Mighty Forces

So I just started using Twitter, a little bit. Still not convinced about why or how to use it. But right now I'm just posting random thoughts, like this one from last week:

How can Barack Obama be a radical Christian, a Muslim, and a Marxist all at the same time?

Amazingly, some writer from Wired picked this up, and mentioned me in an article about Obama:

Report: Hoax Anti-Obama E-Mails Still Fool Dumb White Guys

Crazy.

Back in my day, TV stars couldn't say boobie, tushy, burp, fanny burp, water closet, underpants, dingle-dangle, Boston marriage, LBJ, Titicaca, hot dog, OR front lumps!

"It's traditional to celebrate the anniversary of your father's death by starting a clothing line."

-Frances Callier on the Stephanie Miller Show this week, talking about Bindi Irwin

MOVIE PREVIEW VOICE:
It's 3 A.M. Your children are safe and asleep. The phone rings in the White House. President Hillary Clinton answers.

HILLARY:
Hello?

YOUNG FEMALE VOICE:
.....Is Bill there?

HILLARY:
Who is this?

[phone disconnects]

HILLARY:
Damnit!

Under the headline "Runaway lawnmower kills Buddhist monk":

A postmortem examination disclosed that Mr Handa had died of multiple injuries.

So I'm watching the candidate speeches, which begin promptly at 8:01 p.m. Wisconsin time, one minute after the polls close here. First is John McCain, gesturing like a four-year-old who's lost his blankie in front of a crowd packed into what looks like a small hotel banquet room.

Then comes Hillary Clinton, speaking to an enthusiastic crowd in what looks like 2/3 of a high school gym.

Finally, Barack Obama comes on the screen. The camera pans back to show a massive auditorium, packed to the rafters with cheering supporters.

Words do matter, Hillary. And so do images.

But this isn't news, is it?

I guess the larger question is, why are so many conservatives raging assholes? What's the psychology? One way of looking at it is that today's American brand of conservatism allows them to indulge in all their worst instincts, without fear of backlash. Hell, the bigger an asshole they are, the more they are celebrated. When you even partially tamp down your asshole instincts (see: John McCain), you are vilified as a wimp and a sellout. So why wouldn't they let their ids run wild? I'm sure it can be fun, in a sick, sad sort of way.

Are the hosts on HSN envious of the QVC hosts?

Priceless.

Why does anyone invite Ann Coulter on their TV show? Why does anyone write a single word about her? The only way to kill her is to starve her of attention. Why aren't we doing that?

And yes, I realize this post is about her. I hope it's my last.

Is Bill O'Reilly the Father Coughlin of our times?

Frankly, I don't want to know what's inside that head of his.

If Michael Moore made a movie about how puppies are cute, the right wing crapweasels would tie themselves in knots finding new ways to hate those ugly goddamned puppies.

I'm something of a renegade, even in the liberal bubble of Madison, for always being a Michael Moore fan. Fact is, I'm more than a fan - I think the man is a hero. It's fashionable, even among liberals, to screw up your face like you've just eaten a lemon when Moore is mentioned.

To me, then and now, the man has been one of the few people with the balls to stand up and say, we have to draw a line. This is wrong. This is crazy. This is not America. How many people are actually willing to do that? Congress won't. The voters won't. The press won't. And after corporate scandals, campus shootings and our President at lower-than-Nixon approval levels, perhaps he was right all along, eh?

Now "Sicko" is coming out, Moore's indictment of the American health care system. And predictably, the righties already have their panties in a bunch. He went to Cuba! Yes, the man took some ailing 9/11 rescue workers to get some decent health care, an offense that apparently rates right up there with genocide (I was going to say 'torture,' but we Americans like that now.).

I for one am looking forward to "Sicko" and whatever else Moore comes up with in the future. His making Dean Esmay apoplectic is just a bonus.