You know the deal.
I have been tobacco free for a while, but every now and then, I will be damned if I do not want a cigar.
Open Thread
Archives for April 2008
I Can’t Be The Only One
Via Sullivan, Ross Douthat discusses the Miley Cyrus “controversy” that I fortunately have missed out on until now:
I agree with my fellow moralistic scold, Rod Dreher, that the MSM handwringing over how Miley Cyrus’s handlers should have known better than to let the fifteen-year-old pose for the Vanity Fair photo that she’s now apologizing for is more than a little ridiculous; the whole thing looks like a staged controversy, not a real blunder. If you’re trying manage a transition from tween sensation to alluring grown-up star, doing an artsy, sexually-suggestive photo shoot and then hastily apologizing for it seems like a brilliant career move – you reap the benefits of the Vanity Fair treatment while simultaneously distancing yourself from it. And I also agree with Poulos that the photo in and of itself isn’t problematic. You can make perfectly tasteful art, as he says, from the “worshipful celebration of the fecundity of the pubescent female body.” The problem comes in because we inhabit “a culture in which ‘worship’ seems to mean corrupting unceremoniously and kicking to the curb.” One day you’re posing for Annie Leibowitz; the next you’ve ended up in the Britney-Lindsey-Paris circle of celebrity hell.
A few thoughts:
1.) I have no idea who Miley Cyrus is. None. Zero. Saying the name does remind me of that awful Billy Ray Cyrus song from the early 90’s we were all cursed to hear over and over and over again. But other than that, I have no clue who she is, nor do I think I care.
2.) I can’t be the only person on the planet who finds nothing “sexy” about that photograph. If I had seen it in a magazine I would have thought it was some kid in one of those “Got milk” pictures as I flipped past it.
3.) I am not completely sure, but I think congress attempted to pass a law a few years ago that would land you in jail for using the phrase “the fecundity of the pubescent female body” online. I believe the Supremes shot it down, however.
Consider this an open thread.
*** Update ***
Via the comments, I see she is in fact the daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus.
No good can come of this. I remember a joke about Achy Breaky Heart- something about three people being executed, and they were all asked their last wishes, one asked for a big meal, the second asked to hear Achy Breaky heart one last time, and the third, upon hearing the request from the second condemned person quipped, “kill me first.”
Speaking of Surrogates
You will have to bear with me today- I only got two hours sleep last night because of insomnia, so I am a bit crankier than usual today. At any rate, Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) is still a blithering idiot. Looking dumb while appearing on the same show as Larry King is quite an effort, but she was up too the task last night. The question asked of the roundtable was whether or not Obama had finally put the Rev. Wright issue to bed. Take it away, Rep. Lee:
KING: OK.
Congresswoman Lee, what do you think?
REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D), TEXAS, SUPPORTS CLINTON: Well, first of all, this is a tough position, but I think Democrats are focused on the prize. And that prize is winning in November. We have two great candidates. This is a troubling time.
But I want to applaud Senator Clinton, who really gets it. She understands that most of the Democratic primary voters from Pennsylvania to North Carolina to Indiana and on want to talk about the issues. And I commend her for the stand that she’s taken over the last 48 hours and begin to continue reaching out to voters in North Carolina and Indiana…
KING: But the question was…
JACKSON LEE: Well, I think…
KING: That wasn’t the question.
JACKSON LEE: Well, I think…
KING: The question was, do you think Obama put it away?
JACKSON LEE: Well, I think he responded as Senator Clinton responded, which is the voters want to talk about the issues.
KING: All right.
JACKSON LEE: And he addressed the question of his pastor. And that’s up to him to address that question.
I like what Senator Clinton is doing…
KING: OK. OK.
JACKSON LEE: …and that is getting out and working with the voters.
KING: I appreciate that. The question wasn’t about Hillary Clinton.
Jamal, do you think he put it away?
It was painful to watch, and that is saying something because you expect a certain level of pain when you watch Larry King.
You can say what you want about Hillary Clinton, but it is clear to me she is no dummy, so it really sucks to have people like Sheila Jackson Lee out there speaking for her, no matter how well intentioned Rep. Lee might be. That is one of the things I hate the most about current politics- it is so unrelenting and endless that you, by necessity, have all these people out there speaking for you, whose support you need so you can’t tell them to just shut up, and quality control is just bad. I feel bad for Hillary for this, and hell, I just feel bad for every candidate who has to run for office and has to deal with this sort of stupid.
I Finally Feel Like A Democrat
I was doing laundry and found myself reading the letters to the editor at USA Today, and came across this gem:
Wanted: God-fearing man
Rev. Kort Greene Jr. – Scottsville, Va.
I’m constantly being asked who I’m voting for or who I want to win the Democratic nomination. Many automatically assume that because I am an African-American I will vote Democrat — not!
I supported Mike Huckabee, not simply because he is a Republican but because he is a man of integrity and stands for godly principle. This is more than I can say about either of the Democratic candidates. They have so much in common and so many reasons why I could not in good conscience vote for either.
The only good thing I see about the Democratic campaigns is we are finding out how inept these candidates are, which is a plus for the Republicans.
Let’s pray that God will intervene and give us an honest, God-fearing man to run this country.
I read that and my first thought was that if McCain wins, it is profoundly unfair that I have to go down with the ship with this idiot, and then I immediately realized what it must have been like for the people who hated Bush all along, knew he would be a disaster, and had to sit around and suffer while jackasses like me voted for the guy they wanted to have a beer with or voted for Bush because they didn’t really “trust” John Kerry.
I guess that is the most depressing part of the Gas Tax nonsense below. Now that everyone on the planet is criticizing the McCain-Clinton plan, even Paul Krugman, grudgingly, the Clinton campaign will feel the need to respond. McCain of course, won’t, because he is a Republican, and Republicans don’t have to explain themselves when they say stupid things. They just say them, accuse the opposition of being weak or soft on terror and then move on to some other disastrously stupid statement.
Clinton, on the other hand, will feel the need to defend herself (Clintons only have two modes- attack and bunker mentality), and we will undoubtedly be treated to the spectacle of Clinton surrogates going on television spreading nonsense about how the gas tax holiday really will help blue collar voters, further dumbing down an already moronic electorate.
Dumb and Dumber
Tom Friedman, fresh off being pied by some undergrads, is back with a vengeance and calling out Hillary and McCain:
It is great to see that we finally have some national unity on energy policy. Unfortunately, the unifying idea is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away. Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for this summer’s travel season. This is not an energy policy. This is money laundering: we borrow money from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks. What a way to build our country.
Being called ridiculous by the guy whose last big idea was that the world is flat has got to leave a mark. This gas tax holiday nonsense is so stupid that even the Cato Institute trotted out Jerry Taylor to CNN to report that it was a dumb idea.
I really can not figure out what is more offensive about this pandering from Clinton and McCain- that they think they can fool you into believing the gas tax holiday will actually lower gas prices (it won’t), or that they think your vote can be bought for the princely sum of 2-3 bucks per week. We’ll call it a tie.
*** Update ***
More here.
Open Thread
Share a thing or two about a thing or two.
Late Night BSG Blogging
So last night when I said everything was predictable about this show, I meant it. Here is a prediction- Starbuck has met and is nailing some professional athlete who is part of the resistance on Caprica. I give him three episodes until he is dead. Can’t have the brooding masculine chick falling happily in love.
Again, I give him three episodes, max. Not that this is a bad show, just that it is far less original than many of you act like it is.