Author: KcM

Holier than Thou.

“Nor would I separate us from our religious heritage. Perhaps the most important question to ask a person of faith who seeks a political office, is this: does he share these American values: the equality of human kind, the obligation to serve one another, and a steadfast commitment to liberty?” Well, Governor Romney, that’s the question. I was busy the day of the “Big Speech,” so I ended up watching some of it on Youtube [2, 3] and reading the rest online. And, while I’d definitely quibble with the notion that “Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom,” it seems Mitt waited too long to pander to the evangelicals regardless: Huckabee’s doubled up on him — and everybody else — in Iowa, and is now running second nationally behind Giuliani. And, as Drudge dredged up this morning, Huckabee has been doling out red meat to scary religious conservatives for well over a decade now, including recommending the quarantining of AIDS patients in 1992. Even though Romney will say pretty much anything, It’ll be hard for the Governor to catch up with that kind of crazy, especially if he expects to remain at all electable.

The Story of O?

“In the past I’ve been disappointed by politicians. In the past I’ve been discouraged by politicians. For the first time I’m stepping out of my pew because I’ve been inspired. I’ve been inspired to believe that a new vision is possible for this country.” Meanwhile, on the Democratic side…As Oprah hits the hustings of Williams-Brice stadium for Obama, a new poll puts the Senator from Illinois now competitive with Clinton across several key states: Obama’s down 2 in Iowa and only down 3 in New Hampshire and South Carolina. “John Edwards is a major factor in Iowa and South Carolina but trails badly in New Hampshire…Hillary Clinton’s support is what you’d expect: women, folks over 50 and union members. Obama does very well among Democrats under 50. In fact, the biggest demographic gap is generational, not gender.”

I can smile in the face of mankind.

“Most of the time, I’m halfway content. Most of the time, I know exactly where it all went.” Maybe it’s the impending holidays. Maybe it’s dissertoral stress. Or maybe it’s the weather, or something like that. Still, it was one of those weekends…So, in light of that, Bob Dylan’s “Most of the Time” meets Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I never would have chosen this sort of hermit life for myself. But, given this is the hand I’m currently playing, at least there’re great movies and great music on my side.

Back in the Day.

I heard about these a few days ago and thought they were Youtube fan flicks. But, no, they’re the real deal: Along with the Season 4 DVD comes a handful of exclusive Wire prequels at Amazon.com, including looks at young Omar and Prop Joe in action and Bunk and McNulty’s first bender. Season 5: January 6, or Dec. 31 if you’re On Demand-inclined. (Teasing press-release summaries here.)

Speed Kills.

The brothers Wachowski return to the fold with a bizarre new trailer for their live-action Speed Racer, starring Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Matthew Fox, John Goodman, and Susan Sarandon. Ouch, my brain hurts…Not sure I see myself sitting through two hours of this one, even with the Wachowski imprimatur.

Caspian See.

Timed to release with The Golden Compass this Friday, the trailer for Andrew Adamson’s The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is now online. Liam Neeson and the kids are back again (if a little older), while replacing Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy, and Ray Winstone in the support department are Ben Barnes (of Stardust), Warwick Davis, and Peter Dinklage (of The Station Agent.)

Dubya’s Iran Plans, NIE-capped.

“Tehran’s decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005.” Uh, y’know that whole Iran is the new face of evil, imminent-WWIII thing we’ve been hearing about? Well, never mind. It’s time to update those lyrics, Senator McCain: A new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) report — which, it seems, Cheney may have held up for a year — finds that Iran actually stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003. “Even if Iran were to restart its program now, the country probably could not produce enough highly enriched uranium for a single weapon before the middle of the next decade, the assessment stated. It also expressed doubt about whether Iran ‘currently intends to develop nuclear weapons.‘”

This happy piece of information obviously puts our Saber-Rattler in Chief in a bit of a bind — In a news conference this morning, he was reduced to spluttering, “‘What’s to say they couldn’t start another covert nuclear weapons program?‘” What indeed…perhaps we should bomb them anyway, is that your point? Well, probably not. Says Slate‘s Fred Kaplan of the NIE: “If there was ever a possibility that President George W. Bush would drop bombs on Iran, the chances have now shrunk to nearly zero….Skeptics of war have rarely been so legitimized. Vice President Cheney has never been so isolated.” Still, just to keep the timeline in perspective, Dubya made that dubious WWIII comment months after being apprised of this information. So, in effect, he was lying to us yet again.

As for the 2008 contenders, the campaigns are all taking the news pretty much in stride, although Chris Dodd got off a pretty good zinger on Clinton: “It’s easy to say ‘fool me once, shame on George Bush,’ but when she’s been fooled twice, shame on her.“

Somebody Needs a Nap.

“When I decided to run for president, I accepted that my opponents would dig through my record looking for something to attack. I didn’t realize they’d go all the way back to kindergarten.” In keeping with their previously announced New Negativity, the Clinton campaign actually digs up dirt on Obama’s kindergarten ambitions. (Two days after the press release in question, now that it’s not playing so hot in the media, pollster Mark Penn claims it was a joke.) Desperate much? Well, before anybody throws a tantrum, two new polls put Clinton still in the lead in Iowa, by 5% and 7% respectively. Maybe that’ll help put an end to this type of sorry stunt by Team Hillary in the future. (By the way, I have no plans to ever run for anything, but just in case it comes up someday (and a la Edwards): When I was in kindergarten I wanted to be Han Solo.)