The Movie Network Has Come True

Have any of you seen the classic 1970s movie Network? Paddy Chafesky's satirical prophecy has finally come true, albeit in Great Britain.

Disgraced British reality tv star Jade Goody has found a way to restore her good graces with the British media, after a scandal over her racially harassing actress Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother. She is literally going to die for good ratings. (Shades of Howard Beale!)

Goody, who has terminal cervical cancer, has agreed to become a "public curiosity" during the last few weeks of her life, in order to make more money for her children. She has become the subject of fawning press scrutiny in Great Britain, evidently having decided that if she lived on TV, she can die on TV. (Hmm...shades of The Truman Show as well.)

It should not really be a surprise that Network has come true in Great Britain, as the British have a tabloid culture that puts ours to shame. Reality TV is much more prominent in Britain, with Big Brother contestants becoming long lasting celebrities.

Burris's Troubles

I found a funny post on Sen. Roland Burris's ethics issues. It's on a local Pittsburgh blog, the Angry Drunk Bureaucrat, and can be seen here.

Another Example of Catholic Idiocy

If you want to see the embodiment of Catholic fanaticism and dogma, look no further than the YouTube channel RosaryFilms. This channel's videos, nearly 700 so far, are ranting endorsements of various Roman Catholic dogmas. Most prominent, and glaringly stupid, are the denunciations of abortion. For example, one video notes the percentage of prostitutes who are pro-choice:



That's right, folks. No actual argument, no attempt at reason, just a bald statistic. Wow, I'm won over.

What makes the efforts of RosaryFilms especially comic is that, in an effort to use items from the public domain, many of the films it releases are fifty year old public service announcements. This may in part stem from the dated viewpoints expounded by the channel. For instance, take a look at this video, which purports to show an accurate psychological view of homosexuality:



Am I the only one who noticed that this video is roughly forty to fifty years old? It might be me, but I prefer to get my data from a more up to date source. In response to a comment on this issue, RosaryFilms argues that it is compliant with not only up to date psychology, but also theology. Are we to go to priests for mental health analysis now?

Similarly dated is an old video about the effects of mothers going to work, posted below. What makes this video particularly ironic is that if you look on the sidelines, you see several videos about child abuse promoted. Perhaps, given the Church's recent history, Rosary Films should devote more attention to child abuse in the context of the clergy, rather than criticizing working mothers.

Burma Backstep

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently dropped hints that the Obama Administration is considering weakening or dropping sanctions against the state of Myanmar. Her argument is that sanctions have not worked, and have only harmed the people of Burma.

Can we all say appeasement?

This is what I was afraid of when Secretary Clinton was first named to this post. Her record on human rights has been abysmal, as witnessed by her well-documented opposition to American intervention in Bosnia. She is transferring her weak position on fighting for human rights during her husband's term in office to her tenure as Secretary of State. We can only hope that President Obama has the wisdom and the strength to oppose this cowardly action and take a strong stance on human rights in Myanmar.

Prescient

Below is a skit Saturday Night Live did in 2000 about the future of the Bush Presidency. The one thing that is so interesting about it is how accurate it is.

Uh-Oh

According to NPR Planet Money podcast, the United States is or will be looking at a deficit of $1.2 trillion dollars due to the bail out and other expenses. Yes, that's trillion. With a T. Not good...

(Note: the above post is actually funny is you imagine it being delivered by Stewie from Family Guy.)

Palin: The Movie

Thanks to Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish blog for posting this.

Mumbai in Perspective

As an article on Time.com notes, the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai signal a shift in Islamist terrorist tactics from suicide bombings to guerrilla warfare style tactics such as those being practiced in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This brings up a rather disturbing point. In the build-up to the Iraq War, some opponents warned that Iraq could turn into a training ground for terrorists, where they could learn new tactics to be exported to other countries. As Robert Baer notes, the professionalism of the terrorists indicates that they had actual combat experience. Could it be possible that the predictions of more hardened, professional terrorists are coming true?

Never Underestimate the American Desire for Cheap, Foreign-Made, Plastic Crap

A Wal-Mart worker was trampled to death yesterday in a stamped at a New York-area Wal-Mart store. Police cite a lack of security for dealing with the crowd as a contributing factor in the death.

If You're Wall Street, You're Fine; If You're Detroit, You're Screwed

The recent bailout of Citigroup while the automakers are left hanging is a testament to the warped priorities of financial experts both left and right wing. As Robert Reich points out, Citigroup has little real effect on the economy, while the collapse of General Motors and other Big Three automakers could trigger a massive economic collapse. The other major difference is that while a Citigroup collapse would mainly harm Wall Street, the loss of the major automakers would harm the country in general, and the working class in particular.

This is not to say that there should be a no strings attached bailout of the major automakers. At the very least, they should be required to put a real effort into integrating green technology into their cars, and to look into mass production of electric cars. However, it is only common sense that mass employment enterprises should be bailed out before we bail out Wall Street firms. Needed economic stimulus should come before corporate socialism. As Paul Craig Roberts recently pointed out, "A country that doesn't make anything doesn't need a financial sector as there is nothing to finance."

A Lack of Gratitude

Matthew Yglesias notes that National Review Online blogger Andrew McCarthy claims the Iraqi people are "ingrates" because they are not happy about the presence of American troops. Written in the context of an article about the recent Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), he claims the Iraqis are too friendly to Tehran and too interested in prosecuting American soldiers.

Gee, maybe we should have fought about that before we invaded their country.

The Case against Hillary

On Hardball with Chris Matthews, Christopher Hitchens lays out a devastating indictment against Sen. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. The conflicts of interest and lack of experience she will bring will potentially undermine President Obama's foreign policy, and badly serve our nation.

The only good side I can see to all this is that it will leave her in a position where she cannot harm President Obama politically.

Tax 'Em

A Catholic priest in the Carolinas has told his parishioners that they should repent before receiving Communion if they voted for President Obama. If he wants to go that deep into politics and civil society, let him set aside a portion of his weekly collections for taxes to support said civil society.

President Obama Speaks

President-elect Obama gave a weekly address yesterday highlighting the nation's economic difficulties, embedded above. It rings with his typical confidence, but also with a realization of the great challenges faced by the American economy.

As Juan Cole points out, we are still in the rough as long as President Bush is in office. There is always the possibility that he could further screw things up, creating a bank collapse as happened at the end of the Hoover Administration.

It is also worth noting that although President-elect Obama has a general idea of what needs to be done, he does not give much in the way of specifics. We will need to learn more before we can assess his economic plan in detail.

Hillary for SecState?

The NPR program Day to Day has reported that President-elect Barack Hussein Obama is considering Sen. Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. Although I can see the political reasons he would have for doing so, I do not think she is the best choice. As the primaries revealed, she does not have much foreign policy experience. She would be far better off as Attorney General or a Supreme Court justice.

I think a far better choice would be former Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson. As Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Dan Simpson notes, Richardson has foreign policy experience, having served as Ambassador to the UN. Furthermore, he is tough enough to stand up to any foreign opponent.

Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense

An article on Politico discusses the controversy over whom President-elect Obama will select as his Secretary of Defense. Although much talk has focused on current Secretary Robert Gates as a transitional figure, there is also opposition to this from the anti-war movement, who regard him as too implicated in Bush Administration policies.

The best alternative candidate that I have seen mentioned is former Sen. Chuck Hagel. He has been critical of Bush Administration policies, while also coming from the Republican side of the aisle, which would complement the Obama Administration's drive toward bipartisanship.

The latter is an especially important point. The Democrats have a unique opportunity to reduce the Republicans to the status of a regional, minority party for the foreseeable future. To do that, however, they will need to capture the moderate Republicans. There are already signs of this happening, if one can judge by the concerns of the more intelligent Republican columnists such as David Brooks. However, a few prominent Republican appointees to the Cabinet might deal the needed blow.

Barack Hussein Obama Is My President

Recently, right wing fanatics have taken to relentlessly pointing out the fact that our president-elect is named Barack Hussein Obama. The most recent expression of this is a letter by Jude Pohl in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, claiming Barack Hussein Obama's election as one of the three greatest disasters to befall America, the other two being Pearl Harbor and 9 / 11. (Forgetting the Civil War, Mr. Pohl?)

I, for one, am proud to say that Barack Hussein Obama is my president. This represents a step to a more tolerant, cosmopolitan America. It is not the final step, but it is a damned good midway step. I think we should all start calling him President Barack Hussein Obama to show our pride in this, and to show the closet racists that their time is up.

A Scene from Election Day

The above picture was taken by me yesterday on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. It shows a group of young pro-choice students asserting their position in the face of a display of fake tombstones put up by a campus pro-life group. The display accused Sen. Obama of complicity in genocide. Unfortunately for the pro-lifers, the unborn have a notoriously lousy turn-out rate.

Not Quite So Graceful

Two days ago, conservative blogger (and lukewarm Obama supporter) Ann Althouse speculated about whether liberals would be able to handle it if Sen. Obama did not become President. Taking her cue from a rather condescending article by William Kristol, she mocks the enthusiasm of young Obama supporters, saying they should all learn from her example of not being able to choose a winning candidate. Unfortunately, McCain supporters haven't been as stoic as she hoped.

Let's start with the fanatics at Little Green Footballs. Although the moderator, conscious of scrutiny by liberal watchdogs, attempts to keep a moderate tone when informing his readers of the election of the man he calls Barack Hussein Obama, the hoipoloi aren't taking it. The comments section, which borders eight hundred entries, is crowded with proclamations that they would not consider Obama a true president, repetitive obscenity, predictions of economic and international disaster, and claims that President-elect Obama is a Marxist / Communist. And those are the comments that did not have to be deleted. Even if one considers the notice that comments do not necessarily reflect the views of Little Green Footballs, the reaction does not reflect well on the site's creators.

Similar dissatisfaction is evident on Michelle Malkin's website and blog. She claims the real winner of the election is "Peggy the Moocher," an African-American woman on a YouTube clip who hopes that President Obama will pay for her gas and mortgage. The comments section features a comment about "forty acres and a mule." Hmm, I wonder if racism is a factor here.

Rush Limbaugh is also rather unhappy, rejecting any chance of "unity" with President Obama. Althouse, addressing this statement, tries to pass it off as an attempt to "define the conservative position." However, it should be pretty obvious by this point that conservatives are not quite living up to Althouse and Kristol's expectations.

It's Over, We've Won