SALON won't quit Bill Clinton, but doing short-term contortions over his campaign-trail antics.

Yes, we all know the Bay Area webzine SALON had a past where Bill Clinton's behavior during Monicagate (essentially wasting a year of his Presidency over pigheadedness instead of taking a hit in February of 1998, putting it behind him and moving on) was stridently defended.

And Glenn Greenwald's blog post below probably is an indicator of the loud internal debates going on in the SALON offices over whether Bill's race-card shenanigans should be condemned or given a one-time pass because Hillary's election means a return to the Good Old Days when the Clintons and SALON could profit from posturing about being caught in the crosshairs of right-wing hatred.

Here's Mr. Greenwald's article:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/01/27/clinton/index.html

Tags: Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Joan Walsh, SALON.com, Glenn Greenwald, Joe Conason, Sidney Blumenthal, the vast right-wing conspiracy

NEWSWEEK still can't quit Bill Clinton.

One would think that the mainstream media would join a lot of Democrats in waking up to the reality of Bill Clinton's hypocrisies and mendacities (most recently, Bill's racist/condescending remark equating Barack Obama's Presidential campaign with those of Jesse Jackson) a decade after being coerced (likely by such wonderful spinmeisters as Joe Conason, James Carville and Sidney Blumenthal) into rallying around Bill during the battle against Kenneth Starr during Monicagate.

Take a look at this NEWSWEEK article to learn otherwise:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/105679

 

Tags: Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Sidney Blumenthal, Joe Conason, James Carville, Kenneth Starr, Barack Obama, Jesse Jackson, 2008 South Carolina primaries

Re campaign horse race coverage: The vapidity of MSNBC's Contessa Brewer.

Remember awhile back when I mentioned the cringe-inducing "get to know me" ad of MSNBC's Contessa Brewer (a sort of Courtney Cox Arquette clone) singing karaoke?

Thanks to the Gawker.com website, I found this link from the site of the Columbia School of Journalism:

http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/omg_msnbc.php

What a great moronic discussion between Contessa and Ben Shapiro (another shallow, image-obsessed person) over whether or not Hillary Clinton should use Botox during the current campaign!

Perhaps Bill Clinton shoud aim his finger-wagging outrage at NBCUniversal for the time being.

Tags: Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Contessa Brewer, Ben Shapiro, Columbia Journalism Review, MSNBC

Regarding the lesser-known films of Heath Ledger.

Like most people, I was surprised and saddened by the death of actor Heath Ledger yesterday.

I haven't seen some of Ledger's film work (namely NED KELLY, CANDY and LORDS OF DOGTOWN).

Please feel free to mention if any or all of these films are worth catching up with on DVD or cable.

Tags: Heath Ledger, death of Heath Ledger, NED KELLY, CANDY, LORDS OF DOGTOWN

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Filling in the blanks re the obits for Suzanne Pleshette and John Stewart.

When celebrities pass away, the younger writers who do obituaries often opt to write a couple of quick sentences about what the celeb did that was Most Popular or Recognizable to the current generation--and the remainder of the celeb's career is forgotten (apparently because it's too much bother to take a couple of extra minutes to Google for added information on the celeb).

Suzanne Pleshette had a varied career in film before THE BOB NEWHART SHOW (being both a Warner Brothers contract starlet, i.e. ROME ADVENTURE with Troy Donahue and a Walt Disney Productions female lead, i.e. THE UGLY DACHSUND with Dean Jones).  The Newhart series gave her Icon status and paved the way for more TV work (one late example was playing James Garner's wife in the sitcom 8 SIMPLE RULES).  Simply put, Ms. Pleshette (whose actor brother John once played Lee Harvey Oswald in a hypothetical what-if-Oswald-lived-to-stand-trial TV-movie) could make bad scripts bearable and was terrific with great material (as THE BOB NEWHART SHOW attests).  And one hopes that some of Ms. Pleshette's more grown-up film work (such as A RAGE TO LIVE, SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GUNFIGHTER and IF IT'S TUESDAY, THIS MUST BE BELGIUM) might get aired soon on Turner Classic Movies.

John Stewart was characterized in obits as the writer of "Daydream Believer" (which was a smash single for The Monkees) and former member of The Kingston Trio, with a cursory nod to his 40 albums as a solo artist.

One of those albums, CALIFORNIA BLOODLINES, is treasured by aficionados of folk music.  A later, more folk-rock album, 1979's BOMBS AWAY DREAM BABIES, actually had a hit single called "Gold", with backing vocals from Stevie Nicks.

 

Tags: Suzanne Pleshette, John Pleshette, John Stewart, CALIFORNIA BLOODLINES, BOMBS AWAY DREAM BABIES, DREAM BABIES GO HOLLYWOOD, James Garner, Dean Jones, Troy Donahue, Internet Movie Database

Random list re the current trivialization of the Presidential campaign process.

Channeling Larry King again, here's a couple of random examples of what I consider birdbrained Presidential horse-race coverage:

1. Keith Olbermann showing his partiality to the Clintons by distorting Barack Obama's comments about Ronald Reagan being an agent of "change."  No, I didn't vote for Reagan and I was well aware of the damage he did to social services and public health (let's not forget the refusal to act on AIDS because it was a "gay disease") so the U.S. could have a bloated defense budget and covert military ops.  But to mischaracterize Obama's generalized "Reagan as leader of movement" remark as an endorsement of Reaganism is something akin to the behavior Olbermann frequently skewers nemesis Bill O' Reilly for.

2. Precious TV/online time devoted to Mike Huckabee's pet movie/TV star Chuck Norris (a man in his 60s) making a silly comment about John McCain's age (meant apparently to be code for "he may have health issues like Paul Tsongas did").  It's grimly amusing that the party that gave America Ronald Reagan (not a youngster when he was elected) would resort to this kind of intraconservative  feces-throwing.

Tags: Keith Olbermann, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Chuck Norris, Ronald Reagan, Paul Tsongas, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Bill O'Reilly

The budget cuts continue at the Sam Zell-owned LOS ANGELES TIMES.

No comment needed about this sobering article:

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/la-times-editor-fired-in-dispute/n20080120194409990010

Tags: Sam Zell, LOS ANGELES TIMES, Tribune Company

A letter to David L. Ulin of the LOS ANGELES TIMES.

Recently, I sent the following letter via e-mail to David Ulin, editor of the Sunday Book Review section of the LOS ANGELES TIMES.  Since Mr. Ulin didn't respond, I'm printing it here due to its relevance.

Dear Mr. Ulin,

 

Recently, you (panning the latest Bukowski anthology in the L.A. TIMES) said something interesting about the literary scene when you came along in the early 90s.  To paraphrase, you said the rivalries are more vicious when the stakes are low.  I'm guessing you meant that a scene running mostly on campaigning for prestige tends to eat its own when there's not a plethora of publishing opportunites and other means for exposure.

 

If you could, please take time to elaborate on what you said in the review and don't hesitate to correct any misinterpretations I may have.  I'm a lower-rung poet in L.A. (with one "published" poem in a years-ago Tebot Bach anthology) and it seems like the more time passes, the more things stay the same (certainly, the local poetry scene's pendulum is tilted more to formality in verse and interrelationships than acceptance of eccentricity and egalitarianism--as it might have been when you first moved here).

 

Sincerely,
Terry McCarty

 

Tags: David L. Ulin, LOS ANGELES TIMES, Los Angeles poetry, Orange County poetry

Tom Cruise on Scientology.

Today is the official release of Andrew Morton's tell-all-that-isn't-considered-actionable biography of Tom Cruise.

Here's the link to a 2006 video of Tom talking about Scientology (originally shown during a church awards ceremony):

http://www.wwtdd.com/post.phtml?pk=3383

Lots of intensity, bursts into wild laughter and the phrase "you're in or you're out."

Tags: Tom Cruise, Church of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, Andrew Morton, TOM CRUISE: THE UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY

Re the WGA strike and DGA negotiations with AMPTP: Will the cure be worse than the disease?

I just finished reading the reader responses to news of the DGA/AMPTP negotiations (to begin soon) on Nikki Finke's DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD DAILY blog (found at http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com).

Also, I happened to pick up the Time Warner mag ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY and saw a headline that wailed about the imperilment of the Oscar telecast.

Gilbert Cates (the auteur of the long-forgotten OH GOD! BOOK TWO) is the Director's Guild's chief negotiator with the Hollywood producing community. 

Cates is also the producer of this year's Oscar telecast.

It's safe to share WGA worries that Cates might not push too hard for favorable-and-just new-media (i.e. Internet) compensation during DGA/AMPTP negotiations.

This could mean that the DGA could easily accept a take-it-or-leave-it offer from the AMPTP.

And the WGA could be demonized for not falling into line--with most of the demonization centering around the Academy Awards telecast.

Personally, I don't think the Republic will fall if a writerless Oscar show occurs with an agreement that the WGA won't set up picket lines (the WGA has agreed not to picket on Sunday when the Hollywood Foreign Press has its Golden Globes announcement ceremony).

 

Tags: Nikki Finke, DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD DAILY, Michael Apted, Gilbert Cates, Directors Guild of America, Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers, Writers Guild of America

Frances Kissling on Hillary.

Another SALON article link, this one from a feminist activist who reminds readers of some valuable caveats concerning Hillary's recent record and the Clinton White House's less-than-sterling treatment of women:

http://salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/01/10/kissling_clinton/

Tags: Frances Kissling, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Lani Guinier, Democratic Leadership Council

Camille Paglia on Hillary.

This may offend those people who, in the short term, believe that Hillary Clinton is Everywoman, but here is Camille Paglia's take on Hillary and Bill:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2008/01/10/hillary/

Tags: Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Camille Paglia, Barack Obama

A question for the ages re Hillary's victory in NH.

Regarding Hillary Clinton's win in the New Hampshire primary (fueled by a soft voice near-breaking plus a weary recital of the line "WHAT'S WRONG WITH EXPERIENCE?"

The question is: Was Hillary's show of emotion sincere or something similar to the foot-tapping-while-in-wheelchair scene in Tim Robbins' 1992 political satire BOB ROBERTS?

Another question could be: After eight years of Bill the horndog who helped give Americans low-product-standards globalization and Hillary the spouse whose ego and imperiousness killed the Health Security plan, why should voters reject the possibilities of change represented by Obama, Edwards (though he still reminds me of a used-car salesman, no matter how good Joe Trippi's populist rhetoric sounds) or Kucinich for four to eight years more of mealy-mouthed centrist Democratic Leadership Council crapola which is like a meal that leaves you hungry thirty seconds later?

Tags: Democratic Leadership Council, Al From, Joe Trippi, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Tim Robbins, BOB ROBERTS

A best-of-2007 list of films/movies.

This isn't intended to be in any specific order, but here's a "best of 2007 in film" list:

ATONEMENT, I'M NOT THERE, A MIGHTY HEART, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY, THE KING OF KONG: A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS, NO END IN SIGHT, LA VIE EN ROSE, THE SAVAGES, BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD, THE HOAX, SWEENEY TODD, ZODIAC

Honorable mention: WE OWN THE NIGHT, 3:10 TO YUMA, MARGOT AT THE WEDDING, THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, THE ORPHANAGE, IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH, GONE BABY GONE, JUNO, MICHAEL CLAYTON, SERAPHIM FALLS, RATATOUILLE, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD, THE LOOKOUT, THE SIMPSONS MOVIE, TALK TO ME

Underachieving films of the year: SPIDER-MAN 3, LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD (or DIE HARD 4.0 as it's known in Europe), THE BRAVE ONE, SHOOT 'EM UP, GEORGIA RULES

Reissues of the year: DIVA, BLADE RUNNER: THE FINAL CUT

Semi-guilty pleasures of the year: SMOKING ACES, PLANET TERROR (GRINDHOUSE version)

 

 

 

 

Tags: 2007 Best Picture Lists, 10 Best Movies lists, Worst Films lists

Mike Huckabee: the worship continues.

So it looks like the Southern Baptist who doesn't believe in evolution is continuing to get a free ride from the Presidential horse-race media.

Sidebar: I've read some amusing comments re the horse race.  First is Howard Dean's comment that the Republican candidates look as if they could have emerged from the 50's/early 60s TV comedy series DOBIE GILLIS (if so, then they'd be the uber-rich characters of Milton Armitage--played for a handful of episodes by Warren Beatty--and Chatsworth Osborne III--played for the remaining series by the underheralded character actor Steve Franken).  Also, THE NEW YORKER compared Barack, John and Hillary to the three leads (Michael Cole, Clarence Williams III and Peggy Lipton) on the 60s police series THE MOD SQUAD.

Tags: Mike Huckabee, THE MANY LOVES OF DOBIE GILLIS, THE MOD SQUAD, Howard Dean, THE NEW YORKER 1/7/08