Wright and Wrong

The fuss about Obama's minister is nauseating. There have been loads of vile musings from fundamentalists that never get the negative shots Jeremiah Wright has incurred.
I'm supposed to get my drawers in a knot because a Black man thinks the U.S. of A. has given his people the shaft? Yet when it comes to right wing outrage, it never is vented on their own. Baptist minister Bailey Smith said the Lord doesn't hear a Jew's prayers,nothing from Reagan. Billy Graham is an anti-Semite and no one who knows it prints it or says it. Falwell said the anti-Christ is a living Jew and not a peep except bemusement.
However, I also think if Wright wanted Obama to win, he would go away for a month. Instead he is omnipresent, speaking everywhere but on TRL (patience).
He is instead behaving like a jilted lover, sniping in public at every opportunity under the guise of self-defense. This could turn a Bible student into a humanist.

You're Not Thinking Clearly...

If you can think that Arianna is any different than a left wing Laura Ingraham. The other side universally blows,okay,I get it.
If you think that the right isn't chock filled with racists.
If you don't think that Judge Cooperman blew it in the Bell trial.
If you don't think Sharpton (up till now) did a great job of containment after the Bell verdict was read.
If you think most movie stars look better after plastic surgery.
If you aren't grateful for Maher,Colbert,and Stewart.
If you can't understand that Hillary Clinton deserves to stay in the race.
If you don't think her campaign has a lot more obsessed sycophants that Obama's.
If you don't think that Limbaugh should be arrested for attempting to incite a riot.
If you think McCain would be a candidate if he hadn't been a POW.
If you don't think that right wing media has jumped the shark.
If you think that left wing radio is radio to succeed it.
If you think Imus was really sorry.
If you think Bush cares about anyone not named Bush.
If you don't pray Jenna Bush campaigns for Obama.
If you don't want Lieberman expelled from the Democratic caucus.

Tough Being Funny

Most of the time a political comic can go a long way on a president. LBJ was an easy impression target, as was Nixon,plus his policies and scowl were fun to lance. Jimmy Carter's accent,teeth and seeming political naivete were raw meat, and Reagan...well,Jim Morris made a nice piece of change being Reagan for two terms (he told me once that the Reagan shrug and head nod would leave his upper body cramped after a an hour's stage appearance).
Clinton's peccadilloes and Southern accent were fun to go after as well. Now we have George Bush,and it isn't fun anymore.
It isn't fun because of the Iraqi war. It isn't fun because he vetoes funds for poor sick kids. It isn't fun because we are despised around the world. It isn't fun because he practices dictatorial methods against his own people. Saddam gassed his countrymen, Bush tortures visitors,wiretaps Americans, and snaps at reporters.
How do you make fun of a president who everyone dislikes? Making fun of Nixon (until 1972) was great because he had support,the same with LBJ and Carter. Bush? Bush is dissed by at least seventy percent of the people,so how much creativity is needed to preach to the ever growing choir?
It is reminiscent of the eighties,when every comedy club had a political comedy night. It soon got boring because every routine was centered around Dan Qualyle and his verbal and mental missteps. Now it is all Bush all the time.
There are great political comedy pundits in this country: Bill Maher,Will Durst, and Barry Crimmins are a few of those who do that profession proud. I will not include P.J. O'Rourke in this list. It's not because he is a conservative, it's because a)he laughs at his own jokes which is obnoxious to the extreme and b)talking about Hillary Clinton's ass is not a political joke,it is white middle-aged male humor,and it is stale.
One felt that beneath it all,LBJ,Carter,and even Nixon had some semblance of a heart. Making light of a soulles brat is tougher. Thanks for nothing,George.

Charlton Heston 1923-2008

Charlton Heston used to be a liberal. He admired Martin Luther King,Jr., and attended the historic March on Washington in 1963. Like a lot of men of his vintage, he became more conservative as he grew older. As his movie roles grew more scarce, he fed his actor's ego by taking on the role of president of the National Rifle Association. At the time of his installment into that office, the NRA was teetering on the brink of dissolution, bankrupt and losing members. For about three million dollars a year, he travelled around the country promoting gun ownership and losing his soul in the process. One week after the tragedy in Columbine, the NRA showed its sensitivity to the horror by holding a convention in nearby Denver,where I believe Mr. Heston performed his classic move of holding up a rifle from the Davy Crockett era and saying he would give it up when it was pried "from my cold dead hands". At the same time parents were dealing with the eternal grief of surviving their children, Heston was playing Moses, trading tablets for a flintlock. I don't know if he knew how many illegal weapons came into our cities due to the pressure applied by the lobby he fronted. I don't know if he cared. I DO know that somewhere out there is an actor whose career is on the downside and will trade his conscience for money. To have a DNA so chock filled with neediness that trading lives for lucre is a sad legacy,one that erases all the acting awards and honors that defined his earlier vocation, when he only pretended to enjoy killing.

Randi Rhodes

Randi Rhodes called Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro "fucking whores". She said it at a gathering sponsored by Air America Radio for whom she works. For saying it she was suspended indefinitely by Air America. When one is suspended indefinitely, it is bad news. Indefinitely means (to me,anyway) get out now, take a deep breath and blow the dust off of your resume'.
Freedom of speech has nothing to do with this, by the way. This is an employmental issue. Your boss can get ticked off and dump you for just about any reason, and this could be one of those reasons.
Let me say that I adore Randi,she is a terrific person and a wonderful radio host. If Limbaugh had said this,i would call for him to be fired,in fact,I would have suspended him for his racist comments and his degradation of women. The fact that someone I admire said it doesn't mean it isn't punishable. The guy who owns the firm can make this decision,and unfortunately, he may be losing the best radio broadcaster in New York.