I do think, Diane, that Fred Thompson had a terrific night. I mean, this is the Fred Thompson we used to see as an actor on television. He was confident. He was funny. He was well informed. The question is, is it too late to matter?
I’m being as objective as possible here; I even thought Guiliani had a pretty good night, but Fred Thompson? He was a mumbling bowl of ill-informed mush. A complete disaster. How did Stephanopolous come away from watching that debate thinking Thompson had a “terrific night”?
I see looking around at the comments sections of liberal blogs that many progressive nutrooters (hey, sometimes it works) have decided that Barack Obama is now worthy of their thickheaded spittle-flecked scorn. He’s Republican-lite or, worse yet, the black Lieberman, because, well, gosh diggity dog, he isn’t angry enough and he has the gall to suggest that Americans want to be united and he’s telling voters that he can help them achieve that goal (how fucked up! it’s like he’s running for office or something!). He’s also got a massive personality-cult-driven God complex. Oh, and he didn’t support the tremendously bland Ned Lamont enough, even though he did, and I guess Lamont didn’t get the “Obama sucks” memo because he’s donated the max amount of money ($2300) to Barack and hasn’t contributed a dime to John Edwards, the anointed Saint of ‘08 for this angry set of mostly ex-Deaniac ding dongs.
And speaking of Edwards, I like the guy and I’m still torn between voting for him or Obama in the NY primary (if Edwards is still around—Joe Trippi works for him), but why have the nutrooters latched onto Edwards as their preferred progressive choice? He’s still opposed to gay marriage and he can apologize for it all he wants, but he voted for the Iraq war. If the leftwing dunderheads tearing down Obama had anything resembling cajones, they’d be supporting the only real 100% progressive candidate in the primaries ... Dennis Kucinich. But they’re just as image conscious, triangulating and full of shit as they’re accusing Barack of being. Which is why they should STFU and stop with the negative and inaccurate self-destructive spin.
YIKES: Here’s an example of the anti-Obama lunacy I outlined above. Notice how many times she refers to Obama as a “piece of shit.” Charming. (link found in comments here)
He flatlined in Iowa and he’s struggling in New Hampshire, but Rudy Giuliani shook off the early-state blues Thursday as only he can.
“None of this worries me - Sept. 11, there were times I was worried,” Giuliani said.
What a dope. I’m beginning to become convinced that the ghost of Andy Kauffman is one of his advisers and this is just some kind of bizarre performance art shtick.
What the hell. And I might as well go out on a few limbs…
Democrats:
Edwards
Obama
Clinton
Biden
Republicans:
Huckabee
Romney
Paul
Thompson
UPDATE: It turns out several pundits and bloggers are picking Edwards for #1, which I thought was a gutsy call on my part. Guess not. But it looks like I’m the only non-Ron Paul supporter to pick Paul for the #3 slot. (Hell, who am I kidding, every Paulbearer is picking him for #1.) In 2004 I’m pretty sure I was the only person to pick Howard Dean to finish #3 in Iowa, so don’t laugh yet.
Let’s compare campaign ads between John Edwards and Rudy Giuliani.
Edwards:
Giuliani:
That pretty much crystallizes the differences we’re seeing between the Democrats and the Republicans running for president this year. It’s your choice America. What’s it going to be? Giving a leg up to your fellow countrymen or letting pee stream down your own?
My great pal Mark’s resolutions were a day late arriving, but I’m a few days late calling your attention to them. Go check ‘em out. They’re wonderful. Mark’s one of the best new writers in the blogosphere and worthy of your attention. He’s thoughtful and funny. A seemingly impossible combination but he pulls it off with ease. Bravo.
“Frosty the Snowman”—Leon Redbone & Dr. John (from my favorite Christmas album of all-time, Christmas Island)
THE MOM AND POP CULTURE SHOP: My old pal Anna, who I haven’t seen in ages, is running a great lil’ blog that spotlights her thrift store finds (outsider art, weird vinyl, etc.). It’s a fun place to visit, her blurbs are a hoot, and it shoehorns nicely into the holidays.
MATT BURLINGAME: Burlingame’s oddball sculptures and dioramas don’t shoehorn quite as nicely into the holidays (unless Christmas makes you think about zombies and robots), but if any of you would like to buy me some of his artwork I’d consider it to be THE.BEST.XMAS.PRESENT.EVER.
BUZZWORDS OF 2007: The New York Times says, “You didn’t hear them here first. But chances are that in 2007 you caught these phrases somewhere.” Ummm, actually, no, I hadn’t heard about a lot of these. I would have thought “Nose bidet” was a really bad band name.
IT’S THE MANDATE, STUPID: The New Republic‘s Noam Scheiber posted a good analysis of why Barack’s been creeping up on Hillary
This year we’re joining forces with FREEwilly and releasing our Best Music of 2007 list in tandem. You can check out their list here. Our “touch points” were more limited than in the past, so we didn’t attempt to combine our lists this year, but you can spot check both lists to see what we agreed on.
In 2007 I found myself listening primarily to the endless onslaught of grade-A funk and soul collections that were released this year (I’ll get to those on a later date), but below you can find the newly-minted gems that cut through the grind…
Best Albums of 2007
1. Blitzen Trapper—Wild Mountain Nation
The Kinks meet Pavement or, more specifically, Muswell Hillbillies meets Wowee Zowee. It’s like it was written and performed just for me. And it was.
2. O’Death—Head Home (2007 Ernest Jenning release)
I’m cheating a bit because they self-released this in 2006 before Ernest Jenning picked it up and remastered it, but it needs many more faces to tear off. If the term “life-affirming Appalachian stomp” doesn’t excite you, please go figure out how to fuck a doorknob. (More here).
3. Various Artists—Top Shelf 8/8/88
I’m cheating a bit because these songs were originally recorded in 1988 before they were discovered in New Jersey. Only they weren’t and this is a shameless, badly-cloaked hoax. And I don’t care at all because I listened to this release more than anything else in 2007. (More here.)
4. Bowerbirds—Hymns for a Dark Horse
A few hippies who favor lilting acoustic ballads live in the woods in a trailer without electricity and form a band. And, amazingly, they don’t suck. At all. I want to make a parka out of them.
5. Wu-Tang Clan—8 Diagrams
RZA is so far off the hook on this one that the cord has snapped to Uruguay.
I was going to move away from Francisco Nava and Oranginagate, but this quote from Timecracked me up:
Says Sherif Gergis, a senior and former Anscome president: “We saw conservative bloggers start to capitalize on this, saying, ‘Look at the politically-motivated indifference.’”
Gergis, who was also one of the e-mail recipients, says he had brushed off the threat until he got a call on Dec. 14 from Prof. George: [Francisco] Nava had been assaulted and was at the University Medical Center. At the hospital, Nava explained his story. “He described to us, in really creepy detail in retrospect, how it supposedly happened,” Gergis recalled. “He said, ‘Their breath was so distinctive; if I could only smell everybody’s breath, I would be able to pick them out.’”
“Today we have scored a victory for American civil liberties and sent a message to President Bush that we will not tolerate his abuse of power and veil of secrecy,” [Chris] Dodd said in a written statement Monday night, after the compromise was announced. “The President should not be above the rule of law, nor should the telecom companies who supported his quest to spy on American citizens.”
Congrats to Dodd for showing Reid and the rest of the Senate Dems where their spines are located.
