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Media
Monthly Archives: October 2008
People, let me put you wise (special edition)
We last celebrated the birthday of the great Dion Dimucci in “People, let me put you wise” when Dion turned 69 this past July. Dion now returns with the new CD/DVD “Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock.” The CD/DVD package is a bargain and a total delight, a perfect follow-up to Dion’s two most recent discs devoted to the blues. On the new disc Dion and guitarist Robert “Crow” Richardson »
A wasteland no more
In May 1961 FCC Chairman Newton Minnow gave his famous speech condemning network television as “a vast wasteland.” However accurate Minnow’s evaluation was at the time, it has certaintly lost its salience over the years. Today much of the best dramatic and comedy writing is done for television rather than theater or film. Why is that so? Paul Cantor is the Clifton Waller Barrett Professor of English at the University »
Monday morning quarterbacking on game day
Peter Wehner argues that the market collapse in September probably doomed John McCain. Accordingly, Peter maintains that the mounting second-guessing of McCain’s campaign is misguided. McCain made mistakes, as all candidates do, and possibly more than the average number. But Peter’s contention is that, when we look back, we may well have to conclude that even a perfect campaign would not have sufficed in this environment. He writes: As pre-criminations »
He Said It
Playboy Magazine put out a 50th anniversary issue in January 2004 that included an interview with Al Franken. It’s mostly the usual insults directed at Franken’s enemies, but this exchange was striking, especially given how recent the interview was: Playboy: Do you see yourself ever holding office? Franken: No. I would be crushed by the sense of responsibility. Voting on whether to authorize the use of force is a big »
Edwardian London Comes to Life
This is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time: movie footage of London shot in 1904. This clip is an excerpt from a 12-minute long video that was made as a travelogue to lure visitors from Australia. It is a fascinating and all too brief glimpse into the vibrant, teeming London of Sherlock Holmes: To comment on this post, go here. »
Murtha in Trouble
A few days ago I inadvertently linked to a bogus poll that showed Mad Jack Murtha trailing in his re-election bid. That shouldn’t be a shocker, given that he has accused his own constituents of being “racists” and “rednecks.” Happily, the real polls are showing that Murtha is in danger of being knocked off. The Susquehanna Poll has Murtha and his challenger, Bill Russell, within the margin of error. You »
Florida McCain Supporter’s House Shot Up
In Seminole County, Florida, the home of the manager of the local John McCain campaign headquarters was shot up earlier this week. This is one of the bullet holes: The homeowner, Roger Coverley, says Democrats in his area are becoming “more aggressive.” I’ll say. In the same area, it’s hard for Republicans to keep McCain/Palin signs in their yards; they keep getting stolen or vandalized. I liked this response; click »
What did Della Ware?
Yesterday we noted the Obama’s campaign’s acceptance of credit card contributions made via the Internet under false names and addresses in “Who is John Galt?” Many readers wrote to confirm the experiment conducted by our reader under the names John Galt, Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and Bill Ayers at obviously phony addresses. At the same time, the contributions of “John Galt” and all the rest were rejected without fail »
NY Times = Junk
The New York Times continues its downward spiral to oblivion: The New York Times Co. reported a steep drop in third-quarter profits on Thursday, the latest gloomy earnings report in an industry battered by online competition and falling print advertising revenue. The New York Times Co. said net profit fell by 51.4 percent in the third quarter to 6.5 million dollars, or five cents per share, from 13.4 million dollars, »
She’s Not Rich
The last 24 hours have been consumed by a media feeding frenzy over the fact that the Republican National Committee spent approximately $150,000 on clothes and makeup for Sarah Palin and her family. This is being peddled as though it were some kind of scandal. As a threshold matter, one wonders why: it’s not as though tax dollars were being wasted. Why is it anyone’s business? It isn’t, actually. For »
A strange new disrespect
It was entirely predictable (and we predicted) that the mainstream media and the liberal pundits associated with it would not only turn against John McCain once he became the Republican nominee, but also attempt to demonize him. The decent thing for those liberals who had praised McCain so much in the past would have been to maintain their respectful posture but express their preference for Obama based on policy grounds. »
Iran Endorses Obama
Earlier in the campaign Hamas endorsed Barack Obama for President, but it later withdrew that endorsement when Obama made a statement–no doubt insincere–in support of Israel. The Islamic Republic of Iran, taking a longer view, has now made a considered decision to back The One’s presidential campaign: Iranian parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said Wednesday that Iran would prefer Democrat Barack Obama in the White House next year. Larijani also dismissed »
Obama’s Fraud Continues
We noted here and elsewhere the astonishing degree of fraud that has fueled Barack Obama’s record fundraising. The ultimate instance of Obama-fraud was achieved by a reader of The Corner: So I went to the Obama website this afternoon and clicked on the “Donate” button. I used my real MasterCard number (but was not asked for the 3 digit security code). Used the following information and it was accepted… First »
Ray of Hope
Barack Obama has pretty well proclaimed himself President, and is already building the stage for his acceptance speech in Chicago. His supporters in the media are declaring the race over. This weekend the New York Times magazine will feature an elaborate “post mortem” on John McCain’s campaign, explaining why he lost the election. Democratic pundits are already salivating over the NYT magazine’s “analysis.” Somehow, though, this kind of talk, before »
“I Am Joe”
The McCain campaign ran a competition to be featured in a new video; here it is. It’s called “I Am Joe.” The theme of opportunity has always been a winner for Republicans in the past; let’s hope it still is: UPDATE: I have a friend, a small businesswoman, who was invited to participate in this commercial but had to decline for fear of retribution by vindictive Democrats. I wonder how »
Argentina spreads the wealth
Monica Showalter is the South America expert on the editorial staff of Investor’s Business Daily. Yesterday I wrote her asking for her thoughts the proposed expropriation of private pension funds by the government of Argentina. Tomorrow’s paper will carry her editorial, which she has kindly authorized us to excerpt: …U.S. Democrats in Congress are mulling like-minded moves to scrap 401(k)s and transfer them into government-managed “guaranteed retirement accounts” with a »
Shut up and foul
The Washington Post sports page reports on the involvement of certain NBA players in the presidential election. It notes that Obama has the support of star players Lebron James, Chris Paul, Chauncey Billups, and Baron Davis. The only McCain supporter the Post could find (it’s unclear how diligently its reporter searched) is Spencer Hawes. As the Post points out, “the NBA is predominantly African American,” a segment of the population »
