A new David Zucker ad. Clearly not as amusing as the first one, but what immediately stands out is the focus on Democrats and taxes.
Zucker’s a 9/11 Republican… one of those life-long Democrats who voted for Bush in 2004 because he didn’t trust the Democrats on national security issues. I guess he’s decided he likes paying less in taxes as well.
crossposted from On Tap.
I’m here at the Ronald Reagan building in Washington for a panel discussion on ‘’24′’ and the War on Terror. Rush Limbaugh moderating, Tony Almeda and Chloe O’Brien on the panel (as well as President Logan). Oh yeah, some guy named Michael Chertoff’s here too. :p
No sign of Jack Bauer. He probably doesn’t have time for things like this.
It’s just about to get started, so I’ll post impressions later today.
***Update***
It’s a who’s who of attendees. Clarence Thomas is down front, Maureen Dowd is floating around, and Laura Ingraham is here as well.
***Update***
This was a much more interesting discussion than what I’d anticipated.
To start, Michael Chertoff made a pretty astute observation: that Jack Bauer often has to make “the best choice from a series of bad options”. It’s a simple statement, but it applies in real life. All too often the Kos’s and Atrios’s of the world demand that we do things their way, not understanding that their way is either unrealistic or impossible given the options our enemy present to us.
Joel Surnow, the creator of “24″, brought down the house when he said that the show is a form of “wish fulfillment.” He went on to say it’s pretty clear on the show that “terrorists are the bad guys and we’re the good guys.” Yes, we hear that sentiment so infrequently from Hollywood that the audience cheered.
Also, interestingly enough, Surnow said the idea of a “real time” show came about before the idea of CTU. The original “real time” concept was going to be a wedding day, and it was going to be a romantic comedy.
Limbaugh was great and really had a fun time with the cast and crew of the show. He and Carlos Bernard (who played Tony Almeda) had some great moments of bantering back and forth.
Surnow was predictably close-lipped about what’s in store for Season 6, but he did offer a few clues. If you don’t want to read the spoilers, stop reading now.
The show will do stuff in D.C. next year. The president will be based in D.C., but most of the show will continue to be shot in Los Angeles.
Aaron Pierce will be back next year. Interestingly, Surnow said he was originally going to be killed off in Season 5, but the actor convinced the producers there had been too many main characters die.
President Logan will be back next year as well, or at least that was strongly suggested by Surnow.
And one spoiler for the “24″ movie, which is currently being written. It was described by Surnow as a big action flick that will not be tied to real time (but will take place over 24 hours). It will also be shot on location, and Surnow mentioned it would have a lot of overseas filming.
I don’t typically plug the show on the blog (seperation of job and personal stuff, I guess), but this is really too cool.
Sgt. Peter Damon, the Iraq War vet who’s suing Michael Moore is going to be on the show today. You can hear him at 5:20 Eastern at www.nranews.com or on Sirius Satellite Radio on Patriot 144.
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Morrissey, the mopey Brit rocker (note to Morrissey: mopey and morose is somewhat charming when you’re in your mid-20’s. When you’re in your late-40’s, it just makes you a whiny git) is lashing out at medical researchers in England, telling them “We’ll get you” while performing in Oxford. The university town is slated to be the home of a new facility that’s come under fire from animal rights activists throughout the country.
Perhaps he’s afraid of someone mistaking his eyebrows for a pair of mating muskrats.
I’m at an event for ‘’online influencers'’ in DC regarding a bill that would apparently make it much harder to partipate in online poker games. Some poker player with the nickname of ‘’Jesus'’ is here. I’ve been told this is a big deal. More details later.
**Update**
So I didn’t get home ’til midnight, at which point I decided sleeping beat blogging. Here’s the obligatory picture of me with a celebrity. I swear this might be the worst picture of me ever taken.
Now, about this bill. Radley Balko has a pretty good summary of why he opposes the billhere. The bill would ban online gaming, ban linking to online gaming, and perhaps most concerning, require your bank to monitor your account.
Particularly bothersome are ACH transactions, the favored method of payment at most gaming sites. ACH transactions leave a more generic paper trail than credit card transactions. For banks to get to the point where they could track these kinds of transactions would require a level of familiarity and intimacy with your buying habits that ought to make all but the most ardent police-staters skittish. One gaming industry rep describes the requirement as “know your customer on steroids.”
In addition to the privacy concerns, there are also more general concerns about deputizing private businesses to start monitoring and policing the activities of their customers. We got into this mess, of course, with money laundering laws. Now we’re seeing the same M.O. applied to Internet gambling. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it soon applied to porn sites, too.
More coverage here.
And just to be balanced, here’s what the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling thinks about online gambling.
Joanne Jacobs has some required reading about some of the insanity in our schools. Just start at the top and keep scrolling down.
Al Franken may be running for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota.
Did you ever think we’d see a day when we had Governor Schwartzenegger and (a possible) Senator Franken?
Twenty years from now it’ll be Senator Sandler and Governor Affleck.
Envy. It’s so unbecoming of me. But I am envious of one of my fellow bloggers. Can’t really reveal more, but envious I am.
Very very envious.
Has Andy Kaufman returned from the dead?
Twenty years ago, on May 16, 1984, most of the world believed that we had lost a comedic legend forever. This has turned out to be what will inevitably be known as the greatest comic prank ever conceived. Andy Kaufman, by all accounts, is alive and well at age 55 and is now living in New York City on the upper west side. To his loyal supporters and fans, Andy says “sorry about faking my death,” in a recent interview with ABC News at his apartment. In order to reach legendary comic status and seal his place in the history of performance art, he said it was “necessary to go away for twenty years.”
So what do you do when you return from the dead? You start a blog.
I’m not buying it. For one thing… it’s not funny. Go pretend to be Red Skelton, whoever you are.
At least we now know that Bill Mahr is a bipartisan twit.
Can’t say I’m all that shocked that many celebrities get paid for appearing at charity events. I kind of figured as much… I just didn’t realize how much cash and prizes were being handed out.
Indeed, some celebrities even draw up formal contracts for their charity-circuit appearances. For example, the William Morris Agency sent Bill Cosby an agreement guaranteeing him a $75,000 fee and $10,000 in expense money to receive the Humanitarian Award at a UCLA cancer research benefit set for early this year. The pact also spelled out that he’d receive a luxury sedan and “100% Headline Billing” for the event. Tonken’s business collapsed, however, before the gala was held.
A Cosby spokesman said the comic instructed his agent to tell the charity he would donate his fee to the group if the event went forward. The spokesman said he didn’t know why Cosby didn’t simply forgo the fee.
Sometimes, Tonken-connected charities did well. For instance, the SHARE event for which Tonken rounded up talent, although he wasn’t in charge raised $1.3 million. Nonetheless, authorities and event participants note that every dollar spent wooing a celebrity is a dollar that could have gone to the needy.
In Gerald Ford’s case, that was a couple hundred grand.
The former president and his wife, Betty, were handed that much for agreeing to receive the Special Giving Award during a Tonken-organized event called a Family Celebration in April 2001. The benefit was held to raise money for 18 charities, including Cure Autism Now and the Starlight Children’s Foundation.
The $200,000 the Fords received amounted to four times what the former president typically earns for public speeches and represented about 15% of the event’s total take that night. Added to the tab was a $150,000 donation to the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage.
Asked about the $200,000 personal payment, a Ford spokeswoman said: “That’s what he was offered.”
That rationale, however, doesn’t sit well with some.
“To find out people were being paid for their services, and paid exorbitantly, is disillusioning,” said Marsue MacNicol, who helped arrange for her husband, actor Peter MacNicol, to appear at a Family Celebration without any remuneration.
As for the payment to the Fords, MacNicol said: “I think it’s outrageous.”
Yep. Especially when I only got a freakin’ Timex from the Greater Oklahoma City Cure for Baldness gala.
The list of celebri-lefties I consciously choose not to subsidize is a pretty small one. I bought R.E.M.’s greatest hits (despite my disdain for Michael Stipe’s politics), I saw “Pirates of the Caribbean” in the theater (despite Johnny Depp’s anti-Americanism). I even have plans to purchase “Mystery Men” on DVD despite the presence of a certain Janeane Garofolo.
One of the few I refuse to support is Tim Robbins, who’s out with a new play that’s getting rave reviews.
Embedded journalists brought the Iraq war live into America’s living rooms.
But now, actor and anti-war activist Tim Robbins has written and directed a play depicting his version of what he thinks happened in Iraq.
Robbins, an ardent critic of President Bush, as well as the war, isn’t a journalist, nor is he a soldier who has been to Iraq. In fact, he’s never been embedded with the troops.
But his play, “Embedded,” profiles the journalists who traveled with and reported on U.S. soldiers in Iraq and features the president’s war cabinet. It was written in Los Angeles and produced in Hollywood.
Robbins portrays journalists as Pentagon puppets, U.S. soldiers as thieves and killers of innocent women and children, and the Bush cabinet as war mongers willing to start a war to escape the negative publicity of the Enron scandal.
In production less than a month, the play received not one, but two glowing reviews from the Los Angeles Times. Robbins’ audience appears to accept his version of the war as the gospel truth.
“It is not propaganda. It is a voice of dissent, which is different than propaganda,” said audience member Kadina Dayal-Halday.
When Laura Israel, another audience member, was asked if she thought the play was accurate, she replied: “Yes, not only on what is going on there, but it also showed how we are being lied to by all the networks.”
One person who wasn’t convinced by the portrayals was Marine Maj. Rich Doherty.
“It was spun to make it look like that leadership started this war simply for its own political agenda and that can’t be further from the truth,” Doherty said.
Doherty, who has a Ph.D. from Berkeley, fought in Iraq and worked alongside several embedded journalists. After the show, which Fox News was not allowed to tape, Doherty discussed the performance with some of the audience and cast members.
“You’re not on the ground, there is no historical, no empirical evidence to say…that what you’re believing or saying politically (is true),” Doherty said.
“With all due respect sir, a lot of people in this country feel this administration went to this war with an agenda of their own and this play resonates with a lot of people who come to see it,” countered V.J. Foster, an actor who plays the character of Col. Hardchannel in the play.
“That is your opinion based on what you saw in the newspaper,” Doherty shot back. “I’m giving you an opinion based on what I saw with my boots on the ground and in the sand.”
Makes you wish Doherty could be there for every performance, doesn’t it?
In the play, Hardchannel calls reporters “his bitches” and says that if he doesn’t like what they write, he’ll write it himself and simply use their names. He also censors all reports coming out of Iraq. Fox News journalists embedded with the troops, as well as other journalists interviewed for this story, said they never experienced any kind of censorship. Reporters were only told that they could not reveal operation details that might threaten the safety of U.S. troops — a condition the Pentagon put on the embedded journalist program.
In reality, no one from the military or the government looked at copy produced by Fox News, touched the videotape, or edited scenes, and no one told reporters what to say.
“Not everything is factual, and maybe that is our fault through satire,” added another “Embedded” actor, Kirk Pynchon, who plays a journalist. “Sometimes we make those errors, but it’s the same kind of laughter that one gets watching an episode of MASH.”
But most people, particularly journalists who actually were embedded with the troops overseas, will argue that Operation Iraqi Freedom was nothing like MASH.
“That demeans the Marines that were killed in my battalion, (to say they) died because five guys in a room thought it was fun to go create a war,” Doherty said. “That is bad, bad theater, bad taste.”
Robbins had declined to discuss “Embedded” with Fox News until after someone from the channel saw the play. But even after the viewing, Robbins declined interviews.
And this is the guy who said “Any acquiescence or intimidation at this point will only lead to more intimidation. You have, whether you like it or not, an awesome responsibility and an awesome power: the fate of discourse, the health of this republic is in your hands, whether you write on the left or the right. This is your time, and the destiny you have chosen.”
So talk, Tim. Engage in discourse. Don’t hide behind the words you put in the mouths of fictional characters. Talk. Debate.
There’s nothing more pathetic than someone who refuses to take his own advice, and it’s obvious (to me at least) that Tim Robbins has no use for dialogue or debate. Instead, he’ll choose speeches, plays, and other platforms where his rhetoric can’t be questioned.
I (and others) will continue to provide a platform for those who disagree with me, those who disagree with the President, those who disagree with the majority of Americans. Maybe one day Robbins will take someone (and no, it doesn’t have to be little old me) up on the offer.
Just pondering what the odds might be on Michael Jackson becoming Roman Polanski’s new roommate before all is said and done.
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Authorities are investigating criminal allegations made by a 12-year old boy in connection with an incident at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch.
Let me be the first to say that I’m shocked, shocked that this is happening. Here I was under the impression that everything that happened at the Neverland Ranch was clean, wholesome family fun…
if you’re the Manson Family.
As predicted, Barbra Streisand is calling the action by CBS “censorship” and blaming it all on big, bad Republicans.
This is censorship, pure and simple. Well, maybe not all that pure. Censorship never is. Due to their experience with the restrictive English government, the framers of our constitution specifically included a ban on prior restraint in the First Amendment, which is an attempt to stop information from getting out there before the public has a chance to see it at all - exactly what is going on in this case. Of course, CBS as a company has the legal right to make decisions about what they do and do not air. However, these important decisions should be based on artistic integrity rather than an attempt to appease a small group of vocal dissidents. Indeed, today marks a sad day for artistic freedom - one of the most important elements of an open and democratic society.
No Babs, today doesn’t mark a sad day for artistic freedom. If, as you say, you believe that we have the right to make fictitious stories using real live human beings as their subjects, then I guess you wouldn’t have a problem with the following film:
Barbra Streisand: Goat Loving Sex Fiend
Look for it in your finer video stores in a couple of months… and don’t dare tread on my “artistic freedom”. This isn’t a documentary. It’s a drama.
What is this world coming to? Elizabeth Hurley was recently embarrassed in New York City.
LIZ HURLEY was snubbed at a charity auction when NO ONE bid for lunch with her.
Actress Liz, 38, right, had hoped to raise money for New York firemen. One guest said: There was not a peep. It was embarrassing.A round of golf in Scotland with ex-lover Hugh Grant went for 9,000 at the same Manhattan auction.
I would just like to publicly state that I hate to see women humiliated, tomorrow is payday, and therefore I’m willing to donate $200 to the charity of Elizabeth Hurley’s choice if she’ll have lunch with me.
I’m here for you Liz. Come get your Cammochino.
Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, and Danny DeVito think they can solve the Mideast peace crisis.
The stars are among a group of actors, directors and writers who have signed up to the 4 million peace initiative called One Voice, launched by Daniel Lubetzky, an American-Jewish businessman.
They were persuaded to back the cause after Rhea Perlmann, who starred in Cheers and is married to DeVito, hosted a reception for Mr Lubetzky at their home in Los Angeles that was attended by more than 100 guests.
Other Hollywood figures backing the project include Pitt’s co-star in Fight Club, Edward Norton, and Jason Alexander, a star of Seinfeld and Pretty Woman.
This is the part of the entry where I go off and call them twits, right?
Wrong.
Despite the apparent naivete of these Hollywood stars, they actually get it. They’re not George Clooney, spouting off anti-American nonsense in a German newspaper. They’re not Janeane Garofolo, selling out her country in exchange for a seat on “The Daily Show”. These stars are apparently willing to do more than talk… they’re actually doing something (now, whether or not I’ll agree with what they do is another story…).
George Clooney’s speaking out (in Germany no less) about American politicians.
“I always say you have to stand by what you’ve done. Yes, I smoked grass. Yes, I had sex with more than one person. In the US, they make a big deal out of everything as soon as you run for higher office. It’s time we did away with this bigotry in America.”
It’s not bigotry, George. It’s called muckraking.
Here’s my favorite quote.
Clooney, a lifelong Democrat, also underscored his opposition to the US-led war in Iraq.
“I stand by that. It was the dumbest thing that my country could have done. As an actor in the public eye, I have a responsibility. I see myself as a spokesman for all those who have the same opinion.”
I’d say it’s your responsibility as an American to speak out. Of course, it’s my responsibility as an American to call you a dumbass intellectually challenged posterior twit* (sorry kids, normally I don’t like to swear… but I gotta call it like I see it in this case). Waging war with Iraq was the “dumbest thing my country could have done”? Let’s take a look at what’s happened since Saddam was ousted.
-Saudi Arabia is getting ready to hold it’s first local elections ever.
-Iran has suddenly decided it will comply with the IAEA and the UN on enriched uranium after all.
-Syria’s pledged to get tough with terrorists, and has banned a couple of terrorist organizations.
-Iraqi children have returned to school, power has been restored and upgraded to ten times prewar levels, health care spending has increased exponentionally, local governments have already been elected, and within two years (most likely) Iraq will have a new constitution and a freely elected government.
Yep. Pretty stupid all right.
*when in doubt, twit is always the right insult.
I didn’t realize authorities were trying to deny Courtney Love parental rights to Frances Bean Cobain. ‘Bout time, I say. Of course, Courtney says she’s the picture of mental health.
“Cops and two ladies in white coats came to my house,” she said. “I got jackbooted. My mouth was taped shut. They put a Ping-Pong ball in my mouth.”
Love confirmed that she had changed her will last week and left someone a phone message “that was like, ‘I want to die, I want to jump off the Empire State Building.’ ” She added she was just kidding.
I’m thinking mandatory sterilization might be in order, in addition to denying her custody of her daughter.
Alec Baldwin’s mouthing off about Texas governor Rick Perry.
Actor Alec Baldwin was in town Tuesday night for a fund-raiser for House Democrats and he came bearing a gift: a box of dog biscuits for Republican Gov. Rick Perry.
“I wanted to give this to Tom DeLay’s lap dog, Rick Perry,” Baldwin said. “I thought maybe he had worked up a big appetite up there on the Capitol so Governor Perry, AKA Tom DeLay’s lap dog in the Texas state Legislature, this box of dog biscuits is for you and I hope you enjoy it while you’re toiling away at a redistricting plan.”
Republicans have been working to draw a new redistricting plan to increase their strength in Texas’ congressional delegation, now ruled 17-15 by Democrats. DeLay, the U.S. House majority leader from Sugar Land, has been one of the strongest advocates for redrawing the lines.
Democrats have been opposed to the move and a few of them joined Baldwin as he launched into a tirade about redistricting, the California recall and Republican gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican Party leadership and the Bush administration, of which he said half of its members were either stupid or sociopathic.
“Everything that Bush touches turns to manure in public policy and they’re coming down here and they’re telling Rick Perry what to do,” Baldwin said.
Perry spokesman Gene Acuna shot back: “Mr. Baldwin’s political views against President Bush and Republicans in general are well known and documented. I have no doubt that Texans will give the comments made by the star of Beetlejuice all of the attention they are due.”
Stupid or sociopathic, eh? Sounds like we need to create a cabinet level position for Mr. Baldwin. If it’s true, he’d fit right in. Of course, there’s still the chance he’ll make good on his promise to leave the country if Bush gets elected, so maybe we better hold off on decorating a White House office for the man.
The good news: Bruce Willis peformed for troops in Northern Iraq this week.
The bad news: it was his “one man show” version of Hudson Hawk.
Just kidding Bruce. Thanks for supporting our troops.
While perusing the Houston Press article about gay softball, I noticed another entry regarding KPRC-TV’s newest reporter, Cynthia Hunt.
If you want to know what’s wrong with journalism today, you absolutely must visit cynthiahunt.com. Hard hitting journalism doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice fashion!
Horror-meister Stephen King is the recipient of one of the most prestigious book awards in the U.S.
The National Book Foundation awarded popular thriller and horror writer Stephen King its 2003 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters on Monday.
King, who has flourished as a writer of popular fiction since the 1974 publication of his first novel, “Carrie,” joins a prestigious list of previous winners that includes John Updike, Philip Roth, Saul Bellow and Toni Morrison.
King is returning the $10,000 prize so that it can be spent on literary outreach programs. That’s a class act, but King still has his critics.
“He is a man who writes what used to be called penny dreadfuls,” Yale University Professor Harold Bloom told the New York Times.
“That they could believe that there is any literary value there or any aesthetic accomplishment or signs of an inventive human intelligence is simply a testimony to their own idiocy.”
Please. Count me among those who’d rather read Stephen King than William Faulkner. Is there literary value in “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon”? I’d argue yes. Is there any aesthetic accomplishment to “Skeleton Crew”, “Nightmares and Dreamscapes”, and his other short story collections? I’d argue yes. For many (including myself), it was a Stephen King short story that introduced them to that form of fiction. Finally, is there any sign of an inventive human intelligence at work in King’s writing? Undeniably so.
Stuff a sock in it, Harold. You might not be able to call Stephen King a literary master, but he spins some darn good yarns.
I promised myself I wasn’t going to touch the website this weekend (minor case of burnout, nothing a trip to the state fair couldn’t cure). This, however, was too good to pass up.
Madonna Celebrates New Children’s Book.
Madonna is a children’s book author. That’s like buying Michael Moore’s Lean Cuisine.