Elizabeth Edwards and Joe Biden: past sins you're not supposed to pay attention to.

It's now being alleged that Elizabeth Edwards (in a sort of Lady Macbeth fashion) aided the coverup of John Edwards' affair with Rielle Hunter--for the good of the Edwards campaign and apparently without thought of what would happen if this had become common knowledge in the hypothetical event of an Edwards candidacy.  And there's screams of anger from those who think Ms. Edwards should have her feet held to the fire regardless of her current struggle with cancer.  Here's an article posted on AOL: http://news.aol.com/article/edwards-wife-blasted-by-democrats/149213

With Joe Biden, there's been a great amount of whitewashing to spin him as a Wise Experienced Old Sage who will help guide Obama Skywalker and enable him to use The Force in the most effective bipartisan fashion.  Here's an article by David Greenberg on SLATE that discusses Biden's all-time greatest gaffe--plagiarizing a speech by British pol Neil Kinnock: http://www.slate.com/id/2198543/

And Biden put a cherry on top of this expedient, no-one-will-notice sundae by adapting Kinnock's life story as his very own.

Pay special attention to the picture of the younger Biden in the Greenberg piece.  It's not quite as convincing a depiction of contrition-in-public as that of Elliott Spitzer after his prostitution-related disgrace earlier this year.

Tags: Elizabeth Edwards, John Edwards, Neil Kinnock, Joseph Biden, plagiarism, David Greenberg, Slate.com

George Butch Jr. does the same old things in the same old ways.

http://news.aol.com/article/bush-blames-democrats-for-high-gas/135138

And there are people who still think Little Butch is a misunderstood savior (I can't bring myself to read Fareed Zakaria's "What Bush Got Right" article in a recent NEWSWEEK) and mindlessly want to give the oil companies whatever the hell they want without any meaningful oversight.

[Update 9/2/08--Little Butch is still on his more-drilling crusade, but now tying it to Hurricane Gustav: http://news.aol.com/article/bush-renews-call-for-more-drilling/154929]

And Nancy Pelosi, tower of Jello (to steal a great line describing Bill Macy's TV writer character in MY FAVORITE YEAR), goes along because she just wants to stay in Washington and slurp up perks like truffles at a pig trough.

Tags: George W. Bush, Fareed Zakaria, NEWSWEEK, Nancy Pelosi, Republican push for offshore drilling

The John McCain "pick a running mate" game.

You're John McCain--less than magnetic on the stump, uncomfortable with the "John McCain" caricature your staff wants and, like Bob Dole in 1996, eager to win the Presidency after being run off the road by the Bush family.

There are four paths you can take in choosing a Vice President:

1. Choose someone little-known who won't upstage you.

2. Mike Huckabee--may win over older and/or rigidly conservative Religious Right folks.  But be prepared for blowback from choosing a creationist running mate.

3. Condi Rice--may rally diehards who believe Bush was a fair man made fun of by the Evil Media and will someday be vindicated.  But tabloid media may want to dig into Ms. Rice's private life--which may make Religious Right uncomfortable.

4. Mitt Romney--will win over the Old Money/Wall Street wing of the GOP, no doubt.  And he may even be palatable to Religious Right after downplaying his Mormon faith a la JFK doing the same with his Catholicism in 1960.   But can the Number One on the ticket live with being overshadowed by Number Two?

[Assuming choices like Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg (an admittedly left-field pick) are off your table.]

Tags: John McCain, Rudolph Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Condoleezza Rice, Mike Huckabee, Michael Bloomberg, Republican Party 2008

Obama/Biden: why, why, why?

Yes, I'll still cast my ballot for Barack Obama in November because he's the more rational of the two main choices for President.  But I don't see how choosing uberhack Joe Biden (who, to be fair, can occasionally sound like he's actually read a position paper or two) can be spun as a positive decision--unless Obama and David Axelrod have a fantasy of Biden being a sort of Spiro Agnew-esque putdown machine on the campaign trail.

And Obama has given a bountiful gift to the Republicans--who can rehash Biden's various verbal missteps (remember the plagiarism from British pol Neil Kinnock's speech, for one thing) ad nauseum in radio/TV ads this week and next.

Tags: Barack Obama, Joseph Biden, Joseph Biden's verbal gaffes, Neil Kinnock, David Axelrod, Bill Burton, Spiro Agnew, Richard Nixon

Vice-Presidential picks for both sides.

Not that anyone will listen to me, but:

For John McCain, Jon Voight would be an ideal pick.  Voight's celebrity will distract from McCain's shortcomings on the stump.  And Voight can be assured of an audience ready to keep hearing his already-practiced "I was once a liberal but woke up" stump speech on shows like GLENN BECK, THE O'REILLY FACTOR, HANNITY AND COLMES and MORNING JOE.

For Barack Obama, Claire McCaskill would be an ideal pick.  She doesn't come with Hillary Clinton's negative baggage and would help to heal some of the wounds from last spring's long primary season.

Tags: 2008 Presidential election, Barack Obama, John McCain, Jon Voight, Claire McCaskill

RD Raindog Armstrong on the virtues of self-publishing.

There's a well-regarded literary poet in L.A. who is about to have a book published by a boutique "small press"--I'll go ahead and say it, Red Hen--and this event is being treated like the poet has never had a book in print before.

Awhile back, I wrote on a poetry listserve that self-publishing means you're often treated like the literary equivalent of Pinocchio--not a "real" poet and/or author because you haven't been "blessed" by someone with "taste."  That's not true, but it's an enduring myth with a lot of power in the SoCal community.

Here's a link to poet/publisher RD "Raindog" Armstrong discussing DIY publication: http://www.lummoxpress.com/journal/j003/index3.php

Tags: Red Hen Press, RD Raindog Armstrong, Lummox Press, Little Red Books, Dufus, Lummox Journal

Pastor Rick Warren and Bill Maher: God deserves better friends and enemies.

It might be one thing if Orange County megapastor Rick Warren wanted to have an ecumenical conversation on faith and values and invite clerics from various religions--or even a private sitdown with the two Presidential candidates.  But to read that Warren spent some of yesterday basically inflating his ego ("I CAN SUMMON BARACK OBAMA AND JOHN McCAIN AND THEY WILL APPEAR BEFORE ME!!!) and mainstream recognition value by imitating last year's CNN "values" interview program (hosted by Soledad "gosh and golly" O'Brien) is disconcerting.  And, like Soledad, Warren asked a variation of "what's your favorite worst sin": http://news.aol.com/elections/article/mccain-and-obama-cite-moral-failures/135340?icid=200100397x1207606354x1200393589

In other religious news, Bill Maher's likely-to-be-smirky mockreligionumentary RELIGULOUS is getting an out-of-town tryout at the Laemmle multiplex in conservative Claremont, California.  Maybe Bill, director Larry Charles and distributor Lionsgate are trying to figure out how to manufacture some controversy for the film, which is about a month and a half away from its official release (this could mean some dumb, transparent tactic like hiring background actors from a nonunion agency to play outraged Christians for a fake-amateur YouTube video).  Here's a link to the Laemmle site: http://laemmle.com/viewtheatre.php?thid=17

Update (8/19/08): RELIGULOUS is playing in Claremont, as well as in the NYC area, for Academy Awards Documentary Feature qualification purposes.  Thanks to Jeffrey Wells for revealing this in HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE: http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2008/08/suburban_bookin.php

 

Tags: Rick Warren. THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE, Barack Obama, John McCain, Soledad O'Brien, CNN, Bill Maher, Larry Charles, RELIGULOUS

RIP Jerry Wexler: legendary producer of r&b/rock.

Jerry Wexler, who produced major recording artists from Aretha Franklin to Bob Dylan, has died at the age of 91.

Here's a link to a ROLLING STONE summary of Wexler's 20 Greatest Hits: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/22615303/wex_on_wax_twenty_essential_jerry_wexler_productions

And here's the RS obit for Wexler's life and career: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/22595667/the_record_collector_jerry_wexler_dies_at_age_91

Tags: Jerry Wexler, Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan