that he simply meant that he "wants Liberals to fail." Which is funny, since it was Limbaugh's party which continually attempted to paint Obama as a "Liberal" and a "Socialist" during the presidential campaign, and that Obama has taken a largely centrist role thus far in his administration.
Regardless, of the insanity that IS Rush Limbaugh. Check out how incredibly accurate prognosticator Matt Taibbi was way back in late December 2006 when he discussed the severe problems of the American media as they relate to what the hate-filled rhetoric, propaganda, and outright lies of Limbaugh (and his contemporaries at Fox News) have sown for our country, and for the political discourse and climate.
The Low Post: Keep On Hatin'.
At this time in American history, the Republican party is more clueless than ever, and just as guilty of being "spineless and gutless" as they accuse Democrats of being. It's a a case of people in glass houses throwing stones, and it reminds TMH that the conservative ideological "egg" which president Ronald Reagan layed back in the 1980s when he stated "government is not the answer to problem, government IS THE PROBLEM!" has hatched, grown up and not only come home to roost, but to evict the rest of the family from the nest!
The Smirking Chimp has been on such a role lately, that it's actually located Dennis Miller, who TMH thought was dead, or who--at least--we hoped had had enough of a political and philosophical beating throughout the Bush years that he would renounce his "more-intelligent-than-thou" arrogance, see the liberal light, and apologetically return to the fold! However, the once liberal leftist turned neo-con, the once famous funny man, has apparently turned hypocritically hilarious once-and-for-all! Check it out:
Thank You, Dennis Miller!.
Even after the divisive and failed conservative policies of arguably THE WORST American president in history, even after the beating Republicans took in the 2006 congressional elections, and even after the miserable campaign that John McCain and Sarah Palin ran against Obama/Biden, Republicans would rather bow-down to a hypocritical blow-hard like Limbaugh than rise up, learn from their numerous mistakes and the error of their ways, re-build a failed political party (and its philosophy) to be more inclusive, more transparent, more sincere, and start working in a new and positive direction.
Taibbi had it exactly right in 2006, and until the Republican party turns its back on greedy, hate-mongering, lying rhetoricians like Rush Limbaugh and flailing intellectual sell-outs like Dennis Miller, they will continue to have it ALL wrong!
Let's bide our time and wait and see what develops now that an African-American, Michael Steele, was elected chairman of the Republican National Committee on Friday, January 30, 2009. We'll see if the Republican party is really ready for the idea that Steele set-forth in his acceptance speech when he said, "It's time for something completely different!" We'll see if the conservative, evangelical, ideological philosophies which have been so resistant to progressive change, and the best interest of the country, and which have failed so devastatingly will continue, or evolve.
Michael Steele will have to embrace one of the following Republican philosophies, and TMH invites you to find which of the two Republicans in this November 11, 2008 clip is the more progressive centrist willing to promote change, and which is simply towing the OLD party line:
Message to the Republican party: it's time to drag yourselves from the political "swamp," evolve and try to catch up to the rest of mankind, or go the way of closed-minded conservative dinosaurs like Limbaugh and myopic partisan political pundits like Ron Christie.
He's also hypocritically undermined and done a philosophical 180 with regard to the "Bill of Goods" that conservative Republicans sold so many Americans in the aftermath of 9/11. Namely, that we owe a patriotic debt to our president and to the country by rallying around Bush (and his party) during our country's time of need.
Instead of remaining true to his word--a word which is only reserved for Republican presidents like Bush--and being truly patriotic, Limbaugh has turned even more partisan, displayed his cowardice, and admitted to the fact that he does not support our president, our country, or anyone other than himself for that matter, by saying that he "hopes Barack Obama fails." Today, Limbaugh inched away from his un-American original statement and said that he simply meant that he "wants Liberals to fail." Which is funny, since it was Limbaugh's party which continually attempted to paint Obama as a "Liberal" and a "Socialist" during the presidential campaign, and that Obama has taken a largely centrist role thus far in his administration.
Regardless, of the insanity that IS Rush Limbaugh. Check out how incredibly accurate prognosticator Matt Taibbi was way back in late December 2006 when he discussed the severe problems of the American media as they relate to what the hate-filled rhetoric, propaganda, and outright lies of Limbaugh (and his contemporaries at Fox News) have sown for our country, and for the political discourse and climate.
The Low Post: Keep On Hatin'.
At this time in American history, the Republican party is more clueless than ever, and just as guilty of being "spineless and gutless" as they accuse Democrats of being. It's a a case of people in glass houses throwing stones, and it reminds TMH that the conservative ideological "egg" which president Ronald Reagan layed back in the 1980s when he stated "government is not the answer to problem, government IS THE PROBLEM!" has hatched, grown up and not only come home to roost, but to evict the rest of the family from the nest!
The Smirking Chimp has been on such a role lately, that it's actually located Dennis Miller, who TMH thought was dead, or who--at least--we hoped had had enough of a political and philosophical beating throughout the Bush years that he would renounce his "more-intelligent-than-thou" arrogance, see the liberal light, and apologetically return to the fold! However, the once liberal leftist turned neo-con, the once famous funny man, has apparently turned hypocritically hilarious once-and-for-all! Check it out:
Thank You, Dennis Miller!.
Even after the divisive and failed conservative policies of arguably THE WORST American president in history, even after the beating Republicans took in the 2006 congressional elections, and even after the miserable campaign that John McCain and Sarah Palin ran against Obama/Biden, Republicans would rather bow-down to a hypocritical blow-hard like Limbaugh than rise up, learn from their numerous mistakes and the error of their ways, re-build a failed political party (and its philosophy) to be more inclusive, more transparent, more sincere, and start working in a new and positive direction.
Taibbi had it exactly right in 2006, and until the Republican party turns its back on greedy, hate-mongering, lying rhetoricians like Rush Limbaugh and flailing intellectual sell-outs like Dennis Miller, they will continue to have it ALL wrong!
Let's bide our time and wait and see what develops now that an African-American, Michael Steele, was elected chairman of the Republican National Committee on Friday, January 30, 2009. We'll see if the Republican party is really ready for the idea that Steele set-forth in his acceptance speech when he said, "It's time for something completely different!" We'll see if the conservative, evangelical, ideological philosophies which have been so resistant to progressive change, and the best interest of the country, and which have failed so devastatingly will continue, or evolve.
Michael Steele will have to embrace one of the following Republican philosophies, and TMH invites you to find which of the two Republicans in this November 11, 2008 clip is the more progressive centrist willing to promote change, and which is simply towing the OLD party line:
Message to the Republican party: it's time to drag yourselves from the political "swamp," evolve and try to catch up to the rest of mankind, or go the way of closed-minded conservative dinosaurs like Limbaugh and myopic partisan political pundits like Ron Christie.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Bush Torture Policy "Beats" Two-of-a-Kind
So, you're among the group of people who feel like Michael Hirsh, and you actually thought it was kinda funny that an Iraqi journalist had the nerve to stand up at a press conference and fire his loafers at "Dubya?" Maybe you loved it so much that you even had the desire to offer your daughter up to the guy!? Perhaps you're "up-in-arms" about the shoe-chucker's recent treatment!? Ah...well, if that's the case, then just think of the possibility of having Jeb in office come 2012!
Or, were you one of the people who scoffed, wrinkled their nose, and riduculed the Muslim "Shoe-ite" by saying, "I don't care what George W. Bush has done during his time in office, he's still the president of the United States, and he should be respected!"
Well, whichever group you're in, TMH wants you to know that George W. Bush's Torture policy beats (and beats them badly, with Dick Cheney watching even!) your two shoes, and raises you an entire batch of Constitutional infringements, and promises you several more in the last 30 days of his administration!
You can read the Constitution In Crisis update from AfterDowningStreet.org or check out congressman John Conyer's book George W. Bush Versus the U.S. Constitution: The Downing Street Memos and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, Coverups in the Iraq War and Illegal Spying.
Oh, and you want to know TMH's official position on the whole matter? Well, TMH knows that you can NEVER have enough pitching, and so our suggestion is to send "The Iraqi Hurler" up to San Francisco, where The Giants can trade him for some much-needed hitting. Who would trade for a right-handed shoe-thrower you ask?
Well, at the risk of sounding like Sarah Palin..."You Betcha!"...
...THE DODGERS!
Or, were you one of the people who scoffed, wrinkled their nose, and riduculed the Muslim "Shoe-ite" by saying, "I don't care what George W. Bush has done during his time in office, he's still the president of the United States, and he should be respected!"
Well, whichever group you're in, TMH wants you to know that George W. Bush's Torture policy beats (and beats them badly, with Dick Cheney watching even!) your two shoes, and raises you an entire batch of Constitutional infringements, and promises you several more in the last 30 days of his administration!
You can read the Constitution In Crisis update from AfterDowningStreet.org or check out congressman John Conyer's book George W. Bush Versus the U.S. Constitution: The Downing Street Memos and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, Coverups in the Iraq War and Illegal Spying.
Oh, and you want to know TMH's official position on the whole matter? Well, TMH knows that you can NEVER have enough pitching, and so our suggestion is to send "The Iraqi Hurler" up to San Francisco, where The Giants can trade him for some much-needed hitting. Who would trade for a right-handed shoe-thrower you ask?
Well, at the risk of sounding like Sarah Palin..."You Betcha!"...
...THE DODGERS!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
"Countdown" to Corruption...Come in Corruption, Over...(Not)!
(courtesy of E. Watson)
TMH Contributor
Here it is...the long awaited Countdown list, in case you've not seen it yet! Keith's been busy checking out America's top 25 most corrupt politicans. Tell us what you think!
Also, TMH is working its way toward the first "You Got Nailed!" Award, and reports are that Blagojevich is in the lead, but in this country at this time in history? Well...let's just say that could change with the weather.
"Hang Loose!" everyone...
TMH Contributor
Here it is...the long awaited Countdown list, in case you've not seen it yet! Keith's been busy checking out America's top 25 most corrupt politicans. Tell us what you think!
Also, TMH is working its way toward the first "You Got Nailed!" Award, and reports are that Blagojevich is in the lead, but in this country at this time in history? Well...let's just say that could change with the weather.
"Hang Loose!" everyone...
Sunday, December 14, 2008
"The Smirking Chimp": American Media's Political Coverage as "Entertainment"
"The Smirking Chimp": Post Election Analysis
By J.H. Hammer
(TMH Writer)
Filling the role once held by Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, "Rolling Stone" magazine's Matt Taibbi, in a post election article, wrote the following:
“One of the great clichés of campaign journalism is the notion that American elections have long since ceased to be about issues and ideas. Instead, pompous cliché-spreaders like myself have argued our TV-age political contests have devolved into grotesque marathons of mawkish entertainment programming, intellectually on par with a season of "Survivor," in which the command of the most powerful military force in human history is handed to that unscrupulous nitwit who over the course of 18 months succeeds in getting himself photographed the most times and in the most swing states bowling a strike or wearing a duck-hunting costume.
We've dumbed this process up so much over the years, in fact, that it had lately become hard to imagine an American presidential election being anything but an embarrassment to the very word "democracy." By 2004, that once-cherished ideal of political freedom and self-governance that millions of young men and women gave their lives to protect as recently as WWII had been reduced to the level of absurdist comedy. You had a millionaire Yalie in an army jacket taking on a millionaire Yalie in a cowboy hat, fighting tooth and nail for the right to be named the man "middle America most wants to have a beer with" by a gang of Ivy League journalists — a group of people whose closest previous exposure to "middle America" was typically either an episode of Cops or a Von Dutch trucker hat they'd bought for $23 at Urban Outfitters.
In short, it was an utterly degrading bourgeois/ruling-class media deception that "ordinary Americans," if they had any brains at all, ought to have been disgusted by to the point of rebellion. But ordinary Americans, alas, would have been perfectly happy to spend the rest of eternity mesmerized by the endless and endlessly condescending I'd Like to Have a Beer With You sideshow, leaving the boring policy stuff to the people who actually pay for the campaigns. Things could have just kept getting dumber and dumber, and no one would have been surprised. There was certainly no trend that suggested our presidential elections were bound to return to being great, sweepingly important contests of ideas. But that's what happened.
Like millions of Americans, I watched Barack Obama's victory on Election Night in a state of amazement. The only thing that gave me pause was the question of what kind of country this remarkable figure was now inheriting. Some of the luster of Obama's triumph would come off if the American presidency were no longer the Most Powerful Office in the World but simply the top job in a hopelessly broken nation suffering an irreversible decline.
Of all the problems facing this country by the end of the Bush years, the biggest is the absence of a unifying national idea. Since the end of the Cold War, America has been grasping left and right for an identity. We tried being a "world policeman" in Somalia, which didn't work so well. We tried retaining our Cold War outlook by simply replacing communists with terrorists. We created two bubble economies that blew up in our faces, and headed into 2008 a struggling capitalist state with a massive trade deficit and an overtaxed military that suddenly had to ask itself: For the supposed world leader in the community of nations, what exactly is it that we're still good at? Who are we, and what do we represent to the peoples of the Earth here and now — not in 1775 Concord, or 1945 Paris, or 1969, from the surface of the moon?
When Obama took the stage in Grant Park as president-elect, that question was answered. We pulled off an amazing thing here, delivering on our society's most ancient promises, in front of a world that still largely thought of us as the home of Bull Connor's fire hose. This dumbed-down, degraded election process of ours has, in spite of itself and to my own extreme astonishment, brilliantly re-energized the American experiment and restored legitimacy to our status as the world's living symbol of individual freedom. We feel like ourselves again, and the floundering economy and our two stagnating wars now seem like mere logistical problems that will be overcome sooner or later, instead of horrifying symptoms of inevitable empire-decline.
For this to happen, absolutely everything had to break right. And for that we will someday owe sincere thanks to John McCain, and Sarah Palin, and George W. Bush. They not only screwed it up, they screwed it up just right.”
Mr. Taibbi’s comments express the sentiments about this 2008 election better than any other I’ve read. The entire piece may be read through the link Requiem for a Maverick, but TMH must warn readers that that the article contains some "raw language."
What is intriguing is Taibbi's description of what passes as political coverage. Of course he is correct. Political coverage, particularly on television, is so shallow as to nearly be without merit. It’s ability to help citizens cast an informed vote is more than dubious. It has become just another bit of entertainment like “Desperate Housewives” or “Survivor” and, I might add, at the intellectual level of that of a class race in junior high school. Is it any wonder that we have so many low information voters?
By J.H. Hammer
(TMH Writer)
Filling the role once held by Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, "Rolling Stone" magazine's Matt Taibbi, in a post election article, wrote the following:
“One of the great clichés of campaign journalism is the notion that American elections have long since ceased to be about issues and ideas. Instead, pompous cliché-spreaders like myself have argued our TV-age political contests have devolved into grotesque marathons of mawkish entertainment programming, intellectually on par with a season of "Survivor," in which the command of the most powerful military force in human history is handed to that unscrupulous nitwit who over the course of 18 months succeeds in getting himself photographed the most times and in the most swing states bowling a strike or wearing a duck-hunting costume.
We've dumbed this process up so much over the years, in fact, that it had lately become hard to imagine an American presidential election being anything but an embarrassment to the very word "democracy." By 2004, that once-cherished ideal of political freedom and self-governance that millions of young men and women gave their lives to protect as recently as WWII had been reduced to the level of absurdist comedy. You had a millionaire Yalie in an army jacket taking on a millionaire Yalie in a cowboy hat, fighting tooth and nail for the right to be named the man "middle America most wants to have a beer with" by a gang of Ivy League journalists — a group of people whose closest previous exposure to "middle America" was typically either an episode of Cops or a Von Dutch trucker hat they'd bought for $23 at Urban Outfitters.
In short, it was an utterly degrading bourgeois/ruling-class media deception that "ordinary Americans," if they had any brains at all, ought to have been disgusted by to the point of rebellion. But ordinary Americans, alas, would have been perfectly happy to spend the rest of eternity mesmerized by the endless and endlessly condescending I'd Like to Have a Beer With You sideshow, leaving the boring policy stuff to the people who actually pay for the campaigns. Things could have just kept getting dumber and dumber, and no one would have been surprised. There was certainly no trend that suggested our presidential elections were bound to return to being great, sweepingly important contests of ideas. But that's what happened.
Like millions of Americans, I watched Barack Obama's victory on Election Night in a state of amazement. The only thing that gave me pause was the question of what kind of country this remarkable figure was now inheriting. Some of the luster of Obama's triumph would come off if the American presidency were no longer the Most Powerful Office in the World but simply the top job in a hopelessly broken nation suffering an irreversible decline.
Of all the problems facing this country by the end of the Bush years, the biggest is the absence of a unifying national idea. Since the end of the Cold War, America has been grasping left and right for an identity. We tried being a "world policeman" in Somalia, which didn't work so well. We tried retaining our Cold War outlook by simply replacing communists with terrorists. We created two bubble economies that blew up in our faces, and headed into 2008 a struggling capitalist state with a massive trade deficit and an overtaxed military that suddenly had to ask itself: For the supposed world leader in the community of nations, what exactly is it that we're still good at? Who are we, and what do we represent to the peoples of the Earth here and now — not in 1775 Concord, or 1945 Paris, or 1969, from the surface of the moon?
When Obama took the stage in Grant Park as president-elect, that question was answered. We pulled off an amazing thing here, delivering on our society's most ancient promises, in front of a world that still largely thought of us as the home of Bull Connor's fire hose. This dumbed-down, degraded election process of ours has, in spite of itself and to my own extreme astonishment, brilliantly re-energized the American experiment and restored legitimacy to our status as the world's living symbol of individual freedom. We feel like ourselves again, and the floundering economy and our two stagnating wars now seem like mere logistical problems that will be overcome sooner or later, instead of horrifying symptoms of inevitable empire-decline.
For this to happen, absolutely everything had to break right. And for that we will someday owe sincere thanks to John McCain, and Sarah Palin, and George W. Bush. They not only screwed it up, they screwed it up just right.”
Mr. Taibbi’s comments express the sentiments about this 2008 election better than any other I’ve read. The entire piece may be read through the link Requiem for a Maverick, but TMH must warn readers that that the article contains some "raw language."
What is intriguing is Taibbi's description of what passes as political coverage. Of course he is correct. Political coverage, particularly on television, is so shallow as to nearly be without merit. It’s ability to help citizens cast an informed vote is more than dubious. It has become just another bit of entertainment like “Desperate Housewives” or “Survivor” and, I might add, at the intellectual level of that of a class race in junior high school. Is it any wonder that we have so many low information voters?
Saturday, December 13, 2008
The Friday Night Media Mixer
Every Friday night the boys at TMH get together for our Friday Night Media Mixer. It's basically a collaboration of what we each managed to scrape together during the previous week, but haven't been able to use yet. You know, it's everything that didn't really make sense on Monday, wasn't relevant on Tuesday, had been forgotten by Wednesday, was a vague memory on Thursday, yet was somehow powerful enough to work its way into the Friday segment. Okay!, if you noticed the posting date above, you've already realized we're late this week, but "The Mixer" will work its way into the Friday schedule from here on out!
Tonight's mixer is a break from the "real news" but still reminds us -- in one form or another -- of the weekly schedule as depicted by the calendar, film, the arts, and advertising...it's a veritable media smorgasbord, pulled together from the Internet by a few dedicated knuckle-heads who, with the idea of how to split an atom in mind, individually run the risk of information overload! But hey!, as The Stranger would say, "I done introduced it enough."
National Geographic posted an article naming Friday, December 12, as the night of the Biggest, Brightest Full Moon of 2008. The moon, in all of its glory, looked incredible. It's no wonder The Mixer took forever -- we were distracted!
In its first week of existence, TMH felt a certain immediacy in the air and eventually landed on YouTube. We just had to check out the unbelievable media mixer "mash-up" of all of the Coen brothers' films. Originally compiled by Paul Proulx from Hobnox, TMH discovered it at an incredibly cool blog entitled grow-a-brain.
What would the Friday Night Mixer be without seeing George Clooney, as Ulysses Everett McGill, lip-synching to The Soggy Bottom Boys' "Man of Constant Sorrow," Peter Stormare, as Gaear Grimsrud, demanding, "We stop at pancake's house!" (the look on Steve Buscemi's face is priceless!) and Tom Hanks as Professor G.H. Dorr in The Ladykillers not only seeing Grimsrud's pancake "wager," but apparently raising it by demanding, "We must have waffles, we must all have waffles...forthwith!"
But the kicker is the nerve of Woody Harrelson's unfortunate bit character, Carson Wells, in that hilarious (but deadly!) psychoanalytical discussion with No Country for Old Men madman Anton Chigurh (played by Javier Bardem).
Wells: "Do you have any idea...how crazy you are?"
Chigurh: "You mean the nature of this conversation?"
Wells: "I mean the nature of you."
It was disappointing to see Wells go out the way he did. We can never get enough of Harrelson but, like Pitt in "Burn After Reading," his un-doing is shocking and disappointing in an entirely appropriate that's-what-makes-the-Coens-so-great kinda way. They're never afraid to kill-off one of the major stars in their films. After all, there are others handy!
As is the case with Coen brother films and characters, it is "the gaze" which sells the story, demands complete understanding from the audience, and completes the twisting tale. The mash-up catches almost every character from the Coen filmography convincing us of the intense power of "the look." The list includes Turturro, Harrelson, Bardem, Grimsrud, Getz, McDormand, Newman, Byrne, Thornton, Bridges, Goodman and, finally, -- at the very end of "No Country..." -- Tess Harper and Tommy Lee Jones. And then?...well...and "Then I woke up..."
Jose Feliciano's soothing rendition of "Let's Find Each Other Tonight" is a great choice for the musical bed in the final minutes of Proulx's work, and proves that -- musically -- Feliciano never gets old. Here's a musical montage of Feliciano images for the true fan:
Javier Bardem's acting -- along with Josh Brolin's -- makes No Country... an outstanding film, and TMH has a serious beef with anyone who didn't like the ending. The Anton Chigurh character plays well against both Brolin and Harrelson because he's so damn unpredictable. Every action he takes is subject to chance, but he just keeps right on rolling, and you can never quite figure out what he's going to do next. With the exception of a few lucky souls, his psychotic behavior means big-time trouble for anyone that crosses his path. For example, the gas station attendant has the audacity to inquire about the weather!
"What business is it of yours...where I'm from?...Friend-O!" Chigurh's psychosis is directed and, in this one case, kept in-check by the 1958 quarter that's "...been traveling twenty-two years to get here, and now it's here..." and he's not kidding when he tells the old man "...you stand to win everything." But the wonderful thing about the "nature" of the conversation between Chigurh and the old man is that it, too, is a type of coin toss. Control between the two speakers goes back-and-forth from the old man to Chigurh, and back again like a table tennis match, or a coin flip. The Coen's masterfully control the scene by making its form fit its function, and the gas station conversation provides the reason for why Chigurh will later question Wells' meaning with regard to the "nature" of their conversation.
In what can only be described as hyperbolic disappointment, "Well done!," is Chigurh's response to the old man winning the toss, and the 1958 quarter itself. Cigurh assures the man that it is both his lucky coin, and only a coin...because that is what it has become now that Chigurh is no longer its possessor...the coin is the "luck" which symbolizes the old man's salvation. TMH loved the Coens' use of the "coin toss" as the determining factor and the ultimate predictor between life and death. Chigurh's loss is a reminder that The Grim Reaper himself must submit to luck, fate, and the directives of a coin toss.
Although the threat of violence in No Country... is fairly low-key, it is omnipresent; always bubbling just below the surface. Thematically, as well as philosophically, the entire scene reminds us that "...on a long enough time-line, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero" and both the scene and the fate of the gas station attendant juxtapose incredibly well with what happens to Raymond K. Hessel in David Fincher's Fight Club. In Fincher's film, however, it is the narrator (Ed Norton) and Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) who represent the two sides of the coin. For more on Fincher you can visit sensesofcinema.
The Coen brother theme continued for much of Friday Night's Mixer, but TMH eventually latched onto Jeff Bridges, and couldn't let go. What can you say about a guy who has been so outstanding for so long, in so many films? Bridges is a TMH favorite (as are Tuturro, Harrelson, Clooney and Pitt). Anyone whose acting skill can so easily bring Jeffrey Lebowski to life, or should we say Time, is alright with us.
Which is to say we simply had to locate The Dude. Stephen Colbert aside, TMH's "spin" is that Bridges has a sick amount of talent. His website is good for a lot of laughs too, and made us feel like "Little Lebowski Urban Achievers."
Among the interesting things was an apropos quote from "The Teachings of Don Juan" by Carlos Castaneda:
"All paths are the same: they lead nowhere... They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long, long paths but I am not anywhere. My benefactor's question has meaning now. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you."
Sounds a lot like the Dude searching for a replacement for his "micturated" rug, only without all of the Caucasian references. But not to worry, because in the time it took us to absorb Castaneda, there was another round of White Russians at-hand..."Hey!, careful man...there's a beverage here!"
On his website, Bridges also alludes to his participation in a new movie, and brings us back to the aforementioned Clooney. We found this:
Which was immediately followed by this:
The reference is to a 2004 Jon Ronson book entitled The Men Who Stare at Goats. It's a book that the staff at TMH has read, by the way, and which will be featured this month on our sister site -- The Literary Hammer.
Here's Ronson's book cover:
TMH expects big things because apparently the movie will be based largely upon the book, and the book is very "Duuuuuude" (albeit in a militaristic, George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney sort of way. It describes efforts by the U.S. military to actually train a group of American soldiers to fight using the highly developed -- and highly dangerous! -- paranormal arts; including Chinese mind "techniques." These techniques include attempting to kill goats by staring at them in deep, zen-like meditation sessions with the express purpose of eventually being able to use these military tactics on human beings.
Other actors appearing in the film reportedly include Kevin Spacey of Keyser Soze fame, and Ewan McGregor. Nice kilt, Obi-Wan! However, Ewan McGregor should not to be confused with Clan MacGregor.
So, where exactly does George Clooney come into all of this? Well, TMH has learned that Clooney does, in fact, stare at goats.
Still need proof? Okay, here's last month's straight-forward offering from Cinemablend.com:
George Clooney Is A Hairy Goat-Starer
19 November 2008 9:34 AM, PST
"At 47, George Clooney might be too old to be a new recruit in the army... unless he uses the powers of his mind. That's the idea behind his bizarrely titled new movie Men Who Stare At Goats, about a division of the U.S. Army dedicated to using psychic powers to defeat the enemy. Based on some new set photos that surfaced over at Just Jared, focusing on your psychic abilities also requires not cutting your hair for a long time. We've seen Clooney's new mustache in paparazzi photos recently, but now he's got the shaggy hair to match-- a far, far cry from the cropped cut of the E.R. days. My bet is it's a wig, but hey, you never know. Of course, I know there are plenty of you who couldn't care less what George Clooney's hair looks like, so you're free to move along."
Ah...if it were only that easy! TMH just can't "move along" without first flashing back to the Coen "treatment" of Clooney's "hair jelly" and Ulysses Everett McGill's neurotic obsession with his hair and pomade in O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Remember, "it's a fool who looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart" and the "pleasing odor is half the point!"
TMH's "congregation" agreed to disagree on the FOP versus Dapper Dan debate, although before leaving the Coens behind we spied a couple more golden nuggets on the "geographical oddity" that is Jeff Bridges' website. They provided the inspiration for our last group of FNMM postings...so, "Come on in boys, the water's fine!"
There was this note:
Which brought to mind the Media Assassin, and made us wonder:
That reminded us of Africa, and we went to check The Daily Mail. Seriously, trying to be a pirate in the Twenty-First Century has about as much of a chance of success as this, courtesy of Melt Comics.
Suffice to say that Somali pirates don't have the best instincts. They would have had more success trying this:
The trick is counter-intuitive and goes against all of our instincts, just like The Monty Hall problem.
But despite fooling a bunch of mathematicians, the two-thirds answer to the problem is correct! Don't believe us? Okay, go and check it out for yourself, and then hurry back to The Mixer!...seriously, we'll wait... Right here's your PROOF!
The whole counter-intuitive angle brought to mind The Big Lebowski Phenomenon, and as The Friday Night Media Mixer came to an end, we were all reminded that, “It takes guys as simple as the Dude and Walter to make a story this complicated...and they'd really rather be bowling.”
And with that, it's time for us to "R* U* N* N* O* F* T"...We'll see you next week!
--TMH
Tonight's mixer is a break from the "real news" but still reminds us -- in one form or another -- of the weekly schedule as depicted by the calendar, film, the arts, and advertising...it's a veritable media smorgasbord, pulled together from the Internet by a few dedicated knuckle-heads who, with the idea of how to split an atom in mind, individually run the risk of information overload! But hey!, as The Stranger would say, "I done introduced it enough."
National Geographic posted an article naming Friday, December 12, as the night of the Biggest, Brightest Full Moon of 2008. The moon, in all of its glory, looked incredible. It's no wonder The Mixer took forever -- we were distracted!
In its first week of existence, TMH felt a certain immediacy in the air and eventually landed on YouTube. We just had to check out the unbelievable media mixer "mash-up" of all of the Coen brothers' films. Originally compiled by Paul Proulx from Hobnox, TMH discovered it at an incredibly cool blog entitled grow-a-brain.
What would the Friday Night Mixer be without seeing George Clooney, as Ulysses Everett McGill, lip-synching to The Soggy Bottom Boys' "Man of Constant Sorrow," Peter Stormare, as Gaear Grimsrud, demanding, "We stop at pancake's house!" (the look on Steve Buscemi's face is priceless!) and Tom Hanks as Professor G.H. Dorr in The Ladykillers not only seeing Grimsrud's pancake "wager," but apparently raising it by demanding, "We must have waffles, we must all have waffles...forthwith!"
But the kicker is the nerve of Woody Harrelson's unfortunate bit character, Carson Wells, in that hilarious (but deadly!) psychoanalytical discussion with No Country for Old Men madman Anton Chigurh (played by Javier Bardem).
Wells: "Do you have any idea...how crazy you are?"
Chigurh: "You mean the nature of this conversation?"
Wells: "I mean the nature of you."
It was disappointing to see Wells go out the way he did. We can never get enough of Harrelson but, like Pitt in "Burn After Reading," his un-doing is shocking and disappointing in an entirely appropriate that's-what-makes-the-Coens-so-great kinda way. They're never afraid to kill-off one of the major stars in their films. After all, there are others handy!
As is the case with Coen brother films and characters, it is "the gaze" which sells the story, demands complete understanding from the audience, and completes the twisting tale. The mash-up catches almost every character from the Coen filmography convincing us of the intense power of "the look." The list includes Turturro, Harrelson, Bardem, Grimsrud, Getz, McDormand, Newman, Byrne, Thornton, Bridges, Goodman and, finally, -- at the very end of "No Country..." -- Tess Harper and Tommy Lee Jones. And then?...well...and "Then I woke up..."
Jose Feliciano's soothing rendition of "Let's Find Each Other Tonight" is a great choice for the musical bed in the final minutes of Proulx's work, and proves that -- musically -- Feliciano never gets old. Here's a musical montage of Feliciano images for the true fan:
Javier Bardem's acting -- along with Josh Brolin's -- makes No Country... an outstanding film, and TMH has a serious beef with anyone who didn't like the ending. The Anton Chigurh character plays well against both Brolin and Harrelson because he's so damn unpredictable. Every action he takes is subject to chance, but he just keeps right on rolling, and you can never quite figure out what he's going to do next. With the exception of a few lucky souls, his psychotic behavior means big-time trouble for anyone that crosses his path. For example, the gas station attendant has the audacity to inquire about the weather!
"What business is it of yours...where I'm from?...Friend-O!" Chigurh's psychosis is directed and, in this one case, kept in-check by the 1958 quarter that's "...been traveling twenty-two years to get here, and now it's here..." and he's not kidding when he tells the old man "...you stand to win everything." But the wonderful thing about the "nature" of the conversation between Chigurh and the old man is that it, too, is a type of coin toss. Control between the two speakers goes back-and-forth from the old man to Chigurh, and back again like a table tennis match, or a coin flip. The Coen's masterfully control the scene by making its form fit its function, and the gas station conversation provides the reason for why Chigurh will later question Wells' meaning with regard to the "nature" of their conversation.
In what can only be described as hyperbolic disappointment, "Well done!," is Chigurh's response to the old man winning the toss, and the 1958 quarter itself. Cigurh assures the man that it is both his lucky coin, and only a coin...because that is what it has become now that Chigurh is no longer its possessor...the coin is the "luck" which symbolizes the old man's salvation. TMH loved the Coens' use of the "coin toss" as the determining factor and the ultimate predictor between life and death. Chigurh's loss is a reminder that The Grim Reaper himself must submit to luck, fate, and the directives of a coin toss.
Although the threat of violence in No Country... is fairly low-key, it is omnipresent; always bubbling just below the surface. Thematically, as well as philosophically, the entire scene reminds us that "...on a long enough time-line, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero" and both the scene and the fate of the gas station attendant juxtapose incredibly well with what happens to Raymond K. Hessel in David Fincher's Fight Club. In Fincher's film, however, it is the narrator (Ed Norton) and Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) who represent the two sides of the coin. For more on Fincher you can visit sensesofcinema.
The Coen brother theme continued for much of Friday Night's Mixer, but TMH eventually latched onto Jeff Bridges, and couldn't let go. What can you say about a guy who has been so outstanding for so long, in so many films? Bridges is a TMH favorite (as are Tuturro, Harrelson, Clooney and Pitt). Anyone whose acting skill can so easily bring Jeffrey Lebowski to life, or should we say Time, is alright with us.
Which is to say we simply had to locate The Dude. Stephen Colbert aside, TMH's "spin" is that Bridges has a sick amount of talent. His website is good for a lot of laughs too, and made us feel like "Little Lebowski Urban Achievers."
Among the interesting things was an apropos quote from "The Teachings of Don Juan" by Carlos Castaneda:
"All paths are the same: they lead nowhere... They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long, long paths but I am not anywhere. My benefactor's question has meaning now. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you."
Sounds a lot like the Dude searching for a replacement for his "micturated" rug, only without all of the Caucasian references. But not to worry, because in the time it took us to absorb Castaneda, there was another round of White Russians at-hand..."Hey!, careful man...there's a beverage here!"
On his website, Bridges also alludes to his participation in a new movie, and brings us back to the aforementioned Clooney. We found this:
Which was immediately followed by this:
The reference is to a 2004 Jon Ronson book entitled The Men Who Stare at Goats. It's a book that the staff at TMH has read, by the way, and which will be featured this month on our sister site -- The Literary Hammer.
Here's Ronson's book cover:
TMH expects big things because apparently the movie will be based largely upon the book, and the book is very "Duuuuuude" (albeit in a militaristic, George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney sort of way. It describes efforts by the U.S. military to actually train a group of American soldiers to fight using the highly developed -- and highly dangerous! -- paranormal arts; including Chinese mind "techniques." These techniques include attempting to kill goats by staring at them in deep, zen-like meditation sessions with the express purpose of eventually being able to use these military tactics on human beings.
Other actors appearing in the film reportedly include Kevin Spacey of Keyser Soze fame, and Ewan McGregor. Nice kilt, Obi-Wan! However, Ewan McGregor should not to be confused with Clan MacGregor.
So, where exactly does George Clooney come into all of this? Well, TMH has learned that Clooney does, in fact, stare at goats.
Still need proof? Okay, here's last month's straight-forward offering from Cinemablend.com:
George Clooney Is A Hairy Goat-Starer
19 November 2008 9:34 AM, PST
"At 47, George Clooney might be too old to be a new recruit in the army... unless he uses the powers of his mind. That's the idea behind his bizarrely titled new movie Men Who Stare At Goats, about a division of the U.S. Army dedicated to using psychic powers to defeat the enemy. Based on some new set photos that surfaced over at Just Jared, focusing on your psychic abilities also requires not cutting your hair for a long time. We've seen Clooney's new mustache in paparazzi photos recently, but now he's got the shaggy hair to match-- a far, far cry from the cropped cut of the E.R. days. My bet is it's a wig, but hey, you never know. Of course, I know there are plenty of you who couldn't care less what George Clooney's hair looks like, so you're free to move along."
Ah...if it were only that easy! TMH just can't "move along" without first flashing back to the Coen "treatment" of Clooney's "hair jelly" and Ulysses Everett McGill's neurotic obsession with his hair and pomade in O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Remember, "it's a fool who looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart" and the "pleasing odor is half the point!"
TMH's "congregation" agreed to disagree on the FOP versus Dapper Dan debate, although before leaving the Coens behind we spied a couple more golden nuggets on the "geographical oddity" that is Jeff Bridges' website. They provided the inspiration for our last group of FNMM postings...so, "Come on in boys, the water's fine!"
There was this note:
Which brought to mind the Media Assassin, and made us wonder:
That reminded us of Africa, and we went to check The Daily Mail. Seriously, trying to be a pirate in the Twenty-First Century has about as much of a chance of success as this, courtesy of Melt Comics.
Suffice to say that Somali pirates don't have the best instincts. They would have had more success trying this:
The trick is counter-intuitive and goes against all of our instincts, just like The Monty Hall problem.
But despite fooling a bunch of mathematicians, the two-thirds answer to the problem is correct! Don't believe us? Okay, go and check it out for yourself, and then hurry back to The Mixer!...seriously, we'll wait... Right here's your PROOF!
The whole counter-intuitive angle brought to mind The Big Lebowski Phenomenon, and as The Friday Night Media Mixer came to an end, we were all reminded that, “It takes guys as simple as the Dude and Walter to make a story this complicated...and they'd really rather be bowling.”
And with that, it's time for us to "R* U* N* N* O* F* T"...We'll see you next week!
--TMH
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Poll: Pick the Weekly TMH "YOU GOT NAILED!" Award
TMH is working hard to develop its weekly "Media Hammer Award" which will be "handed out" on this site to some worthy media "bone-head" each and every Sunday.
TMH's "YOU GOT NAILED!" award will be granted based upon poor reporting, bad stories, un-professional coverage, general or blatant idiocy in the media, intentional use of propaganda, outright lies, biased "spin" or any other award earning stupidity which occurs during the weekly news cycle. It will be given to a reporter, a magazine or newspaper, a politician, a reporter, or a news anchor.
The award itself is a negative thing, similar to the "Golden Raspberry Awards" for acting. For those of you who are not familiar with "The Razzies," they are handed out on a yearly basis to members of the film industry. They "reward" the very worst in acting, screenwriting, directing, worst overall film, and several other categories. Each "winner" gets a "Razzie" and while it's an award that is definitely earned, it's not something that people in the film industry want to receive or openly covet.
Check out some of the past Golden Raspberry Award "winners" at the following link:
http://www.razzies.com/history/06winners.asp
The Media Hammer wants to follow in a similar tradition. And we're reminded of Keith Olbermann's segment on his MSNBC show "Countdown" entitled "Worst Person in the World."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/
So, check out the NEWLY REVISED (12/12/08) designs, vote for your favorite in the design poll at the right (located under the "Astronomy Picture of the Day" banner, and we will begin handing out the awards on a weekly basis once the voting is complete.
Easy enough, right? So okay, already...here are our TMH "YOU GOT NAILED!" design choices:
(Sledge Hammer images 2 and 5 courtesy of Adam Wheeler at:
http://www.functionalhandstrength.com/
Click on images to enlarge.
CHOICE # 1:
TMH's Staff is hard at work researching who deserves the first award. We will bring it to you for the very first time right here on January 4, 2009.
CHOICE # 2:
CHOICE # 3:
CHOICE # 4:
CHOICE # 5:
TMH's "YOU GOT NAILED!" award will be granted based upon poor reporting, bad stories, un-professional coverage, general or blatant idiocy in the media, intentional use of propaganda, outright lies, biased "spin" or any other award earning stupidity which occurs during the weekly news cycle. It will be given to a reporter, a magazine or newspaper, a politician, a reporter, or a news anchor.
The award itself is a negative thing, similar to the "Golden Raspberry Awards" for acting. For those of you who are not familiar with "The Razzies," they are handed out on a yearly basis to members of the film industry. They "reward" the very worst in acting, screenwriting, directing, worst overall film, and several other categories. Each "winner" gets a "Razzie" and while it's an award that is definitely earned, it's not something that people in the film industry want to receive or openly covet.
Check out some of the past Golden Raspberry Award "winners" at the following link:
http://www.razzies.com/history/06winners.asp
The Media Hammer wants to follow in a similar tradition. And we're reminded of Keith Olbermann's segment on his MSNBC show "Countdown" entitled "Worst Person in the World."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/
So, check out the NEWLY REVISED (12/12/08) designs, vote for your favorite in the design poll at the right (located under the "Astronomy Picture of the Day" banner, and we will begin handing out the awards on a weekly basis once the voting is complete.
Easy enough, right? So okay, already...here are our TMH "YOU GOT NAILED!" design choices:
(Sledge Hammer images 2 and 5 courtesy of Adam Wheeler at:
http://www.functionalhandstrength.com/
Click on images to enlarge.
CHOICE # 1:
TMH's Staff is hard at work researching who deserves the first award. We will bring it to you for the very first time right here on January 4, 2009.
Thanks for helping to shape TMH!
--TMH
CHOICE # 2:
CHOICE # 3:
CHOICE # 4:
CHOICE # 5:
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