Mark Halperin, in his latest piece in Time, compares the “news” media coverage of O.J. Simpson (really) and the recent Shirley Sherrod ordeal, and actually comes out of it with a good point: Just as there was something intrinsically interesting about one of America’s best-known and best-liked athletes being charged with a brutal double murder, the craven sacking of Sherrod contained some elements that are undeniably compelling. And both stories involved racial elements that increased their news velocity. But the coverage of both sagas — Simpson’s, literally, for years; Sherrod’s for the better part of a week...
Continue reading...July 2010
Morning Constitutional – Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Good morning, folks. Spain\’s finally getting their own version of The Golden Girls. Now, your morning constitutional: No matter who wins, whether it be Republican U.S. Representative Mary Fallin or Democratic Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins, Oklahoma is virtually assured of electing its first woman governor in November. Interestingly enough, Oklahoma ranks 49th in percentage of women in their state legislature; South Carolina, which ranks 50th, may also elect its first woman governor (Nikki Haley). The oil spill in the Gulf seems to be clearing faster than anticipated, but of course, concerns about unseen effects remain. A study...
Continue reading..."Joe the Plummer" likes underdogs
Don’t tell Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher this, but the horse he’s betting on is down 62-13 according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. His horse would be state lawmaker Chuck Purgason (no, not Turd Ferguson, sadly), and the race is the August 3 Republican primary for the open U.S. Senate seat from Missouri. The odds-on favorite horse in this race is Rep. Roy Blunt (no, not Roy Blount Jr., sadly), who, based on the context, I guess is a “politician like Obama.”
Continue reading...What's Next for Touchdown Jesus
As you’ll recall, last month a 62-foot statue of Jesus burned down after a lightning strike. It happens that this monstrosity is right along the highway I take from the airport when I visit my family in Ohio, so I got to see the skeletal remains of TD Jesus when I was there last week. I was curious about the church’s plans– perhaps after the fire, they’d had an epiphany that there are more worthy uses of $250,000 than reconstructing hideous flammable statuary? Ha! Of course not. Pastor Darlene Bishop brushed off such suggestions, saying that Solid...
Continue reading...New York Times Columnist Line of the Day
If you’re one of the four-or-so frequent readers of this here blog, chances are you also occasionally check out the New York Times op-ed page. You may even know the names: Thomas “Friedman’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose” Friedman, Gail “The Colander” Collins, Nicholas “The Dark Crystal” Kristof, &c. Well, I’ve decided to devote a daily feature to these folks, by daily pointing out one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Today\’s is from David \”Yawny-Pants\” Brooks, who in his column, \”The...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Good morning, folks. Amanda Bynes is apparently not so retired after all. Now, your morning constitutional: BP posted a loss of $16.9B for the three months from April to June, the largest ever for a British company. Meanwhile, CEO Tony Hayward is resigning and will be replaced by Robert Dudley, the executive who led the spill response. Dudley will be the first American to run the company. During a trip to Turkey, British PM David Cameron said Turkey must join the European Union. He also said that the Israeli blockade has turned Gaza into a \”prison camp.\”...
Continue reading...Mad Men, "Public Relations"
“Who is Don Draper?” With the season finale of Doctor Who conveniently falling on the same weekend as the premiere of Mad Men season 4, I’ve been recruited to add it to the Arts & Culture rotation. First, here’s a link to a quick recap of seasons 1-3 courtesy of Gawker TV. It’s November 1964 and almost a year has passed since the events of the season 3 finale. “Public Relations” begins with an interview, but Don is typically reluctant to talk about himself. In his old life, he could get away with this; he was mysterious...
Continue reading...Doctor Who, "The Big Bang"
Doctor: “We’re all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?” “The Big Bang” opens not where we left off last week, but rather on a scene repeated from the season’s first episode: Amelia Pond praying for someone to come and close the crack in her bedroom wall. This time, however, there is no Doctor. In a therapy session, Amelia paints a picture of the night sky, the moon surrounded by stars — her own version of van Gogh’s The Starry Night. When asked what she’s drawn, Amelia calmly explains that they’re stars. “Oh,...
Continue reading...New York Times Columnist Line of the Day
If you’re one of the four-or-so frequent readers of this here blog, chances are you also occasionally check out the New York Times op-ed page. You may even know the names: Thomas “Friedman’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose” Friedman, Gail “The Colander” Collins, Nicholas “The Dark Crystal” Kristof, &c. Well, I’ve decided to devote a daily feature to these folks, by daily pointing out one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Today\’s is from Ross \”Do That Thing\” Douthat, who in his...
Continue reading...New York Times Columnist Line of the Day
If you’re one of the four-or-so frequent readers of this here blog, chances are you also occasionally check out the New York Times op-ed page. You may even know the names: Thomas “Friedman’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose” Friedman, Gail “The Colander” Collins, Nicholas “The Dark Crystal” Kristof, &c. Well, I’ve decided to devote a daily feature to these folks, by daily pointing out one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Today\’s is from Ross \”Do That Thing\” Douthat, who in his...
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